Last summer’s series on day planners for moms continues to be one of my highest search-engine traffic draws. I’m gearing up for another set of reviews, but in the meantime (and more importantly), I’d like your input. My wonderful (and dearly missed) Virginia pal, Sarah of Herding Turtles, suggested I ask my readers the following question:
Which planner did you wind up using this past year, and—here’s the pertinent question—are you still using it?
Please share your thoughts in the comments!
Last year’s planner reviews:
MomAgenda
Catholic Woman’s Daily Planner
Small Meadow Press — Circle of Days
The BusyBodyBook
The Mom’s Daily Planner
Reader Suggestions
I used Family Time Mine last year from Border’s – I liked it OK – but I’m only sort of still using it. I won’t reuse it next year.
I’m using The Family Organizer (www.thefamilyorganizer.com) and I like it. It’s slim, not a lot of extra forms I don’t need. I just wish it had tabs. I’m still using it!
I used Family Facts from Barnes & Noble. I use it more for recordkeeping than for planning. I removed a lot of forms that I knew I wouldn’t use, and added some generic filler pages and tabs that I bought at Staples. For instance, it didn’t come with calendar tabs or a tabbed address book or a business card holder, so I added those. Easy to do since it’s a standard three-ring-binder size.
I do pretty much all my calendar and task list on line now. If I refill the calendar I’ll do it with a generic refill from an office store.
OK, this is really funny! I was looking through my drawer about five minutes ago (because my toddler had unpacked it, of course!) and I came across my Small Meadow Press Circle of Days planner. It is a lovely little planner, but it just didn’t work for me. I thought of you and your series last summer, and I was thinking I would email you and see if you’d be willing to offer the planner to whoever might have use for it. Then I went to your site to get your email address and lo and behold, here’s this post staring at me!
I don’t need the planner and since I’m moving in less than a month (eek!!) I’d rather not take it with me. I’d really like for someone to have it though who could use it – it seems like such a shame to just recycle it! Anyone interested?
I use a Franklin Covey planner by Julie Morgenstern and I do like it. I would not call it “perfect” because I have never found anything that is perfect. I do like that it is slim. One side of the planner is the 12 month monthly planner side, and the other side is the two pages a day (month at a time). Each month I remove the book on the right side).
I do like her (Julie Morgenstern) system!
*AT home, I often post a color coded week at a time schedule that I have made on my MAC. Everyone has their own color and that seems to work for us.
LOL – I’m sure I was one of those searchers last year! Thanks for the post! And… I’m still using the Catholic Woman’s Daily Planner — and am happy with it — but I still miss the old format. If I don’t have a little menu box on the same page with everything else — I won’t remember to plan a menu!! I never use the menu planning pages — they just waste away from neglect. I have the binder version so I can keep all my Covey, Fly Lady and other misc. STUFF all in one planner.
I bought and used and fell in love with the familytime mine planner available at Borders. Inexpensive and very workable for me.
I loved the Catholic Woman’s Daily Planner until I lost it about 6 weeks ago. I’ve decided for next year I am going to get the bigger planner that I can put into a household binder which I have been very, very slowly putting together. The thing is huge and my plan is to keep it right on my desk in the kitchen. I can’t lose it then, right??????
I used to use a Franklin DayPlanner. Great organizer! One lean year I didn’t feel I should spend the $25 for the refill. Ever since then I’ve been using my wall calendar and A SPIRAL NOTEBOOK. Works for me! 🙂
I am on my 3rd year of the Catholic Woman’s Daily Planner. I use the smaller size with the hole punched sides. In a small binder( I slide pretty scrapbooking paper into the cover sleeves of a 1″ binder) I have the 2 page monthly calendar pages for the year, prayer pages, and blank pages for notes and project musings. Every month I insert the daily pages to write notes and lists to myself. I toss them when I am done. I also write a few Flylady reminders on the daily pages.
We also have a large wall style calendar for the whole family to consult.
I have a household notebook which is a work in progress, for info on the animals, Flylady cleaning lists and menu ideas. The household notebook and my school planning notesbook are just too big to carry around.
The hardest part of using any planner is, well, using it. Writing on the calendar and in the planner, which I carry with me whenever we go out, is a habit that is hard for me.
I am a ” reformed” queen of the post it note and notes written on the back of stray receipts which get filed in the bottom of whatever bag I am carrying.
I suppose any small planner would do but I like having the daily readings, saints/feast days,Holy Father’s Prayer intentions and rosary prayers for the day right at my finger tips.
I must confess that I was cheap — no, no, frugal — and I bought a $5 planner at a discount store. It’s spiral bound, 3-hole punched, 8×11, and fits into my three-ring binder (which also holds sections for our monthly school/activity log, gift ideas, booklists and health notes.)
It’s not particularly pretty, but I loved the layout and the space it provided (two-page layout for seven days) for my daily to-do lists, appointments, etc.
Combined with my big wall calendar (which shows the whole family our month’s commitments at a glance), this worked great for me.
I splurged and got the MomAgenda (I found it locally at 20% off which made it $32). I think it’s the first planner that I have used as much at the end of the year as I did at the beginning. I love it. I love the layout of days and then having a space for each child/ or whatever category would be most useful for that week at the bottom.
As much as it is a near perfect layout for my purposes, I also am still tickled with the prettiness of it all. The cover looks as lovely now as it did eleven months ago. The paper used for the pages has a smooth finish that is easy to write upon. The ribbon marker makes finding my place a snap.
My only complaint is that I wish it was about a third smaller. I really don’t need the extra calendar pages in the front. Nor do I need so many categories and blank pages in the back. I could do with just a smattering of blank pages to do with as I please.
If anyone didn’t try this out only due to cost, you could get the refill for the (very expensive) binder. It is spiral with a thin cardboard cover. I may do this if I can verify that the inside paper is the same quality as the bound one I got this year. I think it is only $12 or $15-big difference compared to the other. Thanks, Lissa, for the follow-up.