The non-digital planner that almost works with my brain
Elaine left a comment this morning wondering about what planner I use, so here's a quick explanation.
But first, we have to talk about synesthesia.
What's synesthesia??
I've written before about the spatial sequence synesthesia that I and some of my kids have.
You can read more about it in the post that I linked above, but basically, some people's brains organize relatively non-visual concepts in really visual, spatial ways.
(Days of the week, months of the year, years in history, the alphabet, numbers)
It's not bad or good; it's just the way some brains operate.
I bring synesthesia up because when I visualize the days of the week, they go from left to right, basically like they do on a monthly calendar.
And then when I visualize the hours of the day, I see the morning at the bottom of the day and the evening at the top.
This is a really odd way to think of hours, and I know this because almost every hourly planner puts the morning at the top.
Blue Sky use to make a landscape-oriented planner with days of the week from left to right, AND these pages had no hour markings.
So, I could do my weird thing and make my days go from bottom to top.
But last year, they stopped making my beloved planner.
(I was, as Sonia and Zoe's friend likes to say, upsetified.)
I tore my clothes and did the sackcloth and ashes bit and then reluctantly bought Blue Sky's regular planner.
Here's how the days were arranged in that planner:
THIS DOES NOT WORK WITH MY BRAIN.
I hated it so much, I didn't even use those pages, and I just squished everything together on the monthly calendar pages.
My 2020 planner
For 2020, I did manage to find a landscape-style planner from Blue Sky.
Unfortunately, it is twice the price of the portrait-oriented planners.
And unfortunately, it does have hourly markings going from top to bottom.
So, I am either going to have to ignore those or write over them or something because I am not going to schedule my days from top to bottom. I will just confuse myself!
But at least the daily planner part goes in columns from left to right, which means that I will actually use these pages this year.
If you are not as picky as me...
Then Blue Sky makes oodles of lovely planners that will work for you, at half the price of the landscape one.
Sonia got this pretty blue and gold flowered version.
And Zoe chose this black and gold flowered planner.
I wish that I liked the cheaper ones, but alas, I do not.
And I figure that a $32 expense spread out over the course of a year is really not worth stressing over. 😉
Why I like Blue Sky planners
I like that these planners offer plenty of space for organizing and planning.
And I also like that they are not terribly complicated.
I don't need a fancy system; I just need a tidy place to put appointments, goals, meal plans, and so on.
And I need it to be a physical, paper thing vs. digital.
I know digital planning makes so much sense, and I've tried it, but it just does not work for me.
PAPER PLANNERS 4EVER.
Alrighty! Thus concludes my long-winded answer to a short question.
I put my calendar on 3 hole punch paper with printed monthly sheets.
While very, very expensive ($55), I use the Erin Condren Life Planner. It has a vertical layout option with three unlabeled boxes for different portions of the day, so it may work for what you need.
My daughter bought me this last year for Christmas and I’m waiting for this year’s. Loved it! I’m a paper gal too- my planner is a necessity.
My brain works so much better on paper than on a digital planner.
When I first heard about Erin Condren planners I thought folks were out of their minds to pay so much for a planner. But now I have been using them since 2016 (the vertical version) and see no end in sight. Love everything about them.
Perhaps you could create your own calendar using Excel spreadsheet software? It might be a bit time-consuming to create the first page, but then easily duplicated for the remaining months. You could completely custom it and design your own cover, too. Plus you could have it spiral-bound at an office supply store. 🙂
Last year I printed (I don’t know if it was frugal but I got a planner exactly how I thought I wanted it- I am going to do it somewhat different this year) the free planner from
https://www.thehandmadehome.net/free-planner-2020/
You can pick and choose what you want and there are so many options-
I printed what I wanted on some paper that was a bit heavier weight and had a nicer feel than regular copy paper-
And then I 3 hole punched it and put in into a binder-and added some folders and dividers
I was able to 3 hole punch and add anything I wanted and rearrange as I wanted also.
The binder, folders and dividers I can reuse so it will cost less this year than last year.
I have a few suggestions
1. Would some check mark washi tape work to cover the times in your new planner? Then you could fill in the squares for the times you need?
2. Michael's has an Erin Condron style planner that Krystal suggested - plus you can use a 40% off coupon. It is much less expensive but it does have the same three-section blank spots to break up the day. I used one for two years. My only downside was it was so bulky and I was not a fan.
3. I love the Gallery Leather Planners and I have recently switched to their smaller monthly planner. They are more expensive than the Michael's (but they are also gorgeous and after a year of use still look great) one but I found I never used the weekly portion so most of it was going to waste. This way I use it all. In the monthly setup, there are four lined pages after each month - perfect for my to-do lists. Their weekly set up is only has lines - no times. https://www.galleryleather.com/planners/large-weekly-planner
Ooh, covering the hours with tape is a very good idea!
Here is one kind, but Etsy has all sorts.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/678409256/square-washi-tape-tick-box-tape-to-do?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=check+box+washi+tape&ref=sr_gallery-1-11&cns=1
I would also recommend Ink and Volt planners - I originally backed them as a kickstarter, and they are really really lovely and well planned out. They have places for monthly goals, weekly goals, writing prompts...it's a great way to keep on track and were instrumental when I was in grad school! They are on the more expensive side ($45) but they have beautiful hardback covers and nice paper inside.
https://inkandvolt.com/collections/planners
I love the Nomatic planner. It has space for customization, except for hours of day which are written top to bottom. There is a month spread separated by 5 weeks-at-a-glance, and you write in the numbers for each month. The first time I got the planner, I didn't break my calendar up by months because it's really hard for me to flip pages when the month ends. Instead, I filled in the whole 5 weeks of the month layout, so my page flipped at a different time than the end of the month. And since there were 5 weeks-at-a glance spreads between each month spread, it worked. It's a pretty thin planner given it covers 12 months and has a ton of note pages at the end. I used that planner for 2 years and then switched to a Plum Paper planner on the recommendation of my sister due to it's customizable options. It just doesn't work for me (choose a poor layout for how I think; it's too chunky), and I am eager to get through the remainder of the planner so I can return to Nomatic. (https://www.nomatic.com/products/nomatic-planner)
I also used your beloved blue sky planner. I need my weeks to go left to right, top to bottom. My days go too to bottom as well. I ended up with this tools4wisdom planner. It’s almost $40, which was hard to stomach but it is a 13 month calendar which also fit my needs. I no longer have to carry around 2 years at the end of the year. The tools for wisdom calendar has extra pages for goal writing every that I use for notes. With the blue sky planner I would cram my to do list in the margins. With the tools for wisdom there is room at the bottom of each day for notes. I list my to do list here and in a space at the top write my menu. It’s not perfect, it cost more and is heavier but it has more space that works for my brain. I was satisfied enough that I just purchased my second. Oh just remembered why I had to switch last year, I Needed prewritten times.
Long story short, I mourn with you. And why don’t more calendars run left to right instead of top to bottom.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07RKY5PT7?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
I have a pocket sized planner that I found at Walmart. The only thing I'm picky about is having enough room to write, which this planner has. It says "See It Bigger" on it, and I think that might be the brand name. It's plain black and white, and I would prefer pretty, but this suited my needs, so I bought it. Oh, I forgot to add, this one runs from April 2019 - June 2020, which suits me just fine.
I also have a large wall calendar which I have clipped in magnetic binder clips on my refrigerator. I got this one from Flylady, because it's got nice big squares and will take pencil.
I don't have any synesthesia (the only thing I do is spell words by seeing them printed out in my brain, and that's not it, right?) so the arrangements in ordinary planners works for me, but for some reason I can't stand the ones that list the hours of the day for appointments.
I use a paper planner as my go-to! I just buy a simple weekly planner at the dollar store every year, and then use my phone calendar as well as my work calendar to get everything in multiple places so I don't forget anything!
Why not make your own? Design it anyway you want it, develop a template, have pages printed at your local Staples (or whatever). You can use a small ring binder or have them report bound at the printer (closer to spiral binding). Then you don't have to go through the agony every year.
I’ve been using a home generated weekly planner for the last 35 years. My sister does the same thing. Simple and just right for my needs.
I have no idea how to design a planner!
If you could draw what you see in your mind and want on a regular 8.5 x 11 piece of paper (portrait or landscape), I'll bet someone in your circle of friends and family members could translate it into a single planner page using Excel or Publisher (or a similar program). Then, as others have suggested, print up the number of pages you want in your planner on heavier paper (like cardstock) and have them spiral-bound at an office supplies store (like Staples). I think you'd have to hand-date each page as needed, but you would have the exact design that works best for you. And the cover page could be any photo, sketch or wording (or a combination of those elements) that you could draw or print on a piece of cardstock.
By the way, I have always seen the days of the week as a horizontal oval in my mind with Sunday at the top of the oval and Wednesday at the bottom. Go figure. So I do understand your frustration and empathize with you.
I prefer hand-dating my planner anyway (which mine does) because if you fall off the wagon for whatever reason -- sometimes during holidays this happens for me -- then I don't waste pages. I just pick up where I left off.
you could just give someone your old planner to copy
At last, someone who understands my dilemma!
I absolutely have to have a planner with days that go left to right, the other format is not an option. I also have to have monochrome (or color-able) days of the week, because my synesthesia includes specific colors for each weekday.
When Blue Sky raised the price of my planner this year ($70!!) I spent hours upon hours looking for a replacement, and finally found the "At-A-Glance" weekly/monthly planner -- I LOVE it. I actually like it more than Blue Sky, days are left to right, and it's super easy to customize (you can number the hours however you like.) And the price point was reasonable.
Ooh, yes, some of my kids see colors too...some numbers and letters have colors, and for Joshua, certain notes have colors.
I use a bullet journal so I can make each page what I need it to be.
Yes, a bullet journal is what I was going to suggest! It’s the only kind of planner that I’ve used for three years now and I can’t imagine trying to buy/use a pre-made planner anymore. I love being able to use the pages however I need to use them.
Hi Kristin: I have always had a tough time with planners also - I can’t “tolerate” ones that have vertical columns for days, especially if it has hourly markings.
I also always have had trouble with science, history and math, unless I could draw pictures of what I was learning. History had to be in a horizontal timeline. I also can’t keep a digital calendar ; I have to write the info on paper.
Are these traits of synesthesia?
Hmm, maybe so! I do much better learning things if I see them. And even if it's just words, I do way better reading something than I do hearing it.
If I read music, I have little trouble memorizing it (I can still "see" sheets of music I played when I was 13!). If I try to play by ear and I've never laid eyes on the music, I have a terrible time remembering how to play it.
I mostly use a digital system, but I also have a freebie paper planner that I use for certain things. I was just wondering, why don't you design & print your own planner using an excel file? It might not be as pretty as a commercially produced planner, but you could make exactly what you need.
Plum Paper has a vertical column planner with lines but no numbers. That might be something for you to look in to.
You should check out bullet journalling. The great thing about it is that you can completely customize it to the way your brain works. BTW, I have the same type of synesthesia and I also have days of the week going left to right and morning at the bottom of each day. I'm not sure I ever realized that might be why I don't like a lot of planners though. So maybe I should rearrange my bullet journal now ...
The "Sydney Weekly" style petite planner from practicalpaperco.com has the weekly layout you like, without hour markings...maybe something for 2021? 🙂
Ooh, I will check it out!
There are lots of customizable planners on Etsy. Maybe you could find one you like better for next year!
I tried and tried to go digital for my planner but finally abandoned it and went back to paper. I still have not found the perfect one for me so this year I am designing my own. I don't have synesthesia, but I do have a different weirdness. English is my second language, the first being an obscure Eastern European one. In that language I operate as "normal," but when someone is speaking to me in English, which is most of the time except for my family, I hear them but in my brain I see the words being typed out. And, worse, I faintly hear the clacking sound of the old fashioned typewriter. I have no idea why this is, although I tend to think it is because I learned to read in English before I heard it spoken. Brains are so interesting! I wish mind melding were real because I would love to understand how others see the world. My husband is severely colorblind and when we were first married I used to see something colorful and ask him to describe what he saw. I fear he has a boring visual world, mostly monochromatic. However, he is impervious to camouflage, able to see right past the attempt to hide something in plain site.
sight...not site.
Lindsey, that’s pretty cool- I “hear” Spanish as if being typed, too, though silently! It’s slow, and I have to sort of type out or think out when I speak! If I am spending a lot of time with people speaking Spanish, it’s different. It must be challenging for you, but really interesting!
Kristen, I’d never heard of synesthesia before you mentioned it some years ago, but I knew immediately that I have it, too! Mine operates a little different- a lot of things are sort of circular- hard to explain, but I know you understand! When you first talked about it, I read about it a little bit. Now I want to learn more. I really appreciate it! After years of struggling some with planners and calendars, I just use my iPhone, IPad, etc. combined with the Notes app, and a yearly paper beach-themed calendar that hangs where I see it all the time. Have to go and buy one at half-price (I hope) this week, or use some Office Depot or Staples rewards.
Ohmigosh - ohmigosh!! I have this (synthesia), too! And I actually find it to be a gift; I see numbers, dates, etc. in a very specific visual pattern (which may be a little weird) and have for all of my life. Perhaps related (or not), I can also find my way in a huge foreign city using a paper map without ever having been there - would that be related? In any case, I also love a paper calendar (Sierra Club) and draft my own weekly to-do list on paper. It works perfectly for me. Thanks for this great post!
I don't hear a clicking, but I see words in my head all the time as I think and talk. This is why I really like to know how things are spelled!
Why not just do a bullet journal and make your own.
Ugh I loved the landscape non-hourly planner too! I miss it so much!
I have no suggestions for you on a planner, but I'm relieved to hear that some people (who are younger than me!) still prefer paper planners. I use a combination of an old-school paper calendar and my Google calendar on my phone. Yes, it's a pain to coordinate the two, but I do most of the medical appointments for my elderly mom so I need a convenient at-a-glance calendar on me during appointments at a doctor's office as well as a paper calendar.
Something I notice at work is that the younger staff who grew up in a digitized world are more comfortable using digitized "cheat sheets" for our computer documentation, whereas I have a clipboard with paper cheat sheets. Part of brain preference includes what our brains have been doing longest!
Plum Paper! They have numerous layouts to try to please all types of planning people. Plus they are affordable and good quality. You can add-on different types of sections or pages if you'd like, or you can go with basic.
I have spent quite a bit of funds over the years on planners that I wind up not using as they are too much visually for me. I need paper to touch and ground me so I created my out from free printables and printables that I created. I am not into stickers etc. to decorate my working planner. Mine is 3 hole punched and in a binder at a whole less than what a planner would have cost me.
Yes, I cannot get into the sticker thing either. I don't care how cute or beautiful my planner is...I just need it to be organized.
Now Sonia? I could see her getting into the sticker part!
Hi Kristen- I have it also!
I was telling someone about your blog post and could NOT remember what it’s called. Now I do!!
I’m a regular reader but don’t often comment. Just also wanted to say hello and you continue to be one of my favorite bloggers.
Aww, thank you so much for the encouragement!
An oversized wall calendar ("Mary and the Saints," which has absolutely beautiful art in it) that hangs in the kitchen. Because it's perpetually 1985 in my house. 🙂
Happy New Year!
I much prefer paper over digital! But the only planner I have is a monthly calendar hanging on the side of the refrigerator that my husband and I use together.
Regular planners never worked well for me, so last year I started dot journaling, aka bullet journaling. I love it! I get my journals with dot paper from Michaels for about $7.
I got a planner by Paper Source that is just as you are describing your old one used to be. It was a gift, and so it’s different from the one I normally use. I can’t decide if I like it or not, but it sounds like it would be perfect for what you like. They’re around $25. You could check them out for next year. When I buy my own it’s always the cheap one from the calendar kiosk in the mall at half price after Christmas. As much as I hate to waste this new and very nice planner gift (I’ve already written in it), I may go spend the $7 and go grab my old faithful. I’m already struggling with the change. Maybe we’ll get used to it??
https://www.papersource.com/desk/2019-2020-rose-floral-on-black-large-planner-10007484.html
Ooh, that does look nice!
Hi
I found a day timer (More Time) that worked for me EONS ago and, when they went out of business, I just decided to photocopy the pages I needed every year. I also found the Franklin yearly calendar and goals pages fit nicely with my old copied weekly and daily pages so that is what I do. Luckily the weekly and daily pages did not have formatting or dates on them so I have been free to copy them year after year. Plus is is a lot cheaper than buying a new system. Of course I also lucked out that my scheduler fits into a small three-ring binder so it is not only portable but customizable (in that I can use bits and pieces from different systems). And the daily pages CAN be organized from top to bottom or vice versa (since you fill in your own priorities), I have to say that I DO MISS the yearly quotes and inspirational passages that used to come with the yearly packet (for use in the section inserts) But it is not that bad to reread the same ones! Happy new year everyone--
This is why I like the bullet journal system. You can use any notebook you like and set it up in any way that suits you.
I have a monthly page, a weekly spread in my bujo. On occasion if I am busy I do a daily or weekend page with hours.
I understand completely how your brain works and the need for a paper planner to fit you. About 6 years ago I gave up trying to find something that fit me and my needs. I went with a bullet journal. I watched a few videos. I used it for 3-4 months to see what I needed and liked. Now I know exactly what I need and want. Every 3 years I take a couple of hours to create myself a new one. My family calls it my brain.
We have a family wall calendar, and I supplement it with a small clipboard that holds my myriad to-do and ta-da lists. I have been considering a consolidated sort of thing with a magnet board for the school and church calendars as well as the wall calendar, but haven't made any progress toward enacting that idea.
Also, our library has a makerspace with a Cricut. My thought to solve your (Kristen's) planner's day inversion was to see if your library offers something similar and design and cut your own time-of-day stickers to neatly cover the existing hours. I see you're not into stickers in one of the comment responses, but a strictly utilitarian sticker seems much less like a sticker. 🙂
I buy a "Happy Planner" (https://thehappyplanner.com/collections/happy-planners) from Hobby Lobby (with my coupon of course), and I like how they have lots of options and I can be VERY pickey. I want a monthly page for the whole month appoimtnemts and then weekly, and I want the week to have sections, NOT HOURS, so I can put things as I want. (And like you, I want them horizontal, not vertical). They have lots of options so I can get exactly what I want. Con: The big discks on the side...but that makes it so you can add pages and take out pages. Since I often have to plan ahead for our co-op, I need a 2020/2021 now and then will need to shift ahead to 2021/2022 before most people are, so I can buy the next section and add it in to what I already have.
I love the classic Happy Planner. But of all the planners I could use, Erin Condren is my Fave.
If you look on Etsy, there are more planners than anybody could fathom, both digital and paper. Most all shop owners will work with you to design you a planner specific to your needs without charging some insane fee. As a matter of fact, most do it for free.
Not sure if you're interested, but I had one and HATED the disks, too. I took mine to Staples - and they removed the disks, punched it and coiled it for $5. Best $5 ever spent!
Have you ever looked at the planners at personalplanner.com? They might have a setup that would work for your particular needs...
I mostly use the regular calendar app on my phone, but for meal planning so use MayBooks. I love that company. They are just the right size and so simply. I make them more frugal by drawing a line down each page so I can plan two weeks at once instead of just one. (I only shop every other week, so this is perfect). When I’m feeling uninspired for meal planning, I just pull out and old book and voila, there’s two weeks of meals and a grocery list ready to go!
Ugh. Autocorrect failed me. I apologize for the numerous errors.
Check out The Happy Planner - they've got a vertical layout similar to the one from Erin Condren but I got it at Walmart for $20 (not personalized obviously). Also online, I'm sure.
I love the Nomantic planner, which runs around $30. The monthly and weekly calendars are undated so you can start at any time. The weekly layout starts with Sunday and runs left to right. The hours are pre-printed on the daily spreads with the am at the top. And there are plenty of lined and blank pages at the back for notes, drawings, etc. I’ve used it for three years and love it!
I have never managed to usea planner consistently. I fall off the wagon after less than a month. I do make detailed to do lists in my phone and my phone calendar also alerts me to appointments, because otherwise will DEFINITELY miss them. Every evening I check my to do list and put all of it on a calendar alert, labeled ME:, that goes off at 8 am. I would love to use beautiful planners like those, though!
Oh...and I also have a daily calendar alert in the afternoon because I need the reminder that time has passed. An hour or three hours feels the same to me when I am occupied, or just thinking, so I need that nudge. It's probably really weird, lol.
OMG someone who understands how I think!! I do think of hours from top to bottom. However. I can't function with something that doesn't show days from left to right. Nope. I also have had no luck with digital budgeting apps. I have to write it down, and in my own order haha. My first Erin Condren planner came today, and I think I'll love it. Big enough calendar blocks, and plenty of plain lined pages for all my lists, budget, meal plans....ahhhhhh 🙂
Haha, most people do think of hours that way. I don't know if I've met someone yet who thinks of hours the way I do, unless I missed someone in the comments here!
I love happy planners! There's lots of layout and size options and they're not too expensive. You could maybe use the 3 sections of the vertical and put evening on top, day in the middle, & morning on the bottom!
For those rows of hours going the wrong way? White-out, the tape kind, might be a good friend to you this year. Easy and neat. 🙂
White the hours. That will be less to look at and then you could write in hours going bottom to top.
I do up a bullet journal in a Leuchtturm1917. This way, I can make the layout anything I want it to be, within the confines of the pages.
I’ve never visualized time from the bottom up, but yes; days of the week are left to right.
Upsetified. I love it.
I've never heard of synesthesia. How cool!
You might want to consider the Get to Work book - here's a photo of the page layouts if you're interested.
https://www.gettoworkbook.com/photos
So my friends and I have just discovered bullet journals and hope to try that this year 🙂
i can't do a paper planner - i would never carry it around with me and i'm always EVERYWHERE! but i do ALWAYS have my phone with me. I personally like the "family organizer" app. https://sprinkledwithgranola.blogspot.com/2018/06/calendar-family-organizer-app.html i wrote a blog post about it because i love it so much! i like the MOST that i can keep my kids information in there and share it with my 16 year old daughter - and she can add things and notify me that she added something i need to know about! i realize not everyone is into digital organizing but this was a GAME CHANGER for me and my family!
Hourly markings would drive me nuts!
As a couple of other readers have mentioned, I like The Happy Planner. I used it for the last 2.5 years. (My first one was a gift, then I got the second one from Hobby Lobby with a coupon.) My original plan was to go to Hobby Lobby to get one for this year, BUT... I actually got my planner from Aldi this year!! I know, I know... I have a major love for Aldi. But I think that they based their design off of The Happy Planner. The cover and binding are different but the pages inside are almost exactly the same. And it was only $7.99.
And I'm only 33 but I agree - paper planners for life!!!
I used bigger, more expensive planners for a few years like Erin Condren, but I discovered Bloom planners, under $10 on Amazon, and LOVE them. Their website also has a ton of free printables if you're into that. Fun!
Sounds like bullet journalling would be PERFECT for you!
Not sure if anyone has said this yet. But Agendio you can label the time your self, so you can put it from bottom up as needed. Might check them out. They offered partial year now too so you can see if it work for you or change for the next one.
I use Aldi's full-size planners. They come in vertical and horizontal options without an hourly schedule. Last year they had one with an hourly schedule, but not this year. They are extremely flexible... You can use them in a way that suits you! They only cost $7.99 but they're very nice quality. This year they came out with specialty planners, undated, for wedding planning, baby planning, parent planning and health planning.
My kids are always telling me to just use the Google calendar that is built into my phone (which is ALWAYS with me), and I try, really I do. But I tend to forget it unless I physically write it somewhere, so I have used paper planners forever. (I will also admit to a bit of an obsession with them where I buy multiple ones.) I have used the less expensive Blue Sky ones, often actually. I currently have a smaller sized Cambridge one, which I like, but I can already see that I need the larger one again. I also tend to use the monthly pages far more than the weekly ones, but I am trying to change that habit. I still can't bring myself to spend a lot on a planner though, so I'll keep looking, and end up spending more by trying several until I find the one of my dreams.
Yep, I tried Google Calendar but I just kept forgetting it was even there!
I use Google calendar so I can see my schedule from anywhere, but I also like the accountability of writing it out and looking at it all at a glance in paper form. Google calendar has the date and time type things ,and I put those on my paper planner at home, but paper planner also gets the "need to do but can do anytime" stuff for each week, along with meal ideas, reminders to put the trash out, etc.
Agendio.com will let you make a truly custom planner, including labels on your time slots in whatever order you want!
I’m a paper planner forever person too! I love my Passion Planner. Many people cover the time column. You can download and try their planner for free - printed of corse! (Some people use it as a pdf for a digital planner). If it works for you, you can buy it. I love its flexibility, the paper, and the goal setting that it encourages. Good luck!
The Happy Planner has been my go to for a few years now
That sounds like I could help you out on that. I have never heard of your condition before, but I do use the bullet journal system. I do make my own and print them out. So it wouldn't be much of a task to put the calendar in the way that you are looking for at all. Let me know if I can help.
What a great idea!
Since I also "got" Spatial Sequence Synesthesia, I'll draw a planned that fits how I see hours in the day and days in the week.
Only problem is... now that I try to draw them... they keep on moving. :/
I make my own planner with a spiral notebook. Open like a book, draw a line down the middle of each page top and bottom to make 8 sections (4 on each page). And then label left page top sections To Do, Monday. Bottom sections Tuesday, Wednesday. Next page top Thurs, Friday. Bottom Sat and Sunday. My week revolves around school, so I like to start on Monday and end on Sunday, and I like Sat and Sun together since to me weekend days should be one unit.
I put whatever has a set date and time in the boxes, and then use the To Do box for things I want or need to accomplish this week but aren't on a schedule. The next week whatever is left in to do has to be re-written on the next weeks to do, so it gives me motivation to get them done.
I use a 4" x 6" Week-at-a Glance day planner. It has to be small enough to fit in my purse. It has a phone number/address section in the back, and every year I copy over the numbers/addresses to the next year's planner. Yes, that's a bit nutty, but I enjoy the ritual. By the way, all of this talk about planners reminds me of the '90s. Anyone remember when the goal was to carry around the biggest, heaviest planner you could find, stuffed with everything? It meant you were somebody important! 🙂
Hi, it’s Elaine. Thank you for all the suggestions, observations, and comments. Before reading them, I had no clue that there are so many options available. It was a bit overwhelming so I grabbed the Hobby Lobby recommendation and arrived there still not knowing exactly what I wanted but at least armed with ideas on what to look for.
I’m happy to report that just the right planner was waiting for me and it was half price so cost less than $15. Since I threw away the wrapping, I don’t know the brand but it is spiral bound and the front proclaims “Plans 2020”. It has a yearly overview calendar, events by month page, monthly spread, and weekly spread with a grid box which I’m using for daily habit reminders. There is no hourly breakdown for each day, just blank lines and so far I’m good with that. There are quite a few lined pages and grid dot pages at the end. So far I have used a couple for impotent lists. I’m sure you will be just as happy as I to know they also included a list of “Hoildays”.
Thanks again for the good information!
I am on year three of designing my planner on Agendio. It is not a frugal thing; at all; but it lets me create a planner that works for my weird routine and brain. Last year I had a separate Agendio planner and budget planner. This year I figured out how to combine the two and thus save a few dollars.
Check our In the Leafy Treetops planners. Their vertical version might be just what you want. Or I think they have an hourly, and on Etsy you can find stickers to put the hours the way you want.
I've been looking all over the place for the Blue Sky Landscape Oriented planner. I saw you mentioned it but when I click the link it takes me to a different planner. Why oh why?! Has it already disappeared from existence??
I know I can make my own planner, or use a bullet journal, but I get so obsessed with how everything looks that way. I'd rather just by a landscape planner that makes sense to my brain. I have ADHD and process visually and the Mon-Sun days of the week listed vertically is the only thing that makes sense in my brain.
Sadly, it's been pretty difficult to find. Sometimes after a bunch of searching, I've been able to find one, but not this year.
Sad sigh!!
I understand the vertical issue; my brain just does not want to think of the days any other way.
Looks like I'll need to draft an email to Blue Sky.... 🙂
Thanks for the repsonse!!