Ready: Planner One

*** I received no compensation of any kind for this post.***

I'm trying something new for 2024--multiple planners.

I received the first of the planners I ordered a couple of weeks ago--the Sterling Ink 2024 Common Planner in size B6. This is a weekly planner.

This is not my main planner. My primary planner where I keep track of everything and anything is a daily planner which I haven't received as yet.

My idea with the Common Planner is to carry this with me in my tote bag. That way I'll have the appointments with me. I know I have them on my phone, too, but my brain works better with paper when it comes to keeping track of things.

The Common Planner is Tomoe River paper, which is thinner than normal paper. This means I can carry the full year planner (which I prefer) along with all the blank pages that come with it, and not have to worry about the weight or the thickness. I ordered the black cover with the gold edges on the paper because I like that look, especially with the dark cover.

I've begun setting up the planner and I'm hoping it works the way I want it to because I really like this. Not only does this give me a weekly planner to carry along with me, but because it has a ton of blank pages, it also eliminates the need to keep a notebook with me. I never know when inspiration will strike, so I always have an A5 notebook along for the ride. Now I can leave that at home and just take this with me. It's also lighter than the hardcover A5 notebook.

I'm toying with buying a cover for it, but I'm not sure I want to invest money in that until I'm sure this is going to work for me. Two keys will be 1. Remembering to update the calendar when something is added and 2. Using those empty pages for notes so that I don't hit 2025 with 150 blank pages.

I'm using this section upfront as a summary of the quarter's appointments and obligations. I'm not sure it's strictly necessary, but I like the overview it allows.

There's a monthly calendar for one month at a glance. These start with December 2023 and go through January 2025. I appreciate those extra two months. All the monthly calendars are together prior to the weekly pages.

The weekly pages have time slots available. The columns are a little narrow, but that allows the layout to carry one extra column for notes/misc each week. I actually like that touch, too, because sometimes I might need to write something down that doesn't apply to a particular day.

Then there are hundreds of blank pages behind the weeklies. This is what sold me on this planner more than anything else. There's a nice grid layout, which I prefer over the dots. I might even prefer it over plain lines--I vacillate on this. I haven't used the Tomoe River paper before, so I'm not sure what I'll think about writing on such thin paper, but this is what's keeping the weight/bulk down.

To sum up, this is my first time buying from this company and I'm impressed with the product. If the planner portion doesn't work the way I envision, they also sell blank notebooks, and I'd switch to that because I like the lightness of the book overall.

With the caveat that I've only begun to setup the planner for 2024 and haven't actually used it in real life yet, I'll give it a recommendation.

*** I received no compensation of any kind for this post.***