Elisabeth recently had a giveaway on her blog for a Sprouted planner. I did not enter because I have officially moved away from bulky paper planners. I used to have paper planners and loved them, but it honestly was hard to keep track of our household's comings and goings with it. My husband and I have a shared Google calendar and everything goes in there.
But I am looking for a simple physical journal that allows me to do two things:
2) Create daily to-do lists
I don't want inspirational journal prompts. I don't want endless blank pages for bullet journaling that will stress me out. I don't want a daily/monthly/yearly/5-year/10-year plan. I want a clean design with daily goal tracking and maybe a sidebar for a to-do list. Is that so hard to find?
Well, yes, yes it is. Apparently most people do want journal prompts, inspirational sayings, and blank pages.
Right now my system is that I hand create a goal tracker for each month in a journal. My to-do lists are scattered around the house in tiny papers and heaven forbid one item on the list doesn't get done because I will not throw that list away until it's done. Last year at this exact time, I wrote a very similar post to this one about how I wanted a simpler system, but guess who still doesn't have a simpler system?
Here are some options I've come upon:
1) A tracking calendar (or this) that I fill out nightly AND a pocket journal with blank pages that I carry around with me for my to-do lists (a day for each page)
2) Suck it up and get a slightly bulkier planner that has what I want AND other extraneous things
3) Buy a digital tracker and create my own tracking journal with printouts
I suspect that most people who track as much as I do track things electronically on digital spreadsheets and that's why I'm running into this problem. I'll have to figure out something in the next month and a half.
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Does anyone have a magical solution for me? If you're a goal-setter, how do you track your goals?
I just used a lined notebook-- I have a tendency to resist form.
ReplyDeleteI think the lined notebook would be fine for to-do lists. It would be nice to just have all my lists in ONE place, honestly. But it's not really practical for goal tracking, so I'd need something else in tandem. Honestly, maybe I should just stop setting so many goals that need to be tracked so much.
DeleteI just go with two planners - I have a Hobonichi Cousin that I use to track habits - I track on the monthly spreads. Then I have a separate planner for to dos, A hobonichi weeks. It's a smaller planner so fits in my purse. I don't have a good method for keeping all my to dos together either - things just pop in my head and I'll put them in my phone or in my planner depending what I can get to first.. What I really want, though, is to be able to synch my Outlook calendar at work with my personal Google calendar so I don't keep missing meetings or appointments.
ReplyDeleteI think you've mentioned the Hobonichi Cousin before and I do like the look of it. They're kind of pricey, but if it solved my problems, I could be converted. I feel like there's enough space in that planner for my to-do lists and I would love to have it all in one place. Hmmm...
DeleteIf you figure out how to synch your Outlook with Google, I would LOVE it. Right now I have my Outlook open at work AND my Google and every time I make a work appointment, I also add it to my Google calendar and it's SO MUCH WORK.
I have a planner that has a week at a glance, and a sidebar for to-do lists. Now, yes, it does have more than I need - monthly pages, a few pages for notes, stickers, etc - but generally speaking it does the job. I like to have it laid out with my daily things in it - what I need to do, what we are having for dinner - and occasionally I'll write a goal or two.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think I would be able to get away with this if I didn't want to track my goals, which is the big thing I'm still doing by hand!
DeleteI guess I don’t track things after the fact, but I use Alexa and Google Calendar to more or less keep me organized. The other day Calendar reminded me that I had a car appointment in ten minutes. It was only a block or two away, so I did make it in time.
ReplyDeleteHa! The life of a retired person. I check my calendar like eighty times a day, so something like that would not get missed. Although I did recently send out my nephew's birthday card two days late, so maybe I'm too cocky.
DeleteI also am having trouble finding a planner for 2025. I want more than you do, but I also don't want all the extraneous pages of prompts and reflections. My only suggestion- if you're going with paper- is to go to a place like Barnes and Noble or TJ Maxx. They carry planners, and you could just look through them. Some of them are very simple, and you might be able to find one that fits your needs.
ReplyDeleteJenny, I don't think you really understand that I live so far away from a Barnes and Noble or TJ Maxx that it would be a day trip for me to go to one of those places. LOL. I'm buying it online or bust!
DeleteI'm a lined notebook type. Maybe I need to set more goals? I feel accomplished if I cross a bunch of things off of my list each day, so I guess that's enough tracking for me. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteYes, I get it! This a problem of my own making because I want to keep track of so many goals. I wish I could be more fancy free about life!
Delete"If you're a goal-setter, how do you track your goals?" I don't set specific goals, just determine what direction I need to go in, then do a little of it every day. I use a legal pad of paper on a clipboard where I keep an ongoing list of things I need to do, crossing them off when I've done them. After a page is completed, I scrunch it up into a ball and toss it in the trash. It's a satisfying sound to hear it go thunk.
ReplyDeleteI wish I were as good about actually doing something if I didn't set goals. If I don't say I'm going to do something and write it down, I will just sit on the couch and read! You're more intrinsically motivated than I am, that's for sure.
DeleteI like paper planners in theory, but every time I buy one, they sit around unused, gathering dust after a couple of initial entries. Like it or not, I guess my destiny is digital.
ReplyDeleteI just KNOW that I will not sit down at my computer at the end of the day and go through my goal checklist, but I will sit down at the table (with the cat on my lap, naturally) and do it every night. So digital is not the answer for me!
DeleteI use Google Tasks and you can make multiple lists, so for example you can have certain ones which have due dates which will also transfer to your calendar, and then you can have a separate list which has no due date, or a due date at the end of the quarter (and can be repeatable if you want). Then you can just check in with that list each day or week or whatever.
ReplyDeleteI used to have one for more date related tasks and one general Travel one which was not as immediate but was more for down the road at some point. Now though, I keep them all on one list since most of my life is travel related.
Digital is not for me, I'm afraid. I will not turn my computer on before I go to bed to go through the day. I will go through a paper planner quickly, though. I could make my own spreadsheet and just print it, though. That might be a relatively inexpensive fix.
DeleteThis! Can’t you even just make a simple table grid in Word, and print 12 copies, one for each month? Keep it next to your bed and check off your habits each night… That’s what I would do I think, and then just buy a notebook for your to do lists.
DeleteYou know I live and die by my paper planner...but I have also mostly stopped tracking things. That said, my Sprouted Planner does have a two page spread with every single day of the year with a block available, so if I was going to track habits, I'd do something there since it literally captures the whole year at a glance.
ReplyDeleteI used to be a bit habit tracker, but I can tell it was a net negative in my life, so I've ditched it. Hopefully for good? Short-term things are fun (i.e. my walking club), but I have zero desire to track habits 365/year. I LOVE it for other people, but it is just too much for my mental health since I want to see perfection so missing a day of something stresses me out.
So old me wouldn't believe new me isn't blogging 7 days/week during NaBloPoMo!
Yeah, if I could ditch tracking and be productive, I would. The idea is that someday I will do that. I actually don't track brushing the cat and dog's teeth anymore because WE DO IT EVERY DAY now and it's not a big deal. But I need to track until it truly becomes a habit!
DeleteI do sometimes get frustrated - you should see me wailing and gnashing my teeth because I know I'm not going to be able to hit my fitness goals this year. *sigh* Don't let perfection be the enemy of the good and all that...
I think there is magic in a Bullet journal, set up exactly to your own preferences and liking.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite way to bullet journal is in a grid notebook because it makes writing lists, the index and drawing up any calendar pages and trackers a lot easier..
I'm just not a bullet girl. I get so frustrated by how much time it takes to create something every week/month/quarter. I just want a one and done solution!
DeleteThere's nothing quite like the rush of checking something off, so I get why you want a physical planner. I track fewer habits than you do, so I can get away with the kind of planner that Nicole describes above.
ReplyDeleteFWIW: https://www.pocobrat.net/2021/03/days-are-short.html
Yours is so pretty. I do not color code, either! I just want it be simple! *sigh* I'm trying in November and December just having a little Moleskin notebook with me and whenever I get something for my to-do list, I just add it. We'll see how it works for the next month and a half. Maybe I can just get away with that.
DeleteI have a two notebook system for creating weekly todo lists. One for work and one for personal/household tasks. I just use small spiral notebooks and keep them on my desk - I use a new page each week. I personally find a weekly system works best, but I'll sometimes annotate the day of the week if the task is time sensitive.
ReplyDeleteI think the key for me is portability. I basically want my to-do list with me AT ALL TIMES because as soon as I think of something, I want to jot it down. I'm just not at my desk all the time. If not for the portability aspect, I would definitely be on board with just a regular ruled notebook.
DeleteI think you're right that most people who track as much as you do do it digitally. I don't track a lot of things digitally, and I don't track as much as you do. I have a wall calendar that I put all my appointments and events on because I need to be able to see it all at once, and I also put everything in my phone calendar because I am so forgetful. November has been particularly bad - a lot of stuff and my head is worse maybe? And I have to look at the whole month almost every day to convince myself that I'm not forgetting anything.
ReplyDeleteI am so bad at time. Like...I know I have an appointment later this week and I know I have to prep for it, but that is so far away. Even visualizations do not help me. *sigh* Know your own strengths and weaknesses, I guess.
DeleteI got this one (https://a.co/d/gRnoUPL) for super cheap on amazon (link takes you to Amazon. The left spread is a to-do list, a priority to do list and a habit tracker. Right side is a weekly layout. I stopped using it because it didn't have a monthly lay out and my 18 month Erin Condren ran out. I used up this similar one (https://a.co/d/7Ior3bA) last year. I might actually like it better (cover is thinner, and I just like the feel of it better), but it has a goals and a to-do list column with no priorities spot, and I like priorities. But maybe it will work great for your needs. It also has a habit tracker at the bottom and a weekly layout on the right. Both are dateless so you have to date them yourself. I hope you find something you like. It's so nice when you have a planner than feels like it fits you.
ReplyDeleteThese are REALLY GOOD. I'm definitely bookmarking them. They do seem about perfect for my needs.
DeleteMy comment disappeared! Or I'm about to double post. I recommend Weeks, although it may not totally fit your needs. But the three places for habit tracking are 1. on the monthly page, you can make a habit tracker on the left of the page for 0-6 habits and use a box a day to check 2. There's a 2 page, vertical layout of the entire year so you can use the small rectangles as a tracker and 3. Make a mini-bullet journal in the back on the pages. I love the small size, the month layout, the weekly pages that can be customized- there's a Hobonichi rabbit hole that is quite deep!
ReplyDeleteHobonichi people love their planners. I appreciate the enthusiasm. I think Hobonichi and the ones Noemi posted above are my best options, so I'm going to spend some time researching them.
DeleteOkay, Engie, we're on the same planner wavelength here. I want a planner that has a weekly layout where I can track goals and also write down to-dos, and I FOUND ONE. https://inkandvolt.com/products/ink-volt-dashboard-spiral-deskpad. It has a small weekly layout but then these 5 big spaces to write down goals/to-dos based on different categories. There's also a daily tracker. I'm really loving this one right now!
ReplyDeleteThe world of planners and journals is so extensive! I had no idea that all this was there!
DeleteI can't really help with this but loved reading the comments to see how people do it. I always think tracking is a good idea but then fall behind with it and usually stop a couple of weeks in.
ReplyDeleteI always want to do better in habit tracking but I am starting h´than have big gabs and then continue again. So I have no suggestions. Sorry.
DeleteI would probably get a note book and set up the trackers all in one sitting and then be done with it. Rest of the pages are going to be the to-do lists.
I was the one chosen to get the planner from Elisabeth, and I can't wait to try it out in 2025! I've just used a weekly calendar to keep track of stuff. But there are a couple of things I'd like to track daily, so we'll see how it goes. I hope you find your perfect planner!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your big win! It looks like a great planner and I hope you get to use it well.
DeleteOk, here's a question: do you like trackers on one page (so that you have a neat visual at the end of the month/year), or do you just care about "checking things off" somewhere? I think a vertical weekly planner - a simple layout - might work for you, unless you want your trackers each on an individual page.
ReplyDeleteI think I want a page for each month and I can track everything in one place. And Anne just sent me a one-pager that I think I'm going to use in combo with a little notebook for to-do lists. At least I'll try this system and see if it works.
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