My Passion Planner and Other Planners For 2016

Yes, it's already mid-January.  But it's not too late to get more organized.  In addition, you get to take advantage of discounted prices as sellers/stores are trying to get rid of 2016 planners.  

I started this year with my first Passion Planner for $29.99.

It has a faux leather cover and about 212 pages made from 100gsm thick paper. I was attracted to the goal-oriented set up and prompts to keep you grateful, uplifted, and reminded of your achievements. I also loved that the Get One, Give One Kickstarter campaign donated one planner to a nonprofit or someone in need. Yes, a planner may not be as crucial as food to someone, but it is a great tool (especially for students) for success.

I bought the 8.5"x11" one to start off with more space.  I figured I could either keep it at home or carry it in my larger bags I use almost daily anyway (I have to keep headshots on me for auditions).

I also purchased a limited midnight blue compact planner (5.5"x 8.5") for my friend.  She works in behavioral sciences and makes house calls so a smaller size seemed more appropriate. The compact is $24.99.

Another size comparison

There is actually some pre-planning involved in using your planner. 

You set a timer for 5 minutes and create a wish list of goals you would like to achieve within 3 months, one year, 3 years, and lifetime. This leads to setting up mind maps and eventually a timeline with checkpoints that your Passion Planner will help you hit.  Your Passion Planner includes a sample on how to fill out these mind maps and create passion plans. It also provides info on why writing and prioritizing works.

There is a page each showing the 2016 and 2017 year view.
Then comes the monthly view.

I dig the People to See and Places to Go boxes! It may seem ridiculous that you need to write down people to see, but it is really easy to make sincere plans with people and having meeting times constantly conflict. So this reminds me to try again. I'm sure it could also pertain to a band, artist, etc you want to see. For example, I really want to see the Long Island Medium. Is there someone else good in the city who isn't famous? Yes, I kind of sort of believe in that stuff. That is for another post.

Places to Go- This is awesome because there are so many places in NYC to try- but then you easily forget! I have down the Korean spa Juvenex because I have a gift card I need to use asap. Also Meow Parlour. Because it's New York City's first cat cafe!

As for the Not To-Do list, I wrote down "Eat out more than 3x a week". Don't do!

Projects are below the month calendar. I flip back to this to align my weekly to-do lists with these projects.

Weekly View

I give this set up two thumbs up. This week's focus and today's focus are fantastic for someone like me who has trouble...focusing. Every week also has a little "challenge" or prompt for you. 

Sometimes we can be so hard on ourselves about rough days and what we haven't achieved, so the box with "Good Things That Happened" puts a positive spin to your day. I like to start the week with at least one good thing (even if it was from the past week) because then you have something to look at and cheer you up until something good does happen that current week.

The blank space is cool for little lists, doodles, brain dump, etc.

 End-of-the-month reflection.

 There is also an end-of-the-year reflection. The Passion Planner includes 20 blank pages and 23 gridded pages at the end for anything you'd like!

This is what my current week looks like.

Kate Spade journal, Snow & Graham pens

People can get super decorative with their planners. I am pretty much just a colored pens/highlighter girl, but I am getting into scrapbooking (what, I know) so stuck a couple of magazine cutouts on it. 

I highly recommend this planner. I have been getting so much more stuff done by writing it down in here, and because I like the way this planner is formatted, I actually enjoy using it. And because I like using it, I do. Which works.

Maybe my unchecked boxes on this planner page tell you a different story, but I am truly better at getting my tasks done. Some things I don't check off because I need to repeat them for the week. And some things I haven't done like call Discover because who else hates making customer service calls to rectify a situation? Not my favorite thing to do. But I'm telling you that is going to get done maybe 5 days later than planned as opposed to NEVER. :)

I've noticed that I have been keeping up with my goals for fitness, new hobbies (cooking!), reading, and research for acting and business. Let's see if the trend continues. I PLAN to do a check in later in the year to see if the Passion Planner is still an awesome "life coach".

TRY IT FOR FREE

Another amazing thing about Passion Planner is that you can try it for free if you share about the planner on social media. Download it here. 

*****

Before I decided on the Passion Planner, I did a whole bunch of research. So I wanted to include some other planners that may be a match for you.

If you want a pretty planner with a focus on goals:

Inkwell Live Well Planner is 7" x 9" spiral bound planner with yearly and monthly goal setting sheets for $54.

image via inkwellpress.com

Overview

2016 liveWELL Walk Through from inkWELL Press on Vimeo.


There will be an imperfect sale on 2016 LiveWell Planners with slight imperfections. Take advantage of the 40% discount on January 20th at 10am EST.



If you want to focus on happiness:

My friend uses The Happiness Planner, and she adores it! 

There is a full yearly Happiness Planner for $59.99, but here are photos of the undated 100-Day Planner for $29.99.  I took the photos at Anthropologie so excuse the lighting. Because Anthropologie uses lighting for things to look super pretty in real life for people to buy, not for people to take photos of items they won't be buying. 

Here is info on how the planner works.  

If you like simple:

Planner Pads look like what you imagine old professors use to keep organized. Yes, it's got that VERY traditional look.

image via plannerpads.com

The above is the 8.5"x11" Executive Style for $29.99.  But there are options for sizes, dated and undated, and there is a green cover color option for the dated planners so check out the website.

There were so many people who wrote blog posts about trying other planners and always coming back to the Planner Pad.  This planner boasts of an exclusive funnel system that is effective in time management. 

See how it works below.

Below are other planners that were highly rated:

Top Down Planner- featured on Shark Tank
Action Day Planner - #1 selling Personal Organizer on Amazon
Spark Notebook-another popular planner on Kickstarter


If the planner you are interested in purchasing is sold out, definitely check out eBay or other resellers.

I would love to know your thoughts on the above planners or your own favorite planners!

xo,

Erica