I go back and forth on paper planners/notebooks all the time. They work, and then they don’t, then they do, then they don’t, etc.
I’ve had my large leather Arc notebook for several months now. A friend got me interested in the Arc notebook system after I had picked up a small poly notebook for free with a coupon at Staples. I purchased the Arc paper punch so that I could create my own pages and I was instantly hooked! The poly notebook worked well for a while, but then I wanted a more rugged leather one when I started to take an interest in goal setting. It worked great planning out goals and tracking progress… for a while at least. I dunno, I guess I lost interest in it.
Recently I decided I would do better with a small leather Arc notebook that I could tote around and jot notes on anywhere. I settled on this sharp looking blue notebook with matching discs. I thought the discs were silly at first, but now I really like them! Once I got my cute new notebook, then what?? Well, I needed some direction! I poked around the internet for free printable planner pages and I ran across this page that had several options to choose from. I opted for the full size “Weekly To Dos” as well as the full size “Untimed Day Planner”. I just love the fun colors – so perfect for my cute blue notebook!
I combined the PDFs into one file putting the Weekly To Dos first and then seven copies of the Daily Planner. This resulted in an eight page document that I could then print booklet style. It took a couple of tries to get it set up the way I wanted it, but I am very pleased with the final result.
I’m just starting on my second week with the planner and I suppose you think week one was perfect? Oh hell no, not even close!! I tried though. I tried and I stuck with it and here I am for week two! I find if I keep my notebook with me (the size helps), I can jot things down as soon as they come to mind. Every day I review my weekly to do list and see what I need to add to that day. I am NOT expecting perfection and I’m not getting upset with myself if I have to push something off to the following day – or the following weekend. If I want this notebook to work for me and help keep my time straight, this is how I need to do things for now. Yes, some day I would like more structure. Concentrating on the NOW at this point in my life.
As far as the purple one goes? Oh, I don’t know. I’ll come up with something eventually. It certainly will be useful to me at some point in the near future.