“Decoding Basic Planner Terms: Part I”

It’s planner launch time for calendar-year planners! If you don’t really understand the significance of that sentence (or why it has an exclamation point at the end), this article is for you.

I’ll say up front, that this article is about paper planners. If you find that a digital platform is more in line with how you work, there are a number of calendar and planner apps and programs that can fit your needs, but this article will not be covering them

I’ll also note that this post was originally intended as one article about basic planner terms. I figured, that’ll keep it simple and streamlined. However, once I started working on the article, I realized that there are a lot of planner terms and planner features to consider when buying a planner.

So, it just made more sense to break this topic into two articles. Be on the lookout for Part 2 of this series next week! Now, back to the article:

I am a paper planner sort of person. While I use my phone and work calendar to send me notifications, I use paper to actually plan. That is because I tend to remember things better when I’ve written them down, and I’m more likely to stick with a planning system if I enjoy the process of planning with it.

This is the time of year I start getting emails from planner companies about their big launches- which is when planner companies release their next lineup of planners and planner accessories. I’ve received messages about Simplified planners and PowerSheets planners, and I plan to see more in my inbox.

When buying a planner these days, there are so many options that it can be overwhelming. Each planner company has created planners with different features (or lack of features) that make theirs unique.

To make things more complicated, many planners are now sold online. You can find planners through big retailers like Amazon or directly from planner sites such as Ivory Paper Co., Happy Planner, or Cloth and Paper (to name just a few).

When you shop for these planners, you will notice that while some include a veritable picture flip-through of all the features and layouts, many planner sites have just a few pictures to preview their planners. If you’re lucky, you’ll find that the company has included a video that walks you through the entire planner, but that’s usually not the case.

Even with additional pictures and videos about the planner, you’ll still need to understand some basic planner terms to know what you’re buying. But, before you think about the different features and terms, it’s probably important to start with figuring out what you need.

Figuring Out Your Planning Method

The best way to determine which type of planner will work best with you is to first figure out what sort of planning method you use. Said another way, what kind of planner are you?

There are probably as many planner methods as there are paper planners on the market. However, some folks have popularized their method, which has led others to adopt it.

Planning method terminology is important so you can understand how others are planning and what planners they use to do their planning. If a planning system resonates with you, that’s a sign that you may wish purchase the planners associated with the method. Here are a few:

Bullet-Journaling– This is a very particular type of planning that has become very popular over the last few years. With a bullet journal, you take a blank notebook- typically dot grid- and use it to track your time, to do lists, and commitments. A series of symbols are used to keep track of a task’s priority and whether it has been completed. These journals can be as simple or as complex as you like. Some folks create one list per day. When the day is done, you review the list and determine what goes on to the next day’s list. Others have created beautiful monthly calendars, habit trackers, lists, and weekly or daily spreads that they decorate, as I mentioned in my post on creative journaling. (For a comprehensive explanation of this method, check out BulletJournal.com).

This dot-grid notebook is popular among folks who use the bullet journal method:

Time Blocking – With this method, the goal is to group tasks you need to complete during the week to maximize your efficiency in completing them. For example, rather than checking email throughout the day as you try to complete a random list of to dos, you check your email once or twice during the day at preset times, and you devote certain amounts of time to certain tasks such as meetings, writing, designing, or whatever it is you need to get done during they day. The idea is that you’ll be more efficient at doing the same thing over a shorter period of time (presumably because you’ll be “in the zone” and powering through) than doing a variety of tasks. The best time-blocked schedules are ones that create free time during the week because of how efficiently you’ve blocked your time. In order to time block successfully, you will need a planner with an hourly spread.

Here’s an example of a planner with an hourly spread (see below) for time-blocking:

List-Making– This is a very common way to plan. Plenty of people love to plan with lists (which leads to that satisfying checkmark or strikethrough once a task is complete), and there are tons of planners that can accommodate this sort of planning. A list-making planning method is similar to bullet-journaling but without the need for special symbols or creating different spreads from scratch. Any planner with lined or open spaces will allow you to plan using lists. Part of list-making can also include prioritizing. Some planners have spaces that can be used for this purpose, and a number of planners include a space for your “top three.” Those are the three things that must get done that day.

This is a really cool layout for a planner and is the brand I plan to buy next year for my weekly layout. It’s great for listmaking!

Scripting– This method is a newer one I’ve been hearing about, but it has a growing following on social media. It seems to have been developed by the founder of Planner Perfect Designs– a company that makes traveler’s notebooks and accessories. With scripting, you do not write lists or follow an hourly format. Instead, you write out your goals and desires as though they have already happened. You keep track of your obligations using a calendar and weekly spread, but you script your days. This means, that (preferably) the night before, you write in paragraph form a “script” of how you want your day to go. This planning method is intriguing. Although you can use any notebook to try this method, the creator suggests using a traveler’s notebook.

Here is a great, affordable option for trying out the scripting method in a traveler’s notebook:

Again, these are some general planning methods, and there is no right or wrong way to plan. I find myself using a combination of the methods above. In fact, if you want to try several planning methods or a combination of them, you’ll want a planner that has room to accommodate all of your planning methods.

I have a weekly planner I use for listing out both scheduled obligations and to dos. I then use a daily planner for detailed lists (which I use a few bullet-journal symbols to track) and time blocking. I also pre-plan my day with a journal and have been incorporating some scripting into that as well as in my nightly journaling.

Once you know the type of planning method that works for you, the next step is to make sure you have all the information you need to make an informed choice about your planner.

Things to Know Before Buying a Planner

Again, since many planners are online, we might as well buy our planners sight unseen. Here are some things to look into when it comes to finding the right planner for your needs:

Size

Planners come in a ridiculous number of shapes and sizes. How to know which is the right one for you depends on a few questions.

1. Where do you plan to keep your planner? If it’s going to live on a desk- how much space would you like it to take up? If in your purse, how small should it be, and will you need to purchase a cover for it to protect it from getting jostled around in your bag? Or do you have a big book easel in your kitchen where you plan to display it, so a larger planner makes more sense?
2. How much to do plan to write in it? If you plan to keep track of your entire life in your planner, a really small one will probably not do. If you plan to have separate planners to track the different aspects of your life, that might make it easier to tote around a small planner for your personal items while keeping a larger planner at home for your budget, family obligations, and household tasks.
3. What sizes are available? For a great guide to paper sizes, I highly recommend checking out this article from iheartplanners.com.

Paper Quality

For some people, the paper quality doesn’t really matter. However, unless you plan to use a ball-point pen for writing in your planner, you might want to consider the paper quality.

1. Texture. Paper can be textured (what some call having “tooth” or “grit”) or it can be smooth or even coated. Most planners have a more matte finish, which is better for holding ink and pencil. That said, too much texture and it can be hard to use erasable pens and pencils as the writing won’t erase well or the eraser can pull at the paper, causing it to tear.
2. Thickness. Most standard planner paper is 65 Lb weight. It’s thickness is somewhere between copy paper and cardstock. For premier planners, you may find 70 or 80 Lb weight paper. I have even seen 100 Lb paper (JM Planning Essentials is a good example). While thicker paper usually means you can use pens that have wetter ink, don’t discount some of the thinner papers you find in Japanese planners. Tomoe river paper is known for its ability to handle wet art mediums as well as being the best for paper for fountain pen.
3. Color. Finally, planner paper can come in different colors and may contain decorative coloring throughout the planner. Even without decorative elements, the paper can range from shades of white to gray to cream. If you want to decorate your planner with stickers or you have a preference for the paper you’ll be looking at each day, you should pay attention to the paper color. For example, Happy Planners have a very crisp, white paper. The Simplified Planner I find is just a little off-white. And, Golden Coil planners have cream-colored paper.

Basic Planner Terms Decoded, Part I

When choosing a planner, there are some things you need to take into consideration to make sure you’re choosing the right planner for you planning method and style. For this first post on the subject, below are some terms that will help you decide on which planner will work the best for you:

Time Span

There are so many different types of planners, that it can get confusing to find what you’re looking for without first knowing what they’re called. Below are some of the basic varieties in terms of the dates they cover and how they’re structured:

Calendar Year Planners. These planners start in January and run through December of that same year. As such, they cover an entire year’s calendar. Planner companies are currently advertising their calendar year planners right now, in the fall, so those would be 2021 planners.

Here is a beautiful 2021 planner.

Academic Year Planners. These planners are meant to cover a school year. They typically begin in the summer, either June, July, or August, and cover the following 12 months. For this academic year, that means the 2020-2021 school year. These planners normally launch in the spring. Keep in mind, these planners cover a school year, but they shouldn’t be confused with a Student Planner (see my post on the Simplified Student Planner for an example). An Academic Year Planner is designed with more than just students in mind, and are often used by people with kids or those who work in jobs, such as education, that span from summer to summer.

Here is an example of an Academic Year Planner, which spans from 2020 to 2021:

13, 16, 17, or 18-Month Planners. When you see a number greater than 12, expect a planner that has been designed for long-term planning. These planners tend to begin before the new year and end in December. So, for example, this year’s planners will begin some time near the end of 2020 and run through December 2021. Some begin in July, August, or September. Some may even be customizable and allow you to choose which month will you begin your planner. As I said, they are great for long-term planning, and I plan to do a post on this type of planner later this year.

Here’s an example of an 18-month planner:

1-Month, 3-Month, & 6-Month Planners. These planners are meant to cover a much smaller time span and can be sold in collections or by subscription. They allow the user to try out the planning system contained within the planner and often include more pages devoted to each month, week, and day. Those layouts often have more sections to fill in, which may correspond with the planner’s theme. For example, the Legend Planner (below) is specifically geared toward goal-planning and allows for a new book and total overhaul of your goals every three months. Others have multiple layouts, which can only fit a few months’ worth of pages within the books’ binding, such as the Ivory Paper Co All-in-One planner (which has monthly, weekly, and daily spreads- see below).

Undated. This one should be obvious. Many planner companies understand that some folks don’t need a planner every day or they like to bounce from one planner to the next. The undated planner is the perfect planner as no page goes to waste. The one drawback, obviously, is that you’ll need to fill in the dates yourself.

A lot of folks swear by the Panda Planner for a holistic approach to planning. Here is an undated version:

Layouts

Now that you know the time period you’d like for your planner to cover, you’ll need to think about what layout makes sense to you and fits in with your planning method (above). Here are the basic layouts (keeping in mind that there are some really creative options out there which go beyond the standard ones I set out here).

Daily. On one end of the spectrum are the daily planners. A true daily planner has monthly layouts (either a single or two-page spread of a monthly calendar view) with either a page-per-day of daily planning pages or 2-pages-per-day. They come in many different varieties. You can find ones that are meant to help you keep track of every aspect of your life like the Legend Planner, listed above, to ones that simply keep up with your schedule and to do list, like the Simplified Daily Planner. Deciding how much time you want to spend tracking everything from what you eat to what you spend in a day may help you decide on whether a daily planner is for you. That said, most people who use one tend to have a busy schedule and a lot going on during the day. Moreover, they can be used in conjunction with a weekly planner (so you can plan out your weeks head of time). For more on the daily planner I use, check out this post from the 2020 Simplified planner launch. While most daily planners devote a single page to both weekend days, you can find others that have a page per weekend day (such as the Dapper Desk Planner by the Simplified company).

There are lots of daily planners on the market, and they can be pricey. If you’re looking for one to try at a decent price point, try this version, which is a collaboration between the Day Designer and Blue Sky planner companies:

Monthly. On the other end of the spectrum are monthly planners. A true monthly planner has only monthly layouts (usually a two-page spread of a calendar view), and these have extra notes pages, either between the monthly pages, at the end of the planner, or both. These are great for special projects (such as wedding planning or keeping up with a volunteer organization), or they can be used as planners on their own. I’ve also seen them used for budget planning and, as I use mine, or as a content planner. Keep in mind, that in the U.S., most monthly calendar layouts have a Sunday start, while European layouts have a Monday start.

Here is a good example of a monthly planner-

Weekly. These are the most common planners. A weekly planner generally has a monthly layout (either on a single page or across two pages) between pages of weekly planner views that have a Monday start to the week. The nice thing about a weekly planner is that you can see the week in full, which makes it easier to see how much time you have to devote to big projects. There are several weekly planner layouts you can find to meet our planning needs. Here are some of the main ones:

• Horizontal. This describes any weekly planner where the space allotted to each day’s planning spans across the page horizontally. Some of the pages in these planners are lined, while in others, the planners are blank. Moreover, some horizontal layouts have lines that break up the day into sections that you can use for appointments, to dos, notes, or different responsibilities in your life.

Here’s an example of a horizontal planner:

• Vertical. The popularity of vertical planners has grown in recent years. The most popular ones have seven columns running down the length of the two-page spread. The columns are divided up with at 3 boxes that may pre-labeled (Morning, Noon, Evening) or are unlabeled for you to categorize as you wish. Planner companies, such as the Happy Planner by Me and My Big Ideas, have created sticker books and kits that can be used to fill in the boxes with everything from decorative stickers with inspiration phrases to functional checklist stickers. Just the decoration of these types of planner is a big deal in the planning world and can fill up your Instagram stream if you follow #verticalplanner.

I use a vertical Happy Planner for my household, fitness, and self-care tasks. Here is the 18-month planner I purchased for this year:

• Hourly. These planners are similar to vertical planners except that, instead of boxes, each day’s column is filled with lines for times of the day. Usually, the time slots run by the quarter hour and go from the morning until the night. If you are a fan of time blocking, this is a great way to plan your week as you can use pens and highlighters to block your days.

Here is a good example of a planner with an hourly layout:

• Dashboard. This is one of the more creative layouts I’ve seen for a weekly planner, and I’ve only ever seen it in a Happy Planner. The dashboard layout, like most weekly layouts is spread over 2 pages. However, the first page has a section for notes and general, big-picture planning, while the second page has the days of the week with a small, lined box per day. This is a great layout to use if you like to keep a running to do list for the week that you want to see alongside a schedule for each day.

Here is a Happy Planner with the Dashboard Layout:

• Color-Blocked – Even though I’ve only seen one planner company make a planner with this layout, I think it’s a really unique concept and figured I would share it here. The Happy Planner’s color-blocked layout (not to be confused with a color block design on a planner cover), has a vertical column for each day of the week. Rather than boxes running down the column, there are 6 vertical stripes along the width of the page in alternating colors. These can be used to create 6 categories of planning. I could easily see this being used by parents who not only have to track their own schedules but those of others in their household.

Here is the Classic Color Blocked Happy Planner in Ink Splash, which is an 18-Month planner:

• All in One/3 in 1/Combination Planners. These planners have a several layouts all in one. I know of three planners on the market right now that offer monthly, weekly and daily planning. They are the Lights, Planner, Action coiled planner, which runs for a quarter of the year, so 3 months; Ivory Paper Co.’s All in One Planner, which is a 6-month, wire-bound planner (and I mentioned in this post I wrote about black-owned planner companies); and the the Hobonichi Techo Cousin, which is a book-bound, 12-month planner (below).

The Hobonichi Techo Cousin has Tomoe river paper, which allows for 12 months of monthly, weekly, and daily spreads to be contained in one neat little planner:

I hope this first post on planner terms gets you thinking about all the amazing paper planner possibilities out there. Are you in the market for a new planner? What are the features you find most enjoyable and functional in a planner? Are there terms you’d like to read about in part 2? I’d love to hear your thoughts, so leave a comment below!

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**Image credits-bullet journal with pens, and calendar with markers found on Pixabay.