PlannerPads Review
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- čas přidán 31. 10. 2013
- Planner Pad Review
I received one month of Planner Pad inserts from PlannerPads.com in the personal size.
More sizes and designs are available on their website, with a choice of start dates.
I love this planning system so much, I ordered a spiral-bound personal size planner pad.
I'll do an update video after a few months use and let you know how I like it in the long term.
UPDATE (also in the comments below)
Hi everyone, the question on resizing comes up a lot.
Just to be clear, I do NOT recommend enlarging or reducing the sheets: I only resized for the purpose of testing it out, and for the video, to create an honest review. I subsequently bought the planner in both personal and executive size, and I have re-purchased them for 2015 as well. The company offers both bound and loose leaf options, however the personal size will not fit a standard A5 filofax, though some people did get it to fit in a franklin covey or day timer planner (and it will fit the Filofax Malden with minimal overhang). PlannerPads also has their own ring binders, with some fun colours like pink, aqua, and tangerine.
If you would like to test it out for yourself, they often have sales on the website, on dated planners that are already a little into the year (I started out with these actually, to see if I could keep the system for a few months). This year I picked up a personal undated planner, spilled beet juice on it, bought another one, then decided to use a larger one for work, and bought the dated executive size (because it has the monthly spreads).
Voilà, I hope that answered your questions. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Thanks for watching :) - Jak na to + styl
This is a nice, comprehensive review of the PlannerPad weekly and monthly pages. I have been using PlannerPads for over 10 years, sometimes early on starting the year with another planner and going back to PlannerPad. I typically use the spiral bound personal size, but have used the letter size and both sizes in loose leaf formats. I love these!! FYI, for anyone considering them, there are several sections of planning tools in each PlannerPad that come in the full planner, standard, not special order. There are notes/project pages, 3-year planning with 2-pages per year, holidays, address pages, time zone maps, etc. These are great organizing tools.
PlannerPad lovers unite Leigh Taylor Ellis ;) I now use the spiral executive size for work, and I have an undated personal size for personal or non-work planning, Although I have used many types of planners, I too always come back to the planner pad, my first true love! I have some updated videos on the planner pad on my channel, including all the tweaks and hacks to make it more creative-friendly :)
Do you have any videos or blog posts on how you use it?
Thank you, finally a planner system that makes sense.
+Louise Nowka I agree! I always come back to this one, no matter what else I try :)
Great review! Just when I thought I had my weekly inserts squared away, I see this. Tempted to start all over again.
SC Nurse I totally understand! The plannerpad customer service is really great, you can request a sample and try it out for yourself!
Like your video. I would like to try to setup my planner this way. At least I will be able to see everything I have to do and then decide which day I will more than likely be able to get it done. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! I agree, this layout is the most obvious one for me too - I like to have an overview and be able to distribute tasks to each day as I go. Happy planning!
I added it to my Daytimer thinking it was too big. It fits perfectly and I can zip it closed. It is an illusion that it is too large!
What size is your zipped daytimer?
A great review and very helpful. Thank you so much!
Happy it was helpful! This system is very well thought-out, I haven't come across anything else like it!
Love the idea of Pilot Frixion highlighters. Never heard of erasable highlighters before, and now I want some!
***** you should definitely try them, although you may want to use them with a non-erasable pens :)
Thanks for the detailed review!! Looks a great planner!!!
It really is! I am still using it, and still loving it, though I settled on the personal size, undated, ring-bound version of the PlannerPad :) Thanks for watching!
I just bought mine, letter size, can't wait to get it in the mail. Thanks for sharing :)) Happy New Year!! ~Lena
I'm sure you will love it! Happy New Year to you as well Lena! xo
I think so too! Thank you 😊
Many great ideas, awesome!
Great Review. Time for me to #LevelUp my organization. This system seems elegant yet efficient. Thanks and be blessed.
I agree, this system really works wonders and allows so much flexibility to cater to different needs. Glad this video was useful!
Hi everyone, the question on resizing comes up a lot, but I cannot reply to some of your comments directly for some reason, nor can I tag some of you, so hopefully you will see this message :)
Just to be clear, I do NOT recommend enlarging or reducing the sheets: I only resized for the purpose of testing it out, and for the video, to create an honest review. I subsequently bought the planner in both personal and executive size, and I have re-purchased them for 2015 as well. The company offers both bound and loose leaf options, however the personal size will not fit a standard A5 filofax, though some people did get it to fit in a franklin covey or day timer planner. PlannerPads also has their own ring binders, with some fun colours like pink, aqua, and tangerine.
If you would like to test it out for yourself, they often have sales on the website, on dated planners that are already a little into the year (I started out with these actually, to see if I could keep the system for a few months). This year I picked up a personal undated planner, spilled beet juice on it, bought another one, then decided to use a larger one for work, and bought the dated executive size (because it has the monthly spreads).
Voilà, I hope that answered your questions. Thank you for watching and commenting!
+LadyKat528 {The Minimalist Planner} - Thanks Kat! I'm assuming that you may be referring to me so off I go to find out why CZcams/Google aren't allowing people to reply to me! Still, thank you so much for responding!
I have their planner but the problem I had with it was that the lines on the top columns (the category section) and the middle section (the prioritize section) aren't long enough to put any more than 1 or 2 words! Not that I need to write a whole sentence but it would be nice to put a little more detail about the tasks for each category without having to go to the next line! I was hoping that resizing might make a difference!
But I see that they now have an app and have done some sprucing up! I hope they also decide to give us more room to write and if so, I will be right there with my credit card! LOL!
Thanks again!
***** Hark! I can reply now :)
The smallest size planner (shown in the video) is very compact on the lines front, compared to their larger sizes. I have used an executive size and noticed there are more lines in each category (including one or two more hours for appointments, depending on the size).
I also picked up the giant desk size and THAT one has tons of space :) :)
I have currently set up an undated personal size for both work and home - I agree, there is very limited writing space. But alas, I was a very enthusiastic customer and now I am trying to use what I already purchased ;)
PlanCultivateCreate n
at 8:02 - Oh my goodness! Enlarging the weekly planner was such a great idea! But how did you make a copy of the page in an 8 1/2 X 11 page without it coming out blurry?
ooooo Kat!! I've never seen this before. Will definitely check it out! Love the way it's streamlined from big goals then cut down to week days etc!!! OMG and can you do me a favor and say in French "Ladybugs!" you know I totally butchered it in my video! LOL
I also color code my planner (I use Erin Condren), but I use the Pilot Frixion erasable gel pens -- I HAVE to be able to erase! I also love their soft color erasable highlighters (as opposed to the brights)
The friction pens are great, I use them too, but I like to alternate. I tend to use them for the planning section at the bottom so I can make corrections if needed.
Thanks for sharing!
so if you were able to resize the planner to a letter size, would it be possible to resize the planner to fit into an A5? Haha every time I settle into a planning system, i stumble onto another great method. :)
I really enjoyed using this system! Thanks for watching!
any thoughts on looseleaf vs. spiral? i like the idea of looseleaf but wouldn't the spiral be lighter for carrying around (personal size) but also if the looseleaf has a pen holder that would be good….again personal size
+Deborah Hartman Although I am a fan of binder systems in general, I prefer the spiral version for the PlannerPad - it IS lighter and more compact. In fact, I have been ordering the spiral bound versions almost exclusively. The personal size in spiral is great if you need to tote it around. You can always buy a sick-on pen loop and add it in (I have done that in the past) or you can fit a slim pen in the spirals (not ideal, but will work in a pinch).
As for the loose leaf binders, I haven't used any from PlannerPads but I seem to recall there being at least one pen loop. You do need to get their brand of binders though, because the personal pages are wider than most commercial 6 or 7 ring binders (typically A5 size).
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions, and what system you end up ordering. I love to see how others use their planners!
I've used this planner in the past, but was wondering if they are coming out with an App so I can have my planner on my phone?
Gina Barcourt i have no idea! I wonder how that would work though...
***** They do have an app now :)
Awesome...gotta check it out. Thanks for sharing this info
It seems they have updated their website and added an app - wonderful news!
99 cents for those bug rings, what a steal! I never find good stuff like that!
I pass by my favourite two places quite often to drop off items (I am on a long-term decluttering journey!) so I pop in to see if they receive anything new. Sometimes I find awesome deals, most often I don't find anything at all, but that's part of the fun!
Hello Cathryn, I had a couple questions for you, why did you prefer the smaller size? And what are the tabs that you used to bind the executive size binder? I own the executive loose leaf, but my problem is the left side, I like so have support but there isn't any rather there are sleeves that will cause me to write funny at times. Do you know of any remedies? I have thinking of getting a hard board paper cutting it to executive size and getting the things you used to bind it .. but obviously I am not as experienced with any of this as you are which is why I am reaching out. Help?
Hi Mwende,
In testing out both sizes, I was thinking about which one would be more portable, either in a binder or in the PlannerPad pre-bound book. The executive offers much more space, which I enjoyed, but I ended up ordering the smaller size, already spiral bound, because it is more portable (I work in different places so I move around a lot).
If you would like to have a more smooth writing surface, you can definitely cut a hard board paper and put it under the left page, or you can add note pages to the front of your binder (that is what I did). That means that the weekly pages are towards the middle of the binder so the sleeves do not cause bumps or ridges on the paper. You can adjust the amount of additional paper you need as you move into later weeks.
The system I used is called the Circa by the company Levenger. There is a less expensive version from the company Staples called ARC that functions the same way. I believe there is another one as well called Rollabind but I have not used that one before - I assume they all function the same way.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions, I would be happy to answer as best I can.
Cheers!
Thank you so much Cathryn!! I appreciate your response very much. In using any of those systems I have to consider the fact that my planner has the 7 holes already punched.. and whether that would affect the functionality/strength of any of the systems you suggested.
I too move very often but i love how professional it looks in the leather portfolio. However, I dislike that when it comes to the left hand side I can not write in it comfortable nor on the bottom inner portion. A pre-bound would probably work perfectly.. but I would want the slightly green one and the cover for that is "ugly" to me at least.
I wonder if I could order loose leaf pages without holes... ayayai this is going to cost too much huh? haha :)
I understand your dilemma! Every year around this time I ponder what system to use, or how to better it for my purposes! I think, in the end, we must select the one that offers the best functionality, then try to "pretty it up" by decorating it. I decorate my black one to make it more my style. Good luck with yours, and let me know if you come up with any other solutions!
How did you fit it to the Circa - did you make a copy and then punch or punch the ones for a binder? Thanks!
+Gary Pryka You can prepunch any of their loose-leaf pages to add to your Circa! I suggest reinforcing the edge before re-punching (you can use regular tape or a decorative masking tape like washi (there are both plain and whimsical designs), but they should work well regardless.
I have even re-punched the personal size to fit a Filofax Malden binder, by un-coiling the bound planner and using a 6-hole punch. You can do the same with the Executive size and punch it for the Circa.
In the end, I purchased the bound planners in both sizes in the last few years, and just carry an extra notebook in the same size for extra notes. On a side note, I believe there is a discount for newsletter subscribers at the moment - it's a great time to give the planner pads a try!
I hope that helps!
why do you prefer the smaller size?
Thanks, Good review.
I do have a few questions.
1- " Donne une poule" Ça fait 47 ans que je vis à Montréal et je n'ai jamais entendu cette expression. C'est de quelle région?
2- You mention that the planner works like a funnel. But when you go from tasks on the top to daily task, what you seem to essentially do is to redistribute them from a category list to a daily list. I fail to see the funnel.
3- This review is one and a half years old. Do you still use it? Are you still satisfied. If you had to modify one thing about this planner, what would it be?
Thank you!
Eric Ste-Marie Thank you for the great questions! Here are my answers, following your order:
1- A friend of mine is originally from the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, and as far as I can tell, that is where it originated/is popular. I had never heard of it either, but I must admit I find it absolutely cheeky and charming :)
2- I see your point. I guess you could say you distill the "brain dump" from the top into a more organized to-do list in the middle. The company sends an info sheet (and possibly an audio guid on organizing, if that still do that). As I have been using it for a while now, I have developed my own style (that is what I love about it!). I usually write the to-dos per category on top, and leave the middle for any action items that MUST be done on that particular day. That is, I no longer re-distribute the top list, I leave the items there, and I use the middle part for the day's specific to-do list.
3- I still use this planner, and I still love it. I have made some other videos on the DIY additions/subtractions I have made to it, but I now use it primarily at work so unfortunately I cannot show the planner as I use it now. I wouldn't make any major changes to the system - it works very well. My only changes would be aesthetic, and I end up making those changes anyway, using the sheets that I don't really need (like the address sheets).
Let me know if you use this planning system, and what your thoughts are.
Merci!
I just wanted to be clear, do you prefer the personal size or the executive size? Thanks?
I actually prefer the personal size but I have lately switched to the executive size for work!
Do you know if the PlannerPad inserts will fit a FiloFax leather binder (A5)?
These pages are just a little too big for an A5 unfortunately! You can always try using them with the ARC planner, that way you can punch your own holes and adjust the size accordingly!
Desiree Beilfuss Hi! You can just punch the pages and add them to the arc.
If you want to reinforce the spine, you can try:
1- add tape to the side you punch - I like wash tape. Keep in mind that it will add bulk to the inner spine
2- use a circle sticker to cover the original holes, and then punch. this should minimize the bulk added.
I hope that helps! Let me know if you try any of these, and how they work for you.
I ended up purchasing the spiral bound - I like it best out of all the other systems, for the planner pad pages.
Thanks for watching & sharing!
The pages of the Planner Pad are too wide to fit into a Filofax A5 or A Franklin Covey Classic. I ended up purchasing one of the Planner Pad binders. Very inexpensive solution BUT definitely not Filofax quality.
Debralyn Pryor The binders are not my favourite either, which is why I decided to ultimately purchase the bound version, which I prefer because the binding does not interfere with the writing space, whereas the rings get in my way, especially if they are large. For the PlannerPad, bound is better!
Did you say that you prefer the personal size or the executive size?
+Gary Pryka I like both! For work, I prefer the Executive size as there is more space to write and I do not need to carry it often. However, for personal use, I prefer the personal size as it fits in most of my handbags. It really depends on my needs. For example, from September to June, I like to use an Executive size, dated, ring bound Planner Pad, as it also has the monthly pages. In the summer, I use an undated Personal size and that will last a few summers (as it is undated).
Hope that helps!
Hi, what kind of Binder is this?
Hello! It was an unmarked binder from a second-hand store, but I believe Franklin Covey and DayTimer supply similar binders. Hope that helps!
Thanks! The rings look large on it. Do you happen to know what the size is?
Also, PlannerPads.com sells binders on their website that fit the system perfectly, and they come in standard colours, and some fun bright ones too.