by Ariane Benefit, M.S.Ed.,
Organizing Consultant & Coach
www.neatliving.org and www.neatliving.net 

Choosing a planner to help you organize your life can
be a daunting task.  Not only are there hundreds of
types and styles to choose from, choosing a planner
that will work for you is very dependent on your
organizing style as well as on your personality and information processing style.

Assess Your Style & Needs

Your personality style greatly affects how much time and effort you will put into using your planner.  If you try to use a planner system that doesn’t work with your natural style, more than likely, you won’t use it.   So don’t try to change yourself!   Don’t buy a planner just because it looks good or because you think you “should” be planning your days according to a particular system.  Instead, choose a planner that works WITH your style.  For example,

• Are you a creative type who likes to be spontaneous?
  
• Are you action-oriented and naturally tend to prioritize things?
  
• Are you a planning minimalist or do you plan everything?
  
• Are you a “hands-on” learner?  (If so, your planner will need to actually feel good in your hands.  You may also be the type who needs to physically write things down to remember them.) 

Your lifestyle and work demands are also important considerations in deciding what kind of planner you need. For example:

• Do you make a lot of appointments?
  
• Do you mainly do project work?
  
• Do you need to see your days in great detail?
  
• Is a page per week or month enough?
  
• Do you need to track a lot of deadlines?

Other factors to consider when choosing the right planner for you include:

• How mobile does your planner need to be? 
  
• Where will you keep it? 
  
• Do you need it to fit in a briefcase or purse? 
  
• How often do you need to refer to it and update it?
  
• Will you be comfortable with it and actually enjoy using it? 
  
• Does it seem intuitive to you?
  
• How patient and skilled are you with technology?

Decide on Technology or Pen & Paper

Technology is great, but it’s not always the best choice for time management, so don’t feel like there’s something wrong with you if you have tried an electronic system or PDA and not done well with it.  You are not alone! However, if you don’t want to take the risk of losing your calendar, technology does have the advantage of allowing you to back it up.  So if you want the security of a backup, but still want to use paper, you may like using an electronic calendar that you can print out such as Outlook, Google, or Yahoo calendars.

List Your Selection Criteria

Planners can range from free to hundreds of dollars.  To help you choose wisely, create a personal checklist of criteria for selecting your new planner.  Think of features you would build in if you were to design it yourself. For example, your criteria list may include that your planner must:

• Be simple and intuitive to learn
  
• Cost under $50
  
• Be easily portable and lightweight
  
• Colorful
  
• Have a built-in reminder system
  
• Have plenty of room to write in each day
  
• Have space for my to do list and goals
  
• Let me see a week at a time
  
• Make easy for me to quickly see my availability, etc.

If you have never used a planner before, start with a simple, inexpensive one to get to know your style better.  If are currently using a planner, make a list of what you like and don’t like about it and add those criteria to your list.  It’s unusual to try several planners before finding the one that is perfect for you.

Popular Calendar Options

Here are a few planner options that I have found work well for myself and for people I work with.

Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a great option if you want to have the advantage of using the computer to enter recurring appointments and reminders for events such as birthdays, oil changes and dentist appointments, yet still have all the advantages of a paper calendar such as being able to quickly see your availability when clients call to schedule appointments.

I use my computer a lot so Outlook is a great option for me.  But, I also need my calendar to be portable and actually prefer pen & paper for scheduling my time. I love technology but have no patience for inputting things in PDAs!  So, I print out my own calendar using Outlook.  I used Outlook’s flexible Printing Options and created a custom template for my needs.  I chose the one week per page layout with the days in linear columns.  I leave a couple inches of space for notes and reminders at the bottom of the page.  I print out 4 - 5 months at a time and keep it in a thin, lightweight binder so I can take it with me and have pockets to hold papers I need to take with me. What I like about this system is when a page gets messy due to multiple changes, all I have to do is reprint it!

Planner Pads
Another simple, inexpensive, yet very effective planner system is Planner Pads (www.PlannerPads.com).  I used them for years before converting to Outlook.  Everyone I know who uses it loves it.  It’s great for people who want a simple, flexible system with a week per 2 pages and lots of room for notes and To Do’s.

BusyBodyBook
Great for moms or anyone who schedules many people, or is currently using multiple planners. It has a grid for tracking 5 separate people or projects every day / week. For example, you can use one of the columns to track family meal plans. (www.busybodybook.com)  

Thinkbin
This a creative planner / calendar designed by moms for people who prefer to see the whole month and have room for multiple appointments in a single day. (www.thinkbin.com)

There are many other planner systems out there that could work great for you.  Whatever you choose, the important thing is that you USE it! 

__________________________

© 2007 Ariane Benefit, M.S.Ed.

Organizing expert Ariane Benefit is the founder of Neat Living, www.neatliving.org, an organizing consulting firm which has helped hundreds of people transform their lives and have more time for what's really important to them.  Her mission is to inspire people to simplify, clear clutter, and get organized just enough so they have more time to enjoy the things they really love! Visit her popular Neat Living Blog at www.neatliving.net for more insightful and creative organizing strategies, lifestyle tips, makeover photos, product reviews and check out her FREE Neat Living "Do-it-Yourself" Organizing Library, too!