This was a really fun episode to record mostly because I thought you all sent in such great questions! A lot of my answers refer to specific products, so I’ll organize these notes by question . . .
Q1: Ideas for more masculine planners (for the listener’s 25-year old son who has a new job and is motivated to try a paper system!)
Daily planners: Monk Manual, Full Focus Planner (and I actually have come to prefer their gender-neutral/more masculine version myself! Please email me or leave a comment if you’d like a referral link.)
Weekly / Monthly: Leuchtterm, Hobonichi (link shows an A5 Cousin with more masculine cover, or could also get a plain leather one!), Jibun Techho, Levenger disc-bound
Q2: Planning ideas for during residency! A shout-out to anyone about to embark on a new residency adventure in July. I admitted that I probably wouldn’t have carried a full-sized planner to work every day, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a TON to plan, track, and prioritize!
If it were me — I would keep a detailed planner with built in goal setting at home, and go very streamlined (or just electronic) when it comes to busy clinical days. Even now, I have less need for my planner on my clinic days!
Q3: Audio Q about preparing for travel! Aww, a fun thing to think about after so many months without travel! My short answer – I don’t plan that much! I don’t like to do that much when I travel! So . . I think about perhaps 2-3 things that require booking (ie: a massage, one restaurant) and otherwise we use vacation as a time to do LESS or go on more spontaneous outdoor adventures (say, a local garden). I do think ahead about visiting friends if I’m going somewhere that close friends live!
I DO plan my outfits when going on longer trips. I have found that if I don’t, when I get there I’m at a loss for what to wear, and nothing goes together!
Q4: Audio Q about Pre-Planning, Post-Planning, Messy Planning: I write in my planner once for any given list or period of time. I love to make it look organized and pretty but it’s never going to be perfect and I accept that. My planner IS fun to use, but primarily it’s a tool that helps me to prioritize and encourages me to spend my time in the way that I’d like to. It helps my brain “see” the structure of a week and provides a rewarding tactile experience when I write down goals and dreams. But it is not in itself a work of art and I definitely refuse to “Pre-Plan” if that means multiple copies of the same thing!
Q5: Audio Q from Mark about long-term planning. His question inspired this post! The comment section in that post is great.
Q6: Ideas for a goal-setting system? “I would like to use one planner for yearly, quarterly/quintile, and monthly goals. Then plan my days in my regular crazy notebook – which gets messy. Sort of like a vision board and document achievements kind of planner? Does it exist or am I chasing a unicorn?”
I don’t think it’s a unicorn! Options to consider:
Disc-bound with goal-setting inserts: Inkwell Press Discbound System, Cloth & Paper, Notiq, Levenger as mentioned above)
Cultivate What Matters (very pretty and pleasing to use!), MakseLife goal inserts
8 Comments
Yes, I would like a referral link for the full focus — I used it a year ago when I had to go heads-down on some research tasks and I think I’m ready to do the same again.
Here you go! https://www.talkable.com/x/XAsS6H
Hi Sarah, thank you so much for answering my question about travel prep (Q3). Very fittingly, I just got back from a long-awaited trip to see my extended family and was so delighted to hear your response. Hooray for unstructured travel days and efficiently planned outfits! 🙂
What about planners for masculine people who are lefties? Those rings really get in the way! Full disclosure: husband is a lefty but would never use a planner because “he does not need” to make lists. 🙄🙄🙄🙄
The beauty of rings is you COULD take the page out that you were working on 🙂
As a lefty, I do know what you mean about getting in the way w/ rings if you’re trying to write straight into a ring binder system, but have not had the issue with disc. With a disc-bound you can fold one page back and it’s not an issue, if that makes sense.
Josh has a Filofax notebook with removal pages that is pretty gender neutral/masculine and I think it’s disc bound. He uses it intermittently.
Hats off to those who can function without lists – my brain just needs them or I will get so disoriented & overwhelmed.
My husband recently started using a planner called The Hero’s Journal (https://theherosjournal.co). He had multiple failed attempts to use a planner, but really needed to (things were falling through the cracks). Although very different from anything I would use, he loves it. It incorporates gamification which seems to motivate him!
Vacation outfit planning for the win! It takes time, but you can pack so much lighter! This segment warmed my heart 🙂
Thank you so much sharing and answering question #6. So helpful!