Here we go! All of the details about what is in this lovely stack and how I (think I) will use them this year.
Does anyone need 7 things to plan in? No. But this is what I’ve got ready for the new year, and while things may shift slightly I expect to stay in at least most of these over the next 12 months! Here are the details, top to bottom of the stack shown:
1- Hobonichi Weeks. I am using this as a wellness planner – tracking sleep, workouts, nutrition, and phone minutes. I do not expect to be perfect or 100% consistent with this all year (I basically skipped last week already!). But it’s a tool in the toolbox I hope to make good use of most of the time.
2- My Reading Life by Ann Bogel. This is a reading journal! I will only fill out a page when I finish a book. There are 100 entries in this book and I usually average ~50/year (or so), so this baby likely will last until 2024.
3- Hobonichi 5-year Journal. Will be starting my 2nd year in this 5-year journal! I wrote at least something most days this year, and while I don’t usually keep my planners forever, this one is an exception.
4- Full Focus Planner (affiliate link shown + use SARAH10 for 10% off – this is the only one in the stack I did receive from the company, though I have bought several FFPs previously on my own). I have the French Blue cover with the bright white pages inside. This was a last minute add but I’m so glad I did – this is my daily workhorse for to do lists, thinking through my schedule, and taking meeting notes.
5- Hobonichi Cousin. In the beautiful mina perhonen “jardin” cover. This is for calendar management and additional notes. I am thinking that I will not use the dated daily pages on the specified days this year (so rebellious!) but just as I need them.
6- JMB Living Winter Journal. This is more of a journal than a planner, and I plan to keep it by my bed for some gratitude journaling before I go to sleep. I will not pressure myself to use every page and may not buy for each quarter, but it’s so pretty that I’m excited to give it a try.
7- Cultivate What Matters Powersheets. (Note: 25% off on their site as of today — “Fresh Start Sale”!) I have the teal 12-month version and just cannot get enough of the gorgeous saturated color they used for the cover. I am mostly done with my ‘prep’ pages in the beginning of the planner, and it really was a) enjoyable and b) helpful in clarifying my priorities for the year. This book will not get heavy use other than at the beginning of each month when I am clarifying my goals — and then I will be fitting the monthly Tending List pages to one of my other planners (Hobo or FFP, we will see).
So, there you go! It’s quite a stack but at least I sort of have a method to my madness. I am also currently using Todoist for some things, Apple Notes for other things (this is more like my digital filing cabinet), and we do have a family wall calendar as well (more for the other household members than myself) though I have not filled out January yet.
Do you have your system ready for 2022 yet? Anyone have MORE than 7 books!? TELL ME.
18 Comments
I have two I’m going to be using + my husband gave me a gorgeous 5-year journal I’m excited to start filling out daily (like you I don’t keep planners year-over-year, but this one will be more like a snapshot diary, so will be an exception), but can I just say after looking forward to filling out my 2022 goals/calendar all December, I currently feel so, so meh about it all. I’m going to blame COVID right now and the fact I have zero faith the kids will return to in-person learning in January and so it feels pointless to plan out very many goals or schedule things in when having them home full-time would change just about…everything.
I’m expecting the worst (but secretly hoping for the best), but the Omicron surge has completely burst my planning bubble.
I love hearing what others are using! I am going to be using an Erin Condren planner from Target. I’ve used horizontal planners the last few years but I’m really excited to have a vertical weekly spread again. Feels much easier for me to not over schedule myself with this layout.
I also love hearing about what other people are using. My stack isn’t quite as high as that, but it does seem to be growing as I listen to Best Laid Plans and get ideas!
I’m headed towards my second year in a Wonderland222 as my main/weekly planner. I’m so glad I found out about that one on this blog, the weekly layout is perfect for me. I’m adding a Hobonichi weeks because I missed having a place for a weekly to do list, and I’m hoping to use the daily parts for a “big 3” to sort of duplicate the Full Focus template across the two slimmer books. I also have a partially used FFP that I used to set out my yearly goals and helped me figure out what I need long term. I’ll probably jump into that for a couple weeks at a time if I feel like daily pages would help. I also have a five year journal (Leuchtturm) that I’m half way through and a running log that I’ve always kept separately. Add in a scribbles that matter notebook for meeting notes at work and the stack gets pretty high.
This is my first year using wonderland 222 after several years using the hobonichi cousin, I have the A5 planner and notebook. I also impulse purchased the jmb living journal after your recommendation and am planning to use it as something I inspiring and beautiful to look at before bed in lieu of scrolling/ screen time and as a bit of a wellness planner with her low pressure on myself to fill out the pages or use consistently.
It hasn’t arrived yet but I’m excited and keep checking the tracking!
I am using the W222 thanks to you! I never would have heard of it if not for you! I started using it in November – I love that they include Nov/Dec! Perfect for people like me who weren’t in a system. I am really liking it so far and feel like it checks all the boxes for me.
I use a Leuchtuurm monthly for my overall planning, goals, etc. and am adding a hobonichi weeks for my to do list as I wanted some habit tracking / ability to write down 3 goals for the day. Everything else lives in outlook. We also have a academic yearly poster in our kitchen where we put big plans, dates, and my travel schedule (Sunday to Wednesday during term time).
We’ve booked travel for the year, a city break for Easter, writing retreat in May, kiddo and I to Portugal grandparents in June, seaside in August, but am trying not to be too wedded to anything because who knows…I’ve optimistically blocked it off in my monthly,
I am using my custom made Agendio planner (which I first heard about here, thank you!!!) and a custom made Agendio notebook that I use for journaling. Without all of Agendio’s amazing customization I would probably have a lot more planners, but with Agendio I can create it to capture exactly what I need! I also have Anne Bogel’s Reading Journal. And on a whim I recently ordered the Cultivate What Matters Powersheets and Cultivate Hope journal, which should arrive later this week. We’ll see how that goes or if it is something I could just add to a future Agendio. I have this week off from work, but my kids are still going to daycare for part of the week, so I’ll have lots of focused time to get them all set up for 2022. I’m excited!
Oh I just love planner season! 😉
I also have a stack of 6 (with two electronic scaffolds.) I’m using the following:
1. Makselife Goal Planner – trying this out after a few years of powersheets for goal planning/tracking.
2. Amplify Planner as kind of my anchor calendar/schedule. I use it for my monthly/weekly life landscape and I also find the daily pages have enough space for my task heavy work day.
3. I’m using a Scribbles the Matter B5 Notebook as kind of a catch all bujo style place for collections, trackers, brain dumps, light journaling
4. One Line A Day for Moms
5. JMB Winter Journal. I started using this last spring and it was fun.
6. Aaaaaand you talked me into a wellness/workout/meal tracker in a Hobonichi Weeks. Though obvs I didn’t need a lot of arm twisting for another planner. Hahaha
Electronically all my work meetings are in Outlook and I also store kiddo appointments and school schedules in there since that stuff alwaaaaays seems to affect work 😜 And my husband and I share a family Cozi account. It’s our shared calendar, but we also use it to store our favorite recipes, shared grocery lists, meal plans and loose weekend to do lists as the week progresses.
Typing that out seems like a lot. But I guess I llike what I like.PLANNER NERDS, UNITE! 😀
This would overwhelm me but I was so intrigued to hear how you are using all of these! I went with a Sprouted Planner for 2022. I think the only one I could possible add would be the Reading Life journal. Also, I used the Year Compass that you spotlighted an episode or two ago and really enjoyed that! I just folded it and put it in the pocket of my Sprouted Planner once I had filled it out.
Wow! Seven is a lot but it sounds like they all have a unique feature you will use.
I have my agendio planners—a weekly/monthly and a daily. I may just order a weekly/monthly next time and try the Full Focus planner instead later in the year.
I have the MMD reading journal, too, which I plan to use this year.
I am looking at power sheets again. I have skipped the last couple of years but your excitement about them is making me think they might help this year.
Thanks for all of the planning advice on your blog and podcast. I appreciate hearing about new products and techniques and systems.
Happy New Year!
This is my second year in a Wonderland 222. I really like it for daily planning. I got a Cultivate for the first time this year and really enjoyed working through the intro pages and I am really with goals for 2022. I keep my to be read and book lists in the w222, but I love the idea of a reading journal. I have a journal (just a Papier notebook) that I use with journal prompts found here and there. The family calendar is electronic and everyone except my youngest two boys (husband, au pair and older two kids) have access to it on their phones. And that is it…
W222 for my work/career planner.
Jibun Techo Mini Biz Lite for appointments and as a time tracker.
Undated Happy Planner for a Perpetual Calendar- I like to track things like “rotate tires” in addition to important anniversaries. Picked that up from Martha Stewart Living magazine years ago but as I move from planners annually, I leave something behind.
Erin Condren in my Filofax as a catch all and random thoughts (wish they had done rings as a vertical though). May switch to a b6 HP vertical.
Amplify planner for dailies
Leuchtturm1917 for journaling.
Planning to start a Hobonichi 5year journal (plan to ditch it early in 2025 though.
I keep wanting to buy the Hobonichi cousin but I don’t really need it. I don’t love the paper; I just love the covers they have this year. I find I love the b6 size and I wish Hobonichi made one. Or W222 put both books together
My calendar/planner is my Filofax personal. I use week on one page with notes and month on two pages. To me, this is one planner. Outlook calendar for work and hybrid (such as a personal appointment during work hours).
It’s so interesting — I never considered my journal (spiral-bound lined 8×6 notebook next to my bed) or book notebook (aka reading journal or the list books I’ve read since 1998!) as part of my planners/planning. But if I do the SHU count, I have 4 books in my daily organization system. 😉
I have an Ink + Volt undated six month that I started in December. I’m using the W222 notebook whenever I want a daily page. I have a journal on my bedstand. I have a couple of those thin accessory notebooks (a few left over from Hobonichi and a few from Full Focus) and I just keep them in purses for whatever reason might arise.
My husband and I share Google calendars and I use Google Keep if I need a quick on the go checklist.
I honestly love the Full Focus planners. I have a gorgeous french blue one. I love the look, feel, the paper, the fonts etc. But I found I wasn’t truly utilizing them because there is too much space (for me) dedicated to daily and not enough on monthly. Sporadically using two Full Focus planners this year made me really analyze what I needed rather than what I was drawn to.
Daily (personal): Makselife Daily inserts on disk. I’ve also added a Amplify daily pages in there as needed for days where I really need an hour by hour plan of how everything is going to get done.
Yearly/quarterly/monthly Goal setting: Powersheets (with weekly actions in Makselife)
Daily (work): Amplify (though totally intrigued by Full Focus with the extra page for notes and may consider that for next year)
Undecided on:
1. Have not decided if I’m going to keep a seperate wellness journal (Commit30) or cut down and stick the cultivate wellness pages in with my Makselife daily.
2. Redating the Makselife flagship from last year that i only used a few pages of for journaling/memory keeping.
3. Any other journals (likely not in 1Q)
Hi Sarah!
Long time listener of best of both worlds and best laid plans. I feel like you and Laura are friends that I hang out with once a week and chit chat about life and everything in between. Thank you for all the content, I adore it.
A while ago you asked if someone was completely paper orientated and that person is me! I use
Ultimate Family calendar by MotherWord
GoGirl Budget Planner and Bill Organizer- I used to use YNAB, but it just was not for me; besides I love paper and use mostly cash for my variable expenses. It works just like YNAB for me, you should give it a try.
5 second journal- The Confidence Project Press. I use it for my daily planning, track my mood and why, what I am grateful for, and I use the notes page to time log, brain dump and write to do lists.
Posh Deluxe Organizer Monthly/Weekly Planner- Andrews McMeel Publishing. This is my monthly planner and habit tracker.
I tried to bujo in nursing school and it took to much time and I landed on this system. Maybe you will try some of these planners and enjoy them.
Best wishes
I’m using the Kitlife planner for my weekly spread, and monthly overview. I like the Big 3 section, and the space to add notes before the time block section at the bottom of each day. I also have the My Reading Life book journal from Anne Bogel, and the Next Right Thing guided journal for reflection. I’m terrible at looking back, and excited to give this a try. Week 1 went well!
Would love to see how the FFP and PowerSheets work together as you go along! Still doing my PS Prepwork for a February start, it seems. just been so busy!
I have EC monthlies – one for personal (I don’t need daily, I more track some things on the month and then lists on the lined pages) one for business (freelance – so I write out my weekly work each Sunday)
PowerSheets for goal setting
Happy Planner meal planner (because it’s in the kitchen – I like each “category” of use separate, hence meals not being with anything else)
pocket size calendars to track some health things for each kid
Various journals. I may bujo habit trackers as I think I’ll have too many (like vitamin, water, sleep, etc) to put on tending list. I’ve heard of people just doing “health tracking” in the tending list and then actually tracking ALL the things elsewhere.