WeekDate White wipe-off wall planner

Many thanks to Kay at WeekDate for generously sending me the WeekDate White wipe-off wall planner!  You might imagine just how excited I was to get this!!

This is an excellent companion to the WeekDate weekly planner (which I am currently using).  You can find the WeekDate weekly planner on the WeekDate website, read my review of it here and how I'm using it here.

This wall planner can be used with any planner system, or independently. It's great to use at home or work so that everyone can see the entire week's plans.

The WeekDate White wipe-off wall planner has the same design as the WeekDate weekly planner, with recurring monthly events on top, recurring weekly events at the bottom, and this week's specifics in the middle. 

**Above image copyright of WeekDate.

The WeekDate White also has a blank space at the very top for notes, lists and messages.

The recurring monthly section is color-coded to indicate what happens the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and last week of the month.

Each week you write in that week's specific appointments and events, without having to re-write your recurring events every week.

The recurring weekly section is divided into three sections so you can use it for morning/ afternoon/ evening (how I've used it) or use each section for a different family member.

This wall planner is an excellent way to keep the entire family informed of what is happening each week, and for keeping track of each family member's events.  And it's especially great when multiple people are scheduling events to make sure that no conflicting appointments are accidentally scheduled.  Because all recurring events are visible, there is no risk of scheduling overlap.

Something else the WeekDate planners are great for (both this wall calendar and the weekly planner too) is reinforcing routines.  For example, if your goal/ New Year's Resolution is to exercise and get in shape, you can schedule your exercise on the recurring weekly section so your workout schedule is fixed. You can set times so that everyone can see when your workouts are scheduled, enabling them to work around them easily.

Another use for this planner is menu planning.  You can either write that week's menu on the weekly section, or you can write two menus at the bottom of each recurring daily space and have a rotating bi-weekly menu!  Everyone knows what's for dinner, and you can plan your grocery shopping easily.

The uses for this planner are endless!

The WeekDate White wall planners come with either a magnetic backing to hang on your fridge, filing cabinet or other metal surface, or a plain backing to stick on the wall or anywhere else.  The WeekDate White I was given has a plain back, which was perfect for me to fix to the wall with some Blu Tack.

Because the WeekDate White planners are undated, you can use them any time.

WeekDate White wall planners can only be found on www.weekdate.com. 

Many thanks again to Kay for this awesome product!

Uncalendar Lifestyle Half-Size

I've said it before: Uncalendar is the best system for setting and achieving goals I've ever seen.  The book helps you think about and organize your goals, break them into do-able tasks, and get them down on paper.  Then, the crucial thing happens: it helps you figure out how to work your goal-tasks into your daily and weekly schedules.  There's even plenty of space to record your progress, which is crucial for achieving your goals.

I've reviewed the Full-Size Uncalendar Lifestyle (click here to see review) but I think the Half-Size Uncalendar layout is different enough to merit its own review.

The Full-Size Uncalendar has 8 1/2 x 11 inch pages, and the Half-Size pages are half that size for greater portability.  The 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 inch book is perfect for carrying in your bag or backpack while still having lots of space to write on the pages.

Uncalendar planners have undated weekly and monthly pages so you can start anytime.  This is great for people whose "year" starts in June or October or some weird time.  It allows you to start your planner at the beginning of a project and use the planner for the duration of that project to have the entire timeline all together.  Something I've never done but thought of is starting a new Uncalendar on my birthday and having that entire year together in one book.  Also since the pages are undated, you can use the planner only when you need it so you don't waste pages when you are on vacation.

Click on the photo below to read the first page of the Uncalendar to get an idea of the philosophy behind the system:

Also along the side of the book you can see the tabbed sections are: Day-Week, Month-Goals, Notes-Techs, and Data.

In addition to the pages I've shown below of the layouts, there are several pages of tips and advice on how to adapt and use the pages to suit your needs best; setting goals; managing tasks; motivating yourself; and daily reminders to help you in the categories of Diet and Exercise, Family and Friends, and Career and Work.  The tone of the book is very motivational and friendly.

The Day-Week section has the weekly planning spreads.  Below is the weekly layout, which is different from the Full size layout (where the weekdays are columns and the weekend days below, click here to see image).  You can click on any of the photos below to see a larger view.

The right page has the weekly schedule with day spaces, and at the top of the page is space to write the main goals for the week.  Each day's space has a highlighted line at the top to note the major event of the day, and a green line at the bottom for daily totals (expenses, exercise, etc.), meal planning, or anything else you want to highlight for the day.  There is a box at the beginning of each line to note appointment times or to check off items completed.

The left page is the Worksheet with plenty of space to list tasks, break projects down into next steps, jot phone numbers or notes, or doodle.  There is a grid to track goals progress or financial details.  At the top of the page are highlighted boxes for your Daily Reminders or other important things to keep in mind.  These pages make great reference later when you need to look up your notes or records.

The Month-Goals section has goal-setting pages and monthly calendars.  Below are the Goals-Setting and Monthly Planning pages to guide you in setting your larger Lifestyle goals and then breaking them into do-able tasks.  (There is more information on how to do this written in the Uncalendar pages).  Also you can check out the Uncalendar's Training Room website for more advice on how to use the pages to set your goals.

Below you can see the layout of the monthly calendars.  The undated monthly pages spread the month over two pages for maximum writing space in the day squares.  Also there is an empty space at the beginning of each week for notes, reminders, goals, totals or anything you want to write.  Side note: I prefer to have my monthly calendars go Monday-Sunday rather than Sunday-Saturday, so I mark out the days written and write Monday-Sunday in the space above. 

In addition to the weekly and monthly calendars, there are two pages like the one below for annual planning for current and future years:

Also in the very back of the planner there are dated 3-year calendars for reference (and to help you fill in the dates in your planner):

On the left page you can see there's space for frequently used numbers and other data for handy reference.

The Notes-Techs section has twelve of these two-page spreads for notes, graphs and reminders.  (The Uncalendar Lifestyle Pro planners in the 3 ring binders have twice as many Notes pages, and A-Z tabs for contacts.)  I like to use a two-page spread each month for my monthly goals and monthly reviews.  Click on the photo to see a larger view so you can see the columns for blocking notes, numbered lines, and graph for charts.  This structure is great for organizing notes.

(Uncalendar also sells notebooks of just these notes pages, Note Taker's Delight.)

The Data section has a quick-reference A-Z page, graphs and charts for reference.

The book holds an entire year of plans, goals and notes within its flexible covers, yet still manages to be only 1/2 inch thick and very light!

You can purchase the Half-Size Uncalendar Lifestyle (with a variety of cover colors) at the Uncalendar website (click here to go directly to the product page).

You can see the entire line of Uncalendar products at www.uncalendar.com.  Don't miss their Customer Comments, they are very inspiring!

You can see my post about how I use this Half-Size Uncalendar here at Time For New Goals!

If you find this system interesting but need more space to write, check out my review of the Full-Size Uncalendar here.

To read about how the Uncalendar system can help you set and achieve your goals, read my post Secrets of Success.

And whether you are interested in the Uncalendar or not, be sure to look through The Training Room.  It's completely free, and has loads of tips for goal setting, managing people, projects and finances, and other generally motivating advice.  I like to go there every now and then to recharge.

Got goals? Get an Uncalendar!

Time For New Goals!

Now that I have achieved my long-term goal of moving to Scotland (and all the work that entailed), it's now time for me to come up with some new goals!  Don't worry, I have plenty:

Goal #1: Save money to buy a house.

Goal #2: "Homeschool" (term used very loosely) Youngest who will start school next year.

Goal #3: When Youngest starts school, get myself back into the workforce.  Sitting home alone all day is not appealing.  And, I do want to get back into science.  So, that gives me nearly a year to explore my options and get myself out there.

Goal #4: Get on a household cleaning routine with a little cleaning each weekday so I can relax and have fun on weekends.  Also, do meal planning as a way to save money on groceries.

Goal #5: Get in shape and lose some weight.

Some of you already know where this is going.  (Sis?)  Another clue: Arielle's comments on my post a few days ago that she's trying the Uncalendar got me thinking.

Uncalendar is an excellent tool for setting goals and focusing your energy on working toward them, so of course that's who I turn to when I need a powerful way to set and achieve my goals.  Those of you who are unfamiliar with this excellent life-management system can read all about it in my Uncalendar review.

The Uncalendar Lifestyle Pro planner system in the 3 ring binder helped me enormously while I was preparing to move to Scotland, homeschooling both my kids and keeping track of various other aspects of my life.

Now, in order to keep track of my goals listed above, I have ordered the Uncalendar Lifestyle Half Size planner (so it can fit in my bag).  Actually I ordered two, because two of them fit into a flat-rate shipping envelope so it didn't cost any more to ship two than to ship one.  And, shipping to the UK for both planners totalled less than 13 bucks, which is an excellent price!

I will use my Half Size Uncalendar as my Goals Workbook to keep me on track with my goals listed above.  I'll sketch out my goals on the Goals pages of my book, and break them down into do-able tasks.

On the weekly pages I'll record what homeschooling lessons we did that day, what exercise I did (cardio and/ or strength), plan dinner menus, and I'll check off my weekly cleaning tasks as I complete them.

I'll use the monthly section to keep track of expenses, bills paid, income and (hopefully) savings to work toward home ownership.

I'll use the Data section for building my contacts list for future employment.

And I'll use the Notes section for writing my Mid-Month and Monthly Reviews inspired by Charlie Gilkey which are always very useful for keeping me on track and aware of the weeks progressing.

I am very excited about this plan!

While I'm waiting for my Uncalendars to arrive, I'm getting ideas from Uncalendar's goal setting tips and other sections of The Training Room (which I like to peruse periodically) for more advice on setting and implementing my goals.

As you might imagine, Uncalendar planners are extremely popular with students.  Interestingly, I've recently discovered that Uncalendar planners are very popular with nursing students in particular.  I can definitely see how the Un's structure and flexibility would be extremely useful for busy nursing students balancing classwork and clinicals (not to mention the rest of their life!).  On Allnurses.com there is a forum where a lot of nurses and students recommend the Uncalendar.  I'm fascinated!

Click on the following links to see my reviews of the Full-Size Uncalendar Lifestyle and Half-Size Uncalendar Lifestyle.

Click through to my post Secrets for Success to see why the Uncalendar system is so useful for setting and achieving goals.

What techniques do you like to use to help you figure out your goals and make a plan for achieving them?

Mid-Year Planners

Here we are smack in the middle of 2010. How's it going for you?

Right now you are either in the middle of your 2010 calendar-year planner, or getting ready to start your new 2010/2011 academic year planner.

I always get very excited each year when the academic year planners come out, because it's a chance to start a new planner mid-year. (And you know I love to start a new planner!)

You don't have to be a student or teacher to use a mid-year or an academic-year planner. Parents with kids in school may find they can plan easier when their planner follows the school year schedule. Some people find, for work or personal reasons, they prefer their planner to start mid-year.

Or, you may need a new planner now for other reasons, especially if you've experienced any of these: getting married, moving, changing jobs or taking on new responsibilities. Any major life change can change your planner needs significantly, causing you to need a new planner.

And, there's always the case of Planner Fail, which will leave you searching for an alternative.

Well guess what, we're all in luck! There's a ton of excellent planners starting right now. Here are just a few:

If you're tired of your boring, restrictive planner and want something colorful and fun, look no further! The Dodo Acad-Pad will keep you engaged all year with its humor and art.
Dodo Acad-Pad Desk Diary 2010/11 2010/11: Academic Mid Year Diary - a Combined Memo-doodle-planner-message-ment-organizer Book (Dodo Pad)

The Acad-Pad comes in a variety of sizes and formats including the original desk planner, wall calendar, portable mini size and new personal size Filofax insert.

See my Acad-Pad review here.

Dodo Acad-Pad Filofax-compatible Diary 2010/11 2010/11: Academic Mid Year Diary - a Combined Memo-doodle-planner-message-ment-organizer Insert (Dodo Pad)

I recently discovered that Plan-It Fashion Planners, which I adore and raved about in my review, now come in academic year formats! I absolutely love the new Paisley Bird covers, beautiful!

2010-2011 Daily Fashion Plan-It Day Planner Organizer Agenda - August to August- Paisley Bird

And the new natural-toned covers are gorgeous too:

2010 Daily Fashion Plan-It Day Planner Organizer Agenda - Bird Stripe

These are fantastic planners with excellent features, at a great price.

If you want a planner that is minimalist and flexible to fit many different needs, check out the Moleskine 18 month planners. These come in the very popular Weekly Notebook format (click here for my review)
in pocket, large or extra large sizes:

 

Moleskine 2011 18 Month Weekly Notebook: Black Hard Cover Large (Moleskine Legendary Notebooks (Calendars))

And the horizontal weekly format in pocket or large sizes:

Moleskine 2011 18 Month Weekly Planner Horizontal: Red Hard Cover Large (Moleskine Srl)

Quo Vadis has a great selection of academic-year planners in a variety of formats, sizes and cover styles. There are too many for me to list here, so I'll mention just a few.

Their best-selling Textagenda is a day-per-page academic-year planner that is the perfect size to fit into your backpack or bag. It has an enormous selection of covers to choose from, so you're sure to find one that fits your personality.

They have an extensive range of weekly formats and sizes, including (to name just a few) the open-format Scholar, the structured Septanote (which I reviewed here and here), and new this year, the Rhodia planners in academic-year format.

If you prefer to see your entire month in one view, check out the desk size Monthly 4 planner. This is an 18 month planner that starts in July. Its large page size gives you plenty of room to write all your plans, but the super-slim book is portable enough to go in your bag with you everywhere. See my Monthly 4 review here.

See Quo Vadis's entire range of academic-year planners here.

So there are just a few of the academic-year planners available now.


Of course another option is to use an undated calendar, which you can start any time at all: mid-year, calendar year, on your birthday*, whenever. And, you can use it only during the times you need it so there are no wasted blank pages.

(*I think it would be interesting to start a new planner on my birthday and use it for that 12 month period. Has anybody ever done this?)

My favorite undated planners are:

For an undated day-per-page planner I love Parker Planners, which you can read my review of here. Parker Planners are pocket-sized and hold four months of daily pages. They have an excellent layout which will organize your appointments, notes, to-dos and ideas on a daily basis.

For an undated weekly planner, you can't beat Uncalendar, which comes spiral bound or loose leaf in a 3 ring binder, in two different sizes: Full Size with 8 1/2 by 11 inch pages, or the more portable Half Size. Uncalendar's time management tips and goal-setting pages are very motivating and helpful.  You can read my review of Uncalendar planners here.

Do you prefer to use an academic-year or calendar-year planner? Which day of the year do you like to start your planner?

Q & A with Ethan Parker of Parker Planners

Ethan Parker of Parker Planners very kindly agreed to answer my questions about his company, how he started it, and what it's like to be a young entrepreneur. Ethan, thanks very much for your time and thoughtful answers!

1) What first inspired you to create a planner? Was it for your own use, or to fill the needs of someone else, or both?

I was trying to create the ideal planner. I didn't want to have to carry a large planner around - I wanted something that would be discreet enough to fit in my pocket and still have plenty of room to plan on. Later, as people saw me using my planner friends and family started asking that I make them planners. From there Parker Planners was born.

2) What was your creative process? How did you decide on the format and style of the planner? Did you know exactly how you wanted your planner to be right from the beginning, or did you go through several variations before you hit on the final form?

The planner is on version 5.0 right now, but all planners have been relatively similar. We keep tweaking it based on customer input and I doubt it will ever be completely the final version. Changes to the most recent version include an extra week of planning, 2 new cover options, and a mini calendar in the back that is modeled after a conventional wall calendar.

3) What was your path to success: starting up your company, publishing your first planners?

Our first batches of planners were printed at local printers, but they charged high prices for the low quantities we started with. Now we have found a great place that charges much less bulk pricing. With college bookstores we really just got lucky, the bookstores liked that the planner was unique and we offered flexibility and responsiveness that other companies couldn't offer.

4) How did you market your planners to the first buyers?

Just walked in there and said "what do you think of this?"

5) I saw on your website that you sell lots of planners at university bookstores. I can see how your planners would be very useful to college students. What other types of people use your planners? Have you heard of any surprising users/ uses of your planners?

One surprising story was that at the University of Idaho in Moscow, ID there was a convention where baptist women loved our planners. That one was kinda funny.

6) What are your future goals for Parker Planners?

Market to bigger retail locations and expand to a national sales base.

7) What advice to you have for other young entrepreneurs?

Just try it. Stop talking about your idea, ditch school for a day, and throw $500 and 35 hours at it. See what happens. You will learn more during that time than in 5 years of what we like to call "school" in this country.

Parker Planners has been amazing for me. I love my job! Sure it doesn't pay a lot and right now is a difficult time to start a business but truly I don't regret my path whatsoever. I wouldn't change a thing. Money is not the end goal, but it can motivate toward achieving genuine goals along the way. We are always looking for talented people that care more for others than themselves. If you are in Utah Valley we'd like to hear from you if you fit that description at all.


Many thanks again to Ethan!

Parker Planners

Parker Planners are pocket-size day-per-page undated planners that have 4 months worth of daily pages. Let me break each of those descriptions down for you.

Pocket size: this planner measures only 4.25 by 3.5 inches, and really is small enough to fit into any pocket. And even though it's a daily, the fact that it holds only 4 months worth of pages means it's very slim:

Back in December I posted about a day per page format with a page before each Monday for that week's lists and goals. Lo and behold, the Parker Planner has this exact format! I'm very excited!

You can click on the photos to enlarge and get a closer look at the page formats:
The days are undated, but the days of the week are designated Monday-Sunday. Before each Monday there is a weekly planning page to note important events, goals and ideas for that week, which I find extremely helpful.

This also results in a very effective layout for the week: Weekly Overview and Monday are together, to get your week started off right. Then Tuesday-Wednesday are together, Thursday-Friday to finish up your work week, then Saturday and Sunday are together to see your weekend days side by side. I really like this layout!

Other excellent features include:

Suggestions for use and Personal Info page, with the planner's to/from dates:
Lots of pages in the back for notes and ideas:Pages for contacts, and a space inside the back cover to keep sticky notes:
The daily pages have an excellent layout with the day's schedule from 6 am to 10 pm, space to jot notes and ideas, and lines for main things to do that day. Here is an example of a day when I had several meetings and various other things to do:
Because the pages are undated, you can start them any time, and use them only when you need to so there are no wasted pages. The 4 month book will get you through a university semester. The tiny size means you can take it absolutely everywhere with you, so that wherever you are at any time you can jot down notes and ideas, schedule an appointment and check your agenda. It makes an excellent companion to your smartphone.

Parker Planners are sold in select university bookstores, and you can order them online at:

http://www.parkerplanners.com/buy.html

Many thanks to Parker Planners for sending me this planner as a sample. I have really enjoyed learning about the planners and the company.

Stay tuned, on Wednesday I'll post a Q & A with Ethan Parker, creator of Parker Planners! I found it very interesting to learn how this young entrepreneur started his company from the ground up.

Secrets for Success

How are those New Year's resolutions going? You haven't given up on them already have you?? Just in case you need some direction, read on.

While I was in Scotland I read this excellent article by John von Radowitz in The Scotsman newspaper. In the article, Radowitz details what techniques do and don't work to help us reach our goals.

Psychologist Richard Wiseman (fitting name!) of the University of Hertfordshire studied 700 volunteers and compared techniques used by those who were successful or unsuccessful in achieving their goals. People who were unsuccessful used techniques that are commonly touted as being useful for helping people achieve their goals such as relying on willpower, fantasizing about being successful, and adopting role models. They also "tended to dwell on the bad things that would happen if they did not achieve their goal."

Professor Wiseman said, "Many of these ideas are frequently recommended by self-help experts but our results suggest that they simply don't work. Because of the widespread nature of this advice, millions of people will fail to achieve their aims."

Wow. So much for self-help books. No wonder people have to keep buying them!

So what does work? Here are some techniques Professor Wiseman has found in his study that are effective at helping people reach their goals:

1) Breaking goals down into small steps, then rewarding themselves when each stage has passed.

2) Telling friends about what they were trying to achieve.

3) Reminding themselves of the benefits of obtaining their goal.

4) Charting their progress.

Being a planner geek, the first thing I thought of was ways to use planners in this way to achieve goals.

There are a variety of planner styles and brands that would be very helpful in the above steps. Filofax and Uncalendar especially come to mind, because both of them have (or can be customized to have) the capacity for listing goals, breaking them down into weekly and daily tasks, and charting progress.

Filofax has accessories like tabbed dividers for giving your book designated sections for your goals. You can have an Exercise section. Or a section for a specific project you are working on. Or you can have an entire Filofax devoted to a specific purpose. There are also paper inserts that are perfect for charting progress such as quad-ruled pages, blank pages, lined, various colors etc. There are many ways to customize your book to fit your needs.

Uncalendar is engineered to help you set and achieve goals. This is where Uncalendar excels and stands out from the rest of the planner crowd. In the Goals section, you can set your goals and break them down into tasks. There are spaces on the weekly pages to write reminders of the benefits of achieving your goals. The book has motivational suggestions like rewarding yourself for reaching your benchmarks.

But #4, Charting Your Progress, is where Uncalendar really shines. There are many places throughout the book to chart and record your progress toward your goals. The weekly worksheet has a grid on which to record or chart data for the week (such as financial totals, daily weight or blood pressure measurements, miles run, inches lost, sales, whatever). In the Notes section there are plenty of graphs for more charting. In the Data section in the back of the book there are more graphs and tables for recording monthly totals or to chart progress. One grid that I especially like has 52 rows (for weekly records) and 12 columns (to record monthly totals).

Your planner can be a very useful tool for managing not only your appointments, but your entire life. How do you use your planner to help you reach your goals?

Do you Uncalendar?

Product image copyright Uncalendar www.uncalendar.com

Uncalendar is a brand that doesn't get nearly enough attention, in my humble opinion. I stumbled across these awesome planners several years ago when I caught sight of a co-worker's open Uncalendar. I didn't know this person very well, and certainly not well enough to ask to see the inside of her planner. But I HAD to know what it was and how it worked so I shamelessly interrogated her a little bit. Uncalendars have this effect on people.

The most basic premise of the Uncalendar is that it's undated (get it?) so you can start any time. But the Uncalendar system goes waaaaaaay beyond just not having numbers pre-printed on the days. Uncalendar is an entire life-management system. Seriously. And yet, you have fun doing it.

There's more. Throughout the book are tips, guidelines, motivational techniques and other methods that can be used with any planner but work especially well with an Uncalendar. These range from basic to advanced, and are helpful to anyone who needs time management or motivational advice. The tone is very friendly and helpful. Do you have a goal? Uncalendar will help you reach it! Do you want to make some positive changes in your life? Uncalendar will help you do it! Just reading the pages of tips makes you feel like whatever you want to do with your life, Uncalendar will help you every step of the way.

A couple of years ago Uncalendar upgraded itself to Uncalendar Lifestyle by adding lists of things to remember about Diet & Exercise, Family & Friends, and Career & Work. For example, the first three reminders for Family & Friends and Career & Work are the same: Say something positive! Go easy on the negatives. Catch someone doing something good. The book has loads of these reminders to help guide you into making positive changes in your lifestyle (get it?) to get where you want to go.

Getting where you want to go is the name of the game with Uncalendar. There is a Goals section that is structured in a way that gets you to write down a big, overall lifestyle goal (top left page). Then below that you can break it down into sub-goals. Then you can further break these down into do-able tasks. There's even a page to help you break your annual plan down into monthly goals, which you then transfer to your weekly pages. It's one thing to have goals. It's a whole other thing to transform them into a workable plan.

I haven't even gotten to the weekly planner section yet! It's a week view on one page, with the opposite page full of list boxes. The weekdays are columns and the weekend days are open blocks. The daily columns are not timed, but have shaded boxes that delineate the column into sections. You can write times into the lines, or not. It's a very flexible system. (Click on photos to enlarge.)This two-page spread with notes boxes on the left and schedule on the right is incredibly flexible for infinite uses. There's space for those daily reminders to help motivate you. You can note that week's goals. You can write your shopping list. Students can note assignments, teachers can plan lessons, business people can keep track of multiple projects at once, parents can keep track of their progeny and their own busy schedules. It's an incredibly powerful planner. Below I have written in various ways to use the daily spaces:

There is also a month view section (also undated so you can start anytime) with huge daily boxes, and an empty box at the beginning of each week that is good to note goals, financial information, keeping track of whatever, planning, etc. There are also Notes pages



and Data pages with graphs for tracking progress, charts for logging info, places to write frequently used phone numbers.

As if the book itself weren't motivational enough, the Uncalendar website has The Training Room, which is completely free and has lots of good advice for goal setting, time management, people management, money management, life management. There are tips for how to best use your planner (which really can be used with any planner system) and general advice. I like to browse through it every now and then for inspiration.

And as if all of that weren't cool enough, the company is a small family-owned business out of Arizona. Their customer service is very personal and excellent. And they ship anywhere in the world!

Uncalendars come in Full Size (8 1/2 x 11 inches) or Half Size (which has a different weekly format that works better on the smaller page). Each size comes in spiral bound or 3 ring binders (which is called Lifestyle Pro). The Full Size in the ring binder can take standard American size 3 hole punched paper, so you can add your own full size pages.

Sooooo... your New Year's resolutions this year are the same as they were last year, huh? Hmm. Well, maybe it's time to get a system that will help you actually achieve your goals instead of just thinking about them.

I'll tell you this much: if you have goals and you are ready to work to reach them, then the Uncalendar would definitely get you there!

Papergeist planners and notebooks

Recycled paper planners and notebooks seem to be very popular right now, which is great. I'm all for not cutting down trees to feed my book habit. But even recycled paper has to go through some amount of processing, and no matter how ecological it is, it uses resources like electricity and water to process.

Papergeist has gone that much further past recycled paper, to re-using paper and covers without processing them. They call it "post post consumer." Their covers are made from, get ready: vintage record covers from second hand stores or even rescued from the curb. The reclaimed office paper is "french folded" so that the printed side is not visible, and even marker won't show through to the other side of the page. They'll even buy back the coil from your book when you are finished with it to use in your next book and give you $5 off.

The books come in a variety of formats: blank, lined (journal), To Do list, or (yay!!) weekly appointments (planners!). The planner (shown above) has the days of the week printed, but no dates so you can start it anytime or use it only on weeks when you need it. I think this is very clever, and the most ecologically sound you can get for a planner. You don't have to start the planner on January 1 or July 1 or whenever the printed days begin to use every page. You date it, so you start it when you want.

The covers are absolutely unique. You can browse their current selection (their store is in real time) and choose your cover, then specify how you want the interior pages. They spiral bind it all into a book and there you have your very own, completely customized, fully re-used, absolutely unique book. You can be sure that nobody else will have the same book!

I think this is a really cool idea! I love customization, and the vintage covers look very retro-cool. Their low ecological impact is very admirable, and I'm glad to see a company that is so forward-thinking. Especially these days when climate and ecological impact seems to be on everyone's mind!

13 Planners

To chronicle my planner sickness, I have decided to detail my epic search for my Perfect Planner. My sister deserves a round of applause and a cookie for putting up with my planner insanity for years, and reading in painstaking detail billions of emails full of my angst in choosing and using planners. In 2009 alone I have used 13 different planner formats/ brands. Yes, this is sick. Allow me to explain.

1) When 2009 began, I was using my Filofax A5 Finsbury binder with the horizontal week to view planner format. In 2008 I had switched from the Personal size Filofax planner to the A5 size to have more room to write. But, the A5 book was too big for me to carry around, especially while traveling.

2) So I switched to an A5 bound day per page book. Where I live, most people use this type of book and I am fascinated by what they write in it. Meeting notes, phone numbers, directions, everything gets jotted onto that day's page. I love the idea of having such a detailed record of my day to day life. But, the hard bound A5 book was also too heavy for my liking.

3) So I ordered up a Time Traveler day per page book. I used one of these for all of 2005, which was a year when I had very little that I needed to plan, but a lot to record. I think that was the first year I can remember in more than a decade that I used the same planner every day for the entire year. I really liked it at the time, but the binding was very flimsy and started to fall apart before the year was even finished. And this was a book that didn't go in my bag much, just opening and closing it each day did it in. But, it has spectacular full-color maps, which I love, so I got another one for this year. I used it for about a month and had to abandon it because the day per page format didn't allow me to plan ahead. I have to see a week view.

4) At the same time I ordered the daily Time Minder, I also ordered an Exacompta Daily Pocket planner. On the website where I ordered the Time Minder I wasn't absolutely certain that the planner was daily and not weekly. So I ordered the Daily Pocket as a backup. I used an Exacompta Daily Pocket for some of 2001 and liked it at the time. When the Time Minder turned out to be a daily for real, the Daily Pocket became sort of redundant. Except not really. Because even after I abandoned the Time Minder entirely, I continued to use the Daily Pocket on those really busy days when my head was swimming with tiny details. The book really is small enough to fit in my pocket, so I can carry it around everywhere I go to jot down those little details before they escape me.

5) When I finally came to terms with the fact that I have to have a week view, I ordered up an Exacompta Visual weekly planner. Big plusses: the week view with the days as columns is very organized; the monthly calendars at the beginning of the book are extremely useful; the book is a portable size and the paper is scrumptious. But, after only about a month it just wasn't working for me because the tasks boxes on the weekly page are too tiny to contain all of my weekly tasks.

6) Because the Visual didn't have enough space for lists each week, I busted into my full size Uncalendar Lifestyle planner. Uncalendars are undated so you can start any time, and they have a motivational approach to goal setting that I really like. Uncalendar's website says things like, "Have your eye on a goal? Uncalendar will take you to it!" (Be sure to check out The Training Room on their website, it has lots of time management and goal setting tips you can use with any planner system.) It has this feeling of understanding that you are motivationally challenged (at least I am) and the planner promises to carry you along to help you reach whatever goal you want. It sounds really great, and I have used Uncalendars a few times in the past. But this time I decided that the full-size book is too big. I have tried their half-size planner in the past and didn't care for the format, so I found myself searching yet again for a different planner.

7) and 8) My sister uses a large Moleskine 18 month weekly notebook planner, and convinced me that I should get one. Problem was, it was only spring, and the 18 month didn't come out for a few months yet. I could have gotten a 12 month weekly notebook but they only come in soft cover or red hard cover, both of which I hate. I have to have the black hard cover, nothing else. So while I was waiting for my 18 month to arrive, I hacked a large Moleskine sketchbook that was lying around unused to make my own. I used my hacked planner, which worked pretty well for me, all the way until my Mole arrived. Then I went on a trip.

9) On my trip I took my Mole planner (which was in its very first week, beginning of July) and my trusty Filofax. I had wisely put the Filofax week view planner pages corresponding to the weeks I would be on my trip into my Filo, for whatever reason. While on the trip I found myself using my Filo instead of the Mole, and remembered all the reasons why I had fallen in love with Filofax in the first place. Mind you, I hadn't used a personal size Filo as my actual planner (only as an address/ reference book) since early 2008, and I abandoned it at that time for the A5 Filofax for more writing space. But while on vacation my Filo and I had a glorious reunion.

10) So after I got back home I was determined to use my Filo as my planner. And I quickly realized all the reasons why I stopped using it in the first place. So to try to make it more useful I started using the week + notes format, because I don't have many scheduled appointments but I do have a lot of tasks each week. While I was using this format (which wasn't working out all that well for lack of space each day) I discovered:

11) the Filofax Family Organizer (which is available in the personal size in the UK but not US, so I ordered it off the UK website). The Family Organizer is a great idea, with loads of forms to fill out for family information, reference, scheduling etc. The weekly pages have little boxes for each member of the family for each day. This would be great as a supplement to my own calendar, to see where each person has to be each day. But it was far too tiny to use as my main calendar.

**Mind you, each time I tried one of these and it failed, I went back to my Moleskine 18 month planner (which by now was in full swing) and back-filled all the things I had written each week. So at least if I had to look up something I'd done (which I have to do often because I have a terrible memory), I didn't have to search through a million different books to find it. This Mole size and format works pretty well for me with the entire page each week for lists and notes. But those tiny spaces for the weekend days are an ongoing problem. After each planner failure, I used my Mole for a few weeks until the next planner caught my eye.

12) Recently I received as a gift my "Dream Filofax," the personal size Deco in Ivory. It. Is. Gorgeous. I mean, it's crazy-beautiful. When I got it I was determined to figure out a way to make it work for me as my planner, small page size be damned! The Deco came with the Filofax Cotton Cream Week on 2 Pages (which is so classy looking it requires capital letters). I used this format for awhile back in 2004 and it worked okay, despite not having tons of space for my weekly lists. This time I used it for a couple of weeks and realized that I wasn't getting anything done. I had to put some of my lists behind tabs in other sections of my Filofax, and in general it just wasn't a large enough page size for me to see everything at once. So my Deco is now my main reference book, and back to my Mole I went.

13) Next week my new Quo Vadis Minister begins. I will test drive it for the week because I am very curious to see how it works. But I will hold off on actually transferring everything over into it until January, because we are traveling over the holidays and I need to be able to reference all the info I have written in my Mole from my last trip (back at the beginning of its use in July). So Mole will go with me on my trip, and then in January I will re-evaluate: will I stick with my Mole (which, as an 18 month goes all the way through the end of 2010), or switch to the Minister?

In general, my Moleskine works pretty well for me. I like having one page for scheduled items and the other page open for lists and notes. It's a great combination of a portable size book and a large enough page size. Yes those weekend day spaces are annoyingly small, but I can write on the notes page to make up for it. It works well for me most of the time. And yet, I feel compelled to give the Minister a shot. It is much more structured and organized than the Mole, with more room to write each day. Even though my Mole is working for me just fine, I can't help but wonder, could the Minister be my Perfect Planner? I won't know until I try.

To be continued...