A year ago I was introduced to what I like to call the holy grail of planners. For most of my life I have been a paper planner/organizer girl. When I worked in corporate interior design, I scheduled all of my meetings and kept track of them in a paper planner. Of course, some were also kept track of on my computer calendar as well, hello outlook meeting requests, but I liked a paper planner because that was still in the dark ages and we didn't have cell phones that were computers and could keep track of these things...we barely had cell phones. In fact, some of our employees had pagers! So, I liked to have a paper planner that I could keep with me and always know where I was supposed to be and when. Then iPhones and google calendar came along and I loaded on to the electronic scheduling and calendaring bandwagon. But that honeymoon ended when I found myself scheduling more work meetings, volunteer commitments, after school activities, and let's face it, doctor appointments. I hated having to look at the screen and I found it easier having a paper planner to jot things down in and to look ahead. Enter Plum Paper. This product is both seriously functional and seriously beautiful. There are so many options! It truly is a customized planner. I know there are a lot of pretty and functional planners out there, but it my opinion Plum Paper is the best. In fact, so many of my church tribe girls have one that we like to refer to it as the official planner for the Christ UMC moms.
Function: I love that you can add sections for so many different categories of planning...blogging, meals, fitness, sales, budget, etc. There are also different types of page add ons that you can disperse throughout your planner. Pages specifically for to-do lists, contacts, check lists, party planning, bill tracking, etc. My absolute favorite thing about plum planners is that you can customize the pages so that each person or category in your life has a dedication space on the weekly layout. It makes it so easy to glance at a day or week and see who has what when and where. I have a labeled space for each member of our household, church, work, and important dates (like birthdays and anniversaries).
Form: They also have a couple of different sizes to choose from. My first Plum Paper planner (say that three times fast!) was the 7 x 9 size. I like the 7 x 9 because it fits easily in a purse or bag; however, I found myself needing more room to write (and I write tiny) so this time I ordered the 8 1/2 x 11 version and while it is larger, I think it works the best for me. And if all these wonderful elements aren't enough...Plum Paper's planners are pretty. There are so many cover options to choose from and you can even further customize them with your initials, names, or a mantra for your year. While you are creating your planner you can see the options you choose and how it will look. You can also customize the number of months in your planner and what month to start at. I like to run mine from August to August since I really think of a planning year in terms of school year and summer, not January to January.
If you are in the market for a new planner or wanting to go back to old school paper planners, I can't recommend Plum Paper enough! (Click on the logo image below to be taken to website.)
-Amy
Professional Organizer & Planner Enthusiast
