Just like the pen, ink and pencil community, there is an extensive network of blogger, video bloggers and independent shops that specialize in all things planner-related. I wanted to include a short list of the sites I found most helpful in my research and that I’ll regularly be referring back to.
YouTube is a huge resource for unboxing videos and tours inside filled planners. Some show how people are using their planners, comparing various planners; and reviews of specific binders, brand or sizes. Just try searching for the brand, size or name of a given planner to find dozens of review videos. Some will be useful to you and some will not but it is a great way to see these products in use.
There are so many more options for printable pages, just start searching on Etsy or the web for “printable planner” and then add your preferred planner size like “personal”.
There was way more to choosing a planner than I ever imagined. I hope my research has helped you to see the possibilities of using a ring-bound planner for organizing your best year ever.
Once I started researching planners, I discovered that there was more to a planner than just calendars and contact lists. There are pages and inserts to track and account expenses and budgets, track fitness, and so much more. What are your goals for the year and what do you want to accomplish? Whatever it is I bet you can find insert pages to track and organize your goals and activities.
I’m not a good, nor a particularly enthusiastic, cook so I’d like to have my dozen go-to recipes with me so I can stop at the store and pick up the necessary ingredients on my way home. I’d also like to find printables for book lists and web sites to check out. If I can’t find any, I might end up making my own.
The great thing about a ring bound planner is that once I’ve accumulated enough recipes, or “books I read” pages, I can move them into a binder of their own.
Dividers & Pockets:
There are also other planner considerations like tabbed dividers, movable book marks, and storage for loose items like zipper pouches or pockets. Some binder companies will include a starter kit with at least a few of these items included. If they are not your taste, you can make new ones with decorative paper, office supply files folders or whatever else tickles your fancy. Many independent sellers offer downloadable or purchasable designs on Etsy, Ebay and web shops.
A lot of people use a “dashboard” in the front of their planner which is a decorative piece, usually laminated or plastic, and attach sticky notes. This is where to put the “hot notes” or to put a stack of stickies to use inside the planner. This page is also referred to as a flyleaf or page turner.
Other Add-Ons:
If you are interested in trying to create your perfect planner using a ring-bound binder you’re probably going to want to invest in a couple things. A hole punch of some sort will make it possible to add additional pages to your book, be they scraps of notes, stray index cards, or printable add-ons. A single hole punch will work fine for on-the-go needs. Just use one of the tab dividers as a guide to punch holes in your new sheet. But, if you plan on adding a lot of customized sheets or printables, you may want to invest in a multi-hole punch with the correct hole placement for your chosen binder. Brand specific punches can be pretty pricey but I found a reasonably-priced adjustable 6-hole punch on Amazon.
I also discovered that I really like my pages to have rounded corners so I’ve been using a small corner rounder I got at Muji to round the corners. Any craft supply shop should sell a corner rounder that will accept about 6 pages at a time for less than $10.
If you get really serious about making your own dividers and dashboard, you may want to invest in a laminator or a Xyron. I have a old Xyron 910 and the nice thing is that you can swap out rolls mid-use and use adhesive, magnet or laminate — if you are feeling extra DIY crafty.
Some folks like to add a charm to their binders to add a little personal touch as well. I’ve seen cell phone charms looped around the rings as well as specifically designed planner charms. So if you feel the urge to “bling it up”, you have options!
Fauxbonichi and Fauxdori: (updated!)
I think the allure of a ring-bound planner is the same thing that makes the Hobonichi Techo and the Midori Traveler’s Notebook so popular — the endless capacity for them to be whatever you want them to be.
In my research, I found an assortment of “fauxdori” pages to turn a Traveler’s Notebook into a planner or vice versa. I also found printable pages for planners that looked like the gridded pages from a Hobonichi (dare I say “fauxbonichi”?). I even found a video on YouTube where someone cut down sheets of Tomoe River paper to fit into a ring binder. So, clearly, with some ingenuity, a ring-bound planner can be whatever you want it to be. While much of this series has been about traditional ring binder planners, there are other options to create a flexible planner. Using a Midori Traveler’s Notebook cover (or one of the many similar style leather covers available from other sources), you can print and bind your own booklets to include inside these covers.
Alternately, you can take the best things about a Hobonichi Techo and integrate it into a ring-bound planner, whether that’s the paper, the layout or something else you love about it.
In the end, we each have to chart our own path to organization and success planning. What method do you think works best for you?
Most of the major planner manufacturers also make planner inserts. Companies like Franklin Covey and DayRunner offers an array of printed designs. Filofax makes a very simple planner layout but it is available in two paper stocks: white and cream. I’ve seen some reviewers suggest that the cream paper stock from Filofax is thicker than the white stock and better for fountain pens.
Most planner manufacturers offer an array of inserts, including calender layouts in many different configurations but you are not beholden to use the planner pages that came with the binder you purchase. The advantage of a ring-bound planner is that you can add and remove pages or sections to suit your needs. You may love a planner binder form a certain company but prefer a different set of calendar insert pages. Heck, maybe you are looking forward to making your own!
Formats:
Depending on how many daily activities you need to account, you can choose a day-on-two-pages, a day-per-page, week-on-two-pages or month-on-two-pages. I’m probably forgetting about a dozen possible formats but you get the idea. Figure out how many things do you want to write down each day and use that as a guide for how much room you need.
If you prefer weekly calendars that start on Sunday, planner binders offer a lot of options. Filofax offers week-on-two-pages with a Sunday start day. Several of the Etsy sellers also offer a Sunday start too.
In some cases, it may be convenient to combine several of these layouts too. Maybe you need to have a month’s worth of daily pages then weekly pages for the following month. The month-on-two-pages may be added for planning out the whole year, adding in birthdays or holidays and vacations. Since its easy to add pages or take them out, you may start a routine where you choose a day of the week to review your planner, add in future planning pages and make sure everything is up-to-date.
The best thing I found about binder-based planners is that there are dozens upon dozens of folks selling printable planner pages on Etsy (and other online shops).
A few simple, minimal printables available on Etsy I recommend are:
Etsy sellers are getting more sophisticated, both in design aesthetics and technology. Many printable PDF inserts will offer customizable fields that you can edit in Adobe Acrobat before printing. This will alllow you to change “Notes” to “To-Dos” or make other tweaks to a template. With undated templates, some can be filled with the date in Acrobat before you print them, which can also streamline your process and planning.
In a future post, I’ll go into more detail about how I print and trim printables if this is a option that appeals to you.
Beyond the Calendar:
There is more that can go into a planner beyond just a calendar. There are address/contact inserts, inserts for fitness, finance and bills, password lists, to-do lists, plain paper and so much more. I found specific planner inserts for social media posting schedule and home improvement projects. There are options for reading lists, movie lists, goal, meeting notes, and so many more. Search for “planner printable” + (your preferred size, like “personal”, “A5” or “half-sheet”) on Etsy and you will have more things you can plan or organize than you could have possibly imagined.
For some reason, this week, I could not get the picture of Ralphie from Christmas Story in that pink bunny suit out of my head. Not really the most “fashionable” inspiration but hopefully I pulled it off.
Pages Tabs, set of 10 stacks of 50 tabs $14 (via Russell+Hazel)
2015 Everyday Appointment Wall Calendar $26 (via Rifle Paper Co.)
Platinum Plaisir Fountain Pen in Pink $17.60 (via Pen Chalet)
This is Part Three of 6-part series about getting started using ring-bound planners. Please check out the previous articles, Part One: Why and Part Two: Sizes.
So, by now you’ve decided if a planner is something that might interest you. You’ve even thought through what size binder and paper might work best for you. Now its time to shop for the “big purchase”. The binder is where the majority of your expense will be. That said, you don’t have to buy the most expensive planner binder in the world for this to be the best option for you. You might prefer to start with a binder you can find at your local big box retailer. Secondhand binders occasionally come up on Ebay and last season’s colors or designs might pop up on Amazon or Ebay as well so there’s the potential to do some comparison shopping.
Obviously, aesthetics and personal preferences are the first order of business when choosing a binder. Binders come in an array of materials from Italian leather to canvas and fabric. There are leatherette options as well. Most manufacturers feature sturdy, durable leather for the majority of their planners. This is fine with me but other folks might want to consider the non-leather options for price or personal reasons. Some leather planners can get very pricey (I’m talking to you, Smythson of Bond Street and PLOTTER.) so proceed with caution. DayRunner, Filofax, Franklin Covey and Kikki K planner binders can all be had, in leather, for less than $100. On sale, you can find them closer to $60 or $70.
Non-leather binders at the Personal/Compact size can start around $40-$50. In a world where an A5 Moleskine notebook costs upwards of $20, $40 doesn’t sound so bad for a reusable notebook cover.
Binder are available with an array of closures — some have a strap with a snap or magnet to keep them closed, some zip closed, some have elastics that run horizontally or vertically, and some have no closure at all. Again, this gives you lots of options so that you can choose what look you prefer.
I mentioned in my previous post about ring sizes though its probably more relevant here. I’ve added it again here since it makes more sense in the context of selecting your binder.
Ring Sizes:
Be sure to consider how many pages you may want to carry in your planner when deciding on a size. The Filofax Compact and Slim line utilize smaller rings which will limit how many sheets you can fit in your planner. If you choose to cut down Tomoe River paper to fit in your planner, you might be able to use a smaller binder but if you plan on having lots of pages, dividers and additional content, you may want to consider a binder with a larger ring diameter. Some binders have a ring diameter at 1.25″ while others can have ring diameter as small as 0.75″.
Systems like ARC and Circa sell different sized discs that make it easy to swap out the capacity. Discs start as small as 0.25″ and go up to 3″.
The most popular planner size is the Personal (paper is 95mm x 170mm, or 3.75″ x 6.75″ — PLOTTER has decided to call this size “Bible” which is extra confusing) or the Compact (with paper measuring 4.25” x 6.75″) . Franklin Covey is the only company I’m aware of that uses the “Compact” size. Filofax, Kikki K , DayRunner, DayTimer and others use the “Personal” sized pages but each company has their own name for the size.
I’d recommend keeping a note with the measurements of your preferred planner insert size handy and always check the written size unless you are buying the refills to coordinate with your planner brand.
The Personal (Filofax, et al) and Compact (Franklin) sizes are the same height and feature the same 6-hole configuration (two sets of three holes placed to the top and bottom of the spine) but the Personal size pages is about a 1/2″ wider. Binders designed for the Compact-sized paper are a bit wider to accommodate the larger paper.
The Personal size offers the widest range of potential planner refills, while the overall size of the planner is still portable. Using Franklin Covey inserts in a Filofax may be a little too tight and Filofax inserts in a Franklin may have a bit too much excess space but the option is there. Finally, the Personal size is a common size for custom inserts which might be appealing if you need something specific.
To add to the confusion, Filofax sells a binder size called “Compact” which accepts the same paper sizes as their Personal binders but features smaller rings and an overall smaller binder profile, similar to the “Slimline” binder.
Other popular sizes are the A5 (also called the “half sheet” size since its approximately 5.5×8.5″ making it half of a US letter-sized sheet or half an A4).
The Pocket size holds paper slightly smaller than a 3×5 index card in the Filofax sizing and just slightly larger than a 3″x5″ in the Franklin Covey sizing. This size might seem a bit too small for a daily planner but it is often used as a wallet since it can fit in a pocket.
For bigger options, the A4 or the Monarch/US Letter planner (depending on whether you are choosing an European brand or an American brand respectively) is a good desk planner option. If you have a job that requires a lot of daily meetings and tasks you might consider the A4/Letter size. This size is considered the least portable as a full binder large enough to hold A4 or US Letter paper is going to be heavy and bulky.
There are even systems built around the standard US 3-ring binder in either full Letter size or the half-sheet size (5.5×8.5″). The Classic binder in Franklin Covey and DayRunner use this size.
In recent years, B6-sized planners and inserts have been becoming popular though most of the covers and inserts are being produced by independent makers or imported from Asia and not being sold by larger companies like Filofax. As a result, covers are harder to find and fall either into the pricey handmade leather goods category or the less durable non-leather/leather look category that has iffy durability. The best option for a B6 leather cover would be through Van der Spek, their Touch Me line (approx. $110USD).
The last option is the disc system option like the ARC or the Circa planning system. These use the familiar ring discs and pages punched with divots that slip into the rings. It has the same level of customization regarding page inserts as well as a range of cover options from budget board covers to full leather cases. For the most part the disc systems are only available in half-sheet/A5 or US Letter sizes.
We will dive into the discbound systems in a future series.
Which size is right for you?
I wouldn’t recommend that Americans purchase an A4 binder nor would I recommend that Brits/Europeans purchase a Monarch/US Letter-sized planner. If you plan to add your own inserts, I would recommend choosing a format that is conducive to the tools you have handy. Anything that I can print out or copy on a standard US machine and cut down to fit in my planner is fair game. If I have to hunt down a very specific size paper, that’s going to make me less inclined to actually use my planner. The whole point of using a ring-bound planner is to make my life easier, not more complicated.
Also remember that the bigger the planner, the less portable if will become. If your goal is to create a planner you feel comfortable having with you all the time, make sure its a size that will comfortably fit in your day bag or pocket. Some men might be inclined to use a Pocket sized planner because it will fit in a pocket. With every size and configuration, there are trade-offs. Too small and you may not be able to carry a year’s worth of daily or weekly calendars. Too big and you might not be inclined to carry as often as you might need it.
The diagram above is from My Life All in One Place. I think its super helpful in comparing paper sizes in planners to Moleskine and Midori Traveler’s Notebook. The actual planners will be a bit larger than the paper they contain, of course.
Once you’ve chosen your preferred size, you’ll be ready to start considering your binder and/or preferred brand. Stay tuned!
Things in the pen and paper universe seem to be quieting down as everyone gets ready for the holidays and the end-of-the year. Let me know if I overlooked your favorite post this week.
Things in the pen and paper universe seem to be quieting down as everyone gets ready for the holidays and the end-of-the year. Let me know if I overlooked your favorite post this week.