I know this topic has been covered a lot, and believe me, ive been searching...

but i still havent found an answer...

I currently have a planner, and im really not liking it...so, i want to invest in a new one.

i cant seem to find pages that have what i want on them...my day does NOT end at 5pm!! seriously now...i cant stand how the time slots end at 5...i found some that ended at 8...but that didnt help either...

For me, the prettier things are, the more chance that i have of actually looking at it...ive been really bad at looking at my planner, because the other refill pages i have just have big open spaces for each day, split vertically in half...and then i write all sloppy because their are no lines...and then i dont even want to look at it...

:(


any ideas? i REALLY need to keep a planner...im sure you all can relate :p

Sorry, cant help you with a hand-held daily calender, but on my MSN, I have a calender that goes all day long. With reminders in my dashboard that tell me what is appts I have that day and it actually has a five day forecast.

Dont know if that helped or not.

i have mozilla sunbird...which is really nicely setup...but, its on the comp, lol, so that doesnt help me...

i really like being able to physically write things down...which is why i havent considered a PDA

Andrea, I have an "At-A-Glance" planner from office max - it's huge (which is why I like it) - about 9"x11". It is one of those "professional" planners that's black and looks all cool... I LOVE it - I've always been terrible with my planners until I got this thing in januaray. It runs from january-December instead of the school year, but it's really meant for people with jobs so that's why.

In the front it has 2 pages for "yearly planning" (a huge 12 month calender all at one glance) then there is a section for weekly planning, which is basically like any school planner, except that it's more than twice the size, and has the hours of the day printed on the sides (down through 5pm... but it has a slot for "evening") it has lightly printed lines to help. Also each day is split vertically into "appointments" and "to do/notes" - so I use the appointments side to write in my classes and everything i'm supposed to go to, and the "to do" side to write in stuff that i need to do but dont' have a certain time attached, or assignmetns or whatever else doens't really fit. (like notes to myself)

On the sides it is tabbed so you can easily flip between sections - the first tab is the part i was just talking about, but then there are also three more:

"to do": a full page of lined paper, which is split into three columns, so you can write what your'e supposed to do, it's priority, and check off if it's completed. I have one huge list of "ongoing projects" on the firwst couple of pages for this sections, (things like "write email to grandma" and "make Doctors appt") Then I've used a couple of pages for days which are SUPER busy and I have to plan out eveyr single detaiil of my day. Or if i'm studying for an exam and I want to organize my thoughts about which things i need to study first. Overall i don't use that section much though.

"Notes" - simple lined paper for taking notes, I wrote all my prof's office hours on the first page, and on the second page is a list of stuff i've lent out or borrowed from people. then there's other lists of stuff that have randomly come up (like people's phone numbers, or a list of people interested in my sublet, notes about summer jobs...)

"Special Info": has info and tips about how to take good notes and time management :D , international holidays, a world map with time zones.... etc.

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I MOSTLY just use the weekly planner section becuase that's the most useful, but that's what the planner's meant for anyways. There were other kidns of planners there too (some which are more daily, some more monthly, etc) they are actually meant to be put into a portfolio with a hard cover, so the covers on these things are floppy - so what I did was cut some stiff cardboard (from the backs of legal pads :D ) and pasted them onto the insides of the cover with glue and clear packaging tape. I know that sounds relaly ghetto but it actually looks nice and it makes the whole thing stiffer so you can carry it around easier.

I *love* my planner - the biggest key is to make a system that works for you and to practice using it.

I am trying desperatly to use my planner. I think I may need a planner to remind me where I left it and when to use it. It is a Day planner. It ends up chock full of pieces of paper and reciepts and basically looks very much like my wallet. I can be so messy at times and wish I had the ability to stay on task. I love it when I use my planner but my challenge is sticking to it. I guess I'll keep on trying. I may look at the "At-A-Glance" planners. Thanks for the input Christiana. By the way, very pretty name.

I use the Franklin Planner and it's been a big help. I'm nothing without it.

Cactus
Hi, what is the Franklin Planner? And where do you get it?

it's paper. Is that OK?

It comes from Franklin-Covey (http://www.franklincovey.com/)
And I've been using this one (http://shopping.franklincovey.com/shopping/catalog/productpaper.jsp?navAction=push&navCount=1&id=prod216) for quite a while. There is also a whole seminar on tape that you get to explain the philosophy and the nuts-and-bolts useage of the planner that I found quite helpfull- especially since someone else was paying for it.

If you have a cell phone you need to look at the yahoo and MSN messanger/calander sevices. I'm pretty sure AOl has it too. You can have the calander set up and it will send allarms to your cell phone plus the computer. Of course the computer will only help if you sit near on all day.
I have a planner and I do use it to record meetings but I rely on my computer notices to get where I need to be on time.

OK, so this may not work for everyone but it sometimes works for me,,,,,, I make my own planners in microsft word. That way, it looks the way I want it to,,, it functions the way I want it to and it allows me to be creative and productive at the same time. All you need is a notebook, a three hole punch, typing paper and MS word. And it is much cheaper. OK,,,, so i tend to tape my pages all over the place so that I keep being reminded but there is always a copy in my folder so I can add new stuff. OK,,,, now that I am typing this,,, it sounds pretty pathetic but oh well,,, it is what it is. lol

My Nokia 6010...which is the cheapest phone that TMobile offers..has a built in planner/calander. You enter the text you want it to remind you with and select the day/time you want it to remind you. I just looked and stuff I put in there back on August 15 is still there.

I sort of wish this phone supported a data cable for connecting to a PC, but it doesn't. I got a data cable which connects to some contacts under the battery, it doesn't work (Nokia doesn't officially support a data cable connection for this phone, and apparently they've changed the firmware to disable the connection under the battery).

I just got a Mead Upper Class planner a week ago.

It's got black plastic covers, so that when I spill coffee/beer on it, I can just wipe it off(no damage done!), and offers both a monthly and weekly view of what I need to do. The weekly view has every day separate over 2 pages, and though it has no printed times, you've got what I think is plenty of room to write things out, including times. The monthly view is handy to get a good overview of what you've got coming so you can plan things in advance (like most ADDers tend to forget).

Oh ya, it was cheap too. Something like $10, canadian. That's like, less than $10 American. You can't go wrong. So long as your year starts and ends August 1st.

Go to Target if you have one. They have the franklin covey planners. I got a pale purple one. Inside has everything you could need. Plus the pages are pretty mine has flowers. i paid 10.00

I use a Moleskine weekly planner, if you need more room you may want a daily one. They are very nice. I have a thing for fountain pens and I need (want) nice paper as well. I'm VERY happy with this one.
Click to see (http://www.moleskineus.com/diary.html)

I just found a GREAT book about organizing your life. I still am using the At-a-glance planner (I do everything with it) but this book basically has helped me set up a better system for myself which helps you deal with all those things like recipts and papers and physical stuff as well as immaterial stuff (like "brainstorm ideas for meeting"). Now I finally understand why planners and organizational systems usually don't work for people, or maybe they DO work, but they still aren't the greatest thing ever. It has to do with not trusting your system.

Basically, if you don't use your system (hi-tech/lo-tech, doesn't matter what it is...) for EVERYTHING YOU DO, and check it regularly, then you will end up not trusting it to have the things you need when you need them. A good example is when you have a wall calender and a PDA - then you write your denist appointment and a meeting with your boss on the wall, and a different meeting in your PDA (becuase you didn't have the wall calender on you at the time), then you will never really be at peace becuase you will KNOW that there is somthing on your calender that's not in the PDA and vice-versa. Trying to keep track of 2 (or 5 or 6...) different systems which all overlap is a waste of time and will only drain you psychologically. And yet, not everything FITS into your wall calender or into a folder, or into a PDA (some stuff is physical pieces of paper... for example)

So you really need more than just one thing, but at the same time the two systems can't overlap. The book I read actually tells you EXACTLY how to do stuff, (unlike most advice I've heard or read) it goes step-by-step from the point of your super messy office (or your home) down to a lean, mean system which will never fail you if you use it all the time. The book claims that you won't have to rely on your memory ever again, becuase everything is in your "system" and you will trust it, so you will actually be able to be at peace with yourself and feel relaxed. It sounds wild and crazy, I know, especially when you've tried like 10 different "perfect systems" and none of them have worked. But now that I'm starting to impliment it, I can totally see what he's talking about and I think this is actually going to work well for me. And the best part is, I can still use my old planner which I love! (and if I had a PDA then I could use that too - it's all about using things EFFECTIVELY)

It does take some time to set it up, but it's worth it. The book isn't actually aimed at people with ADHD, but it might as well have been, becuase it's PERFECT for us. And I'd be willing to bet that a lot of his clients were actually ADHD in disguise. (he is a consultant who helps people organize their offices and lives and stuff)

As far as "real advice" goes, this is the first advice that's been REALLY helpful to me.

I forgot the name of the book! lol

it's called
"Getting Things Done - the art of stress-free productivity" by David Allen

I have found that my PDA is the best way for me to keep track of things (although I at times miss having the pen and paper thing going for me, there is just something about it...) My palm is able to beep at me to remind me that I have to leave and go places, post recurrent events on the recurrent basis without my having to painstakingly rewrite, and has appointment spaces that grow to meet my needs. It also eliminates the problem of my having to cross out mistakes that I make, something that in the past would cause me to give up on using my planner-- I hated to see my own cross outs, and that would keep me from wanting to look at my day planner.

I use the Franklin Planner and it's been a big help. I'm nothing without it.
I have the Franklin Planner software on my Treo, AND a paper planner for redundancy. Having the two helps- since my PDA is also my phone, I always have it with me (meaning it becomes so ubiquitous I actually forget to check it. The paper planner helps me to sit down and prioritze tasks within the day, and it's big and clumsy, meaning when I have it with me, I have to pay attention to it.

I use my palm Z22 and Microsoft Outlook to keep track of practically everything. Although, I should look for something to keep lists better. Aside from things like shopping lists I am set up pretty well.