I don’t like my 2020 planner 😒

[Ginevra]

It turns out I hate the page format. I don’t like that a long list on the left is supposedly things “to buy”. Ugh! I’ve scratched it out and written “goals” in its place but I don’t really want to scratch it out every week all year. 

I also don’t like how the days are all on the right side. 

I do like that you can add pages for other notes or lists, like I keep notes on there about experiences I have every month and book lists. So that is a good feature. 

Anyone have a planner they really like that you would recommend? I want something you can add pages, that lays out flat and that has more space on each day. Picture of the one I don’t like below. Mine is Happy Planner Company. 

[itsheresomewhere]

I hated the happy planner I got a few years ago.  You are not alone on it.

[carriede]

Happy Planner actually comes in a variety of formats. If you look online, you can see which covers have which layout (and then use the cover of the one you have if you like it better).

I have a Plum Paper planner for the first time this year. I love it! The layout and even the headings are customizable. It comes spiral bound or in loose sheets, so you can punch those Happy Planner holes (if you buy the hole punch) in it to use the discs with it.

[Selkie]

Plum Paper planners are my favorite, too.

[DawnM]

I only use one for work.  And I use the free one they give the students,  which means I actually do scratch things out and re-name one or two things weekly.  They changed it this year though and the format isn't the same and I am trying to decide if I like it or not.  

What was the name of that online planner the homeschool community was so excited about (they had a paper planner and then went online) and then they never got it out on time and a lot of us (including me) lost money on it as they gave no refunds.  I was livid.  

ETA:  I wonder if it was the Well Planned Day company?  

Edited January 3, 2020 by DawnM

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, DawnM said:

I only use one for work.  And I use the free one they give the students,  which means I actually do scratch things out and re-name one or two things weekly.  They changed it this year though and the format isn't the same and I am trying to decide if I like it or not.  

What was the name of that online planner the homeschool community was so excited about (they had a paper planner and then went online) and then they never got it out on time and a lot of us (including me) lost money on it as they gave no refunds.  I was livid.  

Wow! I don’t remember that! 

[DawnM]

2 hours ago, Quill said:

Wow! I don’t remember that! 

 

Darn, now I will need to dig to find out which one it was.  People were so unhappy, including me.  But that was probably 7 or 8 years ago now.

I am now thinking it was the Well Planned Day.

Edited January 3, 2020 by DawnM

[fairfarmhand]

I love my Happy PLanner. I like that I can easily add pages and rearrange things. You can even buy the hole punch and create your own pages or download certain blogger's pages.

[vonfirmath]

2 hours ago, Quill said:

It turns out I hate the page format. I don’t like that a long list on the left is supposedly things “to buy”. Ugh! I’ve scratched it out and written “goals” in its place but I don’t really want to scratch it out every week all year. 

I also don’t like how the days are all on the right side. 

I do like that you can add pages for other notes or lists, like I keep notes on there about experiences I have every month and book lists. So that is a good feature. 

Anyone have a planner they really like that you would recommend? I want something you can add pages, that lays out flat and that has more space on each day. Picture of the one I don’t like below. Mine is Happy Planner Company. 

 

I love my Happy Planner because of the ability to add/remove pages.  I can do a lot of customization to keep that ability.

Mine is horizontal layout. That looks like Dashboard layout. Different Happy Planners have different layouts. Horizontal and vertical layout have the week over two pages.  (I much prefer Horizontal but I know others prefer Vertical. So a lot of this is personal preference)

Instead of crossing out the "To Buy" every week (If that is your main complaint), why not buy some washi and cover it up?

 

ETA: if you want to see flip throughs of Happy Planners to see what you might like, there's a large community of youtubers that do things like that.  I like watching Heather Kell.  HEre is a link to a video from October "Choosing your 2020 Happy Planner Layout" That has lots of options:

 

Edited January 3, 2020 by vonfirmath

[PinkTulip]

About 5 years ago I gave up on finding the perfect planner and started making my own. It’s basically just a word document with tables that I customize with the proper dates and such. I laminate some pretty paper cut to size for covers, and then have it all spiral bound at OfficeMax. It’s a bit of a pain to print out and put together, but so worth it to me to have exactly what I want. 

[EKS]

Have you looked at Agendio?  It's expensive but very customizable.

[Wheres Toto]

39 minutes ago, DawnM said:

 

Darn, now I will need to dig to find out which one it was.  People were so unhappy, including me.  But that was probably 7 or 8 years ago now.

I remember this too.   I believe it was a religious/had bible quotes planner, if that helps any.

[Wheres Toto]

I use a Happy Planner but I print my own pages now.  I was using the one-page-per-day inserts until this month, but decided I wanted to try something different for this year.   The one page per day was good since I put a lot of information on each page, but I hated having to flip pages to see what was coming up.  And I refuse to write things multiple times to have a preview.

I made my own weekly pages since I couldn't find any I liked.   I had already bought the hole punch so it was just a matter of making and printing them.  Mine are two pages per week.  On the left side page is Monday through Wednesday, the right side page has Thursday through Sunday, with Saturday/Sunday sharing a box so each page has three boxes that take up half the page down the outer edge.   The inside edge is a to-do list with check boxes.   The start of the month has a monthly calendar on the back side of the first Mon/Wed page.  

I have full size and half size notes pages that I can stick in if needed.  I set it up so that i could still see the schedule even if a half notes page is stuck inside.    I also have stickers for fitness, general planning, holidays, etc. to dress it up a little bit.  I also print on colored paper that is slightly thicker than usual.  Not quite as thick as the inserts you buy and I may go thicker when I need to print more, but it works so far.    

Since I printed it myself, I dated each page, added all the regularly scheduled things (my classes, dd's tkd, etc.) and a drink reminder.

I MUST have a planner that can sit open on my desk at work or next to my chair at home.  I will not open it often enough to check on things if it's not sitting there in my face.  That's probably my biggest priority.   

ETA:  When I used the day per page, I could only have at most 3 months in my planner.  With weekly pages, I could have the whole year.  Wasn't a huge issue for me either way except having to put in pages every month and they were undated so I had to do all that. 

 

Edited January 3, 2020 by Where's Toto?

[mlktwins]

Honestly, I would just deal with the To Buy part for the year.  You could go through today and fix them all.  My Michaels has so much Happy Planner stuff.  Maybe go up and look (take your coupons) and see what might help make it better for this year.

TBH - I don't think there is one perfect planner out there!

 

[Katy]

I hated Happy Planner too.

I had terrible customer service with Plum Planner, I won't order from them again.  If you do, DO NOT order more than 12 months with customization.  It won't happen, they won't look at their own ordering system, and they'll blame you after charging you extra.

I was planning on ordering from Agendio for this year, I even spent hours entering all the custom data, but then Amazon had a sale on the Rocketbook Fusion reusable notebook planner, and it fit in the back of my Filofax so I've been trying that.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, mlktwins said:

Honestly, I would just deal with the To Buy part for the year.  You could go through today and fix them all.  My Michaels has so much Happy Planner stuff.  Maybe go up and look (take your coupons) and see what might help make it better for this year.

TBH - I don't think there is one perfect planner out there!

 

It’s not just the To Buy (although I hate that), it’s also what I now know is the vertical format. I like the week to go over both pages - 2 pages per week, with a month overview in the front. 

But I’m glad to know I can buy the hole punch. I might customize my own pages like a couple of the ladies here have done. 

[Selkie]

2 hours ago, Katy said:

I hated Happy Planner too.

I had terrible customer service with Plum Planner, I won't order from them again.  If you do, DO NOT order more than 12 months with customization.  It won't happen, they won't look at their own ordering system, and they'll blame you after charging you extra.

I was planning on ordering from Agendio for this year, I even spent hours entering all the custom data, but then Amazon had a sale on the Rocketbook Fusion reusable notebook planner, and it fit in the back of my Filofax so I've been trying that.

Oh no, how aggravating! I've ordered from Plum Paper several times without any problems. I get 18-month customized planners and the ordering process has always gone smoothly.

[Katy]

30 minutes ago, Selkie said:

Oh no, how aggravating! I've ordered from Plum Paper several times without any problems. I get 18-month customized planners and the ordering process has always gone smoothly.

 

Well maybe I just got a really hostile/angry/poor representative.  I could tell she didn't even look at my order when I complained because when I asked why the additional months didn't have the customization the 2018 months did she insisted I ship the entire planner back so they could reprint one.  It wasn't bound, it was punched to fit my filofax so that made no sense.  When I asked about that she didn't even apologize, she just said there was nothing she could do.  I wasn't allowed to return it because it was customized, even though not all of it was customized. 

I asked for a supervisor and that person said something to the effect of, "You checked the box to approve a customized order.  Customized orders aren't returnable for any reason."  Apparently not even if they screwed up the customization and you have screen shots to prove you ordered it correctly.  It was below the dollar amount my credit card would dispute, so I was out of luck.  It was pretty but man, I was SO ANNOYED.  It wouldn't have cost them $3 to print the couple missing pages and mail them to me and they would have had a customer for life, but they wouldn't even sympathize, let alone make it right, so I'm done.  And now I tell everyone who asks me about planners.

It's like the time Zenni Optical wouldn't ship my glasses.  Fourth order, but I had to file a dispute with the credit card to get my money back.  Done with them too.

 

ETA:  I probably should have posted a negative review on social media.  That's the only thing companies pay attention to lately.

Edited January 3, 2020 by Katy

[kbutton]

54 minutes ago, Quill said:

It’s not just the To Buy (although I hate that), it’s also what I now know is the vertical format. I like the week to go over both pages - 2 pages per week, with a month overview in the front. 

I think Blue Sky has some in that format, and you can usually get them at Target. They have a lot of variations on that same theme, so you might have to look at multiple models to find the exact one you like.

[eagleynne]

I have one like this, it's a Franklin Covey week on two pages format with a monthly grid. It comes in several sizes and is ring-bound so you could add extra pages. I put it in a better binder from Staples rather than buy an expensive planner cover but YMMV. I really need the the hourly break down to stay on top of things.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, vonfirmath said:

 

I love my Happy Planner because of the ability to add/remove pages.  I can do a lot of customization to keep that ability.

Mine is horizontal layout. That looks like Dashboard layout. Different Happy Planners have different layouts. Horizontal and vertical layout have the week over two pages.  (I much prefer Horizontal but I know others prefer Vertical. So a lot of this is personal preference)

Instead of crossing out the "To Buy" every week (If that is your main complaint), why not buy some washi and cover it up?

 

ETA: if you want to see flip throughs of Happy Planners to see what you might like, there's a large community of youtubers that do things like that.  I like watching Heather Kell.  HEre is a link to a video from October "Choosing your 2020 Happy Planner Layout" That has lots of options:

 

Thanks for linking that. Having watched the video, I might be able to make peace with my “Dashboard Layout”; I will just have to change the left-hand side category headers. (I like the idea of putting washi tape over them.) I think I can use the left side for habits and goals somehow; I just have to think about how I want to do that. 

I have used stickers in the past but I find I don’t like the stickers much. I end up spending a bunch of time looking for the sticker I want and also, certain ones run out while others never get used at all. So the stickers are not highly meaningful to me. 

[Angie in VA]

I spent no less than 90 minutes last night pouring over old threads here about good planners and then watching reviews on YT. 

Following!

[Carrie12345]

4 hours ago, Quill said:

It’s not just the To Buy (although I hate that), it’s also what I now know is the vertical format. I like the week to go over both pages - 2 pages per week, with a month overview in the front. 

But I’m glad to know I can buy the hole punch. I might customize my own pages like a couple of the ladies here have done. 

No, you do not have the vertical layout. You have the dashboard layout.  The vertical layout is across 2 pages.

It may go pretty fast if you list it on one of the million Happy Planner B/S/T FB pages.

[Penguin]

I also started making my own a few years ago. I love my planner 🙂

I made it in Word and I have one of those clickman things. It only took a long time the first year.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Penguin said:

I also started making my own a few years ago. I love my planner 🙂

I made it in Word and I have one of those clickman things. It only took a long time the first year.

I think I’m going to do this next year. That’s really the only way I can see myself being totally happy with it. 

[Another Lynn]

This one doesn’t let you add pages, but it’s truly vertical and the only planner that works with my brain, fwiw, lol. 

Edited January 4, 2020 by Another Lynn

[Pen]

I switched to a small pocket planner, plus smartphone plus diy pages which works reasonably well at this season of my life.

I used to use Franklin Covey like someone posted above, but a different look that I preferred.   Like one called Seasons.  And I was more productive when I used that.  Maybe I should go back to them.  🤔

[Wheres Toto]

42 minutes ago, ByeByeMartha said:

That sounds quite customizable! What size is your planner? How did you create your own weekly pages? And where did you get your hole punch--if it's not the standard 8-1/2 x 11)?

I have the Classic size Happy Planner.  I think it's 9 1/2 by 7 or something around there.   The pages that are in the picture above were made in Powerpoint.   I do most things like this in Powerpoint because I find it easier to manipulate things around.   The hole punch is one for Happy Planners.  You can buy them at Michael's or on Amazon.