More Compact Personal Planning
When I first made the decision last year to use something more compact for planning, a big part of the decision was due to the fact that there was going to be a limited edition PLOTTER release. Now, a few weeks into using the 5th anniversary liscio green PLOTTER as a personal planner, I can confidently say that I’m really happy with my choice.
Keeping It Simple
Why did I downsize? In short, my personal life right now doesn’t require too much maintenance. I used to have an A5 size PLOTTER for both work and personal planning from 2021 to mid-2022, but ended up transitioning all work-related planning to digital. After that, I found that the A5 size was too large for just personal planning as I don’t have the most packed schedule when it comes to events.
I use the left hand side of the PLOTTER weekly schedule pages to keep track of the few appointments that I have, and then I use the right side for daily to-dos. I like splitting up household chores throughout the week to make things more manageable, so the limited space actually helps me think through what I can realistically get done in a day after work.
One particular aspect I love about the PLOTTER ring binder system is that I only put three months’ worth of weekly pages at a time to keep things simple. Whenever I remember, I take out the older pages and try my best to keep the pages for this month and the following two months inside. Doing so also allows me to focus on the present and the near future - as someone who dwells a little too much on the past and worries a little too much about the future, I find that this approach works well to reorient my mind to what’s happening now.
For the monthly pages, I like to have all twelve spreads at the front and duplicate important appointments there so that I can easily see a summary of the entire month.
What Else?
In addition to the dated pages, I keep a few project manager folders from PLOTTER to group other pages together. I love that I got these particular project manager folders lettered by the director of PLOTTER at the 2022 SF Pen Show!
Here’s a quick overview of what each project manager folder holds:
Daily: Notes about stationery spending, list of unused notebooks, fun schemes with friends
Record: Podcast notes for Words and Roses
Creator: Notes about the blog and Twitch streams
Misc: Extra (empty) dot grid pages just in case
As seen in the photo, I utilized the 2mm grid square PLOTTER refill to keep all my notes together for an upcoming trip to Japan, which is another fun way to group pages without using the project manager folders (thanks to April for the idea!).
Alongside other accessories such as the lifter band and pen holder, the number of pages and folders shown fit nicely into the bible size PLOTTER without pushing the limits of the small rings.
I’m really thrilled at how well this planning system is working for me so far in 2023. I’m certain that life will change in the coming years - if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that life is always full of unpredictable changes, and our planning systems should adjust to work for us, not the other way around. For now, I’m content with how I’ve set up this PLOTTER and will continue to enjoy using it for as long as I can.