Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Planner Society: Practical or Precious?
Recently, I ran into an old friend I hadn’t seen in a while. She was thrilled to hear about my book and she wanted to tell me about the new planner system she’s been using. She mentioned the name “Planner Society,” so when I got home I Googled it. Someone else had mentioned this trend to me last fall, and I’d bought my daughter a fancy planner over the summer so she could start middle school in organized style, still… as I looked at the photos on Pinterest and Instagram and watched a few videos, I thought: Really?
On the one hand, I like pretty. I have pretty file folders on top of my desk even though manila would do the job just fine. Just because my desk is my workspace doesn’t mean it has to be drab (not to mention it’s in my living room!). I understand that using a pretty planner can make it more appealing, which might make you more likely to keep it up, and if you need that extra encouragement, go for it. And I certainly understand the return to paper lists, which seem to be part of the impulse behind these planners; I never gave up paper to-do lists and I believe there is a hand-eye connection that helps you absorb things you write by hand more than those you type.
Still… it’s all a little much. It seems like they are selling a lot of stuff—stickers, Post-its, washi tape—to the point that it’s more of a craft project than a to-do list.
The cynic in me thinks, “If you spent less time putting stickers on your to-do list, you’d have more time to get through the tasks on your list.” I’m always a suspicious of anything too precious: A system is a means to an end, not the end in and of itself.
I’m not against trying new systems. This year, I experimented with a week-at-a-glance calendar to use for my to-do lists (not replacing my digital calendar, just my paper pad) so I could divvy up things I needed to do as they occurred to me and I could be realistic about what could actually be accomplished in a day. It’s worked well. Still, it’s essentially a notebook and a pen. No stickers required. Those stickers worry me. You can’t possibly use them all, so where do they go? Are people hoarding piles of stickers and washi tape that they haven’t used from these kits?
My to-do lists are messy. I would never put them on Instagram. Still, I get a lot done. And that is the point.