Write. It. Down.

Before the electronic calendar became a thing, I used a paper planner. For several years I tried to make the electronic calendar work for me; but, after a while I found all the dinging and buzzing to be more annoying than helpful.

For the last three years I have used a combination of an electronic calendar and a paper planner. One year, when I could not find a planner that I loved, I created my own, had it printed and used it, along with the calendar on my phone.

This year, as time approached for me to purchase a new planner, I decided that I would eliminate the electronic colander and make the full transition to writing my schedule down again.

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Peacock Paper & Gifts

The Essential Planner empowers you to create time for the real essentials of life: faith, family, and happiness.
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A friend introduced me to The Essential Planner, and now I am obsessed with it.

Created by Kelsey Peacock, The Essential Planner is an academic planner that keeps its simple. The name emphasizes the philosophy behind this planner – focusing on the real essentials of life – and the planner is organized to help people get the most out of using it.

Highlights:

• Each month starts with a two-page spread view.

• The daily pages have five sections: the daily agenda, to-do, notes, meals, and health checks.

• The health checks section is a neat feature for users to account for the water they are drinking (or to see that they need to drink more), note any vitamin supplements taken, and any fitness activity for the day.

• The weekly meal planning/shopping pages are perfect to keep track of what you are eating. Of course the meals section on the daily page furthers accountability to note your meals and snacks for that day for reference.

• In the back, the contact list gives space to note important numbers for quick reference. Travel planning pages give users space to list important details of trips. The full-page notes section offers space for long-form notes, while the smaller notes space on the daily pages require more concise bits of information.

That’s it – so simple and easy.

I really did not want to create my own planner again. Doing that is a huge investment of time. I’m glad that I found something that works well for me to manage a busy schedule.

Check out the Peacock Paper & Gift website to see more images of the inside of the planner and the other covers available.

A note about the phrase “academic planner“: You don’t actually have to be a teacher or student to use an academic planner. In this case, “academic” refers to the cycle of the planner. Instead of the planner stating in January and ending in December, an academic planner starts in August and follows the academic year, ending in July. Anyone can use an academic cycle planner, if they choose to.

This post has been sponsored by Peacock Paper & Gifts.