Are you a Daily, Monthly, or Weekly Planner?

[@moneym124]

Watching this I realized that I am in fact not a planner at all but more of a tracker. I’m not as busy with people but I like to track when my kids are visiting or my meetings for work and selfcare etc etc. I never thought about it like this before but that helps when I think about what planners I need or better yet like.

[@RachelleinTheory]

What a great insight :)

[@whiteswanrs]

Thank you so much for saying this. I have wasted so many years trying to get my “80 year old live alone with a puppy retired life “stuffed into a traditional planner. I keep setting them up and changing kinds and spend a lot of time re-dating and then I never write a single thing in them. I need to change my whole approach. I think you have pointed me in the right direction.

[@debbieannrodriguez2181]

This is me as well 😅. I just like to see what "appointments" I have for the week and what tasks I need to do by when. But other than that, I don't write anything else. I just track my water intake, habits, menstrual cycle, books read etc. But yeah, you're correct in saying it's mostly just tracking. 😅

[@imsody]

​@debbieannrodriguez2181 I'm like this too, I like to have a place where I can see at glance appointments or hard deadlines but I like to track more than plan. I've also realised this recently so I have been looking at golden coil because they are very customizable, you can do planners or notebooks (without monthly or weekly layouts) and add all the pages or trackers that you prefer. Does anybody knows if there other brands or companies that also do this or are similar in this way, meaning that you can customize trackers instead of focusing on planning?

[@ashleykennedy2824]

I had this realization in 2021! I don't need a formal planner necessarily, I need a daily log. I've been doing a super minimalist bujo setup since then and it's working really well for me.

[@iliana.m]

Fun fact! In Japan, actually 80% or more of the planners that are available in stationery stores are stricktly monthly with lots of notes pages in the back ! Daily is non existent except for Hobonichi or a very few other options, there are a few weeklies but nothing near the amount of montlhy planners with notes pages ! (However, in Japanese planning videos, they mostly use leather ring binders for planning, so maybe there they use various planning inserts.... The hobonichi dailies they use for mostly memory keeping/deco)

[@RachelleinTheory]

ooooooo fascinating

[@iliana.m]

@@RachelleinTheory Actually on second thoughts they do also have many weeklies and many that are a bit unusual inside. 🤔 But I think seeing so many monthlies with blanks pages surprised me so much that I noticed it more 😂. Definitely not many dailies, that's for sure ! On the other hand, they write tiny because of the kanji, so they don't need much space anyway as with the English or Greek, my language, which is even worse cause the words are bigger and the sentences need more words to be expressed than English 😂😂 oh well.... I write some English too to fit everything in the page lol 🤣

[@badpoetry33]

wow… that’s really interesting. thanks for sharing! I just decided to switch from weekly planning to monthly, hoping it will suffice for all the planning I need. I was starting to feel a little lost at sea looking at a week alone, instead of placing myself within the month. cool to read this is prevalent in Japan!

[@softbread1641]

thats fun to know in russia ( and other east european countries i suppose ) its conversely mostly daily planners and most of the monthly/weekly are inconvenient as hell and rare to find in a stationary shop ( not impossible tho, u just need to know where to purchase )

[@iliana.m]

@@softbread1641 Yes, in Greece too! And the dailies of course don't have monthlies attached hahaha Just straight up dailies! There are weeklies but they are impractical, they are extremely fancy, I mean super thick paper, no laying flat whatsoever of course, colorful glossy pages with designs and quotes and stuff... Who uses them?! Haha A planner with thin paper like hobonichi wouldn't go far in sales lol 😂😂

[@angieeverett5047]

Great overview! I think you also have to consider the season of life you are in. I have recently experienced a big change in my life that has shifted me from being a weekly to a daily planner. I like a general overview of my week, but as I have been in my weekly planner I realized it just wasn’t working anymore. I found myself gravitating to daily and recognized it is the new season I am in. I enjoy your videos! Keep up the great content!

[@RachelleinTheory]

Such a good point :)

[@pattimachugs1945]

I am glad that I am not the only one that has 2-3 different kinds of planners/calendars for organization.

[@planwithmarisol]

So good. I know I need monthly for appointments, tasks in horizontal, time scheduled in hourly, and dailies for work and journaling. I actually sat myself down 4th quarter last year and intentionally figured it out. The kicker is, I cannot have it all in one planner. I need them surrounding me open to glance at.

[@RachelleinTheory]

THAT IS THE KICKER. I also feel like, if only I could have all of these views open at the same time.... I guess the solution is multiple planners huh 😂

[@gray_mara]

It's ridiculously freeing to hear someone encouraging others to do what suits their style. Thank you. As someone with ADHD, I struggle with dated planners, since I both forget to fill them out and struggle with conceptualising time. I've been using Notion lately and it's been working for me in ways that paper planning didn't. It's flexible enough to move things forward when I get behind, without redoing a whole new spread. The timeline display also fits in well with my Now vs Not Now concept of time. It also lets me mix things up a bit when I need a change, without losing what I'd previously entered.

[@RachelleinTheory]

Oooh Now vs Not Now is a great concept. I'm so happy you found something that works for you ☺

[@EmL-kg5gn]

Thank you! I’ll have a look at your suggestion. I have adhd too and it’s such a struggle. The best planner/diary I’ve had so far was one that was totally blank except for a spot to write the date at the top. Like many of us I’d tried so many different planners that I already knew a bunch of layouts, so I could easily choose whatever suited me at that moment. And I never felt bad if I didn’t use it for a day (or 2 years). But now I have fatigue so having to put even 2 seconds of thought into the layout isn’t ideal, I don’t have the mental energy! The whole now and not now thing makes planning so difficult. And my capacity has always been unpredictable, between hyperactive from 6am to after midnight and struggling to get out of bed at all or anything in between. It’s hard to plan when I don’t know how much energy to plan for

[@OktoberJournal]

I figured out what I am by eliminating one of the options for a week and see which one I missed the most. I was fine being without a weekly or daily overview, but I missed my monthly overview within a day. I don't have a lot of plans in my life though, but the monthly helps me the best :)

[@cymbamcreynolds8838]

I used a 12-month calendar as my "planner" when I didn't have much going on in my life besides work and tracking spending. When I started to track and needed to remember more things, I started to use a weekly planner as well as the monthly section. I don't think I need a daily planner useless my life got significantly busier to the point of needing to micromanage all of my time.

[@Zinerun]

Honestly, this was one of the greatest video I’ve ever watched. I’ve never thought about this, and I will never forget this. I now think I’m a weekly, but I want to think about this more. Thank you.

[@RachelleinTheory]

Craig!!! This is high praise. I'm so glad it could help you out!

[@juliaruby221]

I started off as a weekly planner in my bujo, but I have fully transitioned to a combo monthly and daily planner and love it! The monthly spread helps me keep a bird's eye view on what's coming and a retrospective of what has happened (without the scope being too big), and completing a day per page helps me have a fresh start every 24hrs, which I find to be really empowering. I use a hobonichi A6 now and it works perfectly for this duo. Love your vids as always :)

[@bainca]

This is amazing! I know in my heart I'm a monthly planner, always have been, but a few years ago I had a smaller bullet journal and had daily planning sessions. I always felt like I was drowning, even though I actually was on top of things. Not having that monthly view really messed up my brain back then lol Understanding who you are and how you can make things function better for you is so important!

[@RachelleinTheory]

Bianca!!! This is such a good insight. Even though you WERE on top of it, you FELT like you were drowning because you couldn't visualize it. Thanks for sharing.

[@toryevanss4512]

I plan seasonally, based on landmarks in my life like work projects, kids' school schedules, holidays or vacations, etc. Since planners don't come that way, I brainstorm my "season" on scratch paper and when I've figured everything out I record it in my planner. I'm a Hobo Cousin user because some days, based on what I have going on or how I'm feeling, I do like to have a daily page to make a detailed plan or take notes as I work or do a little journaling. That's totally optional though, I have many blank daily pages and zero guilt about it!

[@adrienne5836]

Thanks for typing that out! I was just trying to figure out how to word that! I also use the Cousin and it works well but I was feeling guilty for not using all the daily pages. I use them sometimes! My favorite monthly, by far, is still Erin Condren. I wish they had an option for six months of monthly and weekly with the rest as note pages. I have tried to recreate that in rings and it’s just not the same!

[@EmL-kg5gn]

That sounds like how I think too! I think for me it’s tied to my adhd, I have trouble conceptualising measured time. I often call it fake time, but events are real time. Like 7am is fake, but sunrise is real. Or 5pm is fake, but the dog staring me down expecting food is very real 😂 I’ve found it helpful to operate on real/event-based time as much as possible on a daily basis, but I should try it over the long term like you described too!!!

[@toryevanss4512]

Oh my goodness - I have ADHD as well and the real/fake time makes so much sense!!! I never thought of it that way before.

[@AVigortsson]

Nice video 😊 I think I'm mostly a weekly planner, I like the overview it provides. However, sometimes I get overwhelmed by my own stuff and then I try to have a daily page open instead and try to just focus on that specific day. The problem I have is finding a balance for goals based on year - quarter - month - week, and not feeling overwhelmed by that and other things that pop up 😅

[@thebedazzledbookshelf]

omg i'm the same especially with goals. I would love to see a video about how to break that down into the planner on the monthly, weekly and daily.

[@DasOrangensaft.]

​@@thebedazzledbookshelfSame!

[@recoveringsoul755]

I'm a detail person and I'd write details of a task. Not just Dentist, but dentist, the time, address maybe phone number. And that won't fit in a tiny box of a monthly or the narrow confines of a vertical weekly. It needs a daily. But I still liked the monthly overview. I used to have a 2-page spread for each day and tracked multiple things. To do, actually done, money spent and food eaten. I needed to see the time of day pre-printed to manage time. And there are 24 hours in a day, not only 9-5 on weekdays.

[@Bootus123]

I’m a weekly planner that needs a schedule. I use google calendar to time block WHEN I’m doing stuff, but use a Hobonichi weeks to plan WHAT I am doing. Usually I’ll put plans into Calendar first because it’s more available from my phone, but I put deadlines, planning, and tasks/to-do in the Weeks.

[@planningandpowerlifting]

I need to see multiple views at once. At work, I have a monthly calendar hanging up, a weekly view both on my Outlook calendar and in my Jibun Techo Biz and a daily planner with my Jibun Techo Days. I also put everything either in my Google calendar or Outlook calendar. I am looking for something to remind me of things that are due months and years out, too.

[@plan4life]

Thanks for this video, I had never really looked at it this way. I am definitely a weekly planner, but I always thought the way to go, was filling in the months, then transferring to the weekly layout, then ultimately transferring my data to a daily spread. I have successfully used both weekly and daily layouts and both have their uses, but have always struggled to make good use of a monthly layout. Yet I have a monthly planboard at home and my husband usually fills it up with upcoming birthdays, events, appointments or any noteworthy things for either of us and I find it incredibly useful! Go figure 😂

[@iandickeson3510]

I use a very simple monthly view calendar style planner. I never sit down and plan out an entire day, week, or month. I mark events like church things, birthdays, concerts, deadlines, etc. (It's really just so I don't double book) and at the end of each day, I make mental plans for what I need to accomplish the next day. I look at my weeks within the monthly format pages just in case I have something going on Thursday, but I need to prep or complete prerequisites on Wednesdays or earlier.

[@sharelleshobbies]

I’m mainly a daily planner, but I find it super helpful to see the layout of the week in my planner. The monthly section doesn’t get used much for me. I fill it out just so it’s not blank but I rarely look at it. I find anything bigger than a weekly doesn’t work for me.

[@michelleherald9619]

I am definitely a daily and weekly planner. I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder and PTSD with OCD tendencies, so keeping a daily to do and routines are crucial to me. Also, since art is one of my coping mechanisms, bullet journaling has been the best option for me. I can custom design my trackers, keep up with my spiritual celebrations, and my daily routines all in a creative way. I also like a journal that is B5 or larger.

[@RachelleinTheory]

Totally, the way we plan can absolutely be affected by (and should accommodate!) our mental health as much as possible :) thanks for sharing!

[@Thespoonieplanner]

I share your dx’s and would love to hear more about how daily planning supports your mental health please 🙏🏻 I’ve been a weekly planner forever, but life is so different now than when I was raising my kids, then going to college and working outside the home and I’m kinda feeling lost with my planning these days…

[@michelleherald9619]

@@Thespoonieplanner well, I am usually so anxious about my day...what to do, when to do it, etc. I have a morning routine. Then I write down my daily 6 cleaning tasks ( I got this from Instagram and can't remember the influencer). Then I write 1 to 2 more tasks to do. Staying organized helps with the anxiety. Also, because I journal, anything that triggers my anxiety goes in and the coping skill that worked. I also have learned to give myself grace...of it gets done I have been successful, but if my anxiety is just too bad that day it is ok too. Also, I daily log, so even if I do not accomplish more than waking up, having coffee and Journaling, I have done something.

[@RachelleinTheory]

@@Thespoonieplanner I actually do have a video like this planned

[@urtitafromMNL]

Me too! I just like to track things and have a to-do list, not really plan ahead.

[@Tatiana_Palii]

I'm a daily girl, but I also love monthly and weekly overviews. Especially with my job as a freelance language tutor I always need to be able to quickly find the time slots available. I also have generalised anxiety and recurring depression, so I have to stay on top of my daily routines and all of the tiny mundane daily tasks, otherwise I quickly relapse again.

[@OTommy81]

I don’t know how I can stay out of social media when someone like you deliver content like this. You are amazing, I cannot get enough of your videos, very helpful ❤

[@lisaedwards8505]

New to your channel but so happy I found you and this video. I have struggled with planners and couldn’t figure out what was causing it. This video was like having the light turned on. I’m a monthly planner! I have been trying to use weeklies and dailies and combinations of the two. No wonder I couldn’t make them work. My comfort is looking at my month and thank you for helping me understand that. 😊

[@JanisOnTheFarmette]

Great discussion! My work involves a lot of recurring, but mostly not time-scheduled tasks, including weekly, monthly, annual, and seasonal events. Trying to time-block my day was an exercise in frustration because most of my time isn’t firmly scheduled and my plan for the day can change on the fly. A horizontal weekly works great for me. I note appointments and other scheduled items for each day, and then I tip-in a smaller sheet with my running task list for the week. I use a disc bound planner, making it easy to add a list for the week, and other lists for upcoming events. When I complete an item on my task list, I might then write it on my weekly planner as a record of completion or how I used my time that day. My monthly section is in list view (like a bullet journal) with room on the facing page for monthly planning and recurring tasks and pages between months for taking notes at the monthly department meeting. I use Agendio to customize and fine-tune the layout of my planner, including paper, colors and fonts - currently on my fifth year with this system!

[@42Psyche]

This makes so much sense! I realize now when I was in school I focused on weekly pages but now I focus more on my monthly pages. So I need to look into planners with a couple monthly layouts. Thanks!

[@rochellavanderwal9320]

Very interesting/helpful video! I need all of them in a planner but for various different reasons. I mainly plan on the weekly for work and my schedule (seeing when I'm busy etc.). Things I have to do and personal items are on my daily pages, including my journalling. My months are only to jot down appointments and holidays I need to remember when planning my weeks/days out.

[@julia-here]

I feel like this is me too, Rochella - definitely a hybrid planner here for sure. I think all of the views have their place and function.

[@ivana4942]

Wowww this is what I use for each as well! Didn't think there were others like me. ❤

[@inderific]

Loved this breakdown! Monthly and daily planner here! I got the Cousin this year and I was excited about the weekly spreads but in daily practice the book is open to the daily pages and when I visualize the future I see the month. I've learned something about myself!

[@EdieBrown]

I use Google Calendar for my monthly, my analog planner is a weekly. I love the combination!

[@dennis.blondell-decker]

Almost nothing I do has a firm schedule, and I have very few appointments, so I use the monthly or even multi-monthly column for an overview of appointments. I have been using daily lists for things to do and tracking and registering (memory-keeping). I have found myself gravitating towards a weekly to-do list since getting married and becoming a father because it reduces the amount of rewriting I must do when rapidly logging (Ryan Carroll's Bullet Journal System and Practice), but I do find rewriting and memory-keeping important. Therefore, I don't use calendars or planners at all, except for trying different approaches occasionally. Rather, I use unfilled notebooks, except for page numbers or maybe even a yearly overview (Rhodia Goalbook), discretely lined or squared, these days mostly the latter, because I also gravitated towards using A6 (Shirt Pocket size) instead of A5 or A4. I still use A4 for long-form journaling, or a more traditional diary, while I keep notes and tracking in my "Bullet Journal". Because I also like beginning afresh, I now prefer thin notebooks with only a few pages rather than big and heavy notebooks. It is a constant challenge to balance this with tracking things across a whole year. I like the freedom on a whim to change back and forth between daily and weekly or go into details for a period, and then almost back out for another period. No planner can do that for me. The most useful planner I have ever used has been a pocket monthly index, but when I was a student I also found a daily planner useful on occasion. By the way, work has always dictated using Outlook and other things for managing work in 2-4 weeks of work structure breakdown (iterations), so while I have a notebook at work, it is very different from my personal one. My work life is very compartmentalized from my personal life, with very clear points of time for change, and with different priorities and henceforth organization than my personal life.

[@lorijmason]

Thank you for this video - I cannot believe I had never thought about a monthly vs weekly vs daily planner. I had been fighting my planning style for YEARS and didn't even realize it. I cannot tell you how valuable your info has been, such a great video!

[@autumnbailey1176]

This video was immensely helpful. I’m starting a bujo for the first time and this video definitely made me realize that I’m a monthly planner. If I’m having a super busy week I’ll use the weekly planner and I might once in a while use a daily planner but, for the most part, the monthly view makes me feel the most comfortable and in control. Thank you for this video!

[@drew8235]

I'm more of a write stuff down randomly that I want to do with no specific time and date but maybe I should write Thursday next to it as well and then maybe do it on that day but probably not. Think I'll be getting one of the weeks planners.

[@mj92f15]

I'm a monthly planner. I don't even need a weekly or daily, because my schedule is very similar every day. The only thing I track every day is my gratitude. Other spreads are overwhelming to me, so I keep it blank to use for anything I want to note down. Having a set page is not making me want to fill it out. Concerning planners: simple lined notebook. One page monthly overview and one page gratitude, the rest is blank until the month is over.

[@RachelleinTheory]

This sounds so blissful and stress free 😌

[@xoxogarlicgirl]

This is EXACTLY what I need. Monthly, gratitude and blank pages to make notes during busier time or things I want to accomplish. Then I can fill in the blank pages to fit my needs. And I need a pocket/folder in it to store things from medical appointments, scripts, etc. Why is the planner of my dreams so challenging to find

[@marinamorales39]

Thank you for your time in evaluating each methodology. I learned that I am a weekly and again, I thank you for my understanding and identifying with it. 🙏

[@Cheeks_in_Japan]

As someone mentioned earlier, I also got surprised by the abundance of monthly planners in Japan! Maybe being shaped by living in this country for the last few years, I’ve been always gravitating towards monthly planning myself. Whenever I bought or received a weekly/daily planner, I would feel bad for leaving those pages blank and the waste made me uneasy. Thanks for helping me feel justified with realization that that’s just how my brain works - I need to see the whole month at one glance to plan/ track anything. I tried digital planning on GoodNotes for a year now but it didn’t work out for me as nicely as the monthly paper planners did. So I ordered an A6 monthly planner last night but worried that it might not have enough space to write in the monthly sections. I’m looking into the Hobonichi Day Free now as another option, this video was very helpful!

[@JMO03]

I’m a bit of both a monthly and weekly planner, I like to see what’s coming up especially with my job being so busy and so stressful with timelines

[@LuneFlaneuse]

One of the best videos I’ve watched about this topic. This month I needed a new planner, but as I could only find 2024 planners I decided to just use a blank notebook and create my own. I’ve just started using it, but then I realised I’m actually tracking my day and not really planning it! I need to change this 😅 also it’s interesting to think about planning as a way of how we perceive TIME… such a complex and subjective experience.

[@heiiidiii]

Great video, thanks for breaking it down! I found this very helpful to just stop and consider how I actually think about my time. It’s so simple but not necessarily something I’d considered previously 😊

[@tanushreelayek5952]

I indeed got lots of insights from this video, and never thought in this way, I am definitely a daily planner and like to track my progress in weeklies. Thanks Rachel for this great video ❤

[@VanessaRod]

Love the video!! I’m definitely a daily and I love to see my monthly view as well. I struggled for a little while trying to fine the right planner and so far Aura Estelle seems to be the perfect fit for me. They have a few different layouts and sizes. Very similar to sterling ink. Great prices as well!

[@juliaa6373]

As a comment below said, yes i am a tracker and a planner. I do plan my month and my day, but i just track my weeks.

[@sweetbeedesignsco]

This was honestly so helpful!! I have usually been a weekly planner, but I have gotten a new job and realize I need a weekly and daily planner because I have so much more to keep track of what to do now! Thank you!

[@MissRuthina]

When I first watched this video I had been a die hard monthly planner. I have done a blank notebook with drawn in goal pages (that I inevitably abandon lol), drawn in full set of monthly calendars and left the rest as notes pages for as long as I can remember. This has worked well for me. I use an A5 fountain pen friendly notebook, but love a stalogy cause of the paper and page count. She thiccc. I'd been wanting to jump on the weeks fad forever. It looks so portable and all the cover designs are so cool. My new job has seriously disrupted my monthly calendar from working for me. So a month or so ago I just decided to buy a hobonitchi weeks and see what happens (awful time in the year, I know) and wow. The long and narrow size?... I dig it! Weekly layouts? I TOTALLY get it now. I just assumed I'd never need them because I have only used a monthly. But I was so wrong... My monthly section has been ABANDONED. I just wasn't busy enough for a weekly before! But now I'm having a tiny crisis trying to find what to do in my monthly section because I really wanted to try a common planner (in the NT/N1 size, just a BIT bigger than the weeks) and if I can't find any use cases for the entire monthly section I will have to get another stalogy and cut it down.

[@kariannefimland1475]

Brilliant! After listening to this, I am absolutely a weekly planner. I keep all events digital (google calender) and then have weekly planning in my physical planning. I like this insight into how I mentally think about planning. Because even thought I plan daily, I am still thinking about this based on the week. :)

[@escapeartist1258]

I'm some combination of daily and monthly but mostly daily. I tried weeklies for so long because those are so common especially in bullet journaling but they just don't work for me. It's almost a bit distressing to see a week laid out with every day having the same exact amount of space, because my days can be wildly different. I may have a ton of tasks and/or stray thoughts that I need to jot down one day and then very little going on for another day. Each day is unique and I like to give it as much or as little space as it needs. Some days are skipped entirely because I didn't need my planner that day and I love that flexibility. So yeah mostly a daily planner, but I do also hit a "Okay I need to plan this next bit out" as each new month rolls around. I will set up my monthly spread which contains things like a habit tracker, my cleaning tasks for the month, a wishlist/spending tracker combo, etc. And I enjoy referring back to it as needed throughout the month. I do always feel it's odd that I can't seem to get my brain to get along with weekly planning because it seems like the perfect size planning period - not too long, not too short. But it just doesn't work for me. Edited to add that after chatting about this topic with my husband, I've realized some more things that I just don't like about weeklies. There will always be those weeks in the month where either the previous or upcoming month will "bleed" into your current week. And for whatever reason that really bothers me. I want a fresh start at the new month, but if the new month is bleeding into the current week, how am I supposed to keep them neatly separated? Also there is the task of deciding where my week really "starts" - would I start it on Monday? That sort of makes sense because I work Monday through Friday and am off on Saturdays and Sundays, but our calendars here in America generally start on Sunday. So starting a weekly with anything other than Sunday feels wrong or at least "off" to me and is bothersome.

[@CorrineVictoria]

wow this video really opened my eyes! thank you for explaining everything so simply. After watching this video I realized that I am definitely a monthly and weekly planner and don’t care for the dailys. 🙂

[@Stormbrise]

I do use all three, but mostly I am in the daily for journaling what I have worked on. I focus mostly on the weekly to see when I have time, what appointments/meetings I have, and then plan out my week on Monday morning. I use the JT flags, for my blocks. So if things change, I can move the blocks around. I can work 30 to 40 hrs a week on my thesis, so if I need a day off from doing too much the day before. Autistic hyperfocus, I pay for it the next day and need to move those blocks. Then I plan my day based on my energy level also. Like yesterday, I knew I would not be able to do much based on an 8 hr hyperfocus session the day before.

[@Stormbrise]

I just did the two week sprint layout with flags for the rest of the month, but focus on the first two weeks to stop overwhelm that plagues me

[@lauracorsi3309]

This was very clarifying for me. I had been hesitating between planners and looking at different options with no real clarity, but this made me realize that what I really need is a monthly focus. So now I know I am going to be trying the Day Free which is one of the ones I had been eyeing. Great information!! thanks!

[@Ubiquitous_1]

I don't know why someone pointing these out actually helps me affirm my type. I've played with different planners over the years. I haven't found the perfect one but it has to have monthly, weekly and blank pages for me to list. This was helpful. Thanks!

[@karendavidson6580]

I thought I was a daily person but I'm recognizing that a weekly spread works best for me in combo w/ a daily. Also, I thought I would go to the Hobonichi weeks, but I really like the vertical layout of the common planner. I've mocking them up in the unused pages of my Techo. Going to watch all the videos of Sterling like you did. Thanks for the insight. Love your videos.

[@lisaliv2585]

this was amazingly helpful. Best planner video I have ever seen. I, too, am a weekly planner, and this helped me create a new daily sheet in canva. GAME CHANGER!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@RachelleinTheory]

I'm so glad! Thank you for watching!

[@RoVicD]

Great video. I always tried to decide between a daily and a weekly. This video helped me realize why I'm more of a daily planner than a weekly. I don't necessarily need all the space, and I probably rewrite a lot of tasks during the week, but I need a fresh start and I need to have a plan for each day. The main reason I like the weekly, is having a weekly to do list and the portability but maybe it's not a good enough reason to stay in a weekly when that is not how my brain thinks.

[@korichamberlain]

The benefit of having both is that you can look at them at the same time, though. Its handy to see what you set out to do for the week while you're outlining the day.

[@SnippetsandScraps]

This why I too love my dailies I think. But I do love to add a weekly page when I set up my Stalogy. So a weekly page followed by 7 daily page. This system works best for me.

[@JT1358]

Definitely weekly. I have used the week-with-memo format in A5 for about 3 or 4 years now and it works so well for me. A week-on-two pages in Personal also works but of course the notes are elsewhere. Great video! Love the analysis.

[@noxtril]

Thank you so much! I can't believe I never thought that different people might think about time in different ways, this is such a helpful insight to have! I'll definitely be keeping this in mind when experimenting with my own systems

[@miaramani]

I'm just starting out and very quickly I learned that I'm a weekly planner and a quarterly tracker.. Thank you for this beautiful channel ❤

[@nellemoor2893]

Thank you. I have concluded that I am a monthly planner and a daily updater.

[@walkingexercise5375]

Thank you for your very informative and helpful planner system video! Hope you continue doing these types of videos! I mentioned before that daily lists and writing tasks on certain days of the week does not really work for me, so I think I might prefer monthly planner with notes pages instead of a weekly planner or daily planner. I am trying to find a monthly planner or monthly calendar with notes pages system that with work for me, maybe notes pages with a Makselife monthly 8 goal areas, At Home with Quita has a video called tips to using your planner to track habits in which at 3 minutes to about 7 minutes and 40 seconds , she talks about having a list/checklist of different routines, Leah Ashley has monthly habit tracking videos, where she using a piece of note page with weekly list but writes the task and then the day beside the task, and Diane in Denmark has some weekly reset plan with me videos where she uses just a weekly printable.

[@PorschaWrites]

Great video! I'm a monthly and daily planner mostly. I keep weekly planners but that's more a record of how I feel and what I've done but not 'true' planning. Weeklies are more of a dated notebook so to speak.

[@roxc.507]

Thanks for this great video. It's gotten me thinking about something I've never considered before. I'm a lifelong planner girl and when I got my first planner, I was in High School, so I was definitely a daily planner. It helped me keep track of school assignments. Now, decades later, I'm more of a monthly planner. That's probably because I have a job in public transportation management that requires me to be present in each moment, responding in real time to unpredictable events that pop up as traffic progresses. Because of that, I don't plan for my working hours, but I do plan for my free time around those working hours and I also plan around very rigid work rules for taking time off, such as requesting any specific days weeks in advance. I also plan for my personal goals which includes traveling and writing fiction. These things require much more of an overview outlook as opposed to my school days and even in my previous careers in the legal field and in real estate. But although I'm a monthly planner, I use a vertical weekly set up to time block my schedule around my working hours. And in order to plan my travel and writing, I also use a yearly overview to schedule time off. I have found that in order to stay consistent with my planner, and just to keep my head on straight, I need to maintain my planner daily, though. In order to do that, I've created a monthly journaling page which allows me to fill out key information in a line a day format. I've instinctively created these monthly setups around a weekly planning system. But now that you have me thinking about what works best, I think I'll lean into the monthly planning even further by thinking about what other monthly customizations will help me.

[@jordanxfile]

Thank you for this 🥰 I am also a weekly planner person. I keep a weekly planner for work, a Hobonichi Cousin as my personal planner and spend most of my time in the weekly section, a Hobonichi Weeks for my cat, another Hobonichi Weeks for my plants. For next year, I may use a Hobonichi Weeks Mega for my personal carry-on planner, and use a Cousin as my mental and physical health planner, have not decided yet.

[@iliana.m]

I'm monthly and then daily planner ! The weekly view in regards to planning absolutely confuses me since I lose track of where I'm going, what is the bigger direction I was heading to (month) 😂 And in fact, I prefer my monthly view to be vertical just dates one under the other because in the traditional view again I see it as weekly in my mind and this kind of sectioning doesn't work for me, since my tasks flow more freely into the month if that makes sense..

[@RachelleinTheory]

That's so interesting! I'm fascinated by monthly planners because I am so... deeply... not one hahah. I'm glad it works for you!

[@MaryBellanti]

This was the first time I understood that I’m a monthly planner! So helpful!

[@samidare_2974]

Incredible video!! I am a weekly and monthly planner, my favorite style of weekly planner is one where one page is blank and the other has the days. this way I can mark some dated meetings in the days page, and write the things I need to do in that week (but not in a specific day) on the other page

[@Mamadriggs]

I am a weekly planner but I have gotten to the point that I'm thinking that digital planning and the ability to not have to write and re-write things and plug in tasks into my calendar so that they're actually getting done but ... omg the commitment to make the jump is hard.... so I'm just in limbo right now UGGGG

[@ranikster9955]

Thank you so much 😊 I realised during this video that I am more of a weekly planner, where others are more than two weeks ahead in their planning and go at a faster pace 😂😅

[@RainEmbers832]

That wad a comprehensive overview! Through this it looks like I'm primarily a daily planner. Nature of my work is that I have tasks but new problems can come at any moment. I'll probably want a monthly/weekly still just for meeting times and appointments. I might get the Hobonichi Planner next year.

[@mzamilbr]

For someone who planing to follow 7 habit and Gtd I find this useful. It an eye opener and help me choose which planner best for me

[@meryemgokturk]

this video is so useful. Thank you for making this. Really changed my view for planners.

[@marieross2319]

I’m a monthly with habit tracker. Sometimes I need a weekly focus (certain projects) and I can add that if needed. Great video. I hadn’t thought about it like this.

[@PatrickPray]

Interesting and thoughtful video! I'm a weekly planner, it's hard for me to even conceive of planning any other way. One of the requirements I have for a planner/calendar is having it open on my desk at all times with the weekly view visible. I review each day in the early morning over coffee, making adjustments as necessary, but I'm still thinking weekly. I have a handful of important tasks I need to accomplish each week, I fix my daily schedule around that. I also prefer having a vertical weekly layout, so I can see when I have fixed events (conference call at 2pm for example) and when I can block time to work on key weekly tasks, e.g. finish v1 of a presentation. This has helped me schedule calls in a way I always have large blocks of free time for actual work. Because if I need to finish a presentation, it's important I have 3-4 hours without interruption. Otherwise, I won't work effectively. I should also add I keep a digital calendar, too, which is my "one source of truth." So I'm duplicating work with a physical planner. But just by writing it down on paper it's helpful for me to process everything. And for whatever reason, I can more easily map out my week - and have much less stress - when I see my week on paper rather than in a digital calendar. Not sure why!

[@Kittycat1112]

From this, I definitely learned I'm more of a weekly and daily planner

[@AmsNl2BcnEs]

Really well explained, appreciated you sharing why you do it a particular way as a compare and contrast. Good video 👍

[@tayskye6]

I really like the rollbahn planners for monthly long-term planning. It’s where I keep my brain dumps and keep track of major work and personal milestones. And then I am mostly a daily planner, just relying on my weekly digital calendar to plan my days. This year I’m excited to try out MDs daily planner the paper feels so yummy and I can use my favorite fountain pen on the pages whereas in my last planner it bled through the thin pages.

[@eli_drottningu]

I'm a weekly planner, but I just put events or productive stuff in my planners. I used a planner since last year of high school to my masters, and that was how I kept track of due dates and activities. During 2021 my schedule was less busy and my lovely planner by Sarah Scribbles remained almost empty 😢 I loved the horizontal week layout and the columns for "appointments", "to do" and "personal stuff". In 2022 I had a simpler and smaller weekly planner, and it was still pretty empty, so I made my own planner for 2023 (and now 2024) where I put each week in one page, which also helps me to not take too much for the day, and I put stuff like my shifts and what project I'm doing that day. I also keep a monthly layout always in sight in multiple calendars, to be aware of commitments , appointments and holidays... In fact I need to get a new one for my home office but haven't found the right one, since I missed the one my pet shop gifted.

[@Andidejager.]

Great video! Really informative and helpful❤ I got my planner before I watched this video and I think I just got lucky😅 I’ve got an A6 HON and I find myself mostly using the daily pages. I use all the pages but the emphasis for me is the dailies. I think it’s because the planners they gave us in school ONLY had daily pages. That being said, I’ve never tried a weekly layout cause the A6 HON doesn’t have one and the A5 is just excessively big for me! But I’m not going to let that put me off and I’m going to used every last page in that book 😊 again, AMAZING video and so insightful!

[@MrsRyva]

Thank you! Your video help me a lot. Now I know what's my preference. I'm a Time Blocking and weekly vertical type!❤

[@samanthamillard6988]

Less than 4 minutes in and this has already been a revelation! I use the monthly to capture future events so I don’t forget. But what I need you to see to plan my life is a weekly view. However, when I’m in a weekly, I feel like I don’t have enough room for the tasks for the day. And sometimes I have a day that’s complicated and I need an hourly view. But when I did an hourly weekly I felt like too much space was wasted when my day wasn’t busy. So I’ve been hopping from daily to hourly to vertical to monthly with notes. So I’m thinking I either need a weekly hourly with lots of notes pages to do daily task planning or I need my week on one page with a blank page across from it to manage my tasks for the week with lots of space. Hmmmm

[@thelotoflower]

I been binging your videos... I love to knew new people in this planner comunity.

[@grahamandcheriedrummond-pa2887]

This is the best info! I now know I'm a weekly planner!!

[@tyresseferguson2462]

Great video! I actually enjoy planning all 3 ways since I use only one planner for personal and work. The monthly is a generic overview of what's going to happen based on the end of the previous month. The weekly is a great overview for the week since I plan my week out on a Saturday. However, the daily layout is very helpful since things are likely to change from day-to-day with my schedule. This is why for 2024 I will be getting the Ivory Paper Co all-in-one planner. The layout is exactly what I need.

[@jamesbriggs5740]

I like a weekly planner. I have a monthly calendar for my family. I use a checklist for daily routine activities. If I need a more detailed list, I use a sheet of paper. Kathy B

[@SunshineSM877]

Oh my. Now i understand why i like the weekly view in my Google Calendar. I plan my work in my Google Calendar and my life goals and to dos in paper. Whenever even by mistake the Google Calendar setting (i use it on my phone) turns to daily i start to feel like i am blind, like i need to see the next day and the next day and the next. 😂 I am a weekly planner person, and i didn't know that and instead thinking why am i being weird. Thanks . Thanks for this video.

[@diaryofasadblackgirl]

I'm considering this right now and I think I need like one I can do daily lists and then an everything catching planner ig that makes sense

[@SimplyAubs]

This is a *FANTASTIC* video! Thanks for the walk through of really asking, "How do you Plan?!" It seems like a very simple question...but there is SO MUCH to it! I have just started planning, so I have been watching videos like MAD! So...that leads to my first comment...thank YOU for your videos!!! Also, thank you for providing so many different ways to plan! Cheers!

[@RachelleinTheory]

WOW this comment made my whole day ♥️ thank you so much for watching and I'm so glad my videos are helpful! If there's anything you want me to cover in a future vid let me know!!!

[@SimplyAubs]

@@RachelleinTheory hey…I’m glad I can share some JOY that *I* experience by *watching* and *learning* how to plan. BTW…you TOTALLY won me over when you spoke about standup and 2 week sprints!!! (I first experienced this when I was a software developer at a startup in SF! I knew you were a badass with critical thinking skills….PLUS you planned stuff!!!🤓 That has always been my Achilles heel! 🤦‍♀️) Cheers!!!

[@RachelleinTheory]

@@SimplyAubs Haha the sprints! I love those, and I'm using them in my daily life and planning a lot. Thank you so much for saying 🤗

[@deniseholmes7958]

Wow! Fantastic content! After 3 years in a horizontal weekly that had a monthly overview (EC A5 softbound), I moved to a Hobo Cousin. I actually use all three sections and the notes pages. I have been surprised that, while I refer to my month and week section multiple times in a day, what sits open on my desk (great indicator, by the way) is the daily. I use the daily pages for meeting notes, or detailed lists, etc. I had no idea how well the Cousin would work for me or that I really needed that much space to keep me organized. Thanks again for your great ideas!

[@RachelleinTheory]

Denise this is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about!!! You have to pay attention to what's working and what you gravitate towards. Thank you so much for sharing, I'm so glad the cousin is working so well for you!

[@RenskeAnimeFan]

I am both a monthly planner and a weekly or daily planner. I always use monthly overviews every single month, because it shows me whats coming up and how my work schedule is going to go. (It is irregular) yet depending on how I am doing mentally and where I am at in my life I need an weekly or daily to go with that. Right now I am back to weekly overviews. I need more structure right now. But I have had moments were everything was a bit.more flexible including myself mentally speaking and then a monthly and a daily did the trick. So for it is flexible and foxused om what I need. Which is why I bullet journal and I do it in a very simple way.

[@planwithkellye2926]

Great content! I like a weekly as an overview but love dailies because each day is that fresh start to tweak productivity.

[@ericj9011]

I agree, weekly planning makes sense for me. Daily/hourly scheduling is better suited to a digital calendar where I can see recurring appointments, and longer-term quarterly/annual planning I prefer doing in Google sheets/docs. Weekly is the sweet spot where I like to have some paper, although it can be a very minimal setup.

[@vivienecost]

I use all the sections, I guess thats why I do bujo. Each one has its purpose. Daily is mostly a journal and put everything that comes to mind during the day, including tasks, then weekly to plan and monthly I´ll start to use for long term goals. Is amazing how everything is try and "error", to learn what works for us

[@annelyle5474]

This was really interesting! I think I lean towards daily planning - I dislike making detailed plans days in advance, so I've got into a good morning routine of planning out my day. However I do need monthly views for the big picture, especially if, say, I'm taking courses that last several weeks, and a weekly view is useful too, ideally with plenty of note-taking space alongside. I'm using a Sterling Ink and a Wonderland222 at the moment (as my home and work planner respectively), but I'm excited to try the Papertess planner next year, as I love the way it interleaves its Hobonichi Weeks-style horizontal layout with blank pages, instead of everything being at the back.

[@claremiller9979]

This is a great video. I'm a weekly and then daily planner, but when it comes to time blocking I can only really do it with meetings, then I need a To Do list for my day of stuff I fit in around my meetings. I have to plan my next day at the end of the day before, because often the meetings I have or the tasks I need to get done most urgently will change - if I tried to plan a week or even a few days in advance anything that wasn't set in stone, i would fail so hard! Monthly views are only useful to me for reminding me of stuff coming up for my kids. Long term work projects all live in my master task list in Outlook, I don't think I could ever put those in a planner because they have a lot of information and SharePoint links and stuff attached to them. This was really cool, and the comments section absolutely rife with monthly planning people, to learn about and reflect on the different time visualisation styles and needs (based often on the types of things we are doing)

[@TimHuitt-vw8vk]

I really like daily, however there was a lot of wasted paper space! I wanted something simple where I can see my week at a glance on one page! I designed my own planner page using a spreadsheet program. I have a special events column and M, T, W on the top half and T, F, S, S on the bottom half of the page. I have a master list of events so I just have to copy and paste. I also have reoccurring events that I can color code and block at the time. It only takes an hour a month to setup and print. I keep a rolling 12 months in my three ring zipper binder.

[@melanieannplans2666]

This video is so helpful! I'm definitely a combination planner, since my day-job has shifts that aren't M-F with set times throughout the week (e.g. I could work 11:00am-7:30pm for three days of the week then for the other two, I could work 12:30-9:00pm). I keep all of this info plus appointments/birthdays in my monthly spreads, and for my weeklies I'll 'slim' down my time blocking as needed. And I surprisingly thrive with daily planners because they help me keep me on task. I try not to micromanage my time too much because it can leave me feeling restricted, but at the same time I need to do it just a little bit so that I'm using my time wisely.

[@pointeplusplus]

Nice video! I’m definitely a combo of the three. I have my monthly page laid out with different appointments and stuff like that and it’s probably what I’d look at if someone asked me when I was free. Every week I make out an in-depth weekly spread that is where I probably spend the majority of my time planning that week if it’s during that week (but talking about next week I’d look at my monthly). Then for dailies I usually am talking todos and journaling 😊 Maybe that’s why I never found a planner that works well for me because I want all 3 to be just so, so I made my own 😅

[@noblethoughts4500]

How did you go about making your own?

[@ivana4942]

Yeah, I'm interested too! I plan the same way but use different apps/planners.

[@pointeplusplus]

​@@noblethoughts4500 @ivana4942 I use a disc bound system so I print out pages, punch them, and add them to my planner. To make the pages I've used a few different programs. For simple things like lined paper with the spacing I want and maybe some vertical lines, I've use Word. The monthly I have now was based off of a template in Canva, but I'm thinking of using Scribus for a new weekly I'm working on

[@shanaesmith112]

​@noblethoughts4500 probably bullet journaling

[@shanaesmith112]

​@@ivana4942probably bullet journaling

[@dee-clutteringqueen5881]

I'm probably a weekly planner, but also love the monthly view for an overall view. I too go back and forth and purchase too many planner trying to find myself

[@NgocVKHennessy]

omgosh YESS ! I have noticed that throughout the years i prefer different layouts for different things . For an EDC, I just prefer monthly and daily, because I have more time specific needs per day and to schedule appts or events, I just have it in my monthly layout to spread things out evenly for each week . . . I also carry a small A6 notebook that I just jot things down for quick reference, or to create lists for things, and even plan out a busy day that needs a dire need to get tasks completed (timesensitive). BUT for work I prefer the monthly and weekly layouts because for monthly view, I jot down my hours for each shift and mark when each pay period and when direct deposit occurs. On the weekly view, I jot down quick things for my shift and for paydays, i write down how much was received, etc. then there is the family management, where I just prefer monthly layouts and notes pages. Where the monthly layouts are for scheduling at a glance and the notes page are reminders or notes taken before/during the appts. FOr events I write things down that are needed or just reminders . I love how there are more and more shops that come out with planners with different layouts and include different things where we can pick and choose accordingly to our wants/needs. I've found that the past few years 3 different planners kept me going and organized versus where I used one planner for one focus, where it ended up being more than 3 planners . Consolidating them down and managing to update them daily/weekly is something I found hard to do with more than 3 planners.

[@lazy_biscuits08]

I'm definitely a weekly planner, monthly is too far ahead and daily is too much work.

[@outinarizona]

In tracking my planning habits over the last five years, i've come up with the following. For home/community tracking, i go Mo2P & Do1P. For work, i go vertical Qo4P & vertical Wo2P with Sat/Sun combo column. Everything has a Monday start. I set up weekly.

[@elenhin]

I realized I'm a seasonal planner. In my country that means June-Aug, Sept-Nov, Dec-Feb, Mar-May. I'll try that out. Thanks!

[@mikailagray]

I’m a weekly planner but not every weeks so the hobonichi day free really works well because I can make my own spread for the week and if I miss a few weeks or something I don’t have empty predated areas. I also use the hobonichi weeks for my budget but next year I think the day free will be enough which is awesome.

[@michelejane3119]

This is such a thoughtful way of reviewing planners - thank you! I am definitely a weekly planner, so have a Weeks for on-the-go stuff, and a Cousin at home (always open to the weekly spread!).

[@debracox9277]

I'm a weekly planner for work and a monthly planner for personal things like bills and things.