I’ve been working from home for the last five years and while there are times it can be challenging, I can never see myself working in an office again––I love it! But while most employees can leave their work at the door when they head home for the night, there is a learning curve to managing your personal and business life when they coexist in the same space.
I’m not kidding when I say that the only thing that makes this possible for me is having a planner––a paper planner. I’m sure digital calendars are great, but they are not a good fit for my personality and that’s why I was excited to receive a Purple Trail planner to try out for the upcoming year! If you’re on the fence about trying one out, here is my honest review. (Affiliate links included.)
If you’ve ever ordered anything from the internet, you know packages get quite a beating on their way to your door. That’s why I so appreciate the extra care that Purple Trail takes when boxing up planners. Everything was bubble wrapped and it even included a sweet “love” note, too!
There are literally hundreds of designs at Purple Trail and I personally chose this cute Llama and Cactus covered weekly planner for my needs. You can personalize both the colors and add your name if you’d like. Another great thing about these planners is you can start them any month you want. If you decide right now to get a planner, great! You don’t have to wait until the next batch of pre-made planners comes out, or waste half of one because you start mid-year.
I opted for an 8.5×11 size because I need plenty of space to write and I like that I can put regular sheets of paper that are important, like my daughter’s school papers that need to be signed. There is also a 6×8 option if you like something that will fit in your purse.
Additionally, you can choose from three cover options: hardcover, laminated cover (which is what I did) and a synthetic cover with a frosted top sheet.
Ok so a quick lesson on the types of planners out there. There are daily, weekly and monthly formatted options and basically this indicates how many pages is dedicated to your book. If you go with a daily option, that’s two pages for each day if you do a three month version, or one page per day for a six month version. Weekly options are a two-page spread and have weekly horizontal, weekly vertical and hourly vertical options if you need to be more time-focused. Monthly planners are more calendar focused and too my knowledge do not have separate pages for writing aside from the calendar.
I use a weekly horizontal option so I can have plenty of space to write work tasks and other small things throughout the day, with four days on one page and three on the other.
Since we aren’t into the new year yet, I don’t have a ton on my calendar pages, but I find that these are best suited for personal events, whereas I keep my work daily duties on the weekly pages. I also like to use washi tape to help bring attention to important items! I buy washi tape from Michael’s where I always find it for 3 for $.99!
New this year is a “week at a glance” section at the top of each week. It gives you a space to tackle big-picture tasks that may not take place on a specific day, but that need to get done. There is also a “notes” section that I see as being a great meal planning space!
I also love the two-year calendar spread because it gives you a quick (and colorful) glance at the upcoming year. I especially like this when I purchase a planner that may not be a traditional calendar year, but that starts in April or August.
Months are divided out with heavy duty tabs on thicker paper, and before each calendar there is a page dedicated to the month. Here you have the option to write out our birthdays, events and other things to remember.
While I try and focus on the present, I can’t help but look forward to the new year now that I feel organized and ready to tackle it head on. I know my planner’s got my back!
If you have any questions on the right planner for you, I’d be happy to help! Happy planning!
This planner was provided to me free of charge for my honest review.
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Karly Wood
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