Planning Ahead - Tools, Planners & Apps

September 1, 2015 6:05 AM

I have a portfolio career. I run my own creative business and I am busy - this is good! Help me organise my life so I can sleep AND also pay bills AND do fun, awesome things. I often find I have agreed to do several awesome things over a very short period of time. I use Google Calendar to manage my commitments, but clearly it does not provide me with enough of an overview to avoid things colliding. So, what do you suggest?

Things I like:

+ Monthly overview
+ Being able to colour-code my various commitments ("workshops are orange; articles are green..")
+ Visually coherent
+ Being able to access data on the go ("Sorry, I'm booked that week but..")

Things I'd love:

+ 6-months overview as work tend to spill over into other months
+ Something that'll make me stop and think as I enthusiastically commit to something new.
+ Something that's entice me to actually use it instinctively rather than as an after-thought.

Peers have raved about the Erin Cordren Life planner, but it looks expensive and too whimsical (I think so at least?). I've trialled the My Effectiveness app but find it's complex to use (why do I need to type in my life goals and my vision statement?). I have also tried using a Filofax but, er, I often forget to bring it when I travel.

I have an Android phone, I also have a huge whiteboard in my office that I neglect, and I have a lot of work booked right into July 2016. Help me, Mefites.

posted by kariebookish to Work & Money (4 answers total)

I think a Planner Pad would be just the ticket. In the front there is a three year planning calendar that formats the days and weeks continuously, so you can really see how things flow along.

While getting the link for you, I just saw that there's now an electronic version! Now they just need to add a disc-punched version!

I've read that ECLP users have had to be send their planners back due to errors.

I'll start my third Planner Pad in October (there are different start configurations), and I love it. It's been a great help.
posted by jgirl at 6:54 AM on September 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

How about a Kanban board?
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:09 AM on September 1, 2015

Here are two lovely (but less whimsical than the Erin Condren) printed planner options you might not have seen: the Get To Work Book and the Day Designer. (Definitely not less expensive, though.) The Inkwell Press Planner is also really attractive, but might not be as work-oriented as you'd like.
posted by not.so.hip at 2:08 PM on September 1, 2015

Bullet journals are great for this type of thing.
posted by AnneShirley at 5:15 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]