I don't have a definitive definition for what they mean by doing a 'Planner Reset' as it varies from just a small tweak to completely their method of planning (e.g. rings > travellers notebook). With various stages in between of course.
We are now in April the first quarter of the year has finished, and we are approaching a third of the way into the year. Therefore is it too late to change? It will depend on your reasons for changing?
Reasons/Excuses for the change in your planner could be any one or a combination of the following:
- A change of circumstances, life or work changes.
- A change you made at the beginning of the year such as a size change just hasn't worked.
- You have had to take on more responsibilities at work or in your life, therefore you need more planning 'space'.
- You just want to break out of the winter blues.... who doesn't!
I'm not saying making a change is the wrong thing to do. It's best to adjust your system to get it working better for you, than to just live with a system that isn't working to the extent that you potentially abandon it and you go back to only use your phone... please don't do that!
Like changes to any system be it planning or otherwise, it's sometimes better do the changes in small increments and test them out for a few days before you make the next change, that way you can evaluate and review the improvements better.
Not sure what is not working or why it isn't working for you? Ask on Free For All Tuesday (FFAT) or Free For All Friday (FFAF), you can even ask anonymously in the comments. There is no shame in asking for help.
And for the record I am still in the same inserts that I started the year using.
I think the main problem is that too many people think that a planner changes their life (for whatever reasons). But a planner is only a tool to help in organising ... whatever.
ReplyDeleteIt's like buing more/other tools to improve your handyman skills.
Then there is the procedure to set up the ring binder content once a year, and a full year inadvance. Eveybody wants Krause rings, but in order to open and close them once a year? And if you do change anything, you failed. No, a ring binder is a ring binder for exactly that reason: You can change and re-arrange the pages any time.
Another reason might be boredom. I did not dare to ask the question, yet. But who watches all those zillion videos on the web - not only about planners? I'd say that 90% of the videos are a 99% waste of time. I see myself constantly clicking "skip" to see if there is a sign of something happening in the video. I'd rather watch the famous movie "Paint Drying" (the one from 2016) than most videos on the web.
And as a last note: Recently, there was a question about what to put inside a Filofax. And that question got by far the most replies.
Hans
Thanks for this, you make very interesting points.
DeleteI think these videos generally are escapism, from the stresses and strains of life. Some people read fiction, some disappear into their shed to make something, some people watch pet videos, some swap into a new planner etc! Passing time without feeling stressed is the name of the game.
I agree that a planner is just a tool, however a car is just a transporter and food is just fuel, there can be delight in the tool itself if it is what floats your boat.
I think switching about a bit to see if it makes things better or to make sure it stays interesting is good as (I have found) paper planning is better for the brain than electronic planning.
I have a not so good tendency to faff about thinking about next year, I already have three set ups ready for 2027 in different formats and sizes and we are only three months in. It’s ideation for its own sake, it’s replaced my crochet project forward planning after I sold all the spare yarn on eBay!
It's all that extra "fluff" that all the youtubers seem to have in their filofaxes that I don't understand. It's more pointless than useful decorations that willjust stuff their
Deleterings.
What I meant by a planner being a tool is that the planner will not fix anything for you. It's a passive tool that you have to use actively. I think there are many cases where people got themselves a time planner to fix their daily routine just by filling in appointments and todos. And if things don't get better, they need a better planner.
DeleteOf course, you can enjoy your planner. Some people enjoy the bare planner by its "natural beauty", others like to decorate it. I'm one of the first kind.
But by being a ring binder, there is no need for any reset. It's possible to adjust anything. Remove past months, add future months. Or add parts you might need, remove parts that are of no use. Anytime.
For example, I was thinking about a dynamic system, where future months (e.g. 2027-01 to 2027-12) are month boxes on a few pages, and whole pages for future years (2028+), and then turn the year notes into monthly, and the monthly into days. And then make the change a floating process, not between Christmas Eve and Epiphany.
Hans
Cynically, I think most of the 'content creators'' make changes simply so they can create content about those changes... That's not a phenomenon confined to ring planner videos.
ReplyDeleteI think first half of the year is still ok to change planners. I do it all the time just becuase I like trying new planners and it feels great to start something with a new one.
ReplyDeleteA thought-provoking post this morning, Steve. I am eternally curious about how other people are using their Filofaxes and about other planning options they are exploring so I watch a lot of the YouTube output and browse Instagram more often than ideal. I have a bit more staying power than Hans, though probably because I tend to let the YouTube videos burble along whilst I am knitting or doing the ironing.
ReplyDeleteI think that a lot of planning content is created to feed algorithms, particularly where individuals are relying on content creation as part or all of their income. That leads to a constant quest for something new to report and thus the endless rotation of planner covers, inserts, systems - anything so long as it's fresh or on trend. I think there is also likely to be an element of content creators who wouldn't necessarily gravitate towards paper-based planning systems jumping on board when they see it as an emerging trend then dropping it when it's no longer adding new subscribers. Each emerging creator can spin us through the whole cycle of Filofax -> Higher-end leather planner -> Plotter -> MeePlus -> Travellers Notebook -> Louise Carmen and back again before they're done. Of course, brands themselves fuel this by feeding influencers with free products to promote.
I think that anyone who is creative will always be examining how they are doing things, keeping an eye on what is new, different, old, forgotten, whatever. For me, the trouble starts when everyone seems to be jumping on a single bandwagon at the same time (recently, Lochby notebooks and MeePlus) and that quickly leads to content fatigue.
I have to confess I've blundered through the first quarter of 2026 trying loads of different set-ups and only recently settled on an A6 William Hannah as my everyday "planner" supplementing their A5 notebook for longer-format planning and notes around writing. With the help of date stickers from Flying Tiger, I've cobbled together very passable A6 weekly pages from WH lined paper and I hope I've now got something that will work for the rest of the year. For me, the stumbling blocks on the perfect planner road are getting good enough paper quality, layouts I like to use, and combining note-taking with my daily appointments and tasks in a size which is easy to carry. My problem, and I suspect the problem of many planners sharing their systems on social media, is that my requirements are unrealistic - no one thing is going to fulfil all my needs and yet I continue to pursue that dream. Then again, I thought finding an Enny shoulder bag like the one I had at the end of the 1970s was an impossible dream, but I found it in the end - perhaps that heavenly planner system exists somewhere?
I've changed my system at the end of March. I tried so hard to have a planner wallet combo, but the wallet loved in my bag so I never thought to take it out and use the planner at home. I just don't use it much on the road, so I decided just to carry a mini as a wallet and note keeper, while I use a pocket on my desk as a planner.
ReplyDeleteThat's something else I had to begrudgingly admit: personal is too big for my planning needs. I have so many lovely personal and compact binders, and I love to use them, but I never use them effectively as a planner. They are my common place notebooks more than anything.
I love the practicality of my pocket - it can be thrown into a bag of I need it on the road. I DID go through the effort of copying everything from my personal pages to my pocket calendars, because I like to keep them and the idea of storing 2 sizes for the same year just didn't sit right.
I was so close to abandoning the rings and going to a pocket milestone, but found a happy set up on rings at least (the joy of loose leaf)
One of my favourite aspects of a ring binder system is the ease of changing pages. I am always experimenting with what works for me and being able to try something new at any time and not being locked in for a year (as with bound planners) makes a huge difference for me. Now that we are into April and I'm looking ahead to what is coming up this spring and summer, my needs are different than they were in the depths of winter at the beginning of the year. I love how easy it is to update my system as my needs change.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I have definitely been guilty of over-tweaking in the past! I'm no longer changing up my entire system as I used to do. Now I just add or change small things month to month as needed.