It has been almost an entire year of using my Day Designer and I am absolutely, positively hooked. This paper planner was designed for people just like me, who want to crush goals, knock out to-dos, and plan like a boss.
The founder, Whitney English, was overwhelmed with tons of paper, sticky notes, overflowing emails, and a crazy schedule. She couldn’t find a system that worked well for her, so she created one.
The Day Designer has a layout that keeps things simple. This is what was the most appealing to me. In the top left corner, it lists “TOP 3” & the right corner has the quadruple D’s: Due, Dinner, Dollars, Don’t Forgot.
The left column has times of day from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and the right side is a blank list where you can write all the to-dos to check off.
At the very bottom is a place for notes and your daily gratitude. All of these areas have been helpful, but I especially love the breakout of hours throughout the day. If I have a 10-11 a.m. meeting and a lunch at noon, I’ll throw in a couple things I can get done in that hour (run to post office, grab cards at Ephemera, drop off products to friends).
From the Flagship Collection to the A5 Luxe Collection, you have so many options in both sizes and styles. For 2016, I went with the Black Stripe version (regular size) and for 2017 my mom gifted me the Painterly Floral for my birthday. I love the golds, teal, pinks, orange on the cover of the planner.
While I always schedule every meeting on my Google Calendar, I feel like my Day Designer keeps me in check for all the in-between things. It’s something I can easily toss in my bag every day. Of course, it’s nearly 200 sheets of paper, so it’s a little on the heavy side, but if you’re a busy woman who needs to keep her sh*t together, this planner is your partner in crime. 😉
I love Day Designer as a company because they also provide little freebie sheets like a Daily Gratitude Journal, Holiday Gift Ideas, Personal Planning System Worksheet and my very favorite, HEART Goals Worksheet.
Other things to note: everything is high quality. The exterior of the planner is incredibly durable (trust me, I’m not gentle with it) and the paper is a thicker consistency so nothing bleeds through. I’ve had zero issues with the binding. Everything is tabbed by months and I put a huge binder clip on the months that have already passed so I can get right to the place I need to go.
It’s mid-December and I’m already using my beautiful 2017 Day Designer for appointment reminders and other things on the horizon like my wedding (!!!) and our bachelorette trip to San Diego. There’s nothing like writing out upcoming trips; it’s so exciting!
How are you launching into the new year? If you’re ready to get organized and find a planner to hold you accountable and meet your goals, try out the Day Designer. It is an incredible tool for anyone looking for a practical, inspiring system.
Bonus: every page has an inspiring quote at the very top. Just last week mine was from one of my favorite authors, Donald Miller: “Fear is a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life.” Donald’s book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years was so influential for that I biked across America. So end your 2016 with a planner & read his book to start an amazing 2017.
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