Goodbye, 2013 Planner!

 Tonight I have been trying to make a full transition from my 2013 planner to my 2014 planner. I really love the planner that I used last year, and I was really dismayed to discover that TF Publishing no longer makes this type of engagement planner. Shame on them! These are the great things about this planner:

• Hardbound binding (no annoying spirals or lame plastic covers)
• A section to record birthdays (and dates to remember) for the entire year
• Lots of room to write for each day
• Each week can be seen at-a-glance
• The pages for each week are flanked with extra lined pages for lists: "To Note," "To Do" and "Shopping List"
• A ribbon bookmark

The extra pages that flank the weekly calendars make this planner thicker than most, but I didn't mind at all. I loved having extra space to record notes from lectures and films. I also loved having a "To Do" list for each week, in case I couldn't fit all of my necessary projects and activities in the weekly calendar pages. And most of all, I loved having so much space to write for each day. I could write down my appointments, class lecture plans, and even obscure student questions (that I promised to research). You can get a sense of how I used my planner in the image above - that Monday was a particularly good day for student questions.

Anyhow, I have yet to find a planner that is designed as well as this one, particularly in terms of how space is utilized. I did get a new planner which is kinda-sorta close to what I had, but there isn't nearly as much space to write. (My only consolation is that the planner is decorated with Van Gogh's "Almond Blossom" painting, which I love.) I suppose something will have to give. Either my schedule needs to free up or I need to shrink the size of my penmanship!

Since I've written so much in this planner, it's hard to let it go. I feel like it is a pretty good encapsulation of my life from last year. I can tell (and remember) what weeks were stressful, based on how much is written. I remember feeling accomplished when I look at the pages in which every single "to do" item is crossed off. I can tell when I enjoyed lazy summer weeks with Sam, when we had hardly anything to do. I see what we successively did each day during our trip to England.

Do you love physical planners and calendars? I wonder if I'm part of a dying breed. J keeps his calendars in digital format, but I rarely find myself using those. I like having something tangible in which I can quickly write. And I think my planner is much more versatile because it is in physical format. Plus, I think much more fun to reminisce about the past year when looking at an actual book, than on a phone or digital calendar.