As you grow older, the mess in your life increases in number. Fortunately, although men haven’t made mechanisms to make these horrific entities disappear, humans have at least made them easier to acknowledge, easier to solve. Thank you, Mr. Planner Inventor. Every December, I’m always excited to plan for the coming year; of course, the activity would be nicer if you have a great planner with you–ready to help you visualize your new life. Moreover, a planner is a secretary that nags you everyday as if it’s not your alter ego.
With so many varieties of planners available in the market, choosing what planner to get is the hardest phase before actually making your life easier. So here I am, featuring my colleagues in the industry (I’m practicing–I’ll be a young professional soon!) who joins me in the Planner Craze of the 21st Century. This is ALPSaguado.com’s Concise 2010 Planners Review.
Starbucks Planner 2010
Featured Owner: Arvin Razon
The Good: Vertical columns. weird and different, but it surprisingly works for me. There are fancy tidbits about Starbucks. I mean, I’m not crazy about the coffee but it helps to know a thing or two about anything.
The Bad: The cover looks like it’s going to deteriorate within a year; it’s big and doest have space for notes.
The Lowdown: A planner that’s more than good enough in doing what it’s supposed to do: plan people’s lives.
My notes, not Arvin's. Haha.
I also got an SB planner. And my sister too.
Nash's has a different design.
The coffee bean bookmark looks nice!
Luxe Monologue 2010
Featured owner: Nikki Mailom
The Good: Corporate looking; it has important international codes and a world map; light-weight and not bulky; it has spaces for other stuff like notes, contact details and others.
The Bad: Smells bad; others might think that it’s an imitation of Moleskine!
The Lowdown: It’s an ideal planner for soon-to-be corporate people for a reasonable price.
Design Your Life 2010
Featured owner: Rish Mangubat
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The Good: Lots of writing space; the design–each month has a theme with different colors and looks; fun pages such as pages of trivia and fun facts.
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The Bad: Pages are prone to tearing; there are pictures of unknown girls–they used these pictures to design some of the pages; it costs a lot (I took 500 pesos from my boyfriend’s wallet!).
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The Lowdown: I recommend this planner for those who like to bring out the artist in them. It’s definitely the planner for those who, like me, want to design their lives!
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Belle de Jour 2010
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Featured owner: Joana Armendez
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The Good: Flexible for all types of planner users; it has discount coupons; it has easy-to-read articles with helpful tips.
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The Bad: I can’t use the coupons because I don’t have money, yet! It’s bulky, but it’s fab!
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The Lowdown: It’s more than just a planner– it could be a journal and a diary too with everything an outgoing girl needs in one.
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Scribe Planner 2010
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Featured owner: Arven Eusebio
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The Good: It’s very handy; i’ts fierce RED; i’ts starting to get my life in place so far.
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The Bad: No notes page; spaces for Saturday and Sunday can’t accommodate my weekend plans.
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The Lowdown: It’s fab and very efficient yet very affordable as well.
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Navi Planner 2010
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Featured owner: Leah Calderon
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The Good: Sufficient writing space; there are freebies!; I like the color scheme–with earthy tones for the pages and shrinking colors at the start of a new month; it has subtle page design that’s not too distracting.
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The Bad: Where’s the basic information page? I don’t know where to write my name and contact details!; quite pricey at 520 pesos.; a bit bulky.
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The Lowdown: Highly recommended for someone who loves to travel, as it will give you ideas for your next trip! Even so, the planner still works for a couch potato like me!
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teNue’s Alice in Wonderland-inspired Planner
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Featured owner: Ana Arcega
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The Good: There are pretty illustrations inside the original Alice in Wonderland books by Lewis Carroll; no nonsense layout of pages; simple and minimalist.
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The Bad: Not much room for creativity (doodling, bulleting, etc); special holidays are not applicable here in the Philippines since it’s Europe-centric (?) LOL.
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The Lowdown: It’s perfect for me since I super like Alice in Wonderland, and I feel inspired to look at it everyday since it’s so pretty! But if you’re looking for planners which have gift certificates, TTD boxes and other “extras”, the price may not be worth it; for Alice in Wonderland fans only!
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This Planner Will Actually Change Someone’s Life 2010
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Featured owner: Noemi Guerrero
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The Good: Quarterly checkups make reflection easy because I don’t need to wait until the end of the year to assess and/or change certain habits; I like the trivias too because there’s always something to celebrate almost everyday!
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The Bad: Expense chart doesn’t work for me (just a page at the end of every month) because I need to keep track of my daily expenses.
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The Lowdown: It introduces me to a lot of possibilities! I’ve never heard of “Cuddle up Day” and “National Cheesecake Day” until I got this planner; It gives me more reasons to indulge once in a while. :)
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Moleskine Planner 2010
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Featured owner: Alvina Antonio
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The Good: It is simple and has inconspicuous design; there are free writing space at the right pages; it has a slim build and easy to carry around.
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The Bad: It’s acid-free paper seems thin; no free filler and stickers (from the red Moleskine)
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The Lowdown: May not be the “bung for the buck” planner but Moleskine’s wins for being the most sophisticated planner without looking pretentious. :>
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–So these are just few of the planners the immediate people in my fast-paced environment are using. Well, there isn’t really a perfect planner (yuh yuh) but I hope you already found your perfect companion. If you are still waiting for Mr. Right Planner, this mini-review could help you. Actually, I don’t do this as a guide for planner buyers since I published such entry weeks after the new year (last year’s was published 30th of January). This is just to release my fascination about planning and organizing because I’m a messy and forgetful kid.
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And remember, the planner refers more to the person than the thing. Happy planning!
