For many years I have used my phone to keep organized, and it worked great. But I got to the point where I had far too many tasks, across many different jobs, not to mention home, and I wanted to try a paper planner to help me get a better visual idea of what to do for who and when.
I looked at a lot of different planners - for someone just wanting to see if this system would even work out, most are pretty darn pricey. And many others just have too much 'fluff'. I decided on the elephant planner because it had a good price, and didn't look like it's the whole purpose was to make me feel good about myself and do mini-scrapbooking and journaling every day.
Using a simple pack of multi-colored pens, I was quickly able to set up a system that worked for me in the elephant planner.
Pros:
- The pages are laid out well, with plenty of room.
- The cover is sturdy, and the pages secure (I'm rough as heck on it, and it's holding up great)
- Note pages! Pages and pages and pages of blank, LINED pages - and each page NUMBERED. Perfect! You can start different types of notes in different places and write yourself a handy index at the front
- A handy pocket on the inside back cover, which I'm sure is meant to hold stickers, or receipts, or other such things, but I put my pack of pens in there and it works well.
- I use fountain pens, and I was worried they or markers would bleed through, but they don't. The paper is thick and good quality, I've not had either my fountain pens or markers bleed through, and the pens glide smoothly on the grain. I'm also very heavy-handed (one of the reasons to switch to fountain pens, in case anyone reading this has the same problem...far less hand fatigue compared to other pens- you don't need to apply any pressure at all while writing), and when I had to make a note with a regular pen the pages didn't dent badly or scrape/tear like tends to happen on other paper types.
- Undated, so you can start as soon as you get it, no wasted pages, no waiting another month or three for the year to end. Keep in mind undated means you will need to go ahead and set yourself aside a little block of time so you can fill it in, at least the monthly pages, before you start using it daily.
Cons:
- Ribbon markers. I wish each ribbon was a different color. The matching color makes the planner look nice, but I find myself just wanted to grab the marker for a section quickly, and I think different colored ribbons would shave a second off my logging time. This doesn't even warrant dropping a half star from my rating though.
- weekends have half as much room in the weekly planning section than weekdays. This seems to be the norm for weekly planners, so no specific complaints about this product, but I'm sure there are many others out there who have just as many tasks and goals on Saturday and Sunday as they do Monday through Friday. I just write extra small and put in 2 lines of writing of every single line provided.
I have been very happy with the elephant planner - and will probably get another when I finish with this one.
| Manufacturer | Papercode |
|---|---|
| Brand | Papercode |
| Item Weight | 1.01 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Color | Lilac |
| Cover Material | Faux Leather |
| Material Type | Paper |
| Size | 5.75 inches X 8.25 inches |
| Manufacturer Part Number | 1259825835 |
