Plannerpads.com -- For Paper Based GTD Users

randystokes said:
Question:

It appears the refill pages for the Time Design system are either A4 or A5 sizes, not US standard sizes. Two questions: Will these fit in US standard size binders and, if so, which sizes?
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Hi Randy,
Time has a special punching scheme which isnt compatible with our standard scheme here in Germany. As far as i know, in the US you have normally 3-Ring binders which are also incompatible, so you have to punch some more holes.

And, I found a site on the web that translates A5 sized paper to 5-7/8" by 8-1/4" (approx) and A4 sized paper to 8.27" by 11.69" (approx.) -- are those correct, because on the Time Design website they say the "Executive Size" is A4 while the "Compact Size" is A5, which seems backwards to me.
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I havent check the exact measures, but A4 is twice A5.
Whats your problem with the website saying "Executive Size" being bigger than "Compact Size"?
For me that is quite logical.

Yours
Alexander
 
AMS said:
Anyone have any preference as to spiral-bound v. loose leaf? I think I'm going to give Plannerpads a try, and I'm debating...when I used Franklin Covey, it seemed like I used an awful lost of special pages just because I could...what has been the experience of others?
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I'm paper-based and love my FC planner. I use a loose-leaf and only use the special pages I really need. I've designed a lot of my own pages (mostly in Microsoft Publisher) so that the planner suits my needs and the GTD system.

Do Mi Stauber
 
The Planner Pad looks like a good system, but it leaves me wondering: how do you cram all your @lists into four columns. I could imagine putting more than one list in a column, but that would necessarily limit the size of your lists. What are PP users here doing?
 
There are actually 7 columns, with another one for Notes/Calls.

It also has a blank page before each month, and several blank pages that can be subdivided into columns in the back of the book.

I have found it very very helpful after two weeks of use!
 
planner pads - space for Categories/NAs

Ok, to follow up, here is another question - my plannerpad is on its way. So, this may be cleared up after I receive it. However, from my inital look online, it seems to me that you would need to re-write all your NAs and projects in the columns provided each week - since you only see a week at a time.

Is there another place in the planner pad where NAs and projects are recorded and kept and then only the NAs pertaining to the current week are written in the columns for that week?

Help me out.
 
Re: planner pads - space for Categories/NAs

ChrisH said:
However, from my inital look online, it seems to me that you would need to re-write all your NAs and projects in the columns provided each week - since you only see a week at a time.
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Don't know the exact measures of the columns but maybe you could use those yellow sticky notes (e.g. "post-it!"). Instead of writing your NAs and projects in the columns you could write them on sticky notes and stick the notes on the columns where they belong. At the end of a week you can tranfer the notes to the columns of the next week.

Rainer
 
There are a number of blank pages in the back of the book that would allow you to write your NA's. In addition, the cassette tape that comes witha the Planner Pad gives some tips on how to not write your list over each week.
 
A4 and A5

randystokes said:
I found a site on the web that translates A5 sized paper to 5-7/8" by 8-1/4" (approx) and A4 sized paper to 8.27" by 11.69" (approx.) -- are those correct?
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A4 is 21 cm x 29.7 cm or 8.268 inch x 11.692 inch (approx.)
A5 is 21 cm x 14.85 cm or 8.268 inch x 5.85 inch (approx.)

Rainer
 
Re: planner pads - space for Categories/NAs

ChrisH said:
Ok, to follow up, here is another question - my plannerpad is on its way. So, this may be cleared up after I receive it. However, from my inital look online, it seems to me that you would need to re-write all your NAs and projects in the columns provided each week - since you only see a week at a time.

Is there another place in the planner pad where NAs and projects are recorded and kept and then only the NAs pertaining to the current week are written in the columns for that week?

Help me out.
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Chris,

Hopeully, you bought the "intro" package which includes a cassette tape that discusses how to use the planner pad. One of the things it covers is what to do with Tasks (NAs) that aren't completed each week.

The short version is that the upper corner of each page is marked with a dashed line. The page can either be folded over (items still left undone) or cut/torn along the dotted line (week is complete). The thought being that you can easily see pages that have uncompleted items on them by looking for the "folds". If you find too many pages with folds, you can re-write them on the current week; otherwise, you just move forward and review the folded pages as necessary. Doing this means you don't have to re-write your NAs each week, unless you have too many folded pages, of course :)

OK, maybe that wasn't so short - hope it made sense.

...should have read ll the posts, since Bogert said it in a more concise manner.
 
Planner Pad and Action Items

If you get a binder, you can stick a junior legal pad in the pack and write action items. I stick in a Daytimer brand indexed / lined journal spiral bound notebook. I write notes and action items - I think I am on volume XI ( I have lots of action items and take lots of notes).
 
Thanks for all the replies. The planner pad and cassette tape arrived in the mail so I will be checking it out.

On first look, it does seem to be a rather significant paradigm shift from the Pocket PC/Outlook 2003/paper caleder I'm used to.

Thanks.
 
It may be a bit of a shift, and as I posted earlier in the thread, I almost gave it up, but two weeks plus of using it has already sold me on it. Give it a shot. If it doesn't work for you, they refund your money, I believe.
 
I've had my Plannerpad for two days now (spiral bound) and I'm already loving it. It is significantly different than Outlook or Palm, but it's pretty easy to get the basics with the cassette. Something that always nagged at me about the Palm was that I couldn't see Projects/Actions/Calendar at the same time, but I think the Plannerpad will help me be more realistic about my commitments since I can see everything at once for the week. I do have a couple of questions for Plannerpad users:

Where do you keep your project lists? I was thinking of listing them on the blank Notes page at the beginning of each month's section. I was also thinking of putting Someday/Maybe's in the back Notes/Projects/Calendar section. How have others done this?

Where do you keep your checklists? I had 30+ on my Palm, but don't know what to do with them with the Plannerpad. I'm thinking of just keeping them in a separate book or something. Any advice on that?

Thank you!
 
The page that is opposite the monthly calendar gives me the opportunity to list projects that need to be started that month. I've found listing them this way helps me not overlook things that are due at the beginning of a month.

I don't have a lot of checklists, but they can be put in the back pages, or you can buy a plastic holder that fits in the back of the Plannerpad and allows you to keep loose papers.
 
As I listened to the tape, here is another idea I thought of......writing out my Projects on the goals pages in the back........or maybe better yet, using each blank goals page in the back for a different category............then listing all the NAs in that category on the lines on the goals page............for each week, I would then pick the items/categories/projects from the back that need to be worked on and put those on the weekly layout using the top and middle sections.

For me, I can see this working because the entire system is in one place. Up until this point, I've had my calender in hardcopy form only, projects/NAs on the work computer with Outlook and syched to an Ipaq. This keeps everything together in one place which is with me all the time.
 
After a couple more weeks of use, I've got a couple of Plannerpad questions I'm stuck on:

I'm using the Notes pages at the beginning of each month for Projects. I'm using pages at the back for Someday/Maybe and Checklists (huge for me - I have lots and I use them regularly). I've got no room left to keep project related actions that are not NAs. What do others do with these (besides keeping them in the pages at the back, which I've dedicated to another use?)

Also, I find myself running out of room for daily actions at least 2 or 3 days a week. I'm thinking the good-old fashioned Post-It is probably the only way to solve this problem, but do other users have another idea?

These are the last areas where I need to refine my use of the Plannerpad - thanks in advance for any input.
 
AMS - what size Plannerpad do you have?

I haven't ordered one yet, but did a mockup of the 8 1/2 x 11 size (in Excel) and have the same problem you're having - running out of room in the daily section. (Especially because I don't write small enough to stay within the rows and columns...)
 
I ordered the personal size...I do need portability, but I'm afraid I might have sacrificed for it!
 
Planner Pads

I really like the Planner Pad concept. I tried it about 8 yrs. ago, and then just tried it again last week. I have found that it just does not have enough room for me. I write big!. I feel that I have to really write small to make it work. I ended up giving it to my brother!
 
I have used the Planner Pad off and on as well. It is a great tool if you stick with a paper planner. I have finally, after several attempts, become comfortable using a digital solution and I can't go back.

I did pull out my old Planner Pad after this post originated several weeks back, but I just couldn't make it work.
 
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