Dated or Non-dated?

In October, I get excited because it is time to choose my planner for the coming year.

Before there was Amazon, I would go to all the major office supply chains. I knew them all by heart and knew which kinds of planners were usually in each store. Sometimes I would go to the local Office supply stores like the wonderful Atlas Stationers, here in Chicago. Back in the day you would find me at "Order From Horder." There were also the Franklin Covey stores peppered throughout the city and suburbs. For many years I used a Franklin Covey Planner, going all the way back to when it was just the Franklin Planner (before the Covey merger.) It was just a catalog then. There were also Daytimers and Filofaxes. If you ever had the pleasure of visiting an actual Filofax store it was a definite treat. The high end of planners. There also was the Levengers brand at Macy's. I am not sure if it is still there.

Now with Amazon, I can shop for planners and planner supplies in the comfort of my own home and anytime I please. And ironically, this year, I chose a planner that you can't find on Amazon and maybe that is why it's extra special. I am currently using the Commit30 planner and its only available at their website.

So when it comes down to it, you have two choices. You can use the traditional dated planner or a non-dated planner.

I like a dated planner because the entire year is already laid out for me. But I have found value in non-dated planners as well. The obvious value of the non-dated planner is that you can start using it any time you wish. There are tons of these kind of planners and some of the planner companies that sell them, sell nothing BUT non-dated planners. One of the things I don't like about some of these companies is that they will sell a 90 day planner which means you have to buy FOUR of them to fill the year.

So it's a dated planner for me. There are many kinds from simple date books to full on life planning with extra pages and worksheets to help you with your life goals. There are planners that gear towards business and some that are more personal and journal like. There are fitness planners and financial planners. These days there seems to be a planner for everything and everyone.

So go over to Amazon and take a look at all the possibilities. I will be reviewing several of them soon and hope this can be a place where you can compare different planners to help you pick out the one that is right for you.