How Can Using a Planner Help You?

Are you familiar with those flimsy planners that are available at office supply stores? They feature moments of time broken up into specific chunks. Some let you plan each day hour by hour, while others allow you to see more of an overview of your week or month.

They’re basically calendars that help you get specific about what you’re doing and when. But do they make you more productive?

Most experts agree that planning your day helps you know what to expect. When you realize that uncertainty can cause stress, you can understand how using a planner can ease your mind.

But planning your day isn’t always useful if you don’t follow your schedule. Being an effective planner involves accurately estimating how long your tasks will take you.

In an age where people can schedule their appointments online and set reminders so that they don’t forget, people want more than an appointment book. A planner should help you live life to the fullest.

What Is a Productivity Planner?

A productivity planner does more than let you decide what you’re going to do during a particular time frame. It helps you develop habits that reduce procrastination and increase your productivity.

The best productivity planners help you get more done in less time. They don’t just give you a place to write in appointments. Productivity planners can:

• Help you prioritize important tasks
• Allow you to get clear on your why
• Help you establish goals
• Help you create action steps to get closer to your goals
• Help you estimate how much time a task will take
• Help you track the time that you spent on a job or project
• Help you develop productive habits

A productivity planner is action-oriented. It keeps you accountable for what you accomplish (and don’t achieve) during the day. It not only serves as a way to engineer your time but also a method of documenting your work.

When you record what you do every day, you can reflect on it. One study from Harvard Business School found that employees who used journals to write what went well and what didn’t go so well every day were 22.8 percent more productive than their peers who didn’t reflect on their days. Even though writing in a journal took them away from their work, they made up for it while they were taking action.

If you’ve ever thought that planning your day isn’t worth it because it interferes with the time that you could actually be working, you’re missing out on maximizing your productivity. When you reflect on your day, you take ownership of your accomplishments. This helps you develop a level of self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation that keeps you going.

What’s the Secret to Productivity?

To understand how the best productivity planners work, you have to know some of the secrets to productivity. These include the following.

Focus in the Face of Distraction

You can write down what you plan to do from 9 to 11 a.m. tomorrow, but what happens when you get distracted by other people or tasks? A productivity planner often contains tools that help you focus.

These may be questions that help you prioritize your activities and filter out the noise. Have you ever tried to insert as many tasks as possible into your day only to realize that accomplishing all of them was impossible?

Productivity planners aren’t about cramming your schedule full of tasks. They help you accomplish exactly what needs to be done.

The simple act of writing down your goals makes you concentrate on what matters. If something else comes up, you can relegate it to a future spot in your productivity journal because today’s place is already taken. If you aren’t writing down your goals, tasks and to-dos, how can you decide what’s most important to achieve today?

When you aren’t bound by a planner, you may redirect your focus every time something new comes along. But multitasking makes you less productive. It can also make you feel overwhelmed if you’re faced with dozens of tasks and no concrete plans for achieving them.

Time-Management Skills

The most productive people know how to manage their time. If you always feel too busy to relax or spend time with your friends, you may not be managing your time well. Many people who feel like they’re constantly bombarded with tasks don’t even have a to-do list.

Some of the key elements of time management include:

• Knowing what you have to do
• Understanding which tasks are the most urgent
• Accurately predicting how long a task will take you
• Scheduling time to complete the task

Many people get hung up on the estimation factor. Have you ever done this? You use wishful thinking to hope that you’ll complete everything that you need to do in one day. You assume that if you write it all in your calendar, you’ll get it all done. But when the first task takes three times as long as you predicted, everything else gets pushed back, causing you to feel consistently discouraged by your performance.

The best productivity planner allows you to track the time that you have spent on different tasks. The more you do this, the better you’ll be at estimating how long an activity will take you. The ability to plan your day out accurately can transform your life.

When you hone this skill, you:

• Notice where distractions impede your productivity
• What activities take the most and least time to complete
• When you have the most energy and when you feel the most productive
• Whether you’re using your time wisely
• Whether you need additional prep time to complete a particular task

Direction and Goals

Have you ever had a day that felt busy but didn’t result in many accomplishments? Busy work is not the same as productivity. The most productive people don’t just go around crossing things off of their to-do lists for the sake of it. All of their achievements add up to their greater vision, meaning, and purpose.

According to Inc., tremendously productive people move in one direction. If you don’t have goals, you can run yourself ragged without making progress. Efficient people don’t move faster than everyone else. They just move with purpose.

If you take 10 steps in 10 different directions, you won’t feel like you moved far, but you might be exhausted. Taking 10 steps in one direction feels like real advancement.

A productivity planner helps you map out your direction. It offers a chance for you to consider your goals as you plan each day so that your work is fruitful.

Self-Motivation

People have been trying to figure out the secret to motivation for hundreds of years. Self-motivation is one of the keys to productivity. It’s one of the only aspects of incentive that you can control.

Sure, someone can dangle money in front of you to spur you to do more work. But external motivators can always be taken away. Finding inspiration from within can keep your candle burning forever.

A productivity planner combines intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. No one is going to force you to keep up with your planner. You have to have your own motives for using it.

You’ll be more likely to keep up with a planner that’s fun to use than one that feels like doing tedious homework. With so many out there, you might have to experiment to find the one that’s right for you. Hopefully, the reviews below will help you determine which one jives with your lifestyle and way of working.

Once you’re motivated to use your planner, it becomes a self-fulfilling cycle. Writing down your plans keeps you committed to them. You’ll keep using it because you enjoy it. You’ll also keep up with it because accomplishing steps toward your goals feels so good.

There is scientific evidence that completing tasks is psychologically rewarding. Our brains crave the dopamine surge that results from getting stuff done. If we can guide ourselves into a cycle of productivity, we’re more likely to stay there. A productivity planner can help us do just that.

Differentiating Ideas from Action

You may have a big, clear vision of what it takes to achieve success. But if you don’t take action, that vision is just a fantasy.

Productive people aren’t just action-takers. They think big, plan clearly and take action when it’s necessary. To be productive, you have to know when to come up with ideas and when to act on them.

According to Lifehack, productive people concentrate on clarity before movement. To gain this clarity, these types of people need to reflect on their successes and failures. They should also take the time to notice what inspires them.

Once you have clarity, taking action becomes much simpler. It also aligns better with your goals. A productivity planner can help you find clarity so that you behave efficiently as you flesh out your best ideas.

How to Use a Productivity Planner

There are many ways to use a productivity planner. The method that you choose depends on the planner that you buy as well as your habits and lifestyle.

Many productivity planners come with instructions on how to use them. If you’re ready to plow ahead full force, feel free to follow those directions.

Here are some tips that you can use if you’re just getting your feet wet.

Start With Awareness

We all want to make big changes. When we’re feeling stuck or unproductive, our main motivation is to adjust our habits so that we can improve our outcomes. But you’ll never know what has to change if you don’t know what’s going on at the present moment.

Before you dive into your planner and start laying out your future, get clear on the status quo. You might want to use the first few pages of your planner to write out what you did on a particular day instead of what you plan to do.

Taking a week to do this can really help you see how you’re spending your time. Once you know when you’re being efficient and when you’re wasting time, you can transform your productivity.

If you don’t want to mess up your shiny new planner, try using the one that you bought last year and stopped using. Track your days without worrying about changing anything just yet. It will give you some distinct insight into your productivity.

You’ll start to see where and when you get distracted. You’ll become intimately aware of how much time you really spend on social media. You should even get some insight into the pockets of time when you’re apt to be most productive.

Doing this is similar to bringing your awareness to your breath during yoga or meditation. The instructor usually asks you to notice your breathing without trying to alter it. This practice brings you into the present, where you can work on your growth. Use your planner in the same way.

Schedule Your To-Dos

Once you know how you’re currently spending your time, you can start to plan how you want to spend it. Don’t get ahead of yourself by setting a lot of goals when you’re beginning to use a productivity planner.

The initial objective is to create a habit of using it. Start simple so that you don’t get overwhelmed. Once you develop some consistency, you can expand the way that you use a planner.

An easy way to start is by sitting down each evening to make a to-do list for the next day. Then, your main goal should be checking everything off of the list.

Establish Your Goals

Eventually, you should work toward aligning your to-dos with some goals. Start by asking yourself, “What do I want to accomplish today?” As you break down your plans into hourly activities, you’ll make sure that the bulk of your to-dos progress toward your goals. Without goals, you’ll just be doing busy work.

Once you get good at this, you can develop weekly and monthly goals. You may also want to work backward from a big vision. For example, if you really want to write a book, give yourself a realistic deadline for completing it. Then, work backward from that deadline and decide what you need to accomplish every month, week and day to move toward it.

Give Yourself Time for Reflection

Make sure that you’re not only using your productivity planner to schedule the future but also to reflect on the past. It’s a good idea to schedule some time at the end of the day to look backward. Think about the following:

• What went well today?
• What didn’t go well?
• How did I feel?
• What distracted me?
• What felt smooth and easy?
• What was challenging, and how did I handle it?
• How do I want to feel tomorrow?
• What do I need to accomplish to feel that way?
• What is the main thing that I want to achieve tomorrow?

Using your productivity planner like this gives you a chance to decompress from the day. It also keeps you focused, revamps your motivation and lets you celebrate your wins.

Best Productivity Planners Review

Now that you know a little more about how a productivity planner can help you maximize your organization and efficiency, it’s time to find the perfect one for you. We describe our favorites below and give you the pros and cons of each one so that you can launch yourself toward a more productive life.

The Productivity Planner

The Productivity Planner relies on evidence-based productivity principles and goals research to help you be more productive every day. It comes with a quick guide to help you get started. But it’s easy to understand and use.

The planner is undated, which means that you won’t waste pages if you’re on vacation and skip a week of planning. Each week includes five pages for the weekdays as well as a weekend page.

It’s broken down so that you can determine the most important tasks for the week as a whole. You even get a commitment question every week that asks you what one action you can take to make your week more productive.

When you write your daily to-dos, you’re guided to categorize them in order of importance. There is also a space to rate your productivity at the end of each day.

Pros:

• Easily break down weekly goals into daily tasks
• Arranged so that you prioritize your to-dos
• Includes space for reflection
• Each page has an inspiring quote
• Includes an in-depth explanation of how to use the planner

Cons:

• Each planner includes space for only six months
• No space to schedule to-dos by hour
• No ribbons included for bookmarking pages

The High-Performance Planner

The High-Performance Planner is based on large-scale research into how successful people create efficient habits to maximize productivity. It helps you develop a positive mindset as you set goals and work toward them.

The layout is clean but has space to work in many of the productivity secrets that we discussed in this article. You can write a message to yourself every day, answer “morning mindset” prompts, think about your top three priorities for the day, schedule your to-dos in half-hour increments and even consider who you can connect with.

At the end of the day, you’re asked to reflect, scoring your daily habits, thinking about your lessons, celebrating your wins and feeling gratitude.

Weekly pages give you even more chances to look back. You’re prompted to do a self-assessment of your productivity and rate your life satisfaction in several areas. Monthly assessments and reviews give you even more perspective.

If you’re seeking work-life balance, this may be the perfect planner for you.

Pros:

• Comes in a rainbow of colors
• Packs a great deal of research-based material into each page
• Combines a morning and evening journal with a planner
• Dates are not labeled, so you won’t waste pages if you skip days
• Includes areas for self-reflection as well as scheduling

Cons:

• May be overwhelming for some people
• Only includes pages for 60 days
• No additional space for note-taking

Lion Planner

The Lion Planner uses a positive psychology approach to planning and scheduling. It is intended to increase your productivity as well as improve your quality of life. In fact, the manufacturer’s description explains that this planner is designed to stop you from doing busy work and align your actions with your goals and intentions.

The daily pages include a spot to write your goals. You don’t necessarily have to come up with new objectives. The act of re-writing your goals helps you stay focused on them. There’s also space for notes and ideas, prioritizing your tasks, scheduling your day, writing a to-do list and review your accomplishments.

Weekly pages ask you to look back and plan the week ahead. There is also room to plan out your year and months based on your goals. Finally, this planner includes pages for a dream list, notes, and contacts.

Pros:

• Separate to-do list and schedule lets you plan your chores
• Two built-in bookmarks
• Sharpie pens won’t bleed through the pages
• Includes envelopes inside the front and back covers to store separate notes and other items
• Includes a two-year calendar so that you can refer to dates when needed

Cons:

• Hourly scheduling space is tight
• Has pages for fewer than the six months that are indicated
• All month and week pages are clumped together

Smart Planner Pro

The Smart Planner Pro is advertised as a daily, weekly and monthly planner to increase productivity, improve time management and boost happiness. It’s streamlined and features daily columns where you can write out three priorities, jot down what you’re grateful for and schedule your day in half-hour increments.

The spread of seven daily columns takes up two pages. There’s not a lot of extra room for reflection, but it does have space to review your victories and score your week. There is also some space at the bottom of each two-page spread to brainstorm and write down ideas. The planner also includes 10 blank and 10 lined pages for note-taking.

There’s a large monthly calendar that takes up two pages and is undated, giving you added flexibility. You can also write your goals on these pages and write notes in the blank boxes. A two-year at-a-glance calendar helps you refer to specific dates when you need to.

Pros:

• Thick, bleed-proof paper
• Includes an entire year of undated daily pages
• Contains an expandable inner back pocket
• Has two bookmarks
• Easy to visualize the whole week at once

Cons:

• Limited writing space on daily scheduling columns
• Crams a full week into a two-day spread
• The week starts on a Monday

Clever Fox Planner

The Clever Fox Planner is a productivity system that helps you stay focused on your goals as you move through your days, weeks and months.

Before you get started with scheduling, you can reflect on your vision and objectives. This planner includes an awareness and self-discovery section that lets you write what you’re grateful for, explore what you’re passionate about, note the daily rituals that you want to uphold this year and write affirmations to keep you motivated and inspired.

There’s a two-page spread of blank pages on which you can collage a vision board. The planner also includes two pages on which you can set your goals for the year in a variety of categories. Two more pages let you break down your large goals into smaller ones.

Those pages are followed by a weekly spread with about four lines for each day of the week and space to write your goal and priorities, a personal to-do list, track your habits and reflect. The back of the journal contains more than 50 dot-grid pages for doodling or taking notes.

Pros:

• Comes with a free quick-start guide
• Includes 150 colorful stickers
• Supposed to contain 12 monthly planners and 52 weekly planners
• Three ribbons serve as bookmarks
• Comes in a wide range of colors

Cons:

• The most limited when it comes to writing daily to-dos
• No hourly schedule area to plan appointments and time-bound items
• Missing a few weekly planners

Conclusion

All of the productivity planners that we reviewed are undated, which means that you can start any time of year and don’t waste pages if you forget to use them for a day or a week. But they’re very different when it comes to layout and options for additional reflection.

If you’re the type of person who needs to journal as well as schedule their time, you’ll probably prefer the Productivity Planner or High-Performance Planner. These hold your hand as they guide you toward creating positive productivity habits. These are also geared toward helping you live a more fulfilling life.

People who rely on their schedules for keeping track of appointments and to-dos may prefer the Lion Planner, which features a 24-hour schedule. If it’s important to have one planner for the whole year, the Smart Planner Pro and Clever Fox Planner might be preferable.

We like the High-Performance Planner the best. The combination of meaningful prompts and time-scheduling areas makes it the most comprehensive option. In fact, it’s so well-rounded that it only has room for 60 days of planning. Once you become a productive planner, you might choose to move to a more streamlined option that includes more pages.

The post 5 Best Productivity Planners appeared first on DIY Planner.

About the Hipster PDA Edition

The D*I*Y Planner 3.0 Hipster PDA Edition is a series of do-it-yourself 3″x5″ (index card size) templates for planning and organisational purposes. It was created as a supplement to the D*I*Y Planner 3.0 kit and the templates are re-designed for the smaller paper size.

Please note that these instructions are meant to compliment the D*I*Y Planner Handbook (included with the regular kit), and as such only detail the differences in the two editions.

This package is available in three forms: 1-up, 2-up and graphics. Depending on your printer, paper stock, software and set-up, one format will probably make more sense than the others. Please read the descriptions below and decide for yourself.

For more information about the Hipster PDA, as conceived by Merlin Mann, please visit www.hipsterpda.com.

The 1-Up Version

The 1-Up version is meant for printing directly onto 3″x5″ index card stock. However, your printer may not be able to handle margins that are, by necessity, close to the edge. Your forms may be clipped. If your printer is capable of full-bleed printing or has no problems with 1/8″ (3mm) margins, and you have the appropriate index (record) card stock, this is probably the best format for you. Simply feed the cards into the printer (perhaps in an envelope tray), and print. Do not let Adobe Acrobat resize, scale or centre the documents.

The 4-Up Version

The 4-Up version is meant for printing four adjacent cards onto letter-size (8.5″ x 11″) card stock and then you can cut the page apart with a guillotine or scissors. If you want to print double-sided cards (for example, the monthly ‘flip card’), simply turn over the paper and print again.

Since the four cards are exactly centred on the page you should be able to print these on A4 paper as well. Just remember to tell Acrobat to centre (but not scale)the document.

You can usually find a decent ‘paper’ guillotine at office supply and department stores for between 30-60 USD. Avoid ‘rotary trimmers’ and get one with a self-sharpening chopper arm. For an example, see the GBC GT II Series Trimmer, 15in., which is a great investment for a fairly low price, and you’ll probably be passing it on to your grandchildren.

The Graphics Version

The graphics version is for those people who:

• Have problems printing with the supplied PDFs because of their printers (or cranky Acrobat settings).
• Want to use a different layout programs, such as Freehand, Illustrator, CorelDRAW or OpenOffice.org Draw.
• Use Avery perforated forms, or similar, and want to paste the D*I*Y templates into their regular layout program.
• Use different paper sizes and want to arrange the templates to make the best use of space.
• Want to make minor modifications to the templates such as changing colours, titles, spacings or supplied text.
• As this covers quite a number of possibilities and setups, they cannot all be covered here. What we can recommend is to try layouts using the free OpenOffice.org Draw (you can put a different card on each ‘slide’) and graphics manipulation using the free application The Gimp. The D*I*Y planner uses the free font named Blue Highway.

For those who are curious about such things, the file format used is 8-bit PNG, and should work well with almost any modern bitmap graphic application.

Please note that these graphic files are released under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial No-Derivatives licence. However, I waive the no-derivatives part if you wish to make modifications of these files for your own personal use. If you make something you’d like to share, please see our How-To: Submitting a Template page.

Printing Tips

It seems that a lot of people have issues with odd paper sizes, different types of stock, and bewildering printer setups. Most of these issues can be avoiding by keeping a few things in mind while setting up to print your cards.

Print Resolution

Because of the small fonts and subtle greys you should use a fairly high resolution when printing, at least 600 dpi. However it is equally important to bear in mind the quality of coating on the paper. Too high a dpi can be as bad as too low. My Mac OS X print dialog does not allow me to choose DPI, I find that if I set the Print Mode to be the highest quality possible for the paper (under ‘Detailed Setting’), it works beautifully. Your own settings will depend heavily upon your OS and drivers.

Card Stock

You should certainly use coated (or otherwise hi-res) card stock. If not, you will experience some muddiness and bleeding of ink, making it difficult to read the small fonts. For example, we find 110lb (280-300 gsm) bright white card stock is absolutely perfect on one side (the one with the best coating), and very good on the other. However, the generic index (record) cards we picked up at the local department store result in small type that is almost illegible.

By way of weight, you probably want between 60lb and 110lb (160-300 gsm)(with the typical index card being about 90lb (240 gsm), I’m guessing). Keep in mind that weight is very much a personal preference: you may prefer lighter and thinner cards if you like to carry around a lot of them, or heavier ones if they undergo extensive usage (such as monthly and yearly calendars). Or you may prefer a mix of weights in your set. De gustibus.

Whatever you choose, be sure to experiment with your printer settings, printing a test page each time (on both sides, if you intend to print double-sided). You may find, for example, that choosing “Plain Paper” results in far less ink being laid than “Matte Photo Paper”, and therefore the fonts will look far more crisp. This was the case with my Canon i350 under Mac OS X. Your mileage will certainly vary.

Printing Margins

Because of the limited space on 3×5″ cards, these templates were designed with 1/8″ (3mm) margins. Many printers have minimum 1/4″ (6mm) margins, and so you will experience clipping. If this is the case with your setup, you should use the 4-Up version, or the graphics version in your own layout program (which should allow you to resize as necessary).

Saving Ink

There are a number of ways to save ink, depending on your printer. First, try printing the black-and-white templates in ‘Grayscale’ mode. While the resolution might be slightly lower, you aren’t going to use a lot of colour ink to simulate black as many inkjets do, even if they have a black cartridge. (Silly, yes, I know.) Second, try printing with your media set to “Plain Paper”. Many printers lay on less ink in this mode, sometimes less than half of that used for photo, matte or inkjet paper. Third, and I know this is common sense, only print what you need. Some people get carried away with printing a tonne of templates at the very start, only to find that many of them are ill-suited for their planning style.

Comments?

The D*I*Y Planner kits evolve constantly, and I always consider them to be works in progress. If you have any comments about them, please feel free to contact me through my contact form. I’d love to hear any suggestions you might have, and I’ll certainly listen to any proposed areas of improvement or new templates you would like to see.

Take care, stay loose, be kind, and do things right.

This application has been replaced by Dynamic Templates v2.x: The Next Generation. Please use the link to the left

This is the yet another installment of the Digital Dynamic Templates, a series of cross platform applications that should ease the load on the folks who make templates. This program generates all the different “Notes” pages (like in this template collection) using the basic D*I*Y Planner look and feel.

• Plain Lined
• Plain Lined with a Grey Column
• Grey Lined with a Grey Column
• Cornell Notes (plain)
• Cornell Notes with Grid and Lines
• Grid
• Dots

When I previewed these to Doug, he said:

Heh, soon you’re going to give me no reason to update the DiyP at all.
Of course, that might make me very happy.

You betcha ! This will allow folks like Doug to move on to other tasks and eliminate the drudgery of producing multiple versions of the templates for all the different paper sizes.

This is multi-platform software. Below are download links for pre-built, static, binary applications for both Windows and Mac OS X as well as the source code. Through the Nordic Magic of the Qt Libraries, both of these applications were built from the same source code. This source can be built on any platform supported for Qt 4.3

Here’s a shot of the Mac version:

And here’s the Windows version:

Basic instructions:

• Be sure you have the font “Blue Highway” installed as it is hard coded into the application
• Use the “Page Setup” button to set paper size
• Use the Margin controls to set your margins
• Set your line width to look good on the display.
• Set the page title and the title alignment (left, centered, right)
• The “Print” button will send the page through your printer drivers.
• The “Save PDF” button will create a PDF file.
• INTERNATIONALIZATION: Two simple changes — the addition of translation files, and the addition of a locale string in parentheses in the title bar. The string in the title bar lets you know what your system is looking for. The translation file name is “DIY_Notes_LOCALE.qm” For the translations to work, the string in the title bar has to match the LOCALE part of the translations file and the translation file needs to be located in the same directory as the application. A slight renaming of the translation file may be necessary as the locale consists of both a language and a country indicator.

License:
License granted to me (Dan White) by Douglas Johnston to duplicate the D*I*Y Planner forms look and feel under the Creative Commons NC-ND License. The source code is declared under GNU GPL.

Language:
That’s part of the Nordic Magic. It should be multi-lingual. Please let me know if you have any language related difficulties

Frequently Asked Questions: Hipster PDA Edition

The post Hipster PDA appeared first on DIY Planner.

The goal here is to teach you how to create an effective industrial-strength planner system that can last for years, yet costs next to nothing. This page might look a little complicated at first glance, but you’ll be surprised by how little work is generally involved, especially after a little practice. For example, I can now create a dozen double-sided punched forms in about three to four minutes, including printing, by using basic (i.e., “cheap”) equipment. No special skills are involved, just a little patience and an hour or two to follow the step-by-step instructions the first time through.

(If you only want to download the kits and start experimenting, jump to the Official D*I*Y Planner Kits page and follow the links.)

How To Make a Planner

Choosing a Planner & Size

Depending on where you live in the world, there are usually five main choices you can make for your planner. Read carefully: this is probably one of the most needlessly confusing bits.

1. Classic size, which is 5.5″x8.5″, half the size of a regular letter-size sheet of paper as found in North America and some South American countries. A planner this size offers a great balance of writing space, portability, and amount of material to carry. You can generally find decent Mead or At-A-Glance planners this size at your local department story for $7-$20 USD, or you can buy upscale Day Runner or Day-Timer products for $40 USD and up at your office supply store. I’d recommend a three-ring planner, because of easier hole-punching.
2. A5 size, which is half an A4 sheet, and found in most other countries world-wide outside of North America. These planners are a little bit wider and not quite as tall as classic, but otherwise are very similar. Filofax is a popular brand with a wide range of options.
3. Letter size, which is standard North American full-size sheets (8.5″x11″). Great if you need a lot of space, but poor for portability; it can get large and heavy. Planners and binders this size can be found quite cheaply indeed. However, please note that there are no full D*I*Y Planner sets for this size (yet!), just a calendar package for now.
4. A4 size, the rough equivalent of letter size in most countries outside of North America, and subject to many of the same pros and cons of letter size above. Again, there no full D*I*Y Planner sets available yet, just a calendar package.
5. Hipster PDA size, which is 3″x5″ index card size (people outside North America often scale to slightly different sizes). Many people keep a stack of index cards with to-do lists, calendars, notes and other important info. Small and portable, and all you really need is a binder clip to keep it together. However, they are also difficult to file, you cannot carry around too many without facing organisational issues (think of shuffling a pack of cards), and printing/cutting them can be a pain if your printer isn’t in complete agreement with your choice of planner.

My recommendation? It’s hard to go wrong with a classic or A5 size planner, and they are easy and inexpensive to find. However, the Hipster PDA offers a great alternative for people on the go who need something small that doesn’t need to hold a lot of information.

Other Basic Supplies

At a minimum, you might need the following:

1. A planner, as mentioned above, unless you want a Hipster PDA. Then all you need is a $0.15 binder clip.
2. Paper of the right type. That means the correct size and stock. For stock, if you’re using a Hipster PDA, I’d recommend 90-110 lb card stock; if you’re using anything else, I’d suggest bright white (94 and higher) 24 lb stock. Both are available cheap at most department or office supply stores. As for sizing, it’s easier for most beginners to just purchase paper of the right dimensions, but sometimes this isn’t possible. For example, I find it hard to find classic size paper in my area, so I get letter-size paper and cut it in half with ….
3. A guillotine (a.k.a, “paper trimmer”). Only needed if you need to chop paper yourself. Can be found for about $20 USD, but a little investment goes a long way towards ease of use and the quality of the cut. (And, I believe, you’ll find a number of handy uses for it besides chopping template paper.) A particularly good buy, if you find yourself cutting a lot, is the GBC GT II Series Trimmer, 15in. — good value, self-sharpening, fairly compact and sturdy.
4. A hole punch, if you’re using anything besides a Hipster PDA. The key is getting the right one for your paper. I couldn’t find one specially sized for my three-holed classic size planner, so I purchased an Acco adjustable punch ($4-6 USD). If you have a six- or seven-hole planner, you may have to buy an expensive specialty hole-punch: be forewarned!
5. A pen. Some people use expensive fountain pens and other extravagant writing utensils. I use a Pilot G2 0.5. Writes smooth and flawlessly, and only costs $1.50 USD. (I can still lust after Fisher Space Pens, though.)
6. Access to a computer and printer. Any semi-modern (read: less than about 8 years old) Windows, Mac or Linux machine will do, as long as it can run Adobe Acrobat Reader. As for a printer, most regular $50+ USD inkjets will do the job admirably, as will most lasers that can take different size paper without centre guides (the majority of them do).

Does all this sound expensive? Well, put things in perspective. The most you should have to spend (disregarding the computer equipment) is about $35-$40 USD plus some paper. That will get you a planner system that will last for years, a very handy guillotine and hole punch, and an endless supply of planning, time management, and other handy forms for the minute cost of some paper and ink. Sounds like a good deal to me, especially when compared to the very expensive (and limited) store-bought forms, or even digital PDAs. Doubly so, if you can use a few things at the office to save yourself some money.

Downloading the Packages

First, make sure you have Adobe Acrobat Reader (or Standard, or Pro) on your system. You should have at least version 6.0. If you don’t have it, it’s a free download.

1. If you’ve decided to go with Classic or A5, go to this page: D*I*Y Planner Classic/A5 Edition. You’ll see a choice for downloads: Classic or A5, 1-up or 2-up. If you already have paper the right size (which I recommend, even if it means chopping it yourself), choose the 1-up: this prints one form per sheet. If, for some reason, your printer does not allow printing on the correct size form or it insists on center-aligning the page, you can choose the 2-up. That prints two forms on one letter-size (or A4) page. (My advice: don’t worry about 2-ups until you’ve at least tried the 1-up version.)
2. If you want the Hipster PDA index card version, visit this page: D*I*Y Planner Hipster PDA Edition. You’ll see three versions for download. 1-up prints one card at a time. Many people find that their printers can’t handle this without slippage or margin troubles. The graphic version is for those people wanting to do their own layouts: I’d advise beginners against that for now. The safest bet is to get the 4-up. This prints four forms per page on regular full-size stock (which tends to be pretty cheap), and then you just chop with a guillotine or cut with scissors.

Save the file to your hard drive, double-click on the file, and it should create a directory with the files. The ones you need are the PDF files. Open them and browse through the forms. Find one that will prove useful for you, something basic for now (such as the Checklist).

Cutting the Paper

If you can’t find paper of the correct size, and you want Classic or A5, then you can go ahead and guillotine letter-size or A4 in half.

The top of your guillotine should have a guide across the top. This serves two important purposes: holding your paper at a right angle; and allowing you to measure the paper. For example, if you’re cutting letter-size paper, align the paper snug against the guide, setting the edge at exactly the 5 1/2″ mark. That means your page will be cut exactly in half.

This might take a few tries to get it exactly right –a little nudge to two to the left and right makes a big difference– but once you figure out where to align the paper for chopping, you’ll never have problems again. For example, my guillotine has a groove at 5.5″, and I cover it just to its far edge to make an exact cut. Both halves of the paper should be the exact same size if done right.

Printing the Forms

Except for the Hipster PDA forms, all D*I*Y Planner forms are created as both odd and even pages. This means that there will always be a nice margin for your binder rings. Odd pages numbers in the PDF (3,5,7…) will be the front of the forms, and even numbers (4,6,8…) will be the backs. This is how to get started for non-Hipsters in 1-up:

1. Choose a basic form in the PDF, like Checklist or Notes. Choose the front of the form. You’ll know this because there’s a greater margin on the left, and it will have an odd page number.
2. Tell Adobe Acrobat to File -> Print.... In the dialog box, tell it not to scale, rotate or center. This is very important! Tell it to print only one copy, and just the current page. Ensure that the right size paper is loaded into your printer, and that the paper guides are holding it snug to the edge. Cover your eyes and hit the Print button.
3. Check your printed form. It should fit nicely on the page, with a margin at left for the punched holes. (See the Handbook: Printing How-To for more advice and trouble-shooting.) If it’s fine, put the paper back in the printer so it prints on the other side. In the PDF, choose the back of the form (the even page number, margin on right) and print as above.
4. You may have to experiment a little until you get the knack for printing the forms in the correct orientation (hint: the back should not be upside-down compared with the front). Print off one at a time, and try not to waste paper or ink.
5. One important tip: if you have a colour printer, go through your printer dialog box and look for a “greyscale” checkbox to turn on. If not, it may mix colours to produce black. This is often a waste of money, so turn off colour printing if possible.
6. Once you’ve understood how your printer works, print off a few multiples. You can’t go wrong with a few checklists and notes pages. I’d advise only printing what you need for the next couple of weeks. You don’t want your planner to become so thick you won’t carry it anywhere.
7. If your printer won’t allow you to print to Classic or A5 paper correctly, your next option it to download the 2-up version, print two forms at a time, then cut them afterwards.
8. If you’re lazy, bring them to your local copy/printing place and see if they’ll print and cut forms for you. Many will, and quite cheaply.

If you have a Hister PDA, it’s a little less complicated:

1. If you have index cards and want to print singles, put a few in the printer and align the guides. Using the 1-up PDF file, send one form to the printer, telling it not to scale, rotate or center.
2. If there’s a problem with this, such as slippage or missing margins, you may be better off with the 4-up PDF. Put regular card stock (recommended: 110 lb) in the printer and then print a page, telling it not to scale or rotate. When it’s done, you’ll notice fine grey lines surrounding each card: these are your cutting guides. Simply use a guillotine or scissors to cut the page into cards, and you’re done. (You can print on both sides before cutting if you choose, although you may wish to turn on centering.)

Punching the Forms

If you have a hole-punch of the right size, it’s very simple. Just stick in your paper (the side with the wider margins) and punch.

If you are using an adjustable hole punch (say, for Classic or A5 sizes), here’s how to customise your tool:

1. These punches usually come with a little nut or handle to loosen, and each punch should then slide freely left and right. Use a sample punched form (such as one that probably came in your planner) to align each punch and then tighten it into place again.
2. Slide your pre-punched form into place within the puncher, and press down on the handle. Where the top and bottom edges of the paper are located on the guide, use a china marker or some liquid paper to put little marks.
3. Simply insert your unpunched forms (keep it to five sheets or less for light-duty models), align them between the marks, and then punch. Voila!

A Hipster PDA is usually not punched, although some people like to create holes for insertion into tiny planners, or to hold the cards together with a ring or carbiner.

Making Tabbed Section Dividers

Unless you can find tabbed dividers in your office supply store (most larger ones carry them for a few dollars), you will probably want to make your own. It’s actually fairly easy, if you follow a few simple steps. For this, you’ll need some card stock and some shield tabs, either clear or colour (about $1-2 USD).

1. Cut a letter-size or A4 sheet of card stock (suggested weight: 110 lb) in half, just like you would for any other template. Each half will be a divider. Create at least five.
2. Punch your holes.
3. Line up one of the tabs at the top edge of the page, but don’t remove the adhesive yet. Line up the other tabs on the same sheet, and space according to your tastes. Make some pencil marks to denote where each tab will be placed. This is your tab guide.
4. Align your guide against each divider and use it to figure out where to stick the tab down the side. Peel off the adhesive and stick.

As an added bonus, you can add tabs to the top of pages as well. Some people do this for high-priority sections.

Organizing Your Planner

This is a potentially complicated topic, and will no doubt vary according to one’s taste and circumstance. (See the Handbook: Setting Up Your Planner for more advice.) Some very basic tips, however:

• At a minimum, you’ll probably want the following, in this rough order (tweak it later):
  1. Cover, with profile information au verso
  2. Pouches, business card pages, etc. (if you have them)
  3. Calendar section, with daily, weekly or monthly templates
  4. Contacts section, with Contacts or Sources forms
  5. Inbox — this is where you write all your rough notes; keep it stocked with plain cheap (or unprinted) notepaper
  6. Actions — for either:
     • a few Next Actions, Waiting For and Agenda forms (this is the Getting Things Done method)
     • a few To Do List, Checklist and Project Outline forms (or whatever else tickles your fancy)
       1. A tabbed divider for each major project; for example, “Renovation.” “Supply Setup,” or “Website”
       2. An Incubate (or Someday/Maybe) tab for putting vague ideas of those things you want to check out or perhaps do sometime in the undiscernable future, such as learning a language or visiting a particular restaurant
       3. A Reference tab, for keeping various charts and lists (To Buy: Books, Network Information, Local Stores and Hours, Long Distance Codes, etc.)
       4. A Journal tab, for keeping personal notes, records, diary pages, or similiar, if you’re into that sort of thing

Keep it light. If your planner is too heavy, you’re not going to want to carry it anywhere. Also, make sure you have the forms you need, but no more. I’ve seen people try to stuff a half-dozen or more of each template into a planner, “just in case.” (That’s nearly 400 pages!) A good rule of thumb: insert only what you think you’ll need for the upcoming week, and file away those things you don’t need for this week.

Also, remember that it’s easier to add and remove pages at the centre of the rings, so any section that requires a lot of paper shuffling should go in the middle of the planner (e.g., Inbox and Actions).

Setting Up Your Organizer

This system was created to be highly tweakable and organisationally agnostic, so feel free to build and fill your planner however you want. However, to get you started with a very basic GTD implementation, I’d suggest the following as a base:

1. Front of planner:
   • A cover, preferably of high-quality card stock (slick, if you have it), with a Profile form on the opposite side — don’t forget to fill it out;
   • A dual-sided sheet of the GTD basic and advanced diagrams, printed on card stock for durability; and
   • The dual-sided Important Numbers form.
2. Contacts: use your purchased forms and tabs. “Move in” by writing down the most important personal and business contacts. Use pencil, if possible: contact information changes a lot. (Note: the previous version of the DIY Planner made mention of keeping contacts later. However, I’ve found that since I change the contacts far less often than the actions and projects, it’s better to keep the latter two nearer the centre of the planner — it’s easier to add and remove pages when they are closer to where the  rings open.)
3. Calendar tab: your calendar (a.k.a. your “hard landscape”). Mark your current date with the “Today” clip-in. Transfer all birthdays, anniversaries and personal dates into the calendar. (You should keep a separate list of these, so you can populate each new year’s calendar with it.)As for which type of calendar to use, you have a lot of choices within this kit. To start, think about how much you need to accomplish, how many appointments you will have, and where you would like to store your Next Actions. For example, I keep a monthly calendar in my Calendar tab, and Next Actions/etc. in my Actions tab. Some possibilities:
   • Day Keeper on each page
   • Day Keeper opposite GTD All-In-One
   • Weekly Planning on each page
   • Weekly Planning opposite GTD All-In-One
   • Weekly Planning opposite Covey Weekly
   • Monthly Planning spread
4. Actions tab: populate with:
   • Next Actions for each context (Office, Home, Errands, Online, etc.)
   • Waiting For for each context
   • Agendas
   • Optional: A Covey Quadrant or two, if you’re so inclined

   If you have a lot of Waiting For and Agendas forms, you can create other tabs for them. Mark all these tabs with red dots, which signify immediate review (think red = hot).

5. Project tabs: create tabs for each major project or project category. Populate with:
   • Project Details
   • Project Outline
   • Project Notes
   • To Do List (future Next Items, etc.)
   • Optional: Objectives, Contact Log, Brainstorm, Checklist, Goal Planning, To Buy, Notes

   Mark these tabs with green dots, signifying weekly review.

6. Someday/Maybe (or Incubate) tab: fill with a handful of Someday/Maybe Quicklist and Someday/Maybe Projects sheets. Mark with yellow dot (occasional review).
7. Read/Review tab: a few Checklist forms with appropriate headers (“Websites to Review”, “Articles to Read”, “Reports/Proposals”, etc.). Yellow dot: review when you have time to spare.
8. Reference tab: for now, put a few Notes sheets in here. Mark tab with blue dot (for reference materials). Any major reference categories should probably get their own tabs. For example, I have a Ref:Tech tab that contains things like Emacs cheat-sheets, software registration serials, Internet account info (sans passwords), Python notes, etc.
9. Misc Lists:
   off-the-cuff lists that you wouldn’t consider serious enough to call “reference.” Use the Notes, To Buy, Checklist or other generic forms. A few selections from mine:
   • Shopping: Groceries
   • Shopping: Dollar Store : I’m notorious for going to dollar stores, picking up a hundred things I don’t need, and leaving without the items I actually went in for
   • To Buy: Books : ones I’d like to purchase, but which I can’t remember when I’m actually in a bookstore
   • To Buy: Music : albums I’m trying to hunt down
   • Checklist: Software to Try
   • Notes: Books/Articles to Read
   • Checklist: Gifts : list of potential Christmas and birthday gifts for people
10. Templates tab. Keep a few spares of each form here that you’re likely to need. Replenish each week, or whenever you’re using a lot of sheets.
11. Any other tabs you’d use frequently, such as Timesheets, Finances, etc.
12. Inbox tab: keep regular cheap note paper here. This is your scratch pad. Move finished thoughts and materials out of here as soon as possible to the correct section of your planner. If the phone rings or someone wants to talk with you about something, open this section up immediately.

Setting Up a Hipster PDA

If you haven’t already, go read Merlin Mann’s post Introducing the Hipster PDA. In its most basic form, the Hipster PDA is simply a stack of cards with a binder clip. Many people decide that this is a little too free-form for them, though, and have developed a number of ingenious templates, cases, and ways to use them.

Our Hipster PDA Edition means that you can print out the cards you use, stack ’em in a deck, and either slip them into a case or clip them together with a cheap binder clip. There doesn’t have to be any more to it than that.

However, some people like to make and order their stacks in certain ways to make it easier to use. A few tips:

1. Put a cover form on your kit with your contact information. If you lose it, you’d like someone to return it, right?
2. If you use GTD you can print off a reference chart and put it on the back of your cover. Laminate it, and it will last forever.
3. Likewise, a lot of people put a yearly calendar on the back of their deck for easy reference.
4. Keep a few blank cards near the back for gathering loose information, brainstorming, or jotting down your phone number for that cute waitress or shoe clerk.
5. Buy a stack of coloured cards and insert them into your deck, so you can easily find sections when you fan it. For example, I separate calendar items, projects, notes, and blank cards with different colour dividers.
6. Don’t forget the pen! You’ll have to write fairly small, so one with a 0.5mm tip or less is best.

A Quick Word About Time Management

There are two main schools of thought in time management circles: “top-down” and “bottom-up.”

Top-down methods are probably best exemplified by Stephen R. Covey in his books The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and First Things First. In this type of strategy, you first determine the bigger picture, such as what your values, principles and life’s mission are. Then you work down into your life roles and shorter-term goals. Then you figure out what your week looks like, fullfilling your roles and priorities while working towards self-fulfillment. This high-flying strategy often means a lot more planning and preparation, and is not well suited to just clearing the piles off your desk.

Bottom-up methods are all the rage nowadays, mostly thanks to David Allen’s book Getting Things Done. The idea is to figure out how to handle the daily deluge of work that ends up on our desks as practically as possible. All these items are put into one’s “inbox” and then channeled into Next Actions, Waiting For items, the “hard landscape” (the calendar), projects, Someday/Maybe items, reference places, or the trash can. Very pragmatic, but many people find it hard to focus on the big picture when they’re just slogging through a list of calls to return.

Of course, there’s the old-fashioned way, too. Put your appointments and meetings into your calendar, your contacts into your address book, and your calls and actions into To Do lists. Or you can devise your own strategies. Some people have been highly successful in their time management techniques without ever hearing the names Covey or Allen.

Whatever method you choose, there are forms available in the D*I*Y Planner to help you implement it. However, a little piece from advice: don’t just visit website summaries and shy away from reading the books: they are all good reads (even if you don’t subscribe to all the methods), and you just never know which one might work best for you.

What Next?

So here we are, and if you’ve managed to do the above, then you have a nice little D*I*Y Planner system ready to roll. Now what do you do?

First, I’d suggest reading the Allen and/or Covey books, if you haven’t already. There are plenty of quite powerful strategies and techniques found within those pages.

Second, read the D*I*Y Planner Handbook (and the Hipster PDA Read Me, if that’s your tool of choice), since there are a whole lot of things not mentioned here which might help you set up and use your planner.

Third, experiment with more forms as you need them, or think about ways to use those forms that don’t immediately seem useful. The goal is to wrap a little structure around your chaos and stimulate your productivity. You have nothing to lose except a sheet of paper. Check out the template descriptions in the handbook for a few tips about each one.

Fourth, get the add-on kits, packages and templates. You’ll find them linked off the DIY Planner Kits page. Ones contributed by the community are located in our Templates Directory; there are some real gems in there that might prove quite useful for you.

Finally, if you have any questions, feel free to leave comments or post questions in the forums. We’re all here to help each other, and someone will probably have the answer you’re looking for.

Feedback

We appreciate any and all feedback on this document, as it’s definitely a work in progress. Please add a comment here, or contact me to send along your thoughts, suggestions or criticisms.

The post How To Make a Planner appeared first on DIY Planner.

How To Print DIY Planner Pages

1. There are three different PDF files included within this package. The master file diyp2.pdf and the GTD diagrams file diyp2_gtd.pdf should both be printed on 5.5″x8.5″ paper (half letter size), while the receipts design diyp_receipts.pdf should be printed on regular letter size (8.5″x11″) paper. If you don’t have 5.5″x8.5″ paper, you can always use a guillotine to cut regular letter size paper in half.
2. These templates are designed for Adobe Acrobat 6.0 and up. There is no guarantee that they will work in anything older, nor other PDF applications.
3. In Acrobat, do not tell its printing dialog to rotate, center or resize. If you do, the templates probably won’t print right. Also, don’t worry about the margins: an effort was made to ensure that there is enough “safety space” around the templates so that nothing important is lost. (Most printers made in the past few years can easily print to within 1/4″ of the edge.)
4. For the receipts envelope file, follow the instructions printed on the side of the page. Again, don’t resize, rotate or worry about the margins — enough of the straight lines should remain that you can figure out where to cut. I’d advise using a slightly stiffer paper for the envelope, as well as a dry glue stick: anything else, and you will probably find it warping.
5. All odd pages in the master file are for the right side of the planner rings (the “fronts”), while even pages are the left side (the “backs”). Consequently, page 1 is backed by page 2, page 3 is backed by page 4, and so forth. If you have a fancy duplex printer and print the entire booklet, everything will work out perfectly.
6. Experiment with your printer to verify orientation and print faces before printing any great number of them. For example, I print the odd side (front) of a form, flip the paper horizontally, insert it again, and print the even side (back). Some printers will require flipping or rotating pages in a different direction to print on the back.
7. To get started, I’d advise printing one form at a time –front, then back– until you get the knack. Double-check to make sure things line up, and that holes can be punched right. Once you have that down, I advise only printing a batch of the same templates at one go; for example, print off a batch of Next Actions odd, backed by Next Actions even, before you select another template.
8. If you look at the margins, it should be obvious where you should use your hole punch (that is, the widest margin). Double-check the flip side of your page: if it looks as though the hole will be punched in a space that isn’t white, you’ve made a mistake in printing.
9. Feel free to mix and match templates fronts and backs. For example, you may find that you prefer a two-week spread (Weekly Planning on both sides), rather than facing each week with a GTD All-In-One or a Covey Weekly. Many templates are offered in this package as both odd and even pages, so go ahead and experiment — see what works for you.
10. Many inkjets use colour ink to mix greyscale pages (including my Canon i350), but you may not be aware of this until you notice your colour ink cartridges getting uncomfortably low. Unless you want to go through a lot of expensive ink, make sure to tell your print dialog to only print greyscale. I created a medium-DPI black-ink-only profile under OS X called “DIY Planner” and select this whenever I print a template; this saves a lot of pointing and clicking, and prevents me from using up all the colour inadvertently. (Presently, there are only two templates that are in colour: the cover and the second GTD diagram.)

DIY Planner Templates

Welcome to D*I*Y Planner 3.0 (Classic/A5 Edition), a set of free do-it-yourself templates, covers, documentation and other gear for creating your own highly customised paper planner system. A year in the making, this new version includes nearly 200 pages of forms covering life management, calendars, project planning, note-taking, health, finance, and even creative uses like writing, storyboards, and web design. With some basic supplies, the handbook, and a little elbow grease, you can create an ideal low-cost productivity system that meets almost every need.

This release is formatted for both Classic (5.5″x8.5″, half letter-size) and A5 sizes. (For those interested, a Hipster PDA version is slated for late March.)

Some highlights of version 3.0:

• Inspired by David Allen’s Getting Things Done, but flexible enough to be used for almost any productivity method, including almost any of your own devising. Reference charts are included for GTD, including one specially designed for the D*I*Y Planner.
• A core package which includes nearly 100 pages of forms, formatted for both odd and even pages, covering everything from action lists to project management to contact information to finances.
• Dozens of variations on daily, weekly and monthly calendars, including both Sunday-Saturday weeks (as used in North America) and Monday-Sunday weeks (as used in Europe and elsewhere). No matter how you want to track your time, there’s probably a suitable form here. Dated monthly and yearly calendars are also included.
• A creativity package for writers, artists, web designers and other creative types. Other packages cover note-taking and health & fitness.
• A number of very flexible forms for tables, sketches, lists, and almost anything else you’d need to record and track.
• A number of pre-built covers, along with do-it-yourself templates in OpenOffice.org 2 format for creating your own personalised ones.
• A more professional, consistent and streamlined look and feel than previous versions.
• A detailed handbook covering basic supplies, planner options, template descriptions, printing instructions, productivity advice, and notes on setting up your own ideal planner system. A quick-start Beginner’s Guide is also available.
• Tired of wasting tonnes of paper trying to get your printer settings just right? Enter the FrankenForm, a special template for testing and tweaking your setup for optimal output.

Downloads

Please note that, owing to the vastly increased size of the system, we have split it up into a number of specialised packages. As each one is improved or added to, we will update that package separately.

All files are available in both Classic format (5.5″x8.5″, half letter-size) and international A5 format. Please click on the right format for your country. (If you’re not sure, you probably want Classic.)

• Core Package : Classic, A5, Classic 2-Up, A5 2-Up
• Calendar : Classic, A5. Note: This package has a number of non-dated calendar pages as well as the 2007 monthlies, but if you want new dated calendars, please see ygor’s amazing Dynamic D*I*Y Planner Templates for the ability to generate your own with multiple page sizes, margins and date ranges.
• Creativity : Classic, A5, Classic 2-Up, A5 2-Up
• Notes : Classic, A5, Classic 2-Up, A5 2-Up
• Health : Classic, A5, Classic 2-Up, A5 2-Up
• Covers : Classic, A5
• GTD Reference : Classic, A5, Classic 2-Up, A5 2-Up
• Receipts Envelope : Classic (to print on letter-size), A5 (to print on A4)
• FrankenForm (Printer Test) : Classic, A5, Classic 2-Up, A5 2-Up

The packages are released under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives license, which means that they are free for personal and non-commercial use. “Getting Things Done” and its related concepts are copyright David Allen, All Rights Reserved.

My deepest thanks and appreciation go out to all you dear folks in the DIYPlanner community who have contributed so many top-notch suggestions, bits of advice, snatches of inspiration, and the occasional (well-meaning) boot to the head. Please see the Production Team credits for the million monkeys at work, and be sure to visit our good friend, illustrator Brad Reid, who contributed the wonderful “do no evil” illustration above for our snazzy new cover. Nate Howland deserves our appreciation for once more going above and beyond the call of duty by providing us with the 2-Up versions. And, of course, we have to be sure to mention Mr. David Allen, whose book was the inspiration for this project: a deep and heartfelt thank-you from all of us who have discovered newfound productivity because of you.

The post DIY Planner Templates appeared first on DIY Planner.