The Parker Planner: Keeps Planning Simple

by radmazin

My friends, I have the answer to completing all of your New Years Resolutions: take it one day at a time. And you can do it best with the Parker Planner. (This review will be short and sweet because that’s exactly what this planner is.)

You’ll notice two things about the Parker Planner: (1) it’s tiny (that’s what I was trying to prove by standing it up next to a highlighter…) and (2) it’s a little… distressed–but that just goes to show you how much I use my Parker Planner (more on that in a bit)! What I love about this planner most is its size. See, every morning, which is when I do a lot of my planning, I’m on the subway–and it’s crowded. Of course, I’d love to take out my great big Uncalendar (which I still love and use–don’t get confused), but that’s just not possible sometimes. All I have to do is reach into my coat pocket and pull out my Parker Planner.

It’s a little harder to elaborate on how I use this planner, just because it’s so straightforward and easy to use, but I will try to demonstrate as best as I can anyway by first showing you an example of two days.

Okay! Don’t panic! It’s not as complicated as it looks!

This is how a Parker Planner page looks before Radmila vandalizes it:

You fill in the month, which is great because you don’t have to waste paper (and money) on days you don’t need to plan anything–and this particular planner is good for four months (perfect for a whole semester)! There is a perforated corner on each page, so you can find your day easily. You’ve also got a block for each hour of the day–or at least the hours you’d actually get any real work done, a “Notes & Ideas” section, as well as a To Do checklist. The back of the planner has plenty of “Notes/Ideas” pages with blank space for you to do what you want (in my case, I used it to write the call numbers of books I needed for an Art History paper), as well as a very useful (more than you think) two-year calendar.

How I Use the Planner:
First, I block off the hours I have class. By doing this, I can literally visualize my day. I can see exactly when I have time to squeeze in work (See Cal Newport’s GTDCS for more on this system). Using these small gaps of free time is the key to being more productive. I need to use the “Notes & Ideas” section to fill in these gaps (I have early classes, so this just happened to be convenient), and towards the end of the day, I fill the actual blocks in because there’s more space to do so. In the “Things To Do” I keep track of tasks I should keep in mind and schedule for future dates, as well as little tasks I can just check off as I complete them.

Really, it’s that easy!

I use this planner because it is convenient, it is small, and it is simple. It reminds me that planning does not have to be a complicated task in itself–life already has that covered.

You can get your own Parker Planner by clicking here.
They have a blog, too: Use Life Wisely!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this review of the Parker Planner! Tell me how you use yours in the comments!
Radmila

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