I started using planners when I was back in middle school. I’m not sure what I used it for considering I had no schedule of my own, played with whoever was outside after school, and also didn’t really have a sense of time beyond, “ugh why is my birthday so far away,” or, “ugh why is Christmas so far away.”
SO, after YEARS of researching, testing, and committing, about three years ago I found the perfect planner: the Moleskine Dashboard Diary. Things clicked. My J-ness was satisfied. My world felt ordered. I could look at a month at a time if I wanted. I could look at the week. I could even break my day down by the hour. It was magical.
UNTIL MOLESKINE DISCONTINUED THE PLANNER FOR 2018. UGGGGGHHHHHHH. I may or may not have had a very passive-aggressive chat with the random Moleskine employee trying to help me. He didn’t. Because he couldn’t explain why they discontinued it. (Ok, sorry to Moleskine chat box employee. I knew you had no control over whether or not they discontinued it, but DID YOU EVEN TRY!??!?!).
Anyways, I think I have found a worthy replacement! I’m posting this on here because I had to google about planners and formats for about an hour, so hopefully I can save someone an hour of their lives….while also using another half an hour of my life.
Announcer: please give it up for Caroline’s new 2018 planner… [badabadabadabada]
The 2018 Leuchtturm 1917 Week Planner
(with booklet for anniversaries and addresses!)
Here’s a picture of the inside:
Normally all my notebooks are black, but the color selection was too enticing. Seriously, look at this:
Here’s how it compares to my old Moleskine Dashboard Diary:
Leuchtturm Deets:
- Size: Medium (A5)
- Color: Emerald
- Price: $31.70 including shipping. I got it direct on their website because it was significantly cheaper than Amazon, but it looks like this specific color is sold out.
The page formatting is very similar to the Moleskine Dashboard Diary, but the Leuchtturm is wider, which I actually like. It’s beautiful, the fonts are awesome, the quality is really good, it gives me the hourly breakdown, and there is space at the bottom for to-do lists and note taking. Moleskine does still have a kinda-sorta similar planner, but their hour breakdowns take up the full height of the page, so there is no extra space at the bottom. I knew it wouldn’t work for me, and it would end up feeling messy.
Why I didn’t get the Passion Planner:
I think it’s ugly. The line weights and fonts are too heavy, and I feel like the pages would fall out.
Why I didn’t get the Bullet Journal:
Too blank. I’m kinda artsy, but not THAT artsy, and really I want to use my planner as a calendar/actual planner. It would take too much time to draw in all the lines, and I’d be over it. Also, you have to learn a “system,” and that felt like too much commitment, even if it’s an arbitrary system.
IN CONCLUSION.
While my day RARELY looks like what I actually write out in my planner, life as a mom with all its interruptions and unexpected twists and turns can be pretty stressful for me, so being able to have a sense of what’s coming frees me to go with the flow. This is where Mason would laugh at me for “planning” so that I can “go with the flow.” Bahaha. But really, it makes a difference.
Here’s a how I use my current dashboard diary, and why I love the format so much. Also, Jaden wanted to eat the carpet while I was taking pictures.
.beautiful adventure. 