thanks notion for sponsoring this video
it's that time of the year time to set up a new planner again so if you're new here every single
year usually during the last week of the year or the first week of the year i make a setup planner
video for you where i introduce you to the kind of planner i'll be using for the next 12 months
last year we had a hobonichi setup and the year before that i was using a solely digital system
for 2022 i'm trying something out new to a golden coil paper planner
okay so first of all let's talk about how i usually plan my day i micro manage my time a lot
using calendar blocking and time batching methods on my google calendar and while i'm working on my
laptop during the day my calendar is open at all times and i keep track of tasks and timed events
you know while google calendar is great at allowing me to micromanage my tasks in advance
it really doesn't allow me to get a bird's-eye view of what my week or my month looks like
the problem is a lot of the tasks events and direction i want to establish for myself can't
really be translated into like specific tasks and specific events and that's why google calendar
fails at doing a more generalized kind of planning for me okay so i had this handicap in mind while i
was customizing my golden coil planner i didn't use it to plan and to counter blog every single
hour of my day i wanted to be more of a weekly and lifestyle manager i've been using notion to
plan for bigger projects i created and manage my entire workflow for youtube videos and other
related projects including scripts shot lists and storyboards organizing documents keeping
track of meeting notes that i take during coaching sessions and so forth it's also a brilliant app
to keep any mood boards lists long-term calendars and contacts and other permanent information that
you need to access in the future this planner however is supposed to have a different purpose
i wanted to find a layout that would help me keep track of weekly to-do's and goals
it's also a family manager and lifestyle manager it will keep me track of meal plans for the month
and week weekly habits my workout routine and it will be my perfect brainstorming tool
and that's actually one of the main reasons why i'm not going to purchase a new habanesh
planner this year you know i ended up using the daily views only where i was writing down
random notes throughout the day the weekly view in the habonichi uses an hour-by-hour
vertical format and because i'm used to time blocking on google calendar practically half
of the planner was left unused i felt like i wasn't getting the most out of the system
it was a great planner if i was using it on its own but if i was using it with other
tools at the same time and i was it was like i was wasting 50 of the planners real estate
you know other than that the habonichi is definitely a 10 out of 10 planner and
i highly recommend it to anyone who is planning on using a paper system only
the golden coil planner is fully customizable and i'm not even kidding when i say that
it pinches from dozens of combinations of layouts from daily to weekly monthly and yearly pages
as well as several templates that you can insert in different parts of the planner
like trackers specific planner pages lined pages overviews project planner templates
and so forth it's fully customizable but it's very minimal which is something i can't find
in most customizable planners like the erin condren planners or the happy planner lineup
i get tired of most planner designs incredibly fast so the more minimal they are the better
you can start a planner on any month so there's no reason to wait until january to
pick up a new planner and the paper quality is great probably the best i've ever found
in a customizable planner and they have a lot of different cover colors and textures available too
okay so let's go to the planner walkthrough
so the first section of a planner has a two-page spread goals template that provides yearly and
monthly goals and the breakdown of daily goals or habits that you can keep track of for six months i
inserted this template in my planner to stay accountable and keep track of my yearly views
and it's the beginning of my planner so i could look at it every single time i open my planner
every single day then i have a two-page spread brain dump which i want to use for yearly to-do's
these are things like you know long-term projects classes i want to attend small
things i want to accomplish during the year and i'm going to use this more as a brain dump
than a to-do list and that's because i'll be keeping a to-do list every single month where
i'll be keeping a more structured list of specific tasks i want to accomplish during that month
after that we have a four-page spread year at a glance which i'll use right on birthdays holidays
and time spent of work as well as main deadlines for projects or other goals okay so the second
section is the biggest section of the platter and it's basically the planner in itself it goes like
monthly view monthly ideas pages for notes monthly meal plan and weekly spreads so let's start with a
monthly view this one is a typical two-page spread including a column of notes for quick reminders
it basically gives you an overview of your month at a glance mainly main events birthdays holidays
deadlines and appointments i highly encourage you to avoid inserting tasks into this view or it
will get cluttered to the point that it's barely readable after that we have a two-page idea spread
and this one is very similar to the yearly brain dump but this one is more reserved for the month
i really enjoy brainstorming on planner i really don't like to do it on a digital format and that's
why i really wanted to include a brainstorming template every single month where i could
brainstorm for ideas and tasks and then structure that brainstorming exercise and really erakise all
the things i wanted to do according to priority to urgency and to time frame we follow that with four
blank dotted pages for miscellaneous notes and then a monthly meal planner i'm really excited for
this meal planner because i think it's great to have a place to plan all meals for a whole month
it's really useful for me to meal prep because it ensures i'm buying all groceries in advance
and all i have to do is follow the plan instead of having to worry about meals
all the time after those monthly pages we have the mainly weekly spreads the template i use has space
for to-do's for the week and once again these are mainly weekly tissues the ones that i'm able
to assign a single calendar blog i do it right away in google calendar it also has priorities
gratitude for the week meals for the week habits and events for the week on the right page
so this is what i was mentioning when i said i wanted to use this planner as a lifestyle planner
because i feel like when i'm writing things down on paper it really takes my mind off of work and
that's something that i really value and i want to focus on for 2022. i really feel like my google
calendar is very you know goal driven very focused only on work i wanted my weekly planner to convey
more of a relaxing experience to allow me to focus on myself and focus on my health and my well-being
rather than the specific tasks i always have to accomplish for work and for youtube i also chose
to include a tiny daily challenge to inspire me to do something new every single day finally at the
end of the page i have a spread for 2022 holiday gifting as well as a four-page reading tracker
and a lot of people usually ask me why do i still want to have part of my planning
routine in paper why don't i migrate every single thing to google calendar
or notion and as i was saying that's just because i do enjoy the process of writing things down
i like to plan on paper as a way to reflect on how i'm using my time and this kind of relaxing
mindful exercise is something that i'm never able to do if i'm planning solely in a digital format
however digital tools are incredibly efficient and without them i would feel completely lost
life gets very overwhelming during the day for me and i never have the time to write things
down in paper because tasks are handed out to me so fast and meetings deadlines and projects
shift so much during the day that a paper planner will be completely impractical in the long run
so i basically love this combination of the efficiency that notion google calendar gave
me and then the kind of mindful experience that paper planners gave me as well i think
the combination of both of these feelings is what makes a hybrid system so great overall okay
and speaking of notion if you are looking for the perfect software to help you organize for work for
your studies for your personal project for your lifestyle for your home i do believe that notion
is the best thing you can use this year notion can be used individually or to collaborate with your
classmates for instance there's so much you can do you can import templates create your own dashboard
write notes organize files and pdfs create a timeline for exams or assignments or anything
of the sort organize study sessions or deep focus sessions with their calendar feature and so much
more you can use an explore notion anytime you want and for as long as you like because their
personal plan is literally free with absolutely no restrictions or strings attached it's the
best investment you can make for the new semester and that's because it doesn't cost a cent all you
have to do is set it up to start using notion today and get your free account you can go to
the link in the description box below or you can click the button that's on the screen right now
i hope you've enjoyed today's video and i'll see you next week bye guys