I love planners. The idea of having something tangible to write in with pen makes me feel organized and accomplished. I like seeing the month laid out in front of me and being able to check off my to do lists. So, like most of us planner-obsessed I’ve tried quite a few. Today I want to review a couple and share my favorite with you!

At the beginning of 2016 I started with a Simplified Planner based on recommendations from other photographers. I loved the size and style, but since I don’t have something I need to plan or make a list for every single day, and it has a spot for every hour I felt like I was wasting a lot of space with the two page weekly layouts. Also, I was making lists and writing blog ideas on random days for the sake of space and then having to go back and find it later! It would work great if you needed something in your planner every day but for me I ended up just using the monthly over view and not much else.

Near the end of last year I started looking for a new planner to use. That’s when I stumbled onto The Photographer’s Planner. After looking through all the reviews and the overview I went ahead an ordered it, but when in arrived I wished I had paid better attention because it is huge! As you can see compared to the others it is bigger than a standard size of paper. I carry my planner with me daily, so this was the first thing that put me off – it won’t really fit nicely into my purse. But I liked other features it offered so I thought I’d give it a chance. After just two weeks of using it though I was not a fan :( This would work great for a session/portrait photographer but there is just so many pages I’d never use. I track most things for my clients and their weddings online so I wouldn’t write it down a second place. The blog part seemed helpful, but again if I’m going to only use a 1/3 of the pages I’m not going to carry thing thing around or get the most out of it.

By this point it was almost March and I thought I should just get something simple because I was starting to become unorganized. I looked at Target, Staples, and finally online and that’s when I discovered Plum Paper Planner. First of all, it is completely customizable, down to the fact that you can pick what month your planner starts on! So I didn’t lose out on any time. Second, they have several layouts so you can decide what works best for you! You can layout your weeks by custom section, morning, afternoon, evening, hours, columns, school subjects (for teachers or students), a few lines for each day, or my favorite the Notes & Days layout:

Now every week I have room for random lists, blog ideas, client notes, meal prep, whatever I want, plus my weekly overview on the next page!

Once you pick your layout, you can take it a step further! First you custom design your cover – everything from pattern, to what it says, or even add an image. Click here to see some others inspirations! I chose the week and notes layout!

Lastly, they have additional sections you can add! If you need all the hours of the day laid out, but still need room you can add note pages or to do list sections to each month. On top of that they have the following areas to add to your custom planner:

• Home Planning
• Budget
• Meal Planning
• Fitness
• Blog Planning (which I got and love!)
• Direct Sales Tracking
• Baby Planning
• Wedding Planning
• Classes

They have other pages for special date tracking, contacts, and important information, really anything you could need! And they offer sticker pages that are bound in with the others to help decorate your days/months! I chose a few pages of these and have had so much fun using them to mark off trips, weddings, and other important dates!

So, if you are looking for the ideal planner that is customized to fit your needs I highly recommend Plum Paper! Because you pick and chose exactly what you want there is no wasted space and maximum efficiency. They also offer decorative notebooks to match :)

Head on over to their site today and start customizing! And because they are so amazing Plum Paper gave me a coupon to share with you all! Use PHOTOG10 to receive 10% off (through August 31st!).