VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
We all have a lot of roles in our lives that we try to keep organized, and today I’m going to be talking about the planner I’ve been using to do just that.
Shout out to RoteRunner for sending me two of their planners to review. I was super excited to be able to test their newly revised Purpose Planner, as I’ve been a fan of their products for a while. I also want to add, they’re not paying me to say any of this, so you’re going to be getting an honest take on my favorite things about this planner.
The Planner’s Structure
The RoteRunner Planner is a six-month undated planner. They have a hardcover and softcover, but I am finding that I prefer the softcover since it’s more flexible (obviously). Structurally, it’s got a rubber band to keep it shut and two attached ribbon bookmarks. There’s a pocket on the inside for storing loose papers.
The paper is really lovely. I have had planners whose ink just bleeds through, and this planner doesn’t bleed with the Pilot pens I use.
Improvements they made from the previous version of this planner are now un-dated, and the days of the week are blank. The planner doesn’t require a Monday-start, so if you want a Sunday-start planner, you can do that. I know that Monday-start planners are picking up a little bit more steam in the US, but for the most part, people are used to a Sunday-start calendar.
A Role-Oriented Planner
I actually found the Purpose Planner because I was doing a lot of research into what planner I should get for 2021. The thing that attracted me to it was the fact that it was role-oriented and not goal-oriented.
When you set up your planner, there are five pages at the beginning to list five different roles in your life. These roles can be anything from your job to just being a healthy person – which, yes, that is a “role” that I listed. There put down what you want to achieve in the six upcoming months.
Take those goals and break them down into daily, weekly, and monthly tasks that will help you in whatever areas of your life you’re looking to improve.
Let’s say your goal is to be a healthier person. In that case, tasks might include drinking herbal tea every day or getting enough water, or actually going out for a walk. The options are endless, but to sum it up, you’re looking at your life from a holistic view. Take into account all of the things that bring balance into your life, rather than just focusing on trying to get things done. The planner’s structure encourages you to take a step back and reflect on how all the roles in your life affect one another.
The Weekly View
The weekly view is packed with trackers like meal planning and hydration. There’s also a self-care and fitness calendar, which I love to use each week has its own daily habit tracker so you can adjust your habits weekly as your life changes. There’s also a sleep tracker that I admit I don’t really use. There is also a “not-to-do” and a “to-buy” list.
Priority actions are broken out into different sections for work and career home and admin, projects and passion, friends and networks and an area with a header for you to customize.
My favorite thing that they changed from the previous version of this planner is the AM focus checklist and PM focus checklist. The times on the planner run from 6AM to 6PM and has checklists for the day. Previously it was 5AM to 10PM with no checklists. It’s been a great addition I didn’t know I needed.
The Monthly View
The monthly view also has an area for making priority checklists and reflections for thinking about things you’ve learned, memories you’ve made, and reasons to be grateful.
To be completely honest, sometimes I forget to go back to the previous month and add my reflections. I found it helpful to use that page area to reflect on the last month when setting up the upcoming month. For example, I use the January reflections space for reflecting on December.
Why I Prefer Weekly View Planners
Like many people, I experience migraines. Sometimes they can completely derail a day where I felt like I was being really productive and focused. Having a weekly planner (vs. a daily planner) allows me to take tasks from the time that I’ve lost and put it elsewhere in the week where I know I have more available time. Using a daily planner gave me guilt for having entirely empty pages of daily goals that I just couldn’t achieve due to something outside of my control. You cannot hustle every day. You have to take time to take care of yourself.
Also, at the beginning of the planner are pages for adding your bucket list and reading lists for the coming months. There’s also an annual calendar view, and at the very back of the planner, a checklist for just questions to check in with yourself and see how you’re doing with your self-care.
You’re looking at your roles and the different streams of your life and how you can actually improve them and make them all flow together nicely. And it’s not just focused on goals and hustle. You’re encouraged to focus on yourself.
