First, Sarah opens with some follow up from the last Q&A episode, where a listener asked for help organizing meeting notes. Suggestions include scanning and uploading to OneNote, or just doubling down on color coding and separate binders/notebooks!
Then she gets into two reviews:

Haroo Planner - a $30 fabric-covered option with minimalist design, gridlines, and a unique horizontal layout

Roterunner Purpose Planner - Just under $30, a 6-month undated option that is packed with features for goal setting, habit tracking, reflection and more


Both are wonderful options for anyone experiencing an early-2023 planner fail - or if you just want to explore other ways to look at your week!
Best Laid Plans Academy: The waitlist will be offered a link to register for Best Laid Plans Academy on 2/7 at 10 AM. Waitlist is here: https://theshubox.com/blpa
Email: sarah.hart.unger@gmail.com
Voice questions: https://www.speakpipe.com/bestlaidplans
Send me a text or voice memo - (305) 697-7189
Sign up for my newsletter: https://theshubox.com/newsletter
Leave me a review if you can (Apple Podcasts Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/best-laid-plans/id1525311647)
Episode Sponsors:
PrepDish: Easy and healthy weekly meal plans, complete with recipes and prep instructions! PrepDish is offering listeners a free 2-week trial to try it out, so go to PrepDish.com/plans to activate your trial!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Planner Fail? Two Great Weekly Options: Haroo Planner + Roterunner Purpose Planner EP 131

Welcome to Best Laid Plans -- a podcast all about planning and the planning tools we love. From planning techniques and organizing philosophies to planners and notebooks, we cover it all. Host Sarah Hart-Unger is a mother of 3, physician, podcasting pro, and a lover of lists and all things paper! Listen in weekly for conversations about planning and productivity as well as product reviews and interviews with planning experts!

Personal Journals

Society & Culture

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Education

Training

Language Courses

Higher Education

K-12

Educational Technology

Self-Improvement

Do you ever have a project that seems to pop up on your annual goals list year after year, but never gets done? This episode is an exploration of how to tackle these projects and goals. Sarah gets personal, sharing her own Big Daunting Projects and some questions that might be worth asking about things that show up again and again (and again) on yearly lists.
Questions to ask yourself when it comes to these big (and possibly scary, or emotionally difficulty) goals:
1. DO YOU REALLY WANT TO DO IT?
2. DO YOU HAVE TIME for said project? If so, specifically where? If you can’t come up with calendar space to work on it . . . you probably don’t have time. (Weekly template can also help with this when it comes to habits!)
a) HOW MUCH TIME would you need to work on it, estimated, to make SOMETHING happen?
b) If that's more than you have, DOES IT BELONG in someday maybe?
5. IS THERE A WAY of BRINGING IN DEADLINES even if not naturally there?
6. IS THERE A NATURAL WAY TO BREAK IT UP into less scary pieces?
7. CAN YOU MAKE IT LESS SCARY from an emotional standpoint?
8. CAN YOU GET HELP WITH IT? (Maybe even just a little bit of help?)
9. CAN YOU FIND ACCOUNTABILITY?
------------------------------------------
Jenni Kayne: Find perfect transitional spring pieces at at jennikayne.com. Use code PLANS at checkout to get 15% off your first order and support the show!
Factor: Delicious and fresh already-prepared meals delivered to your door. Head to factormeals.com/plans50 and use code plans50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next box!
PrepDish: Super convenient and delicious meal plans straight to your inbox! Check out PrepDish.com/plans for your first two weeks, FREE!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Those Projects That Just Won't Go Away EP 197

Today's episode is a planning-adjacent topic! Sarah opens with a bit about her own decorating and organizing challenges and then interviews author Myquillyn Smith, an expert on decorating and creating functional spaces within the home.
They chat about many planning-related aspects of big home projects, including how to get started when it all seems daunting, tools for tracking home projects, and an incredibly useful framework for order of operations. Myquillyn prizes functional decorating and creating a home that truly works for then ways you use it.
Her beautiful new book, House Rules: How to Decorate for Every Home, Style, and Budget can be found wherever books are sold.
Find Myquillyn at thenester.com and @thenester on IG.
Episode Sponsors:
Factor: Visit factormeals.com/plans50 and use plans50 to get 50% off your first box, plus 20% off your next month!
Jenni Kayne: Find perfect transitional spring pieces at at jennikayne.com. Use code PLANS at checkout to get 15% off your first order and support the show!
PrepDish: Super convenient and delicious meal plans straight to your inbox! Check out PrepDish.com/plans for your first two weeks, FREE!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Decor, Cozy Minimalism, and Creating a Functional Home with Myquillyn Smith EP 196

In today's episode, Sarah provides a more in-depth review of two NOLTY April-start monthly planners, and then provides updates on the latest releases from Erin Condren (some excited changes to their Daily Duo!) and Simplified (so pretty).
She then shares her own planner switchup for Spring!

Episode Sponsors:
Jenni Kayne: Find perfect transitional spring pieces at at jennikayne.com. Use code PLANS at checkout to get 15% off your first order and support the show!
Factor: Delicious and fresh already-prepared meals delivered to your door. Head to factormeals.com/plans50 and use code plans50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next box!
PrepDish: Super convenient and delicious meal plans straight to your inbox! Check out PrepDish.com/plans for your first two weeks, FREE!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spring Planner Releases (Erin Condren, Simplified, and NOLTY) + Some Planner Switchups! EP 195

Today's episode features a planner peace submission that was so intriguing that it warranted an entire episode! Our listener Erin has a lot on her plate (full time job, 2 kids, volunteer work, caring for relatives, and more!) -- and she has put together and incredibly comprehensive system that brings her to a current state of Planner Peace! Rather than a stack, she's combined digital and physical elements from her favorite tools to create a streamlined system.
Products Discussed:
1) The Remarkable2 Tablet: https://remarkable.com/store/remarkable-2
2) Day Designer Monthly: https://www.bluesky.com/collections/day-designer-for-blue-sky
3) Organize 365 Sunday Basket: https://organize365.com/sunday-basket/
4) Artful Agenda (she syncs with Google Calendar): https://artfulagenda.com
5) Trello: https://trello.com
6) MaskeLife: http://makselife.com
7) Clean Mama: https://cleanmama.com
You can find Erin (and submit questions to her directly!) through her family's photography account, @lukepearson.photography !
Episode Sponsors:
Jenni Kayne: Find perfect transitional spring pieces at at jennikayne.com. Use code PLANS at checkout to get 15% off your first order and support the show!
Factor: Delicious and fresh already-prepared meals delivered to your door. Head to factormeals.com/plans50 and use code plans50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next box!
PrepDish: Super convenient and delicious meal plans straight to your inbox! Check out PrepDish.com/plans for your first two weeks, FREE!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Planner Peace: Remarkable2 + Digital/Paper Hybrid System with Erin Peth EP 194

Welcome to April's Q&A/Tips episode!
Sarah shares a brief recap of her family vacation (and getting back into life!) and then brings April's Q&A + Tips.
Topics:
1) Quarters in the Southern Hemisphere - an Australian listener reports back!
2) Cool idea for repurposing an unused planner into a paper Second Brain/Collections Notebook/Master Planner
3) App rec for routine building for those with ADHD/time blindness: Brili https://brili.com
4) 5 Year Journal Recs
Midori: https://www.jetpens.com/Midori-5-Year-Diary-Embroidered-Beige/pd/29115
Hobonichi: https://www.1101.com/store/techo/en/5year/
Unbound: https://unboundplanner.com/products/five-year-journal
Levenger: https://www.levenger.com/collections/journals/products/5-year-journal?variant=43396629627029#
5) Convincing others to plan and work on routines in a household with multiple members that have ADHD
6) Listener feedback with ideas for planning an international move - use time horizon AND category and try a shared list platform!
7) Idea for life planning workbook for the listener in career transition: The Silk & Sonder Life Workbook: https://www.silkandsonder.com/products/life-workbook

Find show notes + contact info at theshubox.com
Newsletter: theshubox.com/newsletter

Episode Sponsors:
Jenni Kayne: Find perfect transitional spring pieces at at jennikayne.com. Use code PLANS at checkout to get 15% off your first order and support the show!
Factor: Delicious and fresh already-prepared meals delivered to your door. Head to factormeals.com/plans50 and use code shu50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next box!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Planner Fail? Two Great Weekly Options: Haroo Planner + Roterunner Purpose Planner EP 131

Download our free app to listen on your phone