Getting organized with a Paperblanks 2022 Planner for the New Year is a great idea. With so many styles to choose from which one is right for you?
School has started, summer is in the rear view mirror the perfect time to take a deep breath and prepare for...the year 2022! Paperblanks, the maker of finely crafted journals and day-planners in gorgeous covers, has you covered.
Paperblanks offers about 70 Day planners divided over its 6 sizes. They offer 4 layouts, 2 types of cover material and 3 types of closure. In this blog post we break it all down for you. You are sure you will find the planner that is a great fit for you and your lifestyle.
Planner Layouts
We start with the Planner Layout, because the layout is the framework around which you organize your planner entries.
Paperblanks offers 4 available Layouts, three different week-over-two-pages layouts and one day-at-a-time layout. Below we will explain the benefits and drawbacks of each layout.
- Traditional Week-Over-Two-Pages Vertical Column Layout with half hour appointment slots. Room for half hour appointment slots from 8 am through 8 pm. Vertical columns for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday on the left page and columns for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Notes on the right page. Take note of the handy monthly calendars printed at the bottom of each page showing the current and the next month.
This type of layout is great for professionals, who bill by the hour or half hour. Avid schedulers, who like to plan their to dos in half hour increments to avoid downtime or wasted time in their day. Professionals and (student) researchers who need a bound paper record of their time.
The vertical column weekly layout is available in two sizes. A planner that measures 7 x 9 inches known in Paperblanks parlance as an Ultra size and the letter size 8.25 x 11.75 inches known as Grande size. The Ultra size can be purchased in hard and soft cover, more about that later...
2. Business-Productivity Week-Over-Two-Pages Vertical Column Layout. Very Similar to the traditional weekly vertical column layout with some important productivity tools added. The business layout has its first column on the left hand page is dedicated to weekly tasks, then Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday columns complete the left side page. The Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday columns can be found on the right hand page. The columns on the business layout start with a line for each half hour at 7 am and run through 8 pm. At the bottom of the two page layout you will find lines reserved for important follow up.
The business weekly planner format has additional pages for goals and actions. Clearly laid out pages allow for a weekly, monthly and yearly breakdown of goals and actions. This format also has additional pages of dot grid paper for bullet style planning. The Business format is only available in the 7 x 9 inches Ultra format with a soft cover.
3. The Traditional Week-Over-Two-pages Horizontal Layout. This weekly format shows Monday through Thursday top to bottom on the left page. Friday, Saturday, Sunday and room for notes are printed on the right hand side page.
The horizontal weekly layout format allows for a more free-style, less structured and appointment driven use of your planner. The horizontal weekly layout and has proven to be the most popular layout for Paperblanks Planners.
The horizontal weekly lay-out is available in the 5.5 x 8.25 inches size known as Maxi, the 5 x 7 inches size known as Midi, the 4 x 5.5 inches format known as Mini and 3.75 x 7 inches format known as Slim size.
4. The final available layout is the Day-At-A-Time Layout with a full page to write each weekday and a split page for the weekend. This format is a nice blend of a diary and a planner and often happily lives on the shelf after a year is done. When used daily this page-a-day planner will give you as a more longform description of what your life was like any given year.
Paperblanks Planners available in this layout are the 5 x 7 inches Midi and the 4 x 5.5 inches Mini size.
Planner Size
The size of the Planner you choose, just like the layout deserves careful consideration. A planner is a companion for 12 months and picking the right size adds to your enjoyment.
To start ask yourself some basic questions. How big is my handwriting? How detailed and long are my entries? Does my yearly planner stay on a desk or does it travel with me? Do I carry my planner with me on long commutes or is it in the car with me and I only carry it briefly each day? Below are the available planner sizes with a brief comment on each size based on several decades worth of selling yearly planners to thousands of customers.
Grande 8 1/4" x 11 3/4" this is a true appointment calendar that is happiest living on a desk. If you carry a laptop everyday it generally will make a good fit on top of your laptop in your bag as long as you do not mind lugging an extra two pounds around.
Ultra 7" x 9" Again a true appointment calendar most often bought as a desk calendar. This is the size of the well known marble school notebooks and bringing the extra pound or so along in a backpack is not the end of the world.
Maxi 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" This size is great if you prefer the weekly horizontal layout and have bigger handwriting or longer entries to write. The Maxi size planner happily travels along in a backpack or shoulder bag.
Midi 5" x 7" Just like in pretty much everything else in life the mid-size is most popular. It does everything you need it to do, not to small, not to big, the goldilocks of planner sizes. You can bring the Midi size planner along in backpacks, shoulder bags and larger purses.
Mini 4' x 5 1/2" The mini is a close second in popularity, because lets face it, anything you can put in your coat pocket is cool. No bag required for this pocket size planner, but keep your entries brief. Not recommended for those of us with large handwriting.
Slim model which measures 3 1/2" by 7". This handy size is about the size of a full size zip around wallet and is perfect for carrying in a purse and for those who like to make short list-like planner entries.
Planner Cover, Hard or Soft Cover That is the question.
Paperblanks offers the following sizes in hard cover only: Weekly Grande and Slim and Day-at-the-time Mini and Midi Size. The weekly layouts in Mini, Midi, Maxi and Ultra are available in both hard cover and soft cover.
Let's take a look at the similarities and differences. All Paperblanks Planners are thread bound or smythe sewn (We have a popular blog entry on smythe sewn). This traditional binding method is strong and flexible and stands up to frequent use.
What is different? The flexible covers or in Paperblanks marketing speak Flexi covers are bendable the hard covers are not. If you are someone who generally uses a soft bag to carry your belongings without much protection a Flexi cover may be for you. Do you like to keep your planner in one hand while writing by bending the cover back? If that is you, a flexi cover will be your friend.
By choosing a flexible cover you have to be prepared to give up a couple of features. A Flexible soft cover planner feels less fancy. It does not sit as nicely on a shelf years from now. Your soft cover Paperblanks Planner does not have a memento pouch on its inside back cover. And lastly Flexi soft cover planner has no method of closure. This brings us to our last planner topic.
Method of Planner Closure
All Flexi cover planners have no method of closure. They simply open and close like a regular book. Does not having a method of closure for your planner matter? To most planner users probably not. Not having a way to keep your planner closed increases the chance of bend page corners and the planner opening in your bag.
The hard cover planners have an elastic band closure to keep them closed. There are a few styles that still have the famous Paperblanks magnetic wrap closure. The magnetic flap closure has a wider back cover which folds over the front and is held in place by a magnet. If you prfer the magnetic closure for your planner there are a few cover designs with this closure in the Mini, Midi and Ultra size hard cover planners.
Other Useful Features
2022 Paperblanks planners have additional features that make them even more useful.
Things like two page markers, that allow for quick referencing, think of it as an analog toggle. A storage pocket on the inside back hard cover. Based on our customer feedback the clear layout of the monthly planner in the front of each Paperblanks Day-planner is also much appreciated.
You made it to end of our blog post we hope it helps inform your choice. You can shop for all available Paperblanks 2022 Planners here
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