Letting go of planner perfectionism when choosing your planner

When the prep work on choosing your planner goes too far, and starts stressing you out, it's time to let go of the perfectionism.

There's a much shorter version of this post, with bonus cat:

I'm fully immersed in planner hype season at the moment, and loving it! Mostly. I'm also a little stressed: I'm choosing my 2024 setup, and have somehow turned this into a pressurised thing. What if I get the wrong planner?

There are some good reasons for this:

• I use my planners constantly. My personal weekly sits next to me, and really does help my brain make sense of my week. My work planner is sat right in my line of sight for every working hour, and I'm constantly making notes in it. When I pick up my list planner, it's usually because I'm stressed and panicking and need to narrow my focus - and it really helps! So it's worth me putting some time and effort into getting the right ones.
• Because I use my planners heavily, and I enjoy them, this is my luxury spend item. It's a decent chunk of cash (and shipping to the UK tends to increase the pain!). I don't want to be replacing my planner a couple of months into the year.
• I don't like waste: wasting resources tends to make me feel guilty.

So in the past I've done things like listing or mindmapping all my planner needs, and testing out layouts (check out Design your planning system). And I've written reminders to myself, and tips for how to Surive planner hype season without ruining your bank account.

And this is all good. Except. My brain tends towards the obsessive and anxious, and because there are good reasons to be a bit obsessive about this . . . I'm kinda killing my own planner joy.

So this is my note to myself, and all the other planner obsessives:

• The world doesn't end if you buy the wrong planner.
• Or if you don't buy a planner you liked the look of - FOMO isn't actually lethal.
• Planner sales are a thing. If you really can't make a planner work, there will be relatively cheap options available in March!
• Even the perfect planner won't fix your life. Don't put this much pressure on something that's just one tool among many.
• Your planner exists to support you. Not the other way round.
• Make your lists. Do your research. Then go with your gut.

Here's a fun follow-up: I kinda assumed this was just my weird obsessive anxious brain doing this. But then Amanda of Amanda's Favorites (Instagram / YouTube) posted an Instagram poll asking if people were enjoying the season, or finding it stressful. The majority of respondents indicated that they're stressed. This is a little sad: something that's meant to bring us joy and support us has become a source of stress.