So Typical Me: Part 1 - Designing and ordering

So Typical Me is a Swedish company specialising in highly customisable planners and notebooks. This is the first of two posts reviewing them. In this part, I go through the customisation process and place an order.

What I'm looking for

The starting point for every planner purchase: requirements!

What is the Pomodoro technique?

The Pomodoro technique is a productivity technique that involves working in short chunks. A pomodoro is a 30 minute time period. Set a timer for 25 minutes, work throughout that time, then take a five minute break. Every four pomodoros, take a longer break. For more info, Todoist's blog has a helpful article: The Pomodoro Technique.

In this case, it's pretty straightforward: I want a planner for work. This year I've been using a notebook, which has been working well for the most part. But I want to try more detailed work tracking, and breaking work down into more bite-size chunks, inspired by the Pomodoro technique.

Normally, I wouldn't change planners mid-year. However:

• I don't mind drawing my own layouts, but hourlies are, frankly, a faff.
• I am not currently using a planner (so this is still my first work planner this year . . . the excuses planner people make to buy planners . . . )
• I've been wanting to try So Typical Me for several years. And, happily, they have an hourly that wouldn't work as my personal planner, but could be just right for work.

Why So Typical Me?

I've been drawn to So Typical Me for a long time, but have never had a set of requirements that exactly matched what they offer. I love how customisable they look. They have some fun touches, like the option of colourful frames around pages (I love a splash of colour in my weeks). And their weekly layouts are flexible, meaning I can add modules to make it fit exactly to my work planning system.

They also have an appealing price point: £25.90 for a 12 month A5 planner in the UK. It's a bit pricier in the USA ($45), presumably because the price includes shipping from Sweden the the USA. This makes them relatively low risk to try.

The customisation process

Before you start, I recommend creating an account. This will allow you to save designs and add your own custom dates, such as family birthdays and anniversaries. Once that's done, choose what you want to build, and work your way through the customisation tool.

If you need some guidance, or just want to see the process in detail, check out my video.

What I like

I really like So Typical Me's customisation tool and range of options.

There's a lot that I like about So Typical Me's customisation process. The tool itself is responsive and easy to navigate. You can add your own custom dates, and save your designs.

For most aspects of the planner, there's a good range of options: I particularly like the range of binding and elastic colours, and the colourful frames (for those who prefer a more neutral look, don't worry: the frames are optional). There's also a pretty good selection of notes pages that you can add at the end.

Any room for improvement?

I really can't fault the website and ordering process.

There are a few things I'd love to see added as options. In particular, although they offer four different monthly spreads, they only offer one with a dashboard, and it's got quite a distinctive aesthetic. I'd have loved to have a dashboard layout, but it really doesn't match my chosen covers or frame.

Not bad, but distinctive, meaning it really doesn't fit with a lot of the other options.

What I ordered

A few pictures of what I ordered. You can also watch me build it in the video.

Conclusion

So far so good - but of course I haven't actually got my hands on the planner yet! Production and delivery are expected to take at least two weeks, so . . . let the wait begin. Check back for part two!

Update: So Typical Me: Part 2 - Review is now available!