Surviving planner hype season

How to get through planner hype season without overspending, overloading, and overconsuming. Or not.

It's almost September, and that means planner hype season is upon us. There's an earlier version of this season in the spring, when the companies that do academic years launch their lines. This includes heavy hitters like Erin Condren and Happy Planner. However, many companies only do a calendar year, and even those that released their main lines back in the spring usually have additional products releasing in the autumn as well.

This means the urge to impulse buy is hitting its peak . . . kinda now. So let's talk about why you shouldn't buy all the things, how to end up with a planner line-up you'll actually use, and how to know when to take a risk on a new planner.

Why self-restraint matters

So, why do we need to hold back on buying every planner that takes our fancy? There are a few reasons:

1. Money: most of us don't have infinite money. Planners, especially the kind to generate hype, can get expensive. Buying multiple planners? It can add up fast. So just like with anything else, avoiding impulse purchasing is key if you want a healthy bank balance.
2. Over-consumption and waste: this one applies even if you do have enough money to impulse shop. I don't want to get extreme about this (I like buying nice things!), but we live in a world with increasingly limited resources. It's one thing to buy an expensive planner that you'll use. But to buy thing that end up sat on a shelf, only to be thrown away part way through the year? That's something to avoid as much as possible.
3. Overload: it can be tempting to come up with elaborate multi-planner systems (meaning you can then buy all the planners . . . ). At a certain point, you risk overloading yourself. Your planning system needs to work for you. It should reduce friction, not add more work.

These three factors mean every time you're considering buying a planner you should check in with yourself:

• Will you use it? How?
• Are you certain you'll use it? Have you tested it out?
• Are you creating financial stress, or overloading yourself, by buying this planner?

How to end up with a planner line-up you'll actually use

I've written a guide to Design your planning system. Ideally you (and I) would work through this guide thoroughly, testing layouts, narrowing down what we need.

In practice . . . the hype is calling.

So here's a shortened version:

List out everything you want your planner to do. For example:

• What should it track?
• Do you want room to journal, or memory keep?
• What about goal setting?
• Is it just for you, or are you managing a family or work team out of this planner?
• Do you enjoy decorative planning?

Reflect on your current planning:

• What do you currently use?
• What's working and what isn't?

And crucially, ask yourself:

• What planner features do you love?
• And what planner features do you hate?

If you're honest with yourself, especially about the last two, you'll probably rule out some planners straight away. A couple of personal annecdotes as examples:

I'm aware I've been caught up in the Laurel Denise hype. But I know that I'm not a fan of wire-o, and that I need my planners to be small enough to sit in front of me while I work, and occasionally fit in a bag. I also know I have large handwriting, and most Laurel Denise users seem to be extremely neat planners! When I sit back and list my planner loves/hates, it's easier to be realistic that however lovely Laurel Denise planners are (and I do love the incredibly innovative layout - the multiple views would work for my brain, other things being equal), they simply wouldn't be right for me.

I am also loving the Midnight Chinoiserie cover by Simplified. However, the daily shares pages on the weekend (and I know from testing out layouts that in a daily I need more space on weekends, not less), and the weekly is simply not for me (I've accepted I'm an hourly girl when it comes to weekly planning).

Yup. I'm somehow resisting this.

Come up with a list of criteria for your planner, covering everything from how you'll use it to your preferred features. If you find yourself tempted to buy a planner that doesn't meet those criteria, think very very hard before purchasing.

When to follow your impulses

This is the section I feel a bit uneasy about writing. Overshare incoming:

I grew up in an extremely frugal household. It instilled some excellent habits, and there have been times in my life when it's been very helpful. However, my parents took it to an extreme. No, we weren't a wealthy family. But we weren't poor either. Uneccessary frugality to the point where it makes you unhappy isn't healthy. The tricky part is distinguishing between things that will genuinely add to your happiness, and things where you're just buying the hype.

Don't overspend to the point where it stresses you out, or buy planners without having any idea what you'll use them for. But if you're into planners, it's ok to treat it like a hobby, and experiment. Here's a couple of examples of the kind of balance I'm personally aiming for:

For 2023, I bought a second hand planner in a layout I badly wanted to try. In the end I didn't use it much (although the weeks where I did it turned out to be extremely helpful - it was exactly what I needed to get through my house move) Although I haven't used it heavily, I don't feel bad about the purchase: it was useful in a stressful time, I had fun trying out a bunch of ways to use it, and it was second hand so not a huge investment.

For 2024, I will probably buy the Sprouted Planner daily (check out the 2024 Daily Planner Rundown). I don't currently use a daily every day, so this is my risky purchase. However, it meets the following criteria:

• I've been wanting to try Sprouted for a while (I almost bought it last year). So this is an urge that has stuck around for a while. It's not an impulse purchase at any rate.
• Heather, the creator, has made a lot of changes this year, and all of them are positive. I don't think I've ever seen such a big planner overhaul where I liked everything. A lot of my "planner loves" are now present (coil binding, full weekends), and some of my "planner hates" are gone (wire-o, shared weekends, very bulky books). I really enjoy smart design.
• I do occasionally use a daily list (probably once or twice a week). At minimum it will get used for that.
• I've been wanting to experiment with using a planner for micro-journaling, or even as a commonplace book, in tandem with a notebook (and Sprouted have matching notebooks with sewn binding, which is a feature I love).

So I'm going to treat myself to one planner I don't absolutely need, one planner that's a bit of a gamble. Not on impulse, and not because of the hype (although I am hyped for a new daily!), but because I think I'll enjoy the experiment.

I hope this very personal section helps you when you're reflecting on whether to buy a planner that isn't a 100% "yes" based on your criteria and needs, but still calls to you strongly.

Enjoy the hype!

Once you're clear in your head about what you actually want from your planner, and what features are an instant "nope" when shopping, you can enjoy the hype for its own sake. Watch reviews, attend launches, even browse shops - safe in the knowledge you'll only buy the things that are genuinely useful to you.

I watched the Laurel Denise pre-order launch last night. It was great fun to watch, to join in everyone's enthusiasm, and to see what's new. Thanks to my prep, I didn't come close to buying anything (even with the temptation of an excellent discount code).

Wrap up

This has been a very personal blog post. It's also very hastily written: I decided I needed to get these thoughts out, in part to help me actually think through them. I hope this hasn't gotten too personal, or too full of typos.

I'd love to know what you think: I'm on YouTube and Threads if you want to comment.