Gakken Sta:Ful 2011 Rabbit planner back in stock!

Great news! Ginko Papers has managed to acquire more of the fantastic 2011 Rabbit planners from the publisher in Japan!

This is wonderful for people who want this excellent layout: the months and weeks are visible simultaneously, and each section's pages turn independently so you can flip through your weeks while looking at the month or vice versa.

Click here to see my review of this planner with lots of photos of the pages and features.

Click here to go straight to the ordering page.

Hurry to order yours before they are completely sold out!

Looking for a 2011 planner?

Are you searching for the perfect planner to guide you through 2011?  Hopefully I can help you in your search! 

The first thing you have to decide is whether you want a bound-book style of planner or a loose-leaf binder system (like Filofax etc.).  Here is my post Planner Preference: Ring Binder vs. Bound Book to help you decide.

Here is a list of reviews I have done of 2011 planners, with some suggestions to help you figure out what you need and want from your planner in the coming year.

Click on the highlighted links for my complete reviews with lots of photos of features of each planner, and links to order the planner from the appropriate website if you are interested.  Click on photos for a larger view:

**Edited to add: in my original post I left this planner out because it was sold out, but now it is back in stock! If you want a beautiful, super-slim planner with fabulous paper and a unique layout: months and weekly pages visible at the same time, you MUST check out the Rabbit planner (click here for the ordering page)! Click here to see my review of this fantastic planner:

If you want a sleek, classic style planner that suits many needs in many circumstances, check out the Moleskine planners (here is my review of the Large Daily and Vertical Weekly Moleskine planners).

If you want a similar style to the Moleskine but with all seven days as vertical columns and space for notes in a portable size planner, then it's the Leuchtturm medium weekly planner you want.

If you want a very small, portable planner (perhaps as a companion to your smartphone) then you want the Moleskine Extra Small planner (in daily or weekly format).

If you want a portable planner with a pretty cover, large weekly view, and monthly calendars across a two-page spread with the months EMBEDDED in the weeks (a very hard-to-find format!) check out the Plan-It Planners.  Click here to see my review of the academic year version.  Click here for the 2011 January-December planners.

If you are very busy and need lots of space to write each day and need to write task lists on your weekly pages to see everything you have to do and when you have time to do it all in one view, you can't go wrong with a Quo Vadis Trinote or Minister planner.  Click these links for my reviews of the Trinote and Minister, links below go straight to the Quo Vadis product pages.

The Trinote format has Notes spaces for each day:

The Minister is a slightly slimmer book:

If you have lots of recurring events each week and/ or month and are tired of re-writing them each week (because sooner or later, you'll forget to re-write and something will slip through the cracks) then hurry to order your 2011 WeekDate planner before they sell out!  Its unique format allows you to "Only Write It Once" as the brand's logo says.  Click here for my review of the 2011 WeekDate weekly planner.

If you want to keep track of your and your family's schedule while having fun and learning interesting facts in a weekly-changing planner, check out the Dodo Pad diary (which comes in various formats and sizes including desk, mini, wall, and Filofax inserts).  Click here to read my review of the 2011 Dodo Pad A5 Filofax insert on Philofaxy.

If you want budget sheets, menu planning, shopping lists, holiday planning and more incorporated in your weekly planner, take a look at the Life Book by Organised Mum.

All of these planners, believe it or not, I actually own so if you have any specific questions about any of these that I didn't cover in the reviews, post a comment and let me know.  I'd be happy to help you sort through the piles of options and help you find the right 2011 planner for you!

Of course there are loads of other options besides those listed here, but this selection will get you started or maybe show you some options you hadn't considered before.

Good luck reaching your own personal Planner Nirvana in 2011!

For those of you who have already decided what planner you will use next year, please post a comment and tell us what you've chosen!

Gakken Sta:Ful Schedule 2011

This is a diary format I've been searching for for a very long time: the current month and current week visible at the same time!  This planner is the Schedule 2011 by Gakken Sta:Ful. I ordered this planner from Ginko Papers. I mentioned this planner in this post.  Click here to see the planner page.  Update:  this planner was sold out but is now back in stock!!  Ginko Papers managed to get some more from the publisher in Japan.  So HURRY to order yours before they sell out completely!!!

First let me say this: This planner is from Japan.  Ginko Papers is located in the US. I live in Scotland.  And this planner arrived SEVEN DAYS after I ordered it! That is incredibly fast!!

Second, let me summarize the planner: it is AWESOME.  The Rabbit cover (to celebrate 2011 Year of the Rabbit) is beautiful front and back.

The cover is plastic-covered which is great for those of us who tend to be messy (speaking for myself here!).

Here is the fantastic layout with the month on top and week (with all 7 days as columns!!) at the bottom.  The pages in the monthly section turn independently of the weekly, so you can look at your month while you flip ahead in your weeks or vice-versa.  On the monthly pages there are a few lines for reminders or goals that month, and on the weekly page there are several lines for To Dos that week.  Click on the photo for a larger view.

Each daily column has a space at the top to note the significant event of the day (holiday, birthday, deadline etc.) and a space at the bottom for notes, daily totals etc.  The columns are lined and timed from 8:00 to 22:00.

And look there at the right side of the pages: monthly tabs!!  Hooray!  Monthly tabs really do make it easier to find the month and week I'm looking for.

Inside the front cover there are two plastic tabs that hold the monthly and weekly sections to the current page, so when you open the book it automatically opens to the current month and week! I love it!

As if the beautiful cover and fantastic format weren't enough, there are loads of other great features in this planner!

Inside the back cover there are 3 slots for cards, and a full-length pocket behind for loose papers.  There's another plastic clip for larger papers, and there's even a pen loop!!  (Pen not included, that's my own Sakura Micron in there.)

The back pages of the calendar sections have space for personal information.

There are also loads of other pages in the top section, like Addresses:

 Passwords:

 Subway maps, very interesting:

 And year planner pages:

At the front of the calendar section there are reference calendars for 2011 and 2012.

Additionally, there are lots of notes pages in the top section behind the month pages.

To be precise, there are 37 lined pages and 15 quadruled pages.  That totals 52 notes pages.  That means I can have one page for each week of the year to write my weekly to do list.  Which I can then view at the same time as my weekly schedule.  This is absolute genius!

The monthly section goes from October 2010 through March 2012, giving you a few extra months' planning.  The weekly section starts December 20, 2010 and ends January 1, 2012.  But there is a bonus!  Included is a weekly booklet supplement for October 2010 through December 19, 2010 so the user could start this planner at the beginning of October in both the monthly and weekly sections. This means I can start using this planner immediately without having to wait until January!!  Instant gratification: Priceless.

The paper is exquisite.  Super-smooth, and absolutely no show-through.  I don't know what the weight of the paper is but it's fantastic.

This book is incredibly slim, and at 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches it is very portable.  It will definitely fit into any of my bags and is so light I'll have no problem carrying it with me everywhere.

Highest praises for Ginko Papers customer service.  After I ordered my planner, I received a very nice email from the owner (!) of Ginko Papers confirming my order and giving me tracking information.  As I mentioned before, the shipping was mind-blowingly fast, and the international shipping rates were extremely reasonable.

And on top of all that excellence, there was included a beautiful Rabbit post card with a hand-written note! Wow, that was really nice!  Thank you Ginko Papers!

According to the Ginko Papers website, 2011 the Year of the Rabbit will be a calm year where all of our hard work finally pays off.  Sounds great to me!!

For those of you who really want the calendar format of this planner but weren't able to order it before it sold out, you might take a look at the Himori The Beginning diary (click here for the ebay page).  I have not ordered from this seller and I have not tried this particular diary, so I can't tell you about the quality or anything else.  But according to the photos it has a very similar layout with weeks and months visible simultaneously.

If you are interested in other new and interesting planner designs, be sure to check out Ginko Papers' selection (quickly before they sell out!).  There are lots of cool planners like the weekly and monthly planners with embroidered covers, or with covers that are clear zip storage pouches.  Very cool!

Weekly and Monthly calendars in same view!!

Last night I discovered a planner with a layout I've been looking for for a very long time: weekly layout with days as columns, and monthly calendar, both of which can be seen at the same time!!  Click here to have a look.  I also like the design of the cover, with the rabbit to celebrate 2011 the Year of the Rabbit.  This particular diary is from Japan but is available on the Ginko Papers website in the US.  I ordered it with international shipping (which was very reasonably priced) and it should be here in a couple of weeks. I can hardly wait! Of course I will post photos when it gets here!!

I found it via a roundabout search that began when I was looking at SHU's cool new planner (click here to see, scroll down past the clothes).  Now I can't even remember how I stumbled across her (extremely cool) blog (which I have now added to my blogroll).  But when I saw her pictures of her Journal J planner my mouth literally fell open. I've been looking for a planner exactly like that, with that exact weekly layout.  In fact I drew up a DIY version but hadn't yet made the plunge to complete the entire book.  The weekly layout is 8 boxes on the left page: top 2 are the month view and Monday, middle 2 are Tues and Wed, next 2 are Thurs and Fri and bottom 2 are Sat and Sun.  I particularly like this setup because each day has the same amount of space, and there is a full page each week for notes and lists.  AND it has monthly calendars!

I was searching for a website to order this up, when I stumbled across the rabbit planner that I ordered.  The good news is that the Journal J is undated, so if I decide later I do want to try it I can get it and not have missed any pages.

My planner journey continues!