I've been a planner addict all my life. Well, at least as long as I can remember. Even when I was in middle school, I recall that I made myself a little planner in which I jotted down stuff like homework, tests, birthdays, ... and I already decorated it, using felt tip pens (mostly pink!) and some stickers.
While you're still at school, you don't think of your life in categories as much as you do when you're (at least on paper) a grown-up. I didn't have a planner for "school stuff" and another one for "out of school stuff". Why would I?
I've been experimenting with planners a lot since then, and I came to conclusion that this principle still works for me: I - again - have everything I need in one planner. Or to emphasize it: In only one planner!
It may not work for everybody, but it definitely works best for me. Even though my planner has different sections nowadays. I'm self-employed as a lawyer, so have the freedom to schedule my appointments and errands more independently than other people can. On the other hand, this often means that I don't work from 9 to 5 and my personal and business life tend to mix up. I tried to keep different planners for my private life and my business, but it just didn't work for me. Just imagine a day like this: A court appointment in the morning, head back to the office to make some calls, have lunch with my Mom & Dad afterwards (so I don't have to cook...), refuel my car, get my hair done at the hair salon in the early afternoon, spend some time at my office to get some writs done and meet some clients afterwards, in their off-hours (not mine). Two planners just couldn't keep me running.
Another thing I tried was keeping a separate notebook for my business deadlines, but I found it a lot easier to have those deadlines in my planner as well, written in red to make them stand out!
So yes, my planner is a little bulkier than others, but it's still convenient enough to carry it around with me all day.
