The Flexible Planner for 2019!

The Flexible Planner is a simple planner that bridges the gap between traditional planners and notebook journaling, giving you a place to plan the life you want instead of just letting the days go by. It’s a digital product that allows you the most flexibility for the money!

I’m happy to announce that the 2019 version of The Flexible Planner is now available! The newest edition (you can see the Academic version here) keeps everything we love about the planner and just cleans up the design a bit, creating a bit more calming white space.

After working on the planner for more than 3 years, seeing it in your hands this last year has been a joy to me! For many of you, like me, it has fulfilled all the desires we had for a planner to finally be ‘the one.’ I believe it’s because it’s so easy to make it your own, while still providing a basic framework.

Here’s what just a few of you have been telling me about The Flexible Planner:

I started using the Bullet Journal last year and found it very helpful. But your Flexible Planner is a definite improvement. I love having the printable pages ready to go so I don’t have to get out the ruler and create the monthly grids. And there’s plenty of room available to write in all my daily tasks. Plus I find using a binder with tabs is much handier. You’ve come up with a great product. Thank you for making my life easier.       -Terri

All in all, I’d say that the concept of the Flexible Planner is a really nice way to take the things I like about bullet journaling (the ability to set up my calendar the way I need/want, lists to organize information, and pages to journal on) with the things I like about a standard calendar planner–namely, a monthly calendar and a pre-set design that allows me to spend more time writing/planning than setting up every week. And can I add–I like the monthly divider page; the empty space under the month name is a great place to write an inspiring quotation or Scripture verse that I can be thinking about.      -Lena

I really love this planner and I have used a lot! It gives me so much room to write everything…from our meal plan to events…homeschool tasks and general to do stuff. I was looking at planners while shopping for school supplies and none of them really compare to what you have designed in the Flexible Planner.        -Debbie

If you know you’re ready for the new planner, head straight to The Flexible Planner page here to see the new cover designs and pages (and if you like it and use it, I’d love it if you would share it with your friends on social media – just tag me @anoregoncottage on both Facebook and Instagram to let me know and simply pin the images here or on the Flexible Planner page on Pinterest!).

If you’re just finding out about the planner, read on for a little background on how The Flexible Planner came to be and what it may do for you:

Why create a planner?

While it’s true that I don’t talk about time management a lot here on AOC, I have shared my goals since 2010, talked about menu planning and how important it became for my sanity, how to make time for cooking, and even my top 5 time management strategies.

In order to do all the things I want – and believe are important – to live a simple handmade life, I need to make good use of the time I’ve been given. I mentioned in this goals recap that the reason I’m passionate about at least some planning is to guard against just letting life happen to you. I want all of us to be able to look back at the last year – and last 5 years – and see progress towards our priorities.

We become subject to the tyranny of the urgent and immediate (our kid’s school, our spouse’s needs, the boss’s requests, the laundry, what’s for dinner…) when we live only in the moment. There are definitely times to live in the moment – we all need balance, for sure – but we risk living our whole lives that way when we don’t think about where we’d like to be in the future.

We want to find time to cook healthy, from scratch food (yes, there are easy recipes, but cutting vegetables takes time – and is worth it!). Time to serve the food in a relaxed setting to the people we love. We may want to dig in the dirt to grow food and flowers or take time to read and feed our minds. To do something with our hands, whether it’s painting a room or crafting a Christmas ornament, and relish in that sense of accomplishment. These are the things that feed our souls.

No matter what your list looks like, the one thing they all have in common is:

TIME

And it’s the ONE thing in this crazy world that we can control to some degree. Taking the time to plan and make goals that we sometimes reach and sometimes don’t, but always making progress forward. When we write things down, we can look back and see if our lives look a little more like we envisioned a year ago – or five years ago.

But that writing it down part! If you’re like me, you have tried so many planning systems over the years – and whatever stage of life, we never seemed to fit into the planners boxes.

It’s with this in mind that I started creating a new planner – one that was different, but not too different.

One that would adapt to different personalities and life stages with room to record hopes and dreams and to-dos as well as what gifts you gave at Christmas and what books you want to read.

The Flexible Planner

I named it The Flexible Planner because it’s a combination of traditional planner and the Bullet Journal® system, including a dot-grid background, blank pages, and a lists section with the all-important lists contents page to find your lists when you need them.

But with The Flexible Planner you do not need to recreate pages every week and you’ll find gentle prompts and space to guide you through setting and working on goals. There’s still plenty of blank space to create just what you need, but with just enough lines to make it easy on you.

Is this a physical planner that will be delivered in the mail?

In a word, no. The planner this year is available as a digital file of PDFs that you can print and use in any binder of your choice.

When you purchase it, you will not only get the 2019 planner in TWO sizes (8.5 x 11 and half size 5.5 x 8.5), you will also get the two sizes in undated versions as well so you can choose to start using it at any time!

And that’s not all. The files will also include:

• Your choice of three different beautiful covers (!)
• Monthly divider tabs in both sizes
• Multi-page Fast Start Guide to aid you in setting it up and setting easy goals
• Bonus Daily pages in both sizes
• Bonus Habit Trackers in both sizes

All this for just $12.00!

It’s important to me to keep the price low so all who want it can afford it. I so believe in this product and it’s power to help you take control of your time and work towards the life you want!

If you’d like to know more, including pictures and more details of all that’s included and how to buy it, CLICK HERE to go to The Flexible Planner page.

And please let me know what you think – if you do start using it, I’d love the feedback!