I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but planners are having a moment.
I’ve always been little addicted to planners. Not this addicted, but I can’t resist going down the aisle at the store where they are located, opening and flipping through anything that looks new.
If you are just getting into planning, or are looking for a new planner for this year, it can be a little difficult to figure out where to start.
The first step is decide if you want a paper or digital planner.
Paper Planners
In this category you’ll find blank and pre-made planners. You’ll need to determine if you want a monthly, weekly or daily view, and how much note room you need. Do you want an undated version that you can start and stop at any time, or do you prefer the structure of an already dated version?
Style is an important consideration as well – some paper planners are minimalist in design while other’s pack a lot of color and pattern into them.
Or, make it yourself .
Digital Planners
Digital planning can be as simple as using the existing Calendar and Task features in Google, upgrading to either a free or paid version of project management software like Trello or Click Up, or modifying a spreadsheet to work as a calendar.
I’ve tried all of the above, and I was pretty happy with the modified spreadsheet system, until I saw a new way.
GoodNotes
It’s an app (not free) from the App Store for iPad. Full transparency here – this is not a sponsored post. I paid for the app with my own money, and that makes exactly two apps that I’ve paid for in the nine years I’ve owned an iPad, so I think that’s saying something.
It’s designed to mark up PDF files on an iPad, and it’s especially designed to be used with an Apple Pencil.
The best thing (in my opinion) about GoodNotes is the ability to change templates.
GoodNotes comes with a variety of built in templates for note taking. They even include a basic undated calendar and a checklist template. But the fun starts when you look outside that box. There are free templates on user sites, templates for sale on Etsy and Creative Market, and if you can make a PDF, you can make your own!
Instead of having to commit to any one system, you can change the template mid stream. Anything you’ve written on the page stays put, just the template below is swapped out. So you really have the ultimate custom planner system, right on your iPad.
Import a template into GoodNotes
Adding templates to the library isn’t very difficult either.
First, acquire your template (either by creating, downloading a free one or purchasing one). I like to save my templates to a folder in iCloud so if I accidentally delete it, it’s not too difficult to bring it back.
Next, in the GoodNotes main menu (not inside a notebook) tap the gear icon in the left corner.
open the template library by tapping on “Notebook Templates” in corner.
Scroll through the menu templates and choose a section where you want to add the new template.
Then scroll all the way to the right where you will find the “+ Import” button and tap it.
Navigate to the folder where you saved your PDF.
Choose that PDF and then click Select and it will be added into the templates.
And that’s it. You are set to use that new template in any new or existing notebook you work with.
Pin this for when you need a refresher course on adding a template to GoodNotes!
