The Emergent Task Planner 3-Month Mini Notebook (5.8x8.5)

I have always had a problem finding a planner. Planners either have plain, blank calendar pages with limited writing room mixed with wasted space because of fixed dates; or are styled like journals and scrapbooks, with a lot of unnecessary extras that inflate the size. I don't need my planner every day since I only use it on days I'm working or have something actually planned to do. I also don't need a lot of clutter, like daily affirmation pages, meal plans, sticker spaces, or journal pages.I don't want a grand road map bursting with positive messages, reflections, highlighting, and washi tape. That is not something that motivates me. What motivates me is not forgetting to do something. The last thing I want is my planner cheerfully informing me to just think positively and reach for my goals when I just need a reminder to roll the garbage can down to the curb.I started using this planner on my first day at a temp job and this planner is almost perfect for my needs even long after that job was over. It's small, slim, and undated. Now, other family members of mine don't like this planner because it's too boring and doesn't have enough stuff in it, or not enough features to customize. I think they're wrong because this planner's structure is so simple, it can be customized as much as you want. You can do everything from writing everything down neatly in plain black ink to (on a particularly crummy day) sloppy notes in whatever color of pen I had on hand, followed by angrily scribbling obscenities over everything when the whole day fell apart. It has five writing areas: a space for the date, time tracking area, major task area, additional task area, notes area. All can be utilized in multiple ways and--as I did at my temp job--color coded and highlighted as much as I wanted.Date area: Self-explanatory. I can write the date there. I only have to write the dates I'll use or think I'll be using. If something unexpected happens and I have to swap work days, I can always scribble one date out and write another. Because I've only had to use it for the days I needed it, it's lasted me for about a year. Granted, some of the days in the past year I probably needed a planner, but those days were also days that were filled with chaos and I probably would have just set it on fire in frustration.Time tracking area: I love this so much. There's space to write a brief, one-line note next to the time. You can put in any time increment you want, but I like it best tracking 12ish hours, starting when I wake up. This was especially handy in my temp job when I had to account for my time in 15-minute increments. It was super annoying to do that in the first place, but the time tracking area made it so much easier to remember what I did when I had to account for my time at the end of the day. This area is also great for blocking out chunks of time for pre-planned tasks and checking off anything I did or did not do.Task areas: The major tasks area is wonderful. There's lines for 3 tasks, with the idea that these are the big things you do that day. I use these blanks for any top priority tasks. For example, today's planner has 1. Work, 2. Circuit Clerk's Office, and 3. Assessor's Office because those are the three things that I absolutely have to get done today, regardless of whatever else is on the list.There are an additional 4 lines below that, numbered 4-7, for any additional tasks that you can tack on if you have extra time, or feel like doing more, or if it's just a packed day. It's enough space for a brief description and I frequently use it for reminders of weekly chores, as well as overflow from the major task area.Note area: This is a dot-grid-printed area where you can put whatever you want. The grid has numbered lines if you need to write lists of things, the numbers continue from the above task lists (so it starts with #8). I use this space for pretty much everything. I've used it for tasks, like daily chores task reminders and small tasks that don't fit above, like "check bank balance" or "order printer." I've jotted down notes like contact info, URLs, things to look up, groceries needed, appointment reminders to add to my schedule, etc. I've drawn things like floor plans, designs for furniture I want to build, and just plain doodled while bored. I even used this area the only time I've ever put stickers in it, which were the stickers saying I had my daily COVID-related screening when I took my mom to her last couple days of cancer radiation therapy.Amazon's algorithm suggests buying tab divider sticky notes with this. Those dividers are pretty useful when needed, but they will cover parts of the task and note areas. They're best used if you have notes that you want to transfer to another day without having to rewrite it. If you want something to just mark pages, post-it flags and tabs are better.I would make one change to this planner: Undated full-month calendar pages at the beginning/end would be helpful. It doesn't have to be a whole year of calendars, it can easily be a quarter or something. It would be helpful to have some kind of calendar I can use at a glance, especially when adding the dates to my planner (i.e. was the 23rd a Wednesday or Thursday?). I can always write in pencil or erasable ink if I needed to change months and run out. Right now, I just tape a small calendar to the inside front cover, so it's not a big deal.So that's my long-winded review of this planner, which I dearly love and will be buying a replacement for pretty soon.

I have used David Seah's ETP for many years now. I starting printing my own when I first found his website and then purchased both his full-sized and sticky note versions here when they became available. As soon as this new BOUND version was announced on his site, I rushed to order it. I consider this tool an indispensable part of my work day. I have tried many other scheduling and organizing tools, but not one of them compared to the success I have achieved with this one.This new form factor is a perfect blend of compactness and functionality. When I was printing my own on standard printing paper which is not nearly as nice to write on each morning, I would shrink and print two per page duplexed and end up with something very similar to this size. In this 1/2 letter page size I have enough space to write what I need (something I occasionally found difficult with the tiny sticky note version which I used more for the smaller size than the adhesive) but I am not left feeling like I am wasting as much space and paper as the full-size version. With all the loose-leaf versions I would keep my old sheets stapled together by month as a log and journal of progress through my programming and analysis projects; this version handles that archive for me in a much more aesthetically pleasing manner.Having the hour blanks to fill in works very smoothly with my schedule as I will often be in the office for a half day and can simply continue using the prior day's page at the next orange time slot (I use different pen colors when logging multiple days on one sheet to visually note my day changes). I like to note the (first) date referenced for the page, day(s) of the week logged on the page, and corresponding Monday's date of that week in the date field: *5/21/13 TW (5/20)*. I can easily flip through the pages and quickly track my day-to-day, week-to-week, or month-to-month time.As I start my day, my standard routine is to review the prior day, highlighting the squares next to the task times on the left side for each task in a different color with 1/2 square for a normal task and a full square for a meeting. I then add up the time I spent on each task and note it to the right of my task description on the right side. Any appropriate incomplete tasks are transferred to the new page along with items from a long-term project list. Throughout my day I add tasks as necessary and make general notes about my progress on the lower right section. Marking the left-hand portion with the task code number gives me a tiny bit of room if I need to note a person, additional reference, or short detail that isn't a part of the task description on the right but might be relevant during a quick review later. This has helped me easily and speedily have a comprehensive visual reference as I flip back through my weeks or months to gauge my time, effort, and overall effectiveness as I prepare for status meetings, evaluations, and my own self-improvement efforts.I can't speak highly enough of this fantastic tool.