Serious question: does anyone actually use those pre-made planner templates?

Tbh I used to be all in on the fancy Goodnotes templates with the stickers and the habit trackers and the color coded weekly spreads. Last fall I flew to Austin for a work conference and my iPad died mid session, so I had to write notes in a physical notebook for two days. When I got back, I realized my digital setup had way too much decoration and not enough actual thinking space. The templates look great but they slow me down. I now use a blank page with a simple 3 column layout I drew myself, and I get more done in half the time. Does anyone else feel like the pre-made stuff is more about making your notes look pretty than actually helping you study or work? What do you use instead?

2 comments

2 Comments

troy_gibson4320d ago

Your point about having 'too much decoration and not enough actual thinking space' really hits home for me, I mean I wasted a whole semester on those aesthetic spreads before realizing I was just organizing my notes instead of learning them. But here's my thing, do you think the problem is the templates themselves, or just that we're using them wrong in the first place, like maybe they're built for people who actually plan their whole week ahead and not for us chaos-goers? I switched to a single lined page with just a star next to key ideas and it feels way less pretty but way more real, so I'm curious if you ever tried going full minimal or if you still keep some structure in your columns.

diana_park20d agoMost Upvoted

Three years of meal kit subscriptions taught me the same lesson, all those color coded ingredient packs and fancy recipe cards just made me feel organized while I kept ordering takeout. Same with the templates, the setup becomes the hobby and the actual work gets pushed aside until it's too late.