The Top Ten (Actually, 11) Reasons You Need The Panda Planner

June 22, 2023 Heidi Lumpkin

Planning & procrastination

I’m the queen of many things, not the least being distractions. As a lifelong practitioner of procrastination (I’m an expert at this point), focusing on something I might find boring or doesn’t make my brain spark takes considerable will and effort.

More effort than a similar task would take for the average Joe.

Funny thing is, I coach OTHER PEOPLE on how NOT to procrastinate and how to increase productivity.

How am I qualified to do that? Proper coaching and client commitment produce results no matter what the topic.

But the spirit of coaching says never ask your clients to do anything you haven’t or wouldn’t.

Physician, heal thyself!

It was time to crack the productivity code once and for all.

Being an ENFJ doesn’t help with focus per Myers Briggs, as I once read in the descriptor that we ENFJ’s are “prone to relaxation.”

“Prone to relaxation.”

I almost said, “Who isn’t?” but there are many personality types who are prone to the opposite of relaxation . . . running around all the time, the proverbial Type-A.

Add that relaxation-prone tendency to a person who is high in Ideation on Gallup StrengthsFinder like me, and you’ll have someone who can really focus when the occasion calls for coming up with ideas about fun things but not so much when the need is for a long-term focus on uninspiring projects and tasks.

We are not our labels though, are we? Even those labels or descriptors we identify with.

Cracking the Productivity Code

These personality assessments help me to contextualize why I am the way I am, to know that I have a default mode, and to also recognize that I need to be ever vigilant and deliberate in my planning and focus.

Enter Panda Planner.

Panda found me and asked if I’d like to try planning my days with his suggestions. He offered to send me one to give it a go and create a Panda Planner review.

As per my usual enthusiasm . . . that ideation part of me started sparking. Nothing to lose except a disparate planning system.

It was a system but I certainly wasn’t blazing any trails with it.

One key question helped to make my decision to give it a go:

“What if I keep doing what I’m doing for planning . . . where will I be next year?”

The answer wasn’t pretty.

why i love the panda planner

“Yes, Panda, I will try your planner and give you my thoughts about it.”

Two weeks in, and here is my Panda Planner review - the thoughts on why I love it:

Writing things down by hand has significant benefits as far as processing...this was a big miss when I moved solely to digital.
When you write something down as opposed to typing, you’re accessing a different portion of your brain - not to mention igniting a concentration that’s more focused and more prone to memorization than when you type.
Handwriting is a form of thought processing and helps the brain to learn - hence, why this planner actually supports habit-building and positive thinking.
The planner has built-in room for reflection which is key to my new planning system. Taking the time to reflect each day on what went well, and “how I’ll improve.”
Twelve weeks of that shift alone ought to be mind-boggling. We’ll see.
Even if I don’t write reflections every day, and I likely won’t, the mental prompt is enough for progress.
The planner has enough flexibility to encourage creativity, although creativity is not required to be successful with the system.
Room for creativity could also be a downfall as I found with the Bullet Journaling approach - too much freedom, too many colorful distractions, too much doodling.
I am more productive with a framework (see thoughts on focus above). I have a feeling this is just enough of one to keep me on track. Time will tell.
A month - week - day format. The visual of each page type helps me to look at my goals top-down in accordance with time.
I even keep using Google Calendar as my initial calendaring go-to.
I thought it would be hard to use both digital and written, but in some ways, using both is easier because I’m accomplishing more (notice I didn’t say ‘getting more done’ - big distinction. I am getting the right things done towards my goals instead of just completing random tasks as before).
More day- and week-pages than exist in a quarter - a thoughtful touch.
Panda knows we don’t use our daily pages every day (e.g. I don’t do weekends) and instead of having that mess me up, they give me an extra week page so I can utilize more pages before ordering my next one (hello, Amazon subscribe-and-save).
If day-planning isn’t your jam, they offer a Weekly Planner and other types.
Little “H” boxes, or daily habits checks on the monthly pages. These encourage the building of micro habits, which, let’s face it, is the only way to build any habit...and track them by day.
Points for being consecutive.
And points for progress, not perfection.
A weekly section prompt for your passion project - whether it’s felting acorns or writing a book, this little box on the weekly pages makes me stop for a second and consider that little extra wedge of time I could devote to something that’s extra fulfilling.
You can easily change that box to ‘self-care’ or ‘meal prepping’ or some other thing you’d like to schedule, or at least spend some time noodling on.
The affirmation box on the daily pages.
I’m such a proponent of a mantra and/or affirmations, especially when it comes to confidence.
Often when we’re feeling ‘less than’ or nervous, an affirmation can stop that mental swirl and set you on your course, giving you a shot of courage.
You could spend some time coming up with a different one each day (this book has great ones for confidence) or my preference is to use the same one each day for a week or longer...gives it more of a chance to stick.
Mike’s story (the founder). Such an inspiration. Talk about turning lemons into lemonade.
These amazing Panda Planner Sticky Notes are pure genius. There are three kinds, and by golly, they even put paper between the colors so you can flip and use any color you wish without wrecking the stack.
I use them for my running list (I almost wrote that in the plural, but thanks to Panda Planner, I only have ONE running list instead of 12 random ones) and to tab my current day, although there are three place-marking ribbons.
The layout is rooted in #positivepsychology which is described as ‘the scientific study of attitude changes to see life in a healthy way’ (wiki).
It’s kind of mind-bogglingly amazing what can happen when we focus on the positive. Not Pollyanna=ish sort of way, but consciously finding the good and reframing the bad.
Just like with The Three Things exercise...when you do it daily, your brain starts looking for positive things, dimming the view of or reframing the negative. Utilizing the planner itself helps to build that muscle.

All right, that was 11. And I could keep going.

What I don’t love about the Panda Planner

What don’t I love? No elastic pen loop. But I just clip my pen to the top elastic band that goes around the planner to keep it shut.

Problem solved.

Panda has even come out with this amazing yearly habit builder - helps you to visualize your habit-building all in one place during a 5-day week. Motivation!

If you do nothing else after reading this, at least have a think about where you’ll be in 12 months if you keep doing what you’re doing and planning how you’re planning.

And determine how far off that is from where you could be, even with one little change.

And if you replace a habit or two, and/or look at your daily goals differently, what is possible for you?

Panda Planner - I’m a convert.

PS - there is a spot to write an affirmation every day - here’s my favorite resource for affirmations and confidence mantras.