Image via Plannerisms
Our friend Kate Marshall is curious to know what people do with their anno planners — and she isn’t the only one! But because habits evolve over time, we figured we’d pose the question again. Here’s Kate’s take:
So I have this Hebdo planner that I’ve been using (in the purple Texas cover if you must know). I must have flipped through the “Anno-Planning” pages a hundred times before but this was the first time I really paid attention to them. And I wondered: what do people use them for?
If you’re not familiar with the Anno pages, they’re a section in every Quo Vadis planner, that shows the year on a two-page spread. The boxes are fairly small (or maybe my handwriting is just really big), so I’ve mostly limited myself to writing in my paydays (via green dollar-sign symbols) and recurring bills (via red dollar-sign symbols, of course).
Karen mentioned that she uses hers as a sort of yearly calendar. I’m curious about how others use the Anno-Planning pages, though: as a full-on calendar? To record events after the fact? To give your thumbs a break as you flip past the Anno pages to get to the “real” planner? To lay out your plans for world domination? (Ooh, I may have said too much.)
Talk amongst yourselves 
8 Comments
Sandra Strait
I use mine to write all the birthdays for the year. I usually note any appointments or events that are planned ahead–like teeth-cleaning, yearly check-ups, vacations, and so forth. My mother has lots of medical visits that are scheduled months in advance so the Anno planning is perfect both for remembering and when scheduling the next one. I don’t have to flip pages to make sure I’m not conflicting with an existing appointment.
Terri
My period chart. I circle the days of my periods, count the days of my cycle and record characteristics of the flow (if I remember).
I am currently using a QV planner for the 3rd time in a row (president, minister, now trinote) and wish you’d include an entire year of monthly pages like the one at the end of the planner (1 month for the following year). PLEASE!!! The “anno” is really not useful for very much, IMO. And I don’t want to buy a separate planner for a large monthly spread.
B Irwin
I can’t fit my B nibs into the eensie weensie spaces, so I buy a laminated 36″ wall calendar and write in all my writers conferences, holy days, and other life plans in dry erase where I can glance at the wall to see if I can or can’t do something. I’d love a usable size of these pages so I could see my travel plans at a glance, but the best I can do is blocking out the dates with conferences or contests so I don’t plan things on those dates. It frustrates me that my plans for world domination aren’t more portable, but I’m a big picture kind of woman and global supreme commanders don’t use XXXF nibs and magnifying glasses for their calendars. (grin)
SF Susan
I’ve used Rhodia planners for several years, and I love the anno planner! I use it almost exactly like the first commenter above: birthdays, doctor appts. and vacations. I don’t try to go into detail on it, but I love being able to get an overview of the year all on one page. Helps a lot when I’m trying to figure out when to schedule a trip or an appointment. And the anno planner for the next year at the end of my planner is essential! In fact, the anno planner is the reason I switched to Rhodia planners. I had been using Moleskine but stopped when they switched from their version of an anno planner to monthly pages at the beginning of their books. I always use fine point mechanical pencil in my planners so the little boxes in the anno planner work well for me.
Marty
I love the Anno-Planner and the monthly pages, and that is one of the many reasons I use the Space 24. I use the Anno-Planner for birthdays, anniversaries, and yearly events as well as yearly reminders like when medical appointments are due, assess vehicles in January, etc. I also like being able to “see” the whole year on two pages. I have never figured out what those little columns are for on each day, though, so if someone could enlighten me on that one, I’d appreciate it.
Laurie
Marty those are the Travel Expense Record, the idea is to write your total travel expenses for each day into those spaces to make it easy to total up.
katem
Those are great ideas. Thank you!