Dear friends,

I was really busy during the holiday season. I was so busy that I stopped the routines that kept me focused and organized like meditating and planning my days. Since the New Years, I’ve had a hard time getting back into my routines, not getting anything done and feeling guilty about it. Have you felt that way?

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Why Panda Planner?

To be honest, I’ve never liked using journals because I found them overwhelming. The Panda planner is set up differently than other planners and looked like an easy planner and a good tool to help reign in my mind.

Holiday Craziness

This year, my husband’s family came to South Florida for Christmas and the logistics of feeding and entertaining 15 people were overwhelming enough to give me my first panic attack in years. Have I mentioned I can’t cook even if my live depended on it?

I was trying to do it all, to be the “hostess with the mostess” and to produce a great Christmas vacation for them. Looking back I now realized that the anxiety I was feeling came from telling myself that I wasn’t doing a good job entertaining them. I was beating myself up and taking me down. Have you done that?

Time to Reset

I wanted to try the Panda planner to give me a jolt of positivism and help my mind reset. I needed help in getting back to practicing gratitude, focusing and keeping me accountable. The Panda planner looked like the right tool to help me out of this funk. So I decided to give it a try.

Panda Planner Overview

The Panda planner is set up in three sections:

• Monthly
• Weekly
• Daily

Monthly Section

The monthly section is pretty straight forward but it is not dated. This really doesn’t bother me at all. The monthly section is a two-page spread and includes the following sections:

• Goals (up to three)
• Distractions to avoid (up to three)
• Focus
• Habit
• This month’s wins (up to three)
• Insights gained (up to three)
• There is also a small area for notes

How I Use Monthly Section

I first write the month, year and date the month (putting the number of the day for each day of the month). In my case, I then add whatever holidays and other days my kids are off from school.  Next is focus… Think of this area as the theme for the month.  I’ve used this area for things like “get ready for back to school”, “launch my product”, “Miami spa month”, etc. You get the idea… The habit section is similar to the focus section except you pick a habit you want to develop: “meditation”, “journaling” *wink, wink*. The review area is designed to help you be a happier person because it makes you look back to the previous month for any wins and insights gained. I just completed the review part for January 2020 and after I finished, I felt a sense of accomplishment seeing my goals completed. This is making me feel happier and productive already. Wow!

Time that took me to complete the monthly section: 5 minutes.

Weekly Section

The weekly section is another two-page spread. There are 13 of these pages and they include the following sections:

• Day/Date
• Big wins from last week (up to five)
• How I’ll improve from last week (up to 2)
• Things I will do to make next week great in my work, personal, family/friends and relationship
• I’m looking forward to (up to 3)
• Habits I’m focusing on developing (up to 2)
• Learn something new
• Passion project
• Four boxes for planning projects
• Top goals this week

Daily Section

The daily section is what I use the most so far. Is the mission control of my day and it includes:

• Day/Date
• I’m grateful for
• I’m excited about
• Affirmation
• Focus
• Exercise
• Today’s priorities (up to five)
• Schedule from 6am to 9pm
• Tasks
• Notes
• Today’s wins (up to 3 and to be done at the end of your day)
• How I’ll Improve

How I Use the Daily Section

First, I enter the date and my priorities. Word of advice: don’t fill in all five priorities if you don’t want to.

My Pros and Cons

Things I like

• I like the discreet appearance of it
• Elastic band to keep it close
• Its size. The classic measures (5″ x 8.2″ x 1″) and fits in most of my purses
• The gratitude and excitement spaces throughout the planner
• Habit tracker on the monthly pages
• Looking forward on the weekly pages
• Wins/Room for improvement
• Goal setting is restricted
• Reminds me to work on other parts of my life not just work
• Back pocket for storage
• Doesn’t take lots of time to fill in

Things I wish were differently

• The price. The Panda planner six month planner costs the same as other full year planner. I use it with pencil,erase everything and reuse
• Affirmation area. I have a hard time coming up with affirmations. I wished this had printed messages
• The pages do not match for an entire six months. There are 6 monthly pages, 13 of the weekly and not enough of the daily for an entire 6 months worth of planning
• Space for a pencil/pen

Panda Planner Review Conclusion

I have been using the Panda planner since January 1st and so far I love it. It has really helped me get back into a mind full of gratitude and excitement for the future and nowadays that’s huge! It has also helped me control the anxiety I was giving myself by restricting my daily goals to five and forcing me to be more honest with my time. I now use the daily section and schedule my TM sessions, shower, homework time with my kids, etc and I find myself feeling more and more in control of my life.

Overall, I recommend the Panda planner. Yes, is a bit more expensive than other planners but its design functions and how happy it has made me is worth it. If you would like to purchase one, here is Panda Planner on Amazon