Planner Review Planners

Planner Review #5: Agendio! (and a check-in)

November 9, 2018
I have for you this week another planner that I consider special.  I was excited about the positive feedback you all had for the Golden Coil review (and I hope that those of you who bought one love it!!).  But I was holding out on you, because I two other custom planners to review, and this one honestly is the most customizable of the 3.
I bring you . . . the Agendio!
The Agendio is a planner for planners.  If you are one – you know what I mean (and you probably are enjoying this post series).   These babies are big, bad, and can be really any planner you want them to be.  The company sells both spiral bound planners and inserts for those who prefer a binder (multiple sizes + layouts — currently they will fit Filofax, Franklin, Day-Timer, A4, Arc-Discbound, and 3 ring styles).   
There are weekly styles.  Monthly styles.  Daily styles.  Essentially ANYTHING you want in a planner – you can create, down to text pre-populated on specific days.  I truly cannot do the immense flexibility justice, so I urge you to play with it yourself if you are interested in a custom planner!  As an example, I’ll walk you through what I chose and share the features I included.
Cover:  These are custom too, though compared to the interior choices there are not as many options.  I wanted to create something professional looking to stay on a desk, so I went with gray/monogram.  The cover is made from thin cardboard but there is a clear plastic overlay on top to protect it.  This means you could also tape in photos/a quote/etc under the plastic to dress it up if you wanted to.
Size = 7 x 9″ or “medium” – however there are THREE different sizes available!
(the theme here is maximum customization)
They also have hard covers (made of a soft synthetic leather-like fabric) that hide the wire binding.  These look really nice but can only accommodate up to 168 pages, so they are great for custom notebooks or a weekly book but not a daily planner.
I decided I wanted to play with a daily planner, so mine is quite thick (see above).  I just loved the idea of creating a custom page for each day, with exactly what I wanted on there!  Every detail here was my choosing – the colored shading (you can choose shading AND which color!), the checkboxes (I put some standing to do items – C’s med every day, check for our landscaper every Thursday, mortgage checks every month – etc).  It’s very easy to add recurring items in any pattern you choose (daily, certain days of week or month, etc).
I wanted to create a time tracking/journaling book to supplement my current weekly planner, so I chose to create areas for TODAY, AM, PM (in retrospect I wish I had left AM/PM as one section but that’s my fault, not theirs!), projects, kids, fun, and gratitude.  Here’s another example:
 

as always click for a larger/sharper image if desired

Here’s a closeup of the (optional) tabs:

They are paper, so not super sturdy, but they look nice and can be customized to say whatever you want them to.  The silver clip is an accessory – it’s very cute and helps you find your page without damaging the paper.
For fun, I included a tracker page after each week!  Here’s the tracker for this week so far:
Notes pages – you can include blank, lined, graph – whatever you’d like, wherever you’d like in the book.
Pen test!  For those of you curious about pens I prefer, here’s what I have in my drawer currently!  The top one is my absolute favorite currently.  This paper has low smear potential, for my left-handed (or otherwise smear-conscious) writers.

 Yearly calendar:

This planner is for:  
– a true planner nerd who wants control over every detail, or who has the vision of a perfect layout that doesn’t exist except in their own mind! 
– someone who wants custom inserts for a binder/disc-bound system 
– the desk!  This would make a great work-specific planner.  It’s big, but it could happily sit on a desk and be used for workday planning/record keeping.  It’s a work-horse.
– an academic tracking progress on a big project 
– someone who wants to build in a routine journaling or (paper) time tracking habit
Downsides:
– it’s BIG, if you create a daily book.  And I’m not sure a book this heavy would survive being thrown into my bag for a year.  So again, more of a desk situation.
– would love more cover options, or non-spiral-bound options.  
– that’s really all I can think of!

I honestly love this company and this planner.  I would absolutely consider designing my own system in the future OR a custom notebook (reading journal? morning report tracker? workout/health tracker?  meal planning notebook? You can make one with control of so many details!).

The planners retail for about $60 for a daily – accessories like pockets, tabs, and elastics are extra, but I feel like the price point is very reasonable for such a customizable product.

I am currently using mine as an adjunct to my ECLP for the rest of 2018 – I missed having a daily page, so I actually have been tearing out the page (sacrilege?) of the Agendio on busy days and using it along with the ECLP weekly.  I highly recommend you check out this company’s offerings as a fantastic option for 2019!

————————————————————

Non-planner related check in:
I missed posting Wednesday – life happened 🙂  A major theme for the week however has been feeling really relieved and centered and focused.  Honestly, I think it’s because:

a) I am being religious about NOT checking email throughout the day

b) I took Insta off of my phone.  Honestly, I’m really more of a moderator in life (desserts!  wine!  shopping!  TV!  I love all of these things and can moderate them just fine) BUT I cannot moderate social media use on my phone.  It’s like a drug to my brain and I am quite clearly better off without it.

My phone is now absolutely devoid of addicting things, other than the sneaky use of Safari to check email if I really need to.  I have feedly on there (this hasn’t posed nearly as much of a problem) and my kindle app for when I have downtime and want to read something.  And honestly?  I am much happier for it.  I am working on figuring out a way I can still post to Instagram on some kind of regular schedule (I downloaded the flume app and it seems to work – I posted our BoBW post).  I don’t think I can receive direct messages through there but maybe that’s just going to be an okay loss.

ALSO: I have quit my 9 pm pump.  I KNOW, G is nearly 11 months old, so it was probably time.  And I’m down to just 11 work days of pumping, so that’s 33 pumps total.  TOTAL!!!   I recognize it was somewhat crazy, but I’m really glad I stuck it out this time around.  That said, I’m also looking forward to my freedom!

Now I’m just curious (and honestly, that’s the right word – I am not really invested in things turning out one way or another) on how things will progress after my quite date (12/3 I am going to head to work without the pump).  I’ll still nurse AM/PM while she is interested and maybe pre-nap on weekends.  Annabel and I did the AM/PM thing from about 9-13 months, and then we were both ready to be done.  I am really looking forward to taking a weekend away with Josh at some point so maybe that will be the natural end?

Happy Friday!  We are going to do a lot of pre-moving organization this weekend – to the extent this is possible with 3 kids underfoot.  Wish us luck . . .

16 Comments

  • Reply Cbs March 10, 2019 at 7:06 pm

    Ooh, the Agendio looks very cool. I stopped pumping at 13 months and we’re still at it with the AM and PM feeds at 15 months. Kiddo has a suspected dairy intolerance so I like to think I’m giving him a bit of a nutritional boost but honestly, not sure how much milk he’s getting at this point. We’re both happy with it for the moment so I’m just following his lead. Day weaning was pretty easy, he’s very verbal so understood and repeated when I told him ‘all gone’. Sometimes he pats me and says ‘all gone?’ during the day and asks for a bottle. He’s got HFM at the moment and was quite desperate to nurse when I collected him early from nursery, think he still finds it quite comforting.

  • Reply Kersti March 10, 2019 at 7:06 pm

    I”ve been a longtime electronic planner, but I may have to convert after seeing this!

  • Reply Lindsay March 10, 2019 at 7:06 pm

    I LOVE the Agendio! I want to Bullet Journal, but am super Type-A, and the least artistic person on the planet, so this is a perfect compromise! After I read this post, I have been spending WAY too much time designing my own for 2019. Do you have a referral code or something where you can get a bonus (I’m ordering it because of you – you should get some kind of kickback!)

  • Reply Caroline March 10, 2019 at 7:01 pm

    Loving this planner series! This Agendio definitely appeals to my desire for total control over the layout, and the thickness wouldn”t bother me—my planner tends to live on my desk.

  • Reply Delia Carias March 10, 2019 at 7:01 pm

    THIS PLANNER IS EVERYTHING!!! As a long time planner nerd and Best of Both Worlds follower, I could not wait to drive to work Tuesday morning and listen the the planning episode. I have been a long time Plum Paper Planner girl, but from the moment I got on this website (8 am Tuesday after arriving at work – shhh) i was hooked. It took all of my energy not to customize my planner on the clock. Instead Tuesday night, with a glass of wine, I spent more time that I want to admit designing every last detail of my planner. Now I am in countdown mode until it is delivered later this month. I did a weekly layout with times for my work meetings. I also put in extras to keep me focused, "MIT" (most important tasks of the day), weekly goals, and ALL THE DATES (birthdays, anniversaries, trips – it is all there!)

    Congrats on the countdown. I still remember the first day I didn’t have to pump at work. The feeling of freedom was amazing!

    • Reply theSHUbox March 10, 2019 at 7:06 pm

      OMG delia, this comment is amazing! I hope you love your creation! Cannot wait to be done w/ my countdown 🙂

    • Reply Paige March 10, 2019 at 7:05 pm

      LOL. I was a Plum Paper planner until I found Agendio! Love the pre-printed reminders and dates to note – such a time savings for most of my tickler file items! Funny to be so excited about a planner, but it’s awesome!

  • Reply Mary November 13, 2019 at 6:12 pm

    Ordered an Agendio for 2020 today after using Passion Planner for three years. I like Passion Planner but wanted some blank pages each week to put the planner and journal into one book. We’ll see how it goes! Thanks for doing these reviews so that I knew about what was out there.

  • Reply Abigail February 18, 2021 at 2:57 pm

    I am looking for planner that starts on Thursday to match my work schedules. Does the agendio allow that amount of customization?

    • Reply Sarah Hart-Unger February 18, 2021 at 4:34 pm

      That is a great question – if ANYONE allows that, it would be them. I’d try and create one and see (and if it’s not obvious – I’d email them! They have amazing customer service.)

      • Reply Andrea Gerber February 28, 2021 at 5:16 pm

        Are you aware of any other companies that offer this kind of customizing? Or even close? I have ordered from Agendio 2x and while I love their stuff, their fonts, even the best, using all caps, is hard for my impaired vision. I’ve written to them about it, but I’m guessing they are looking at a different demographic. Any suggestions?

        • Reply Sarah Hart-Unger March 1, 2021 at 8:28 am

          Hi! I don’t think anything is as customizable but two to look at are:
          Purple Trail
          Plum Paper
          I feel like both are moving towards more and more customization – tons of different layouts, heading options, ability to pre-print in reminders, etc

  • Reply Lucia December 26, 2021 at 3:51 pm

    Agendio=worst experience ever!! I spent so much time creating the agenda, there was a problem with the delivery and I spent more than 100 EUR for something I never received! The owner didnt agree to reimburse or send the agenda again… Seriously… stay away from this agenda

    • Reply Sarah Hart-Unger December 26, 2021 at 3:56 pm

      Wow!! I had not heard that .. but good to know.

  • Reply Kelsi Perttula October 5, 2023 at 1:13 pm

    Thank you for telling me about Agendio. I just received my second, improved one. I LOVE the customizations and how it helps me separate personal, family, and work stuff. Work stuff dominates, and I even have sub categories that are super helpful for teaching, research, and service. Thank you Sarah!

    I hae the Get to work book for 5 years, but waated to try some customization last year after listening to your podcast for the last ~1.5 years. Good thing since GTWB is discontinued. I have a long way to go, but I have definitely upped my planning game which is helping my home life with 4 young kids, managing appts and strategies for my partner with a neurodegenerative disease, and stay on track for getting tenure in four years.

    • Reply Sarah Hart-Unger October 5, 2023 at 3:35 pm

      you have so much on your plate!! just wow. Agendio is a planner that takes a lot of work to create BUT once you do, you can reuse and iterate and many people are very loyal to the brand.

    Leave a Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.