Ages and ages ago, I saw a paper planner that really piqued my curiosity – I believe it was on Gala Darling‘s site. And then, I promptly forgot about it for a few years until I started wondering the other day if they were still in business, as I looked at planning tools for 2014…and hallelujah, they were! (Although it took some sleuthing to figure out exactly what their name was; I’m just glad I eventually remembered it.)
The main problem that the Weekdate products solve is a fairly simple one: whereas there’s a “repeat weekly on Wednesdays” option in Google Calendar, if your preference is for analog products, there’s absolutely no way to get around weekly or monthly repetitions without writing the same.damn.thing over and over again. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Enter: Weekdate. I emailed and asked if they’d be down for a review & giveaway, and they said yes, and a few days later I got a squee-inducing package in the mail from them…and here’s said review & giveaway!
(You can check out this page on their site if you want a very thorough review of how their main product works – I’m reviewing a few different things, but it’s good background if you’re curious.)
The Weekdate academic planner:
The academic planner is a new addition to Weekdate’s offerings – it goes from September 2013 to September 2014. I’m hoping that these become a regular offering because I think I like these better than I would like an original Weekdate planner. I don’t have that many monthly tasks to keep track of, and if you’ve ever watched one of my task management review videos you know that I am a fanatic for week-at-a-glance views.
The notes section on the inside of the cover, the fact that it tells you what week of the year it is in the notes section for the specific week, the flap that works as a bookmark for the week – I love the attention to detail. There’s also monthly calendars at the back:
Kay (the owner/founder of Weekdate) did let me know that since this is a test product, the cover isn’t quite as thick as they would have liked it to be. I don’t honestly think that it would be a problem for normal wear and tear. I’m a bit rough on it though, with throwing it in my commute bag along with a billion other things, and I’ll probably buy a notebook cover or something like this to help protect it. Because it is already proving so useful that I definitely don’t want to tear it to shreds before September is up.
Perfect for you if: You don’t have that many monthly tasks or events to keep track of, but more weekly tasks/events. You like a landscape layout versus a portrait sort of layout for looking at things.
The Weekdate white:
There’s two different versions of this one: the desk reference size (8.5″x14″) and the peel and stick size (18″x24″, pictured) that goes on a wall or fridge or whatever you want it to go on, really. It works like those wall decals – I was honestly a little skeptical at first because I’ve had some really low quality wall decals that fell off at the drop of a hat, but this works well. I think the peel and stick is going to be great for my home writing nook (which is still a work in progress! posts on that coming soon); the desk reference size is fantastic for putting on a fridge with magnets or just keeping around. The dry-erased-ness is a great way to make it not quite so permanent when you write something down as a weekly or monthly event/task.
Perfect for you if: You want something to put on a wall, your weekly/monthly tasks change and you don’t want to have to keep marking them out or write them in pencil. I think the wall size is going to be especially useful for editorial calendar tracking – that will probably be its main use for me. Every blogger should have one of these! (Especially those that have repeating monthly/weekly features on their blog.)
The original Weekdate:
The original Weekdate planner:
This is the one that made ’em famous, and that I saw ages ago that stuck in my head. Instead of laying out landscape-wise, like the academic planner does, it lays out in a more portrait orientation that matches the layout of the Weekdate white boards. You can see more photos + a video of it in action here.
Note: Black is the only color left! So if you want to pick this one up…snag it soon.
The prizes:
Everything you need to Weekdate yourself into organizational bliss:
- A Weekdate academic planner
- A Weekdate white “peel n stick” planner (the size pictured above)
- An “I need from” pad
Want your own Weekdate? Enter the giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Note: we can only ship to the US for this giveaway – so sorry, international folks!