Why I don't use a fancy planner for to-do lists anymore
(and what I'm using instead)
Hey! I’m Josh Spilker and this is a newsletter for online writing, creativity, and culture.
I bought a new tennis racquet a few days ago, but this post is about to-do lists, summer reading, and more randomness. Hit subscribe below to always get this and let’s go:
Everyone seems to have a planner, a hack, or a productivity method they swear by.
These are great, but sometimes they can get a little overcomplicated.
Though I manage my personal drafts, ideas, and writing in Notion, it’s not my everyday to-do list.
But I’m done with expensive planners. They’re not worth it to me.
Instead, I prefer something simple: a blank, yellow legal pad.
I Came Into Expensive Planners By Accident
See, a few years ago, I wrote an article about paper planners and ordered several different planners. I tried them, took notes on the process, and then threw them into my closet.
No one can use dozens of planners at once.
Some of them were basic calendars, others had highly detailed hourly schedules, and still more were separated into quarterly, weekly, and daily to-do lists.
Many of them cost anywhere from $25 to $45 apiece. For others, you had to buy new ones on a quarterly basis.
I’ve used a few of them over the past 2 years. I felt bad not to.
Recently, I filled the last one up with tasks from my latest job and decided to move on.
What will I use instead? A yellow legal pad.
Why I’ll Use a Yellow Legal Pad For My To-Do Lists
Instead, I keep finding myself wanting a yellow legal pad.
You know the basic ones you can buy from any drugstore.
Here’s why.
1. Just enough structure
There are lines. I’m primarily a writer, so I like the lines. I’ve had blank notebooks before, that’s what I preferred to journal in when I was younger.
But now I mostly write. I don’t really doodle. Or draw too much. And if I do draw it’s to sketch an idea before transferring it to someone else.
So I like the lines for structure.
And I don’t mind writing by hand. It helps me process more of my thoughts when I have to write things down. I actually wrote drafts of my novels by hand on legal pads, and then later typed them on a computer. That last part helped with the editing process.
2. Not much guidance
Many of those other, fancier, more expensive planners have a lot of time blocks and schedules and small spaces for goals.
I never use those areas, and never fit their format exactly.
Instead, I need the space.
I need to write a to-do list and write down random ideas, or make a plan on the fly. I don’t know what section it needs to go in. It just needs to be written down. On the paper. So I can find it again.
3. Legal pads are cheap
A 12-pack of yellow legal pads is between $15 and $18. Most journals or notebooks will cost that much or more for not nearly as much paper.
4. Legal pads are big
They are the size of the notebook paper you used in school, or printer paper. 8.5 x 11. And if I buy a 12-pack, at 50 pages each, that’s 600 full-size pages. Not these little quarter or half-page sizes that most planners arrive as.
5. I don’t feel bad throwing away legal pads
Some of these planners are nice looking, like a hardback book. And then I feel bad about throwing them away. but they’ve served their purpose. Generally, I don’t need to know what happened 9 Wednesdays ago. It’s not a journal. There’s not enough space for that, remember?
But if they’re big and bulky and cost more, then I feel bad dumping it in the trash.
Do I keep the old legal pads? Not so much.
I’ll flip back through one to see if there are any ideas I need to keep and then move it to a better home, like in my Tettra work documents, Google Keep, or my personal Notion file.
In a world filled with fancy planners, innovative hacks, and endless productivity methods, I’ve found a refuge in the simplicity of a yellow legal pad for my to-do lists. It may not be the trendiest choice, but it’s proven to be the most effective and practical option for me.
What do you use for to-do lists?
Writing what you don’t know
I did a quick article this week on Medium about writing what you don’t know vs writing what you know, and I found this Ursula K. LeGuin quote. It really stuck out to me:
As for “Write what you know,” I was regularly told this as a beginner. I think it’s a very good rule and have always obeyed it. I write about imaginary countries, alien societies on other planets, dragons, wizards, the Napa Valley in 22002. I know these things. I know them better than anybody else possibly could, so it’s my duty to testify about them. I got my knowledge of them, as I got whatever knowledge I have of the hearts and minds of human beings, through imagination working on observation. Like any other novelist. All this rule needs is a good definition of ‘know.’
Summer reading (or not)
I may do a longer piece about “Summer Reading books” but I’ve really enjoyed these 5 novels over the past few years. Check them out if you haven’t already.
10:04 by Ben Lerner https://amzn.to/3JrZFCV
Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson: https://amzn.to/3CE4Pbd
Ohio by Stephen Markley: https://amzn.to/3CE4Pbd
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel: https://amzn.to/46eEwWx
Weather by Jenny Offill: https://amzn.to/3CGM3je
Random
Finished “Beef” on Netflix and now I’m turning to “The Bear” on Hulu for a different type of beef. (if you know, you know)
Molly Soda was a big Tumblr artist and has a good Substack. Diving into her stuff and I came across this tool called HotGlue. It has a punk rock bulletin board 90s internet vibe that speaks to me.
Last Week
Last Thing
Keep going,
-Josh Spilker