Every year when back to school season rolled around, I would vow to be a different, new and improved me. I vowed to always have my
make-up done, my outfits coordinated, and my schedule organized. Yeah, right. I rolled out of bed with 10 minuted to spare and threw on whatever was clothes. I usually didn't have time for even mascara, and forget packing a lunch! One thing that I always
did do right? My daily
planner! I would go weeks before school started and start browsing bookstores and retail shelves, searching for that one daily planner that would contain me and all my plans within it in a neat rectangle while at the same time proclaiming my individuality and self-expression to the world through its cover art. I would fill out the information in my neatest handwriting and, for the next month, take the extra time out to jot down assignments or swim meets and weekend plans. Then, inevitably, I would forget to use it, fall behind on the dates, get frustrated and throw it under my bed for the rest of the year. It wasn't until I was a little older and out of school that I discovered the notebook. Ok, I didn't discover the notebook that late in life. I just realized that a large part of my daily planner refusal problem was the fact that the dates were already printed out for you in predetermined squares. While that might help some people, it discouraged me. I realized that a small notebook, lined or not, was what I actually needed. No pre-set dates that demand you to find something interesting to write in them (in case I ever lost it and some stranger found it, flipped through it and decided I was boring) and no pages allotted for random notes that, if you went over, you felt like a textual version of a blabber-mouth. The only thing that stayed the same? Browsing numerous bookstores to find the one that said, "Hi! I'm unique and spontaneous, but am also responsible and reliable!" So whether you prefer a daily planner to a notebook, check out our slideshow to find one that expresses who you are!
