Calendars are for managing your time. But planners are for dreaming without limits

It’s easy to appreciate calendars for their utility. They work overtime to keep the messiness of human life confined into neat little grids, squeezing our lives into seconds, minutes and hours. Despite our best efforts, we still return library books late, forget birthdays and burn breakfast.

I appreciate a calendar’s valiant efforts to manage time. But I love my planner because it gives me space to dream.

For the past several years, I’ve kept a planner with me at all times. At its most pragmatic level, it contains weekly and monthly calendar spreads that give a visual representation of the week’s events and appointments. It helps me remember where to be and when. How much of my time is spoken for.