May it be noted: this post is not sponsored or endorsed in any way. I really am just ranting about something I love!
Today I’m bringing you my review of a tool I think EVERY entrepreneur and small business owner needs to have in their kit: the My PA Planner! This ain’t yo momma’s planner (although it could be if yo momma happens to run her own business—like seriously, go recommend it to her if she does.) This little book of wonder holds everything you need to get organized, stay organized, and hold yourself accountable to building the business of your dreamsssss. It’s also a great tool to make sure you’re finding and prioritizing joy and balance in your life along the way.
I know those are hefty claims for something that might come off as ‘just a fancy agenda,’ but as someone who had high expectations from the start, I can assure you that the My PA Planner totally blew all of them out of the water and then some.
My personal theme for 2020 is ‘honor your time.’ I’m striving to be as intentional as possible with how I spend my days this year. Instead of getting angry or frustrated with myself for ‘wasting’ time or letting time ‘get away from me,’ I simply take a look at what I’m doing in a given moment and ask if that’s truly a way to honor the time I’ve been given. If it’s not, I adjust.
It’s only February, and the My PA Planner has already become an integral part of sticking to this theme.
Their website describes the planner as being like “having your very own 24/7 personal assistant helping you to stay on top of your game, stop you from feeling overwhelmed and help you make every single day count.” This planner is basically designed to hold your whole business in book form, and it does a damn good job of it!
Here are a few of the features I love most:
The 2020 Game Plan Sections
Even if I didn’t love everything else about it, I would still recommend this planner based solely on the ‘front’ section—that part of the planner before the actual weekly and monthly spreads begin. The My PA Planner has everything you need to embark on a deep, insightful, and powerful reflection on yourself, your business, and what you want out of life both professionally and personally. It then gives you all the tools to turn those goals into concrete actions.
I came up with so many new ideas for my business while completing these sections, and I learned a lot about myself and why I do what I do along the way. I feel much more prepared for 2020 and like I’m actually heading somewhere instead of just floundering along and hoping I’m doing something right.
The Weekly Reflection
I LOVE having a weekly reflection. A lot of planners only include this as a monthly section, but My PA gives you the chance to track and reflect every week. The weekly reflection has space for social media and email list growth tracking, prompts about what worked and didn’t work in your business that week, a chance to plan improvements and set goals for the next week, as well as a space to practice gratitude and reflect on all you have to be thankful for. It’s a great blend of concrete professional tools and overall mindset maintenance. I always look forward to filling it out and get so much benefit from doing so.
The Weekly Spread
The spread for each week in the My PA Planner just works. I love having a to-do list included for both regular action and specific goals and tasks for the week. The ‘to buy’ and ‘notes’ sections are always handy, and I especially enjoy having a ‘to watch/read’ section. It’s prompted me to make a regular practice out of watching and reading business or mindset related materials, instead of just doing so as an afterthought. The individual day planning sections themselves are also great and super functional. Plus, they include a water, meditation, and exercise tracker, which I think is an awesome reminder that the most important tool for your business is YOU. Filling that section out every day reminds me that keeping my brain and body healthy is just as important as checking off items on my to-do list.
Paper Quality
Paper quality is super important when it comes to something you’re going to be writing in every day all year and constantly flipping through. My PA delivers! The pages are of the utmost quality and just feel so awesome to write on! They’re also thick enough to prevent pen bleed through with any of the pens I’ve used, and definitely perform the best of any of my planners or journals in this respect.
There are a couple possible points of improvement I also feel the need to mention for curious minds, but these are pretty minuscule compared to the benefits I’ve experienced so far.
Lack of a Flat Lay Spine
While the My PA Planner is supposed to have a spine that allows the pages to lay completely flat no matter where in the planner you are, I haven’t found this to actually be true, even after two months of breaking it in. I use another planner for my personal life that does always lay totally flat no matter what page I’m on, and it’s a feature I really appreciate. It’s not a huge concern to miss out on that with the My PA, though—just something it would be great to see in a future edition.
Cover Durability
While the My PA is built to last and I definitely don’t see the cover full-on breaking anytime soon, I do find that it’s gotten pretty scuffed up in just two months, even though I rarely take it out of the house. I run my business from home, but for someone who is constantly going to have this planner out and about, the cover might suffer quite a bit. I think a few design tweaks would make it more durable and transport-friendly.
Specificity of the Financial Logs
This is just a personal concern of mine, but I find the financial tracking sections of the planner to be very specific to a type of model that may not suit all entrepreneurs. The great thing about planners is that you can always customize, though! Some washi tape and blank paper allows me to cover up what I don’t need and add what I do while still benefiting from having a monthly finance section. However, if you’re really dependent on your planner as your main financial tracking tool, checking those sections of the it out before purchasing might be useful.
Size of Weekend Planning Sections
Seeing as a lot of entrepreneurs are building their business as a side hustle while they work another job or fitting it in around the commitments of family life, having the weekend days in the weekly spread be a lot smaller and less detailed than the week days may not work for everyone. Saturdays are usually one of the days I spend working on my business, and I do find myself wishing the planner had equal space for it.
So, overall, is My PA worth the investment? Hands down, YES! I sound like a total fangirl when I say this (I guess I really am a My PA fangirl!) but this planner has allowed me to feel more accountable, more professional, and more powerful than any resource I’ve purchased for my business so far. 2020 is already off to an amazing start for me, and I can’t wait to see where me and this planner go together!
P.S. If you want to give the planner a try without committing, My PA offers the ENTIRE planner as a printable download! Yep, you can print any sections you’d like and give them a go—which you totally should!
