If you’ve read my last post on the Cupik Design planner,
you’d know I have developed a fascination (read: obsession) with planners and
such organizational things and Nirmala Franklin from Chennai is a brand whose
planner amazed me in their style and layout and of course, I immediately jumped
boats and have been faithfully using their planner since February and I have to
say it has really helped get my life in order, and it is a great way to boost producitivy.
By the way, if you want a list of options on the current
planner and planner supply options available in india, head on over to my
article at PolkaCafe here.
If you want to read about a different type of planner, read
about the CupikDesign Planner here
According to the owner herself,
As a little
young girl crying to have my own shelf and endlessly arranging things,
this life long passion of mine have now blossomed in to creating
these EVERYDAY planners .Most of you , like me , would
be busy moms/students/house wives managing home/family/passion all at the same
time .We all tend to get overwhelmed at times , managing everything at
once.I am here to share my experience which I believe , would help you too. These planners were
based on my learnings on how to manage things in a more organized way . I
hope that this planner helps you to plan your
life,studies,work,business,fitness,diet and the billion other things there is .
Also these planners have been designed to be both functional and beautiful
& comes with various accessories . I hope you enjoy the planner as much
as I do. When I am not doing this, you can find me experimenting
new ways of organic cleaning , new color palettes,
stitching ,crafting,creating my own little furniture from unused household
furniture , spray painting and on & on.
- A5 size
- Spiral binding
- High quality thin paper
- Laminated Tabs
- Dated
- Monday to Sunday weekly format
- Follows a morning, day, night
grid format as that of EC Horizontal planner
- Added extra section underneath
each day for tracking things like meals, medicines, assignments and such
- Goals and To Dos present on the
side for both weekly and monthly view.
- Extensive monthly view and added
side area for setting monthly goals.
- Motivational quotes above each
monthly view as well as at the beginning and end of planner
- Extra notes section at the end of
the planner
- contacts section
- Expenses tracker
- Three labelled and one unlabelled
sticker sheet perfect
- A keep it together file folder
- A clear pouch attached.
You could watch the following video from the brand to see a quick flip through:
Experience:
The Nirmala Franklin planner came to me at the end of
January. It came to me in a very pretty orange box with paisley prints and was
wrapped in gorgeous pink tissue paper which itself had me absolutely in love
with the brand. The planner itself is black with multicoloured paisley print
and came with a set of gift tags and wish cards. I have been using this for the
last two months and I have found it all kinds of useful. I have experimented the various ways to
modify the spread to best suit my needs and i am constantly tweaking and
working my layout.
You can stay tuned to the various
planner spreads I do on my instagram at @babblequeendiaries
I still colour code my daily items and keep a key for it in
the inner page of my planner. I also use washi tapes to change the headers,
post its as reminders and the provided stickers for noting important things
like exams, birthdays, appointments and such. I have also started using post
its on the side bar of the weekly layout to track weekly habits such as working
out and cleaning schedule.
- The layout is the most tried and
tested layout in the market, which makes the planner efficient as well as
versatile. The sections can be used to morning, day, night or into
work,school,home or for mind,body,soul etc.
- Both the monthly and weekly
layout comes with an additional sidebar for adding goals to strive to achieve
in the given period.
- The paper is off good quality,
but is not very thick so that even with the addition of stickers for doing
layouts, the planner does not become too bulky.
- The addition of laminated tabs make it easier for flipping to the ongoing month and such
- The expenses,contacts and keep it together are all features that definitely makes life easier and helps simplify things
- It is extremely convenient to be carried around because of the size.
- They offer a lot of informative videos and ebooks on the inside contents of the planner and how to use it properly on their website.
Cons:.
- The planner is spiral bound and not ring bound,so adding custom inserts is not possible
- The notes section would have been a lot better had they added 2-4 notes pages after each month, instead of altogether at the end
- The price is definitely too high. While most planners in India sell around 1500 or less, shelling out nearly 3000 for this might be a deal breaker for students and all who are the most interested in planners like this. If the covers were customizable, it'd have been a little more justifiable
Suggestions:
- Maybe do a cheaper version for students that are more affordable but still functional
- Start offering planner accessories to go along with these planners
- Offer more front pages, preferably those which are customizable.
If you have any questions, suggestions or post
recommendations, make sure to leave a comment here or mail me at
thebabblequeen@gmail.com or reach
out on any of my social media platforms.
Till Then