Many years ago, before the age of the smartphone I couldn’t function in my professional and even private life without a good planner/organizer. Back in the day my go-to brand was the FranklinPlanner. Each year I would venture out to my local mall (which had a FranklinPlanner store) and obtain the necessary inserts for my binder for the new year. I’m sure I wasn’t alone in this process.
As smartphones became more powerful, I slowly made the transition away from the clunky binder and just relied on the power of my phone to keep me organized. In many ways, I could do just as much via my smartphone as I could do with my laptop. I think it was 2007 or 2008 that I finally said goodbye to my FranklinPlanner binder.
Fast forward to the present day and now in my 4th year of retirement, while I still own and use a smartphone, I’ve found myself wanting a less complicated or more simplified way of organizing my life. More importantly, in my daily prayer life I want a better way to grow in my faith. While I realize there are many different smartphone apps available which provide some of the functions I’m looking for, while in prayer or meditation I really prefer not to use my electronic devices as they can easily become distractions to me.
I started looking into all the various planners and organizers available which also offered important prayer, meditation, Liturgical planning including feast days etc. My research discovered two options with the first being The Saintmaker and the second the JMJ Daily Planner by TAN Books. I read many reviews on each and watched a few YouTube videos as well.
Initially I was leaning towards the Saintmaker product, but realized the cost for a full one-year planner product would total $160.00 as they only provide a 90 day planner option. In comparison, the JMJ Daily Planner is available for $26.95 for the full year.
Now I’m sure there are many, many benefits to the Saintmaker planner. I’ve thoroughly researched their website and watched their training videos. The Saintmaker product is obviously very well designed. But for me, I just really don’t need that robust of a planning system so I ordered the JMJ Daily Planner from TAN Books.
The JMJ (Jesus, Mary & Joseph) 2024 planner is exactly what I need from a Catholic planner. It features pages for me to plan my personal goals for the year, a collection of Catholic Prayers, list of Saint days, Holy days and holidays for the year, story and illustrations of each Saint of the week and daily calendar pages with plenty of space to journal or take notes or even record time specific information. The size of the planner is 6 x 8.5 inches and has a leatherette cover. The cost is also very affordable at just $26.95. You can get yours directly from TAN Books or on Amazon. At the time of this writing, Amazon has the JMJ 2024 planner at 36% off at $17.22.
Until next time…
Fratus tuus in Christo,
Jerry
