Discbound Planners Have Entered the Chat
They have changed my planner life forever!
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Happy summer, everyone! Although the temps have been feeling like summer for weeks now, it’s official.
Summer has started!
My Planner Life Has Changed Forever
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The end of May included a significant change in my planner lineup. My a5 rings planner for another business failed me big time. I actually became completely unproductive and was having trouble focusing and adhering to my Q2 plan because of it.
I was tearing my hair out. The planner layouts for that business are the kind I have to print out. They are super unique so substituting in a notebook where I’d have to draw out daily and weekly layouts, as well as write out tons of reflection and brainstorming questions every week was not an option.
I thought for months about how to replace it. And then I saw an advertisement on Instagram for a discbound planner…and something about the picture made me take a closer look.
Suddenly, everything I knew about discbound planners was wrong. An idea was born for a new system.
That journey launched a revolution in my planner methodology. It may have impacted my planner lineup forever.
What is a Discbound Planner?
But first, let me explain what a discbound planner is. Because, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t know what they were until this year. I thought they were just “fancy” rings. 😂
Clearly, I wasn’t looking closely enough.
Discbound planners use “discs” to bind their planner inserts together, not a spine of rings, or a metal spiral, or any other kind of binding. What this means is a handful of small discs are individually inserted into the special discbound punches and then work together to hold the planner intact.
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Sounds flimsy? Except that they’re not. As long as you’re using the proper diameter-sized disc for your planner thickness, they’re just as stable as any other planner or notebook I’ve worked with. And personally, I love the extra give and flexibility they provide.
But never fear, if you really need some extra stability you can buy “wraparound” covers for discbound planners, as long as you’re using a popular discbound planner size. You can also retrofit non-discbound covers.
Because discbounds use individual discs, you can create planner sizes from any number of discs. And you’ll see that the various discbound companies out there do exactly that. From what I’ve gathered, there are discbound planners anywhere from 4-12 discs in height. 5 is closer to Passport/Pocket size. 8 is closer to a5 size. 11 is Letter size.
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If you’re a modular gal like me, this is music to our ears. We can do whatever we want. Insert a friendly printer, a paper cutter, and a discbound punch into the mix and, seriously, the planner world is your oyster. Go nuts.
These discs can be made of plastic, aluminum, or other materials. I’ve seen them range in size from 0.5” all the way to 2” in diameter.
It’s important to note that discbound spacing is different from rings. Discbound punches are evenly spaced for all discbound planner sizes, whereas rings can have varying spaces between them, depending on the rings’ planner height.
And the discbound punch is a different shape (it looks like a mushroom—see below) compared to the perfect circle of a ring. And it goes all the way to the edge of the paper. So you have to use a new hole punch system for these.
![Amazon.com : Enjoy Myself Mushroom Discbound Hole Punch for All Paper ... Amazon.com : Enjoy Myself Mushroom Discbound Hole Punch for All Paper ...](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F211052e7-4790-420b-ac83-6a263d6abf9f_474x474.jpeg)
Why Do I Like Discbound Planners so Much?
Besides the amazing versatility of these “plug and play” planner supplies, I really really love discbound planners for three reasons:
Rings never worked for me because they require a lot of force (and time) for me to open the rings, extract the paper, then replace when done. And I had to do that. I was never able to write on the left-side paper because I’m right-handed and the rings always got in the way. Discbound planners change this experience. Because discbound holes go to the edge of the paper, you can “rip” the page out of the planner, write on it, then replace it quickly by pressing it back into the discs. No ripping or tearing occurs as a result, even when using thin 20 lb printer paper. Easy peasy!
Discbound planners truly lay flat, like spiral bound and rings planners. This is preferable for my handwriting form.
DIY inserts. Much like rings planners, you can create inserts that fit your personal lifestyle using free online tools. The business I primarily use my discbound for requires custom inserts that must be printed off. Once you get the hang of it, it doesn’t take much time to create your own inserts. I went nuts the first weekend after I got my cheap discbound planner system…and I haven’t stopped since. The hardest part was figuring out how to get my printer to print these out properly. Now that I’ve successfully completed the entire process from start to finish, I’m ready to go!
In addition, it doesn’t cost much to get started with a discbound planner system. You can buy 500 sheets of pre-punched paper for $15 on Amazon. You can even Frankenstein a discbound planner by buying cheap plastic dividers and a set of discs, and using the dividers as both your cover and dividers. I started with a discounted Tul system at Staples for $13!
My Discbound Setup
Right now I’m loving my initial choice of the Half Letter size (8-rings). A Half Letter size is exactly half the size of a Letter sized (8.5” x 11”) sheet of paper, 8.5” x 5.5”. It’s close to an a5 size. Because it’s half the size of Letter, it’s super easy to supply printer paper for inserts. Just buy the most common size American printer paper and cut in half along the long edge!
Each discbound planner company seems to carry a variety of sizes. Half Letter is a common one. But some carry special sizes that others don’t. It’s important to pay attention to this if you decide to invest in a discbound planner system because when it comes to dashboards, planner inserts, and wraparound covers, you may need to stay loyal to a brand that makes your particular size.
For instance, I can’t be a customer of Happy Planner because Half Letter is one size they don’t make. And Cloth & Paper seems to be the only one that makes the 6-ring size, one they call “CP Petite.”
When I started, I didn’t want to invest a bunch of money to end up not liking it. I’m sure you can all relate…amirite?
Enter the Tul system at Staples. I used a new customer coupon when they were on sale and ended up getting a Half Letter planner starter system with discs, cover, inserts, as well as 5 heavy duty plastic dividers, all for $13!
While I don’t love the soft cover which is already falling apart at the edges, the discs work very well. Paper glides across them with ease. And any of the colorful dividers in the set I purchased can be used as a cover replacement.
Resources
Are you interested in seeing what’s out there for discbound planners? This is not a comprehensive list by any means, but here are some popular brands that specialize in discbound planners:
Staples (Tul, Martha Stewart, and more)
Office Depot (Tul)
Discbound Planner FREEBIES in Half Letter Size!
What’s that? Am I finally offering new freebies for my newsletter subscribers?
Yes I am! I spent an entire weekend creating inserts for myself and it was fun! So why not just share them? The digital files are available to you for free! You’ll find summer dashboards, as well as annual, monthly, and daily planner inserts.
Note the following about these freebies:
They are only in the Half Letter (8-ring) discbound size. I’m not saying you can’t try to print them in a different size, but the dimensions are intentionally sized for Half Letter.
They are only available in black & white.
General instructions for printing are provided. I am not a printer troubleshooter, so please heed the directions for issues in the guides provided.
Everything is offered in two versions: “direct print” and “cut lines”. Direct print is for folks who have nice, friendly printers and Half Letter size printer paper ready to go. So you are directly printing onto your perfectly sized paper with 0” printer margins. “Cut lines” are for folks who have Letter size printer paper. Cut lines will be printed out on your freebies and you’ll have to manually cut your printed paper afterwards using the guides.
Almost all planner inserts are generic and undated.
You can access them here!
My Self Accountability
Another month has passed and it’s time to do a check-in! Quick refresher on what this section of my newsletter is about: I’m doing a low-spend planner year for 2024. My budget for the entire year is $500.
Another month has passed. How was my unnecessary planner spend in May?
In May I bought the aforementioned discounted discbound Tul planner system from Staples, using a coupon and a sale. This was actually a necessary expense, not an unnecessary expense, but I will count it just to intentionally make my remaining annual budget smaller. 😆
Here is my YTD accounting:
YTD planner spend: $456
May planner spend: $13
Annual budget remaining: $31
June so far has $0 spend and I intend to keep that up for, really, the rest of the year. I pretty much have everything I need and want right now. 😉
Very interesting! I had reservations about discs and you have debunked them all! Might end up giving it a try!
I've been looking into Disc Planners and I think it's the best of all worlds! You can custom them and chose the size disc to match how many pages you will be including! So good!