Disc-Bound Planner

My experience

Have you tried a disc-bound planner? What did you think? I have been using mine for several months now and am really enjoying it. I am a “Planner person,” if that’s a thing. I buy a new paper planner at the beginning of every school year. I prefer paper to electronic planning. If this is you too, this planner might be a good fit for you.

Do you find peace in having the things written down on paper? To free up your brain to think about other things? I like these things because it allows me to compartmentalize the many roles I have as a mama and a professional. And it sparks joy for me when the things I organize are pretty. You too?

What is a disc bound system?

A disc bound system is a planner that, instead of having a spiral-bound edge or a sewn edge, it has removable plastic discs holding pages in place. Each page is punched with mushroom-shaped holes on one edge that fit around the disc. The holes and discs run up the edge. Pages in this system are removable.

Disc-Bound Planner Elements

There are a few division hiearchies within most disc-bound planners.

  1. Laminated pages or “Covers.” Use these to create major sections. My sections are the “Family Calendar,” “Homeschool,” and “Notes.”
  2. Card stock pages with tabs to navigate within each section. I have tabs for each month, meal-planning, and for my kids homeschool schedules.
  3. Filler pages. These are regular paper and go within each section. They could bee weekly plans, lined paper, meal plan pages, budget pages, etc.
  4. Bookmarks. To keep your place.
  5. Accessories. These include pouches, pockets, tabs, stickers, and more. You don’t need these for successful planning, but they can be fun.

Disc-bound planners come in a few sizes. There is a mini, which I have no experience with; a standard size, which is 9.25 x 7 inches; and a full size, which is 8.5 x 11. The standard size is smaller and easier to carry, but if you DIY the pages, you need to scale them down, print them, and cut them to size. The full size is larger and takes up more room in your bag, but you could print any printable from Pinterest and use it in your planner.

The pages are interchangeable between brands. Just make sure to count the number of discs they use. If that’s a match, they usually fit.

Customization

I really like the disc bound system because I can fully customize it to be what I need. I can purchase materials and fillers (like monthly calendars), or make them myself. This is a good balance because I enjoy making paper crafts and planner pages, but don’t always have time to do it.

I also like that I can reuse the covers and discs every year, and only need to change out the calendars.

Buy a punch

To customize your disc-bound planner, you will need a punch. There are several types on the market. I own two. The silver one is by Tul and the blue one is by Create 365, made for Happy Planner. When I bought them, they each cost about the same amount, around $40. I recommend the Tul punch because it is a sturdier punch, punches more pages at once (by a few), and you can adjust it for different paper sizes. The Create 365 punch is a good punch too, but only works for 9.25 x 7 inch pages. There is also a punch that punches 1 mushroom-shaped hole at a time. I thought that seemed pretty tedious, and didn’t purchase it.

For customized printables I use in my own disc-bound planner, click HERE.

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