Planner Beta Testing
Shalom!
Thanks so much for being willing to beta test my planner. 🤩 I truly appreciate you taking the time to try it out and share your honest feedback. Please keep reading to learn more about why I’m designing a planner and how you can download and use what I have so far!
Living Biblically in a Gregorian World
None of the planners on the market feel right. Many of them start on Monday, but I start my week on Sunday. Some, annoyingly squish Saturday and Sunday together leaving me very little room to work with. And all of them include holidays that I don’t keep. So, I guess I’ll have to make my own! Which is totally fine, bc I’ve been designing my own planner spreads for a long time. This time is different though, because I want to share it with y’all. I know I can’t be the only frustrated one!
The Vision: Living Biblically in a Gregorian World
I am a public school teacher, and while I wish I could simply forget the times and seasons set by the world, I can’t. In order to effectively do the role Abba has called me to, I need to keep some awareness of the world around me. That also doesn’t mean I should forget the times set by God during creation. Nor do I want to! I’d actually really love to align everything in my life to His ways. 💙
My Torah time-keeping / task management journey began with sticky notes. Six of them labeled Day 1 - Day 6 instead of the days of the week. Each of them had a list of tasks I wanted to accomplish on that specific day. Every time I looked at the sticky notes, I would have to do mental gymnastics. “Okay.. day 2 is… Monday… but if the sun has gone down… it’s actually day 3… so when am I supposed to clean the bathroom?” Eventually I added 6 more stickies to the wall, beginning with Day 1 Evening, Day 1 Morning… and so on. This was helpful in shaping my mindset: The day begins at sunset.
I’ve crossed out holidays and scribbled in “Month 11, Day 3” into my planners. Compared the 2 calendars side by side while trying to take PTO for feast days. I’ve had to resubmit my PTO paperwork a few times after getting it wrong 😅 And after purchasing a handful of monthly calendars that include Hebrew dates, I realize that they still prioritize the Gregorian calendar. Those have their place for sure, but I want something different. Maybe you do too…
The Product: A Planner that Bridges the Gap
As I design, I’m trying to accomplish several things.
A weekly spread that honors the 6:1 rhythm of Sabbath (six days of work and one day of rest), has structure but also plenty of room for whatever the week holds, and is nice to look at and use.
Weekly and monthly spreads that don’t force a certain calendar interpretation, but maintain the theological convictions that I’ve come to hold.
One big question I’m wrestling with: Days of the week names or no? On one hand, including them would be a benefit to those learning to live Biblically and for those who still interact with the world around us. On the other hand, the names of the days we’re familiar with are named after false deities which is dumb.
Eventually and For Now
Eventually I’d like to design a planner that includes 52 Weekly Spreads that emphasize and help us prepare for the weekly 7th day Sabbath and 13 4-Week Snapshots with reflection activities.
For now, I have a few versions of the weekly spread for you to download, print, try, and give me feedback on. 💙
The weekly spread is designed as a two-page layout, meant to be viewed side by side. Because of that, when you print it loose, the margins may look a little uneven or slightly “off.” That’s intentional — it will look normal once bound. For the best experience during testing, I recommend placing the two pages next to each other as you use them.
I’ve included four layout options for you to try:
A blank version
A lined version
A dotted version
A lined version without Babylonian names
You’re welcome to choose one layout or try all of them — whatever feels most helpful to you. I would especially love feedback on which format you prefer and why.
As you use it, I’m primarily looking for feedback on:
Flow and functionality
Ease of use
Clarity of sections
What feels intuitive (or confusing)
Anything you would change
Please don’t hold back — this stage is all about refining and improving. 💛 As you think of things, feel free to text me. Otherwise, I will reach out later to check-in.
Thank you again for being part of this process. Your input truly matters.
With gratitude,
Crystal
