Digital Planner Design: The Concept

All-in-one digital planners are massive. My digital planners aren't: they're purposely trimmed of everything that distracts. I developed, tested, and branded the WorkFolio System for over a year. Building a functional planner begins with the minimally designed WorkFolio, importing it into an annotation app, selecting your inserts, placing the planning inserts into the WorkFolio, and navigating via hyperlinked tabs and an index. That’s it. As its users' needs change, WorkFolio adapts.







A planner that just feels right for me can take countless hours to find. There were times when I found a good one at bookstores and stationery stores, but I stopped using it soon after. I couldn't figure out what was missing.







Then I discovered the world of digital planning, but something was missing there too. I didn't want all-in-one or generic layouts. I wanted the perfect fit. So I was challenged with creating a digital planner with pre-hyperlinked pages that adapts.





But I didn't want the Freelancers Journals to be a Canva downloaded template— I put a lot of thought into the design and how the users will interact with my digital planners. It's not paper and it's not an app the layout was crucial. They are very much a labor of love. I'll admit that the original concept was just like the countless calendars you'll find online today. However, as I started playing around with hyperlinks, ordered my first iPad, and tested out my first digital planner I eventually found my groove. It took me a year and a half to design these simple planners for you, it sounds crazy but the idea wasn't immediate. There were a lot of mistakes. I was plagued by the question of how I take a digital planner to the next level without creating an app. WHA-BAM The WorkFolio System was born!





The *WorkFolio System* combines a blank folio connected by the pre-hyperlinked tabs that help you navigate through the planner of your dreams with *Planning Inserts*.

There are only three rules when it comes to successfully using the WorkFolio System:

1. Buy Only What You Need (pertaining to the planner, agenda, calendar, and journal inserts.)

2. Make it Functional (Use the index so you can continuously reflect on your goals and vision.)

3. Feel Supported Throughout Your Freelancing Journey ( with these guiding tools you'll find a pathway to organization, action, and reflection— everything you need for success.)





View My Digital Planner Designs at https://www.etsy.com/shop/FreelancersJournals.

A Closer Look at How I Laid Out The WorkFolio

It's a 25-page long .pdf file that contains over 624 hyperlinked tabs to make this 2D. digital product easy to navigate.







A look at the blank index users can use to keep track of what they put in their planner and where it's at.



There are 4 pages of index space which is more than there are tabs but sometimes you need two lines to describe a project so I wanted to give the user a lot of space to creatively use. For example, you can list in the index the following: (Pages 3-4): September quarterly goals and a look at last year's missed benchmarks.





A fun element I added to the WorkFolio is the moving tabs. In the photo above you can see you're on page 1&2 and the tab is a powder baby blue. In the image below you can see you're now on pages 43&44 and all the previous pages are now on the left side of the WorkFolio.

The tabs move about because while I'm not trying to make anything so complicated as an app, this is still a very fingers-to-page product, I wanted it to have the essence of an IRL planner. I think the tabs capture this feeling really well



Getting back to the Index is easy, exit edit mode and click on the tab labeled Index.

Please reach out to me on social media and let me know what you'd like to see next! Tell me what you need to feel supported in your freelancing, remote work, or digital nomad career and I'll help you create it.

See more digital planners by clicking here.