232 reviews for The Anti-Planner: How to Get Sh*t Done When You Don’t Feel Like It

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Tracie (verified owner) – November 26, 2023

   The layout, the messages, the ideas, all are absolute 5 stars. 10/10 would recommend, whether you’re a procrastinator or would simply like creative ideas for getting unstuck or dealing with overwhelm (me). This would make a great gift for any loved ones whose catchphrase is, “I’m feeling so overwhelmed,” or “There’s not enough time in the day to get things done.”

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Elizabeth Crisp – November 27, 2023

   I ordered two copies of original version for my myself and an older child and have ordered two copies of the clean copy for my younger kids. This is a rather long review, but this book is just that amazing! Attention anyone with or who loves someone with ADHD: Thanks to one of my kids, I have discovered a very recently published book that is amazing! I really cannot say enough good things about it or recommend it any higher–I would give it more than 5 stars. So I will tell you eight reasons why I love this book (there are many more, but eight is a good number). First of all, this is not some theoretical book by some generic researcher. It was created by someone who lives (and battles) with ADHD. Her name is Dani Donovan, and her book is The Anti-Planner https://anti-planner.com/shop/the-anti-planner-how-to-get-stuff-done-when-you-dont-feel-like-it/ [*one caveat if you look up her social media–she uses language that is typicall for today, but this link is for the “clean” version of the book.] Second, the book is not a planner–it is an amazing book of explanations, information, validation, comics, worksheets, and activities to help people who are feeling the affects of ADHD in their lives. Third–and this is a novel approach but absolutely the best organization for this type of book for most people with ADHD–the book is organized by FEELINGS! You try to identify what you are feeling (stuck, overwhelmed, unmotivated, disorganized, or discouraged) and turn to that section. You will find the feeling broken down even further. For example, if you turn to “Stuck,” you will find it broken down into four other feelings, one of which is “Difficulty getting started” which is broken down into some feelings or actions that might actually be behind that difficulty such as “I keep prioritizing less-important things.” As I was reading through the identifications of those feelings and what actions/inactions might result, it was immediately apparent that they are spot on for myself and anyone else that I know with ADHD. Then there are activites tailored to help you either overcome that stumbling block or to just get past it quickly and move on. There are enough activities for variety as well as some that will work for just about everybody without the choices being overwhelming. Fourth, another great thing is that Dani also has a list of some things that feeling might look like. So being stuck might look like things such as “chronic procratination, ignoring deadlines, and fear of failure.” So the things that someone thinks is just a person being lazy, or someone with ADHD thinking they are lazy themselves because they can’t just “suck it up” like everyone else, are explained as symptoms of the way their brain is working. Don’t forget that a person with ADHD, like everyone else, is good at a lot of things, and excellent at other things. There are just some things that their brain either doesn’t like to do or can’t do. This leads to the fifth reason this book is so awesome–it is compassionate and validating for someone who is feeling worthless or bad at housecleaning or like a failure at [fill in the blank] because their ADHD gets in the way. That cycle of wanting to do something but not being able to “suck it up” and do it, which leads to more feelings of failure, which leads to more feelings of being overwhelmed or unmotivated, which all look like being lazy, reinforces the idea for oneself and seems to say to other people that the person is lazy, and then the cycle just continues. This book helps people to understand why your mind is functioning this way, and the activities are created to try and overcome that type of not-so-good-for-you brain function. One of my children used 3 of the activities on the first day we got the book! Sixth, there are comics and pictures on just about every page to illustrate concepts as well as to draw your attention to specific items/ideas, and to keep your attention by making things interesting and exciting. Seventh, it is not just for people with ADHD, but also for people who work with or love someone with ADHD. As I was reading through it, I was intrigued by the “what [this feeling] might look like,” especially from the perspective of both a parent and a teacher. Many of the things that I do in my classroom are to help my students to stay organized, to keep track of what is going on in class, and for personal accountability. I have developed them over the course of years and they generally work very well. But some students won’t do them. Reading through this, I realized some of the reasons they “won’t” are because their brain just won’t let them, and it gave me some ideas of ways that I can make it easier for them to do it. And finally, the eight reason that I love this is that it’s just a beautiful, tangible book. I very highly recommend that you get yourself a copy. It is on limited runs and is expensive to print so it is a little pricey and so is the shipping, but I think that it is well worth the cost. Just make sure that you order the version that is right for you–the original version that has swear words, or the clean version which does not. Either way, I don’t think you will regret your purchase. And their customer service has been awesome when I had some questions that were specific to my situation and usage. I got an email on Saturday that said she is launching her youtube channel so is doing a sale this week and the book will be almost the cost of printing ($36) plus shipping (I believe is $9 per book) and taxes. The promo code is LAUNCHDAY. Happy anti-planning!

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Nikki Nudelman – November 29, 2023

   I *love* my Anti-Planner! I signed up for the preorder, and even before I received the actual book, using some of the PDFs Danni sent out ahead of time were a lifesaver. Now that I have the full book, it’s been SO helpful in getting me moving when my brain says no. It has so many different activities for every different feeling I have when I want to get things done but can’t seem to, or even don’t know where to start. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. I consider it a Must Have for everyone who has ever struggled with procrastination as a fun, helpful way, low effort way to get yourself on track and get started.

4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Anna – November 29, 2023

   I love love love this thing. It’s full of awesome tips and tricks that have genuinely helped me and on top of that it’s a great-looking book that just is fun to sift through and look at. Absolutely worth every penny!

5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Becky Anna-Marie – November 29, 2023

   Having pre-ordered, this obviously took a long time to arrive, but it was so worth the wait!

   As an ADHDer it can be hard to know WHY you can’t just get the thing done, or what exactly it is that you’re feeling, that is preventing you from doing the thing. This ‘planner’ makes it easy for you. I love that it’s not only separated into sections by feeling, but the start of each section gives a bit of an explanation, what needs to happen to move forwards, and the best part – a checklist of what that feeling typically looks like, so you can identify whether or not that feeling actually is what’s going on!

   Each section is then broken down EVEN FURTHER, so you can start to tackle the WHY you’re feeling that way. Again, with examples of what each one looks like, so you can navigate to the relevant subsection. Each subsection gives you several (helpful and/or fun) activities to choose from to help you move forwards. Plus, suggestions of other activities within the ‘planner’ that you might also like based on the ones covered within that particular subsection.

   I write ‘planner’ because, as the name suggests, it’s not really a planner – it’s more like a guide. And the extras section gives you a list of resources organised by overarching feeling to more-specific feeling, and a symbol next to each resource identifying it as either an app, website (or both), physical product, or book. The colour-coded organisation and ease of access to a range of helpful tools when needed, makes the autistic side of my brain happy haha.

   Every page is filled with colour, Dani’s comic drawings, and light-hearted, supportive language. Dani really did a fantastic job creating this, and I highly recommend it to every ADHDer who often finds themselves ‘stuck’!