Well that didn't take long. My experiment with my large daily Moleskine is over.
I hate to call it a Planner Fail, because if I had put in more of an effort I could have made the Daily Moleskine work for me. But, I need my planner to be as effortless as possible.
The day per page was all well and good last week when we were all snowed in and I had nothing going on. It was fun to have so much space each day to write details.
But then Monday hit and we were back to reality. Snowy, icy, logistically-difficult reality. Things were canceled. Lots of things were postponed and had to be rescheduled. This month is full of Christmas parties, school plays, preparations and deadlines. Not to mention sending Christmas cards, ordering gifts (I'm not going out in the ice and snow to battle the crowds at the shops, hellz no), the list goes on and on.
Seeing only one day at a time left me feeling anxious and confused. I wrote my week's goals on Sunday's page but by Tuesday that page was out of sight. I tried writing my to-dos for the week in a separate notebook but then I had two books open on my desk, which was crowded. Even though I used my monthly calendar extensively, it wasn't large enough to accommodate the details I needed to write in it for lack of weekly pages.
Lesson learned: I need to see the overview of my week with each day's details.
So you know what this means: I'm back to my Trinote, and thank goodness. It will carry me through the rest of the year in stress-free organizational style.
January will be a flurry of planner experiments as I try out all my new 2011 planners. Will I find my Perfect Planner? Will I discover that the Trinote is my Perfect Planner after all?
Stay tuned!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Am I asking too much?
I don't think I am. I've read other people also want the following out of their planner, so I know I'm not alone. I want:
Plenty of space to write my appointments, tasks, projects, goals, hopes, dreams, ideas, creativity, and personal development. I want to record the mundane and the existential. I want my planner to handle everything from my weekly cleaning schedule to a major international move. I want it to be pretty, inspiring, and fun to use. And, I want it to fit in my bag and be light enough to carry everywhere with me.
Is this too much to ask? Maybe it is too much to expect from one single book. Maybe I need to branch out into multiple books. But ultimately, I do expect a lot from my planner.
What do you expect from your planner? Is it just a place for you to record appointments? Do you like to use your planner creatively? Am I silly to expect so much from a planner?
Plenty of space to write my appointments, tasks, projects, goals, hopes, dreams, ideas, creativity, and personal development. I want to record the mundane and the existential. I want my planner to handle everything from my weekly cleaning schedule to a major international move. I want it to be pretty, inspiring, and fun to use. And, I want it to fit in my bag and be light enough to carry everywhere with me.
Is this too much to ask? Maybe it is too much to expect from one single book. Maybe I need to branch out into multiple books. But ultimately, I do expect a lot from my planner.
What do you expect from your planner? Is it just a place for you to record appointments? Do you like to use your planner creatively? Am I silly to expect so much from a planner?
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Experimenting with Large Moleskine day per page planner
As I wrote in my Ideal Planner post, my goal is to settle on a planner by the end of January and use it for all of 2011. This would be an enormous feat for me. The last time I used one single planner for an entire year was 2005. (For those of you who are curious, that was a day per page Time Traveler diary, in the A6 size that they unfortunately no longer make.)
After using literally a dozen different planners each year for the past two years (and who knows how many I used per year before that, I didn't keep count) I'm tired of flitting to and fro. I'm ready to settle down and commit to one single planner. Can I do it? I don't know. But I'm ready to try.
First up in my planners experiment is the large hard cover Moleskine day per page planner. I've been using these planners for several years as my journal. Back in the spring I pre-ordered the 2011 large daily Moleskine from Amazon at a really low price. Not long after that I stopped writing in my journal for various reasons. As a result I have both the 2010 and 2011 versions of the large daily Moleskine planner.
I spent some time (while snowed in at home) prepping both of these for use. Since the 2010 Moleskines do not have monthly calendars, I drew one up for December on one of the Notes pages in the back of my 2010 planner (and no I won't post a photo of it 'cause it's a mess. Think oblique angles and smudged pen.) I wanted a fair experiment, and I knew that the lack of a monthly calendar would mean a higher chance of me abandoning the planner, when a monthly calendar could make all the difference in whether it works for me or not.
Here are the monthly calendars in the 2011 Moleskine. I drew an approximation of one of these in my 2010 Mole for December:
I filled in my 2010 daily Mole with all of December's appointments and to-dos. I also filled in all my dates and events for next year in my 2011 daily Mole.
I've also been having fun experimenting with covers, trying my daily Mole in my purple fuzzy Rickshaw Classic folio:
my purple non-fuzzy but roomier Rickshaw Daily Planner folio:
and my heavy-but-gorgeous Oberon Designs leather cover (which looks absolutely bad-ass).
All of these covers work perfectly with my daily Moleskine. I was surprised that the Classic Folio does fit the Daily Moleskine, although there's not enough room to put pens inside the cover. The Daily Planner Folio has plenty of room inside the cover for my pens, phone, papers, and anything else I might want in there.
I've used day per page planners in the past, but I've never used one this large as my planner. Having such a large page for every day allows me to capture loads of details that otherwise would never get written down in smaller day spaces. I can list and fill in my daily goals, jot notes, and write things to expand on in my journal later.
Something I've noticed when using a day per page planner is that it creates a sort of intimacy with the planner that you don't get with weekly planners. Because it does have so much space for detail, I find myself writing in it and referring to it much more often throughout the day than I do when I use a weekly planner.
Originally I wasn't even considering using the large daily Mole as my planner, because I was looking for something more portable. I was inspired to try this big fat book by several people. One is my husband. I had a heap of potential 2011 planners I was going through and he (bravely) asked me which I plan to use (probably bracing himself for a monologue). I told him I'm not sure and plan to try several. He pointed to the large daily Mole and said, "Use that one." I asked why. I assumed it's because it's a Moleskine, and he uses a Moleskine planner himself. But there were several other Moleskines out there so I wondered why that one in particular. He said, "It's gonna be a big year. You'll need all the writing space you can get." Well, I can't argue with that. He's definitely right about the big year and needing to write a lot to organize it all. But can the daily work for me? Can I effectively plan ahead with it?
Two other people I've found inspirational lately are themselves users of the large daily Moleskine (or are about to be). Here is Laura Reyna's comment on one of my recent posts, about how she structures her large daily Moleskine planner's pages:
"After trying out various layouts I've settled on one that works for me right now. This is the current layout I'll be using for my 2011 Mole. As stated previously, I use a page per day format...
I separate my day/page into 3 main sections:
1. TOP-- Here I put my daily to-dos. I actually separate this section into quarters and mark them as Morn, 12:00, 3:00 & 6:00. This adds structure to my day. Certain tasks are for the morning, others for the afternoon & still others for evening.
2. MIDDLE--My food log. I recently started exercising & watching what I eat. (I've lost nearly 20 lb since June!:-) )
3. BOTTOM-- This section is for random notes &/or journal entries.
My system is one that emphasizes tasks/to-dos & not appointments or events. Keeping a detailed calendar is less important than making sure I get certain goals done each day.
I don't have an appointment heavy life so don't need a daily planner that enphasizes hourly appointments. The great thing about the Mole is that the hours are very subtle and can be ignored.... I think you've pointed this out in your past reviews.
Any appointments I might have are noted in my monthly calendar (in past planners calendars have been printed separately and glued to the front) and then noted on the very top section of the appropriate day.
No matter what planner I use I know I have to customize each day. By switching to a commercial planner it means I don't have to glue in a calendar each month or write out the date each day-- less stuff to do."
The other person I've found inspirational is someone near and dear to our hearts, Greg (with his gorgeous custom leather cover for his daily Moleskine, by Rennaisance Art):
Here is a comment Greg posted recently on one of my other posts. He had been going back and forth between Franklin Covey binders and Filofaxes, and decided to make the leap to a bound book planner. Here he tells us how it's going so far:
"The Moleskine daily planner I purchased for 2010 with the Ren Art cover is in use every day!!! The problem I ran into is that I really missed exactly what you were discussing, the "blocks" for every month. I "need" them!
So I've been fiddling with the Moleskine everyday, entering important information from my notes. But I have also been carrying my A5 Filo Kent I purchased on eBay. Both work well right now, but I really think I want that feeling of "permanent", which the Moleskine gives me. Like I said in a previous post, I really don't move tabs and paper around or add papers in my Filo once it's setup, so why a ring binder? Back to the Moleskine, here is my positives, the large for me is just the right size, I have it covered with the Ren Art cover but if I get the itch I can either change it for another one at a very modest price, with my NAME on the front cover or take it off completely. I like the paper bound and sewn, it lays flat when open, it has a place for addresses, and the 2011 has the blocks I'm looking for. AND if I fancy that I need a pocket or two on the inside cover, Ren Art makes covers that way also! The other part that just does it for me is the fact that, what I write, color, or draw is there to stay. I can't just pull the sheet out. Well I can but I'd ruin the binding. Permanent, that's what I want! If I write it, I may not think it's important at the time but what if I find I need that info later? If it was ring bound, I might have torn that sheet out and thrown it away. So for me, the Moleskine may very well be the 2011 planner."
You have no idea how inspirational these two are to me.
I would love to use the large daily pages to record tons of details of my life all year. Then at the end of the year, my whole life for the entire year would be encapsulated in the book.
But the true test will be in the planning. Will the monthly calendars allow me to plan without a week view? Will I feel lost in "a sea of individual days" as I usually do when using a day per page planner?
Only time will tell. The race is on. I have less than 2 months to settle on my 2011 planner decision.
Stay tuned...
Friday, December 3, 2010
Daily Goals
Here is a new trick I've incorporated this week that's really working well for me.
I'm always trying to figure out ways to incorporate my goals into my daily and weekly schedule. Those big-picture items tend to get lost in the shuffle of all the millions of things I do each day. I decided to incorporate a trick I've seen in photos of other people's planners online (like cecille joan's daily Moleskine, where she writes her daily reminders near the bottom of the page and crosses them off after completion). Many thanks also to Travis the Trout for goal-setting inspiration. If you haven't seen Travis's Goals Journal series, check it out here:
http://notesinabook.wordpress.com/category/how-to/goals-journal/
I don't use a separate Goals Journal, instead I incorporate my goals into my planner in order to 1) have them in front of me all the time and 2) see how I'm going to work them into my day.
In my planner on each day's space, I put each Goal category with space to fill it in when I complete it. For example, some of my daily goals are to take my Vitamin D supplement (I'm so surprised the milk here is not fortified like it is in the US), exercise, and read something science-related.
So in each day's space I have "Vit. D" with a box to check after I've taken it, "EXC" with space to write in what I did (walk, weights, ball or whatever), "READ" with space to note what I read.
I have found that having a space to fill in staring me in the face reminds me to do the action and encourages me to do something so I can write it in.
Goals Win!
I'm always trying to figure out ways to incorporate my goals into my daily and weekly schedule. Those big-picture items tend to get lost in the shuffle of all the millions of things I do each day. I decided to incorporate a trick I've seen in photos of other people's planners online (like cecille joan's daily Moleskine, where she writes her daily reminders near the bottom of the page and crosses them off after completion). Many thanks also to Travis the Trout for goal-setting inspiration. If you haven't seen Travis's Goals Journal series, check it out here:
http://notesinabook.wordpress.com/category/how-to/goals-journal/
I don't use a separate Goals Journal, instead I incorporate my goals into my planner in order to 1) have them in front of me all the time and 2) see how I'm going to work them into my day.
In my planner on each day's space, I put each Goal category with space to fill it in when I complete it. For example, some of my daily goals are to take my Vitamin D supplement (I'm so surprised the milk here is not fortified like it is in the US), exercise, and read something science-related.
So in each day's space I have "Vit. D" with a box to check after I've taken it, "EXC" with space to write in what I did (walk, weights, ball or whatever), "READ" with space to note what I read.
I have found that having a space to fill in staring me in the face reminds me to do the action and encourages me to do something so I can write it in.
Goals Win!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
My Ideal Planner 2011
The search for my ideal planner continues.
My Ideal Planner would have the following features:
1) Large page size but portable size book (which eliminates Filofaxes, I have finally determined).
2) Week view with the days as columns.
3) Space on the weekly pages to write my lists.
4) Monthly calendars with boxes large enough to write in.
5) Space to write my annual, monthly and weekly goals.
6) Pages of international information like dialing codes, time zones and conversions.
7) A removable address booklet for my contacts and numbers.
8) Nice paper.
9) Pretty cover.
10) My absolutely ideal planner would have month tabs, but I can put those in if I need to.
I have several serious contenders for the title of My Ideal Planner 2011:
For the past several months I've been using my Quo Vadis Trinote.
It works really well for me, with its large day spaces, big weekly layout and space on the week spread for lists. But there are some features it lacks that I would like to have in my planner. I have fixed two of these issues by adding monthly calendars with space to write monthly goals, and replacing my black cover with a colorful cover. The Trinote isn't terribly huge, but I wish it were a little smaller and easier to carry around in my bag. If the rest of my 2011 planner experiments fail, I will happily use my 2011 Trinote for the year because it does work well for me. But I just can't resist the urge to find my Perfect Planner! So here are some possibilities for 2011:
First up, the beautiful Rabbit planner with the month-and-week layout that is so nice. But the day spaces are smaller than I'm used to so I'm wondering if it will have enough space for me to write each day. Also, it lacks information pages that I like to have such as dialing codes and time zone maps. But it wins major points for the beautiful cover, spectacular paper, and unique layout. Being able to see the entire month ahead along with my week's schedule might be very addictive!
My WeekDate planner has lots of features I want: pretty cover, weekly layout with days as columns and space for lists each week.
Even though it has space to write recurring monthly events, it doesn't have actual month calendars. Also it doesn't have international information etc. that I like. I'm intrigued by the format though, and the convenience of not having to re-write recurring events might be just what I need.
Another contender is my slightly tweaked Vertical Weekly Moleskine with space under the daily columns for my lists (click photo to enlarge):
Because the 2011 Moleskine planners now have monthly calendars, this planner is a firm possibility for my Ideal Planner. It's a portable size and slim book, and has monthly calendars with space underneath to write monthly goals.
Other features it has that I love: international information, removable address booklet, hard bound book, and I can decorate the cover to make it pretty. This is a real possibility.
Another completely different option I've been thinking of lately is to switch to a day per page book. I know what you're thinking: how many times do I have to try and fail with a day per page book before I realize they don't work for me? But, I'm still enamored with daily books. I love all the space each day to write details that otherwise wouldn't get recorded on smaller day spaces. If I can learn how to plan ahead better, a daily book could be a good option for me.
One option is to use my Textagenda (with my pretty purple cover from France, not the Grenadine Pink cover that I don't like).
It doesn't have monthly calendars, but it does have the anno-planning pages that I could use as an overview and then use my wall calendar for the monthly overview. This would give me lots of space to write each day, and is a nicely portable size.
Something else I've been thinking of is a Pocket size Moleskine Daily planner. I have one of these for 2010 but didn't use it much because it lacks monthly calendars. But now that the 2011 version does have monthly calendars, this could be an option for me.
Whatever I choose, I want to get it figured out by the end of January and then try to stick with it for the whole year! This would be a major feat for me and I'm not sure I can do it. But after using 13 planners in 2009 and 10 planners in 2010, I'm getting tired of having my year scattered throughout a dozen books. I would love to have my year encapsulated in one, perfect, book.
My Ideal Planner would have the following features:
1) Large page size but portable size book (which eliminates Filofaxes, I have finally determined).
2) Week view with the days as columns.
3) Space on the weekly pages to write my lists.
4) Monthly calendars with boxes large enough to write in.
5) Space to write my annual, monthly and weekly goals.
6) Pages of international information like dialing codes, time zones and conversions.
7) A removable address booklet for my contacts and numbers.
8) Nice paper.
9) Pretty cover.
10) My absolutely ideal planner would have month tabs, but I can put those in if I need to.
I have several serious contenders for the title of My Ideal Planner 2011:
For the past several months I've been using my Quo Vadis Trinote.
It works really well for me, with its large day spaces, big weekly layout and space on the week spread for lists. But there are some features it lacks that I would like to have in my planner. I have fixed two of these issues by adding monthly calendars with space to write monthly goals, and replacing my black cover with a colorful cover. The Trinote isn't terribly huge, but I wish it were a little smaller and easier to carry around in my bag. If the rest of my 2011 planner experiments fail, I will happily use my 2011 Trinote for the year because it does work well for me. But I just can't resist the urge to find my Perfect Planner! So here are some possibilities for 2011:
First up, the beautiful Rabbit planner with the month-and-week layout that is so nice. But the day spaces are smaller than I'm used to so I'm wondering if it will have enough space for me to write each day. Also, it lacks information pages that I like to have such as dialing codes and time zone maps. But it wins major points for the beautiful cover, spectacular paper, and unique layout. Being able to see the entire month ahead along with my week's schedule might be very addictive!
My WeekDate planner has lots of features I want: pretty cover, weekly layout with days as columns and space for lists each week.
Even though it has space to write recurring monthly events, it doesn't have actual month calendars. Also it doesn't have international information etc. that I like. I'm intrigued by the format though, and the convenience of not having to re-write recurring events might be just what I need.
Another contender is my slightly tweaked Vertical Weekly Moleskine with space under the daily columns for my lists (click photo to enlarge):
Because the 2011 Moleskine planners now have monthly calendars, this planner is a firm possibility for my Ideal Planner. It's a portable size and slim book, and has monthly calendars with space underneath to write monthly goals.
Another completely different option I've been thinking of lately is to switch to a day per page book. I know what you're thinking: how many times do I have to try and fail with a day per page book before I realize they don't work for me? But, I'm still enamored with daily books. I love all the space each day to write details that otherwise wouldn't get recorded on smaller day spaces. If I can learn how to plan ahead better, a daily book could be a good option for me.
One option is to use my Textagenda (with my pretty purple cover from France, not the Grenadine Pink cover that I don't like).
It doesn't have monthly calendars, but it does have the anno-planning pages that I could use as an overview and then use my wall calendar for the monthly overview. This would give me lots of space to write each day, and is a nicely portable size.
Something else I've been thinking of is a Pocket size Moleskine Daily planner. I have one of these for 2010 but didn't use it much because it lacks monthly calendars. But now that the 2011 version does have monthly calendars, this could be an option for me.
Whatever I choose, I want to get it figured out by the end of January and then try to stick with it for the whole year! This would be a major feat for me and I'm not sure I can do it. But after using 13 planners in 2009 and 10 planners in 2010, I'm getting tired of having my year scattered throughout a dozen books. I would love to have my year encapsulated in one, perfect, book.
Monday, November 29, 2010
2010 Planners Tally
You may remember my 13 Planners post, where I tallied up all the planners I used in 2009. Now it's time to total up all the planners I used in 2010.
First, keep in mind that I do actually use most of the planners I review, usually for a few days, to get a good idea of how they work. Sometimes I switch to that planner, but often I go back to the planner I was using before. I won't include these planners in my total for this year.
I will number the planners as I go:
So, those of you who have been following my planner saga for the past year will remember I started 2010 with my 1) Quo Vadis Minister, which I loved. I started it at the end of November 2009, and I used it until March 2010 (which is a very long time for me to continuously use a planner!).
Then in March I had a really busy time and felt like I needed more space each week to write my lists. Also I wanted pages to write my monthly goals and reviews. And, I really wanted month view calendars.
So, I drew up a 2) DIY planner in my large lined Moleskine notebook. I am not much of a DIY-er and am not at all artistic, so this was a major feat for me. I decided I would make My Ultimate Planner. (But you might guess how that turned out since I'm not using this planner anymore).
It was a great idea: pages for goals, month on 2 pages calendars, and week views with vertical columns for days. To give myself lots of room for my lists, I put a blank 2-page spread between each week. I even put month tabs down the side (as I like so much ). It's a portable size, and has the Moleskine planner's address booklet in the back. I thought this planner was absolutely The Shit.
But...(and you knew this was coming) it turned out not to be the end-all be-all I expected it to be. As it turned out, having to turn the page to see my lists was a Fail. Yes apparently I really am that out-of-sight out-of-mind that I have to have my lists visible alongside my weekly schedule. Also, I found it very annoying when flipping through my book that the weeks were not back to back. And I missed having information pages like dialing codes and time zones in my planner.
Not only that, but the black cover and format I drew were very boring and way too serious. So when I went to London in April it was the perfect time for me to switch to the very fun 3) Dodo Pad A5 Filofax insert in my new Filofax Domino. I loved the weekly changing pages, art, humor and colors.
But, as has happened before, I eventually quit using my A5 Filofax as my main planner because it was just too big and heavy to carry everywhere with me. At the beginning of June I started using my purple-covered 4) Plan-It Planner because I love the large month calendars embedded in the weeks. But after a couple of weeks I had problems because there wasn't space for my lists on the weekly page.
So in mid-June I switched to my 5) 2009-2010 Moleskine weekly notebook because it has an entire page each week for lists and notes. Also I think I used this because I was impatient to begin my 6) 2010-2011 Moleskine weekly notebook at the beginning of July. Despite the fact that I used the weekly notebook format for much of 2009 and was never completely satisfied with it because the day spaces are too small for me, I gave it a try again. I thought the new monthly planning calendars might make a big difference. And to be honest, I was excited to start a fresh new planner.
Near the end of July, my moving preparations were really gearing up. For those who weren't following at the time, my husband was changing careers and my family and I were moving internationally. A very stressful situation to put it mildly. So predictably I had a planner crisis. I was having a hard time keeping track of all the moving logistics and what needed to be done when. Also, I needed a lot of information handy, which usually makes me turn to my Filofax. So after my Filofax revamp, I moved into my 7) personal size Filofax with week on 2 pages diary and used my large Noteletts notebook for moving lists and notes. You can read about that here.
But despite the post title, that wasn't gettin' it done. I had a full-blown planner crisis. My wise younger sister helped me through it and suggested I use the planner she's had great success with for the past year, the 8) Quo Vadis Trinote. This planner got me through my move beautifully, and definitely saved my sanity through the difficult transition.
After I started to settle into my new place and new life, I got adventurous again with my planners. Being in the UK opened up new planner possibilities for me. I'd had my eye on the 9) Life Book for awhile and couldn't resist trying it. It has monthly calendars (which I love and need) and space for lists on the weekly layout. Also, now that my household is on a school-year schedule it seemed like it would be more convenient to have an academic-year planner. So I switched from my super-efficient Trinote to the Life Book.
Before long I discovered that the Life Book's daily spaces were not nearly big enough for me to write everything I need to write each day. So I ordered up the 10) Quo Vadis Textagenda (UK version) day per page planner. I used the Textagenda together with the Life Book (which you can read about here). Using two planners at once quickly failed and I went back to my Trinote.
So, 10 planners is better than 13. But still, this is ridiculous. If I have to look anything up, I have to search through all these planners to see where it's written. I'd really love to commit to one planner for a whole year! But in order to accomplish this, I think the planner would have to be perfect. I need My Ideal Planner.
As excellent as my Trinote is, it's lacking some features I'd like: monthly calendars, a pretty cover and a smaller more portable size. The first two I've fixed (with my addition of monthly calendars and colored covers), but there's no way to shrink the book. If I can't find a smaller version of My Ideal Planner, then my Trinote might possibly be it. But I still want to see if I can find something that works as well for me as the Trinote, but in a smaller size. This gets tricky because a smaller size book means less writing space, and as we all know I like to write a lot in my planner.
I plan to use my Trinote through the end of this year, but come January the battle of the 2011 planners will begin. More on that in my next post!
**Edited later to add: Before the end of 2010 I also tried:
11) My large Moleskine day per page planner. (You can read about that failure here.)
12) Personal size Filofax daily + weekly. (Read about that failure here.)
13) Personal size Filofax 2 days per page. (Aaaaand, that failure here, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the comments.)
First, keep in mind that I do actually use most of the planners I review, usually for a few days, to get a good idea of how they work. Sometimes I switch to that planner, but often I go back to the planner I was using before. I won't include these planners in my total for this year.
I will number the planners as I go:
So, those of you who have been following my planner saga for the past year will remember I started 2010 with my 1) Quo Vadis Minister, which I loved. I started it at the end of November 2009, and I used it until March 2010 (which is a very long time for me to continuously use a planner!).
Then in March I had a really busy time and felt like I needed more space each week to write my lists. Also I wanted pages to write my monthly goals and reviews. And, I really wanted month view calendars.
So, I drew up a 2) DIY planner in my large lined Moleskine notebook. I am not much of a DIY-er and am not at all artistic, so this was a major feat for me. I decided I would make My Ultimate Planner. (But you might guess how that turned out since I'm not using this planner anymore).
It was a great idea: pages for goals, month on 2 pages calendars, and week views with vertical columns for days. To give myself lots of room for my lists, I put a blank 2-page spread between each week. I even put month tabs down the side (as I like so much ). It's a portable size, and has the Moleskine planner's address booklet in the back. I thought this planner was absolutely The Shit.
But...(and you knew this was coming) it turned out not to be the end-all be-all I expected it to be. As it turned out, having to turn the page to see my lists was a Fail. Yes apparently I really am that out-of-sight out-of-mind that I have to have my lists visible alongside my weekly schedule. Also, I found it very annoying when flipping through my book that the weeks were not back to back. And I missed having information pages like dialing codes and time zones in my planner.
Not only that, but the black cover and format I drew were very boring and way too serious. So when I went to London in April it was the perfect time for me to switch to the very fun 3) Dodo Pad A5 Filofax insert in my new Filofax Domino. I loved the weekly changing pages, art, humor and colors.
But, as has happened before, I eventually quit using my A5 Filofax as my main planner because it was just too big and heavy to carry everywhere with me. At the beginning of June I started using my purple-covered 4) Plan-It Planner because I love the large month calendars embedded in the weeks. But after a couple of weeks I had problems because there wasn't space for my lists on the weekly page.
So in mid-June I switched to my 5) 2009-2010 Moleskine weekly notebook because it has an entire page each week for lists and notes. Also I think I used this because I was impatient to begin my 6) 2010-2011 Moleskine weekly notebook at the beginning of July. Despite the fact that I used the weekly notebook format for much of 2009 and was never completely satisfied with it because the day spaces are too small for me, I gave it a try again. I thought the new monthly planning calendars might make a big difference. And to be honest, I was excited to start a fresh new planner.
Near the end of July, my moving preparations were really gearing up. For those who weren't following at the time, my husband was changing careers and my family and I were moving internationally. A very stressful situation to put it mildly. So predictably I had a planner crisis. I was having a hard time keeping track of all the moving logistics and what needed to be done when. Also, I needed a lot of information handy, which usually makes me turn to my Filofax. So after my Filofax revamp, I moved into my 7) personal size Filofax with week on 2 pages diary and used my large Noteletts notebook for moving lists and notes. You can read about that here.
But despite the post title, that wasn't gettin' it done. I had a full-blown planner crisis. My wise younger sister helped me through it and suggested I use the planner she's had great success with for the past year, the 8) Quo Vadis Trinote. This planner got me through my move beautifully, and definitely saved my sanity through the difficult transition.
After I started to settle into my new place and new life, I got adventurous again with my planners. Being in the UK opened up new planner possibilities for me. I'd had my eye on the 9) Life Book for awhile and couldn't resist trying it. It has monthly calendars (which I love and need) and space for lists on the weekly layout. Also, now that my household is on a school-year schedule it seemed like it would be more convenient to have an academic-year planner. So I switched from my super-efficient Trinote to the Life Book.
Before long I discovered that the Life Book's daily spaces were not nearly big enough for me to write everything I need to write each day. So I ordered up the 10) Quo Vadis Textagenda (UK version) day per page planner. I used the Textagenda together with the Life Book (which you can read about here). Using two planners at once quickly failed and I went back to my Trinote.
So, 10 planners is better than 13. But still, this is ridiculous. If I have to look anything up, I have to search through all these planners to see where it's written. I'd really love to commit to one planner for a whole year! But in order to accomplish this, I think the planner would have to be perfect. I need My Ideal Planner.
As excellent as my Trinote is, it's lacking some features I'd like: monthly calendars, a pretty cover and a smaller more portable size. The first two I've fixed (with my addition of monthly calendars and colored covers), but there's no way to shrink the book. If I can't find a smaller version of My Ideal Planner, then my Trinote might possibly be it. But I still want to see if I can find something that works as well for me as the Trinote, but in a smaller size. This gets tricky because a smaller size book means less writing space, and as we all know I like to write a lot in my planner.
I plan to use my Trinote through the end of this year, but come January the battle of the 2011 planners will begin. More on that in my next post!
**Edited later to add: Before the end of 2010 I also tried:
11) My large Moleskine day per page planner. (You can read about that failure here.)
12) Personal size Filofax daily + weekly. (Read about that failure here.)
13) Personal size Filofax 2 days per page. (Aaaaand, that failure here, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the comments.)
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Monthly pages in Trinote, Part 2
You may remember my post Monthly pages in Trinote where I tried to figure out various ways to add in a monthly calendar section. Now I have found the answer.
First of all, many thanks to Laura Reyna who sent me the link to free printable monthly calendars. Here is the link to the 2011 calendars:
http://www.printable2011calendar.com/
Take a look around their website because they have loads of free printables like weekly household cleaning lists, weekly and monthly calendars for binder organizers of various sizes, and even forms like to do, etc.
I downloaded the 2011 monthly calendars, and I really like the clean layout with the holidays printed on the days. I'm not much of a DIY-er, and my hack scissor-and-tape job doesn't look as nice as someone craftier would make it. But it works for me.
My printer was set to automatically rotate the image and fit the page, but I unchecked that box so that the calendars would be upright on the page. This has two advantages:
1) I don't have to turn my book sideways to use the monthly calendars, and
2) there's plenty of space below the calendar to write that month's goals, reminders, etc. Win!!
You may be asking yourself, where in my Trinote did I stick these pages? Because after all, something had to get covered up.
The Trinote's weekly pages begin the week of the end of November/ beginning of December. Since I'm not going to start my 2011 Trinote until the beginning of January, that gave me 8 pages to stick in monthly calendars. The last 4 months went in the back of the book over the Pay/ Receive pages that I don't use:
This means January-August are at the beginning of the book, and September-December are at the end of the book. I did it this way so that none of the information pages or maps were covered. Having the months split in the book is a small price to pay to have monthly calendars (with space for monthly goals) incorporated into my planner.
Alternatively, if I didn't need the writing space under the months, I could have stuck two months per page and had all the months together at the beginning of the planner.
So now I have the glory of having every type of calendar I need in my Trinote:
Year overview to track travel, holidays, school breaks and bills paid (and another one of these for the following year to write in next year's appointments, renewals etc.):
Monthly calendars to see two months at a time overviews and to track monthly goals:
Power-planning weeks with large daily columns, daily notes spaces, and categorized list boxes (click to enlarge):
And the 3 year overview calendars:
I also have my address booklet, which I use like crazy.
All of this in one book with the large page size for plenty of writing space makes me feel like I'm ready for anything!!!
You can get more information about the Quo Vadis Trinote including links to buy it at:
http://www.quovadisplanners.com/catalog/trinote
Or if you are in the UK the website is:
http://www.quovadis-diaries.co.uk/acatalog/Trinote.html
I don't know if the UK version of the Trinote is exactly the same as the US version. The UK version does have UK-specific information that the US version does not have, according to their website.
First of all, many thanks to Laura Reyna who sent me the link to free printable monthly calendars. Here is the link to the 2011 calendars:
http://www.printable2011calendar.com/
Take a look around their website because they have loads of free printables like weekly household cleaning lists, weekly and monthly calendars for binder organizers of various sizes, and even forms like to do, etc.
I downloaded the 2011 monthly calendars, and I really like the clean layout with the holidays printed on the days. I'm not much of a DIY-er, and my hack scissor-and-tape job doesn't look as nice as someone craftier would make it. But it works for me.
My printer was set to automatically rotate the image and fit the page, but I unchecked that box so that the calendars would be upright on the page. This has two advantages:
1) I don't have to turn my book sideways to use the monthly calendars, and
2) there's plenty of space below the calendar to write that month's goals, reminders, etc. Win!!
You may be asking yourself, where in my Trinote did I stick these pages? Because after all, something had to get covered up.
The Trinote's weekly pages begin the week of the end of November/ beginning of December. Since I'm not going to start my 2011 Trinote until the beginning of January, that gave me 8 pages to stick in monthly calendars. The last 4 months went in the back of the book over the Pay/ Receive pages that I don't use:
Alternatively, if I didn't need the writing space under the months, I could have stuck two months per page and had all the months together at the beginning of the planner.
So now I have the glory of having every type of calendar I need in my Trinote:
Year overview to track travel, holidays, school breaks and bills paid (and another one of these for the following year to write in next year's appointments, renewals etc.):
And the 3 year overview calendars:
I also have my address booklet, which I use like crazy.
All of this in one book with the large page size for plenty of writing space makes me feel like I'm ready for anything!!!
You can get more information about the Quo Vadis Trinote including links to buy it at:
http://www.quovadisplanners.com/catalog/trinote
Or if you are in the UK the website is:
http://www.quovadis-diaries.co.uk/acatalog/Trinote.html
I don't know if the UK version of the Trinote is exactly the same as the US version. The UK version does have UK-specific information that the US version does not have, according to their website.
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