Some of you may have noticed in my What I'm Currently Using page (in the sidebar) that I've switched things up a little.
At the moment, I'm not using my Organised Mum Life Book. Some of you have expressed shock that I've abandoned the planner that I was loving so much! And to be completely honest I'm surprised myself, because I absolutely love the Life Book. I love it.
But over the past couple of months I found myself using it less and less. It's too big to carry with me everywhere so it sits on my desk next to my computer. My day per page planner goes everywhere with me and is my main planner with all my daily details, so my Org Mum was more like a worksheet to see the weeks and months mapped out. I wrote my weekly lists on the weekly pages along with appointments and meal planning. It works really well. When I use it, that is.
But as I wrote less and less in it I realized that I wrote so little into the daily spaces each week, I could get away with just a monthly view rather than weekly.
My mom gave me a Moleskine Monthly Notebook for Christmas (click here for review), which I've been wanting to try with my daily book for a long time. Monthly views, and pages for notes and lists. Sheer simplicity.
And to further explain my planner changeup, here's what's going on with my life right now. We might be doing yet another international move this summer...or not...or we might stay an additional year here...or not! As you might imagine, the uncertainty of possible major life changes is making me anxious and I'm looking for a way to feel more in control.
The massive benefit of my Moleskine Monthly Notebook is that it's small and slim so it goes in my bag with me everywhere. So when I'm out and about and think of something else to add to my lists or longer-range planning I can capture it directly and not have to try to remember to write it into my book when I get home.
Don't get me wrong, I still adore my OM. I might go back to it (you know how I am). Once things are settled I might start using it again, I can totally see myself doing that. But for now I'm trying out the portability of the Monthly Notebook. When you read my review of it you'll see lots of reasons why I like it.
Will I stay with my Monthly Notebook? Will I go back to the Organised Mum Life Book that I love so much? Will I switch to something completely different? Only time will tell, so stay tuned!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Planner Tally 2011
2011 was another year of switching around in lots of different planners. Here is what I used:
I started 2011 determined to choose one planner that I would use all year by the end of January. That was the plan, at least. I was very excited to experiment with the WeekDate planner, and a slight tweak of the Moleskine vertical weekly planner.
Then in mid-January my life was completely upended when I found out we would be moving from Scotland to Indonesia in just 2 months. All my goals and plans for the year were suddenly thrown out the window, and I had yet another international move to prepare for. As I tend to do in these situations, I went for the comfort factor of my Filofax.
When the moving preparations really geared up, I turned to my pocket size daily Moleskine diary, because I was able to carry it around in my pocket to write down all the millions of little details I had to do to prepare for our move before they escaped my scattered and stressed-out brain.
During our moving preparations we all had to get a million vaccines before moving to Indonesia. While scheduling dozens of vaccines over a 6 week period, I realized all this scheduling would be much easier in a weekly planner with days as vertical columns, so I moved over into my Quo Vadis Minister Habana. This planner got me through my move with my sanity (mostly) intact.
Shortly after my move to Indonesia my real planner crisis began as I tried to figure out what would best fit my new life. I was chomping at the bit to use my new A5 Filofax Domino in the gorgeous Ultraviolet color, so I busted that out. Despite a few attempts, I soon abandoned it because it was just too big and heavy to carry everywhere.
At this point I only had my luggage, and my shipment with a variety of planners would not arrive for more than a month (despite the shipping company's "less than a week" promise). Nothing like having a planner crisis with no planners available! Also considering it was April, which is the Planner Dry Season, I was stuck for planner options.
So I bought a notebook and made my own planner, which was pretty successful. The day spaces were too small for everything I wanted to write, so I added in my pocket daily Moleskine for the daily details, and this worked well.
Then in June as I was struggling to settle into my new house and new life, I struggled with what planner to use. After a couple of scary medical incidents, I realized I had to have my Filofax with me at all times with our medical information in it. With my Filofax as my information book, I tried various planner combinations including going back to my self-made planner and then to my WeekDate, while using my daily pocket Moleskine as my log book.
In July I used the Women's Success Planner, which has loads of goal-setting tips and household reminders. It's very comprehensive and I was very excited to use it.
Then when school started in August I switched to my Extra Large 18 month Moleskine weekly notebook, because I needed the massive amounts of writing space and because I'd been gagging to use it ever since I ordered it back in early March.
The XL turned out to be just too big and heavy to carry all the time in my bag, and I had a planner crisis. On the advice of my sister I turned to the Quo Vadis Trinote, which is the planner that saw me through my move to Scotland.
Then in October I moved over into my 2011 Organised Mum Life Book, because it's what I was using exactly a year before in Scotland and I was feeling nostalgic. I used my pocket daily Moleskine along with it and this sytem worked so well that I bought the 2012 Organised Mum Life Book and continued to use this setup for the rest of the year.
I've left out a couple of short-term switchings-around, and I haven't even bothered to count up this total because, wow. It's a lot.
At this point, who can even speculate what I'll use in 2012?
Here is the reverse-chronology I posted on my What I'm Currently Using page, for more information on dates of use and why I used each thing:
October 17-December 31, 2011: I was feeling nostalgic for my Organised Mum Life Book because it's what I was using about this time last year in Scotland, so I got it back out again. It runs Sept 2010 through the end of December 2011 so I can still use it now. I LOVE the month on 2 pages calendars with the pages between the months for goals, notes and budgeting. I also love all the notes pages in the back for annual planning and goals. There's plenty of space at the sides of the weekly pages for my to-do lists, which I can categorize any way I want. The only thing I struggle with in this planner is the day spaces are a little small for me. I get around this by using my Pocket Daily Moleskine as my log book, as I have done for most of this year. I switched straight over to my 2012 Life Book diary (which goes from mid-August 2011 through the end of December 2012) when it arrived Nov 4. It has some excellent updates this year, which you can read all about in my review here. I also treated myself to the purple faux leather cover which I love!
September 8-October 16: After a total Planner Breakdown, my ever-wise sister convinced me to go back to using the Quo Vadis Trinote, which worked so well for me last year. The XL Mole was just too big and heavy in my bag. The Trinote is much slimmer and lighter and more portable, and the days as (huge) columns give me plenty of room to write the multitudes of things I need to do each day. The categorized list boxes alongside my weekly schedule allow me to see what I need to do and when I have time to do it.
August 17-Sept 7: When the school year began I discovered I needed the maximum writing space of my 2011-2012 Extra Large Moleskine Weekly Notebook. On it I have my Dodo Pad Nubuck cover in Aqua. I use my WeekDate Wall calendar on my fridge to keep everyone's activities visible for the whole family.
(September 1-3: In an attempt to incorporate journaling into my daily life, I switched to my Large Moleskine day per page, which you can read about here. Predictably, the day per page didn't allow me to plan ahead so back to my XL Mole I went.)
July 6-August 16: Woman's Success Planner (www.thesuccesschoice.com) with daily Moleskine as logbook.
June 21- July 5: WeekDate planner with daily Moleskine as logbook.
June 13-21 Back to self-made planner with daily Moleskine as logbook.
June 4-12 Filofax as information book and daily Moleskine as logbook.
April 10-June 3: Self-made planner in Daycraft Signature sketchbook. See my May 21 update of how I'm also using my Moleskine daily pocket planner along with it.
April 2- 9: A5 Domino Filofax (in the new Ultra Violet color) with the Quo Vadis Timer 21 inserts sent to me by Steve!
February 21- April 1: Quo Vadis Minister Habana weekly planner, with monthly calendars taped into the pages and a slim Moleskine address booklet in the back pocket.
February 1-20: Moleskine pocket size day per page.
January 16-31: Week on 2 pages in Filofax Deco.
January 8-15: Self-Made planner in Moleskine notebook.
(Concurrently "Calling the Dog")
January 8-15: WeekDate planner.
January 1-7: Moleskine large vertical weekly planner.
I started 2011 determined to choose one planner that I would use all year by the end of January. That was the plan, at least. I was very excited to experiment with the WeekDate planner, and a slight tweak of the Moleskine vertical weekly planner.
Then in mid-January my life was completely upended when I found out we would be moving from Scotland to Indonesia in just 2 months. All my goals and plans for the year were suddenly thrown out the window, and I had yet another international move to prepare for. As I tend to do in these situations, I went for the comfort factor of my Filofax.
When the moving preparations really geared up, I turned to my pocket size daily Moleskine diary, because I was able to carry it around in my pocket to write down all the millions of little details I had to do to prepare for our move before they escaped my scattered and stressed-out brain.
During our moving preparations we all had to get a million vaccines before moving to Indonesia. While scheduling dozens of vaccines over a 6 week period, I realized all this scheduling would be much easier in a weekly planner with days as vertical columns, so I moved over into my Quo Vadis Minister Habana. This planner got me through my move with my sanity (mostly) intact.
Shortly after my move to Indonesia my real planner crisis began as I tried to figure out what would best fit my new life. I was chomping at the bit to use my new A5 Filofax Domino in the gorgeous Ultraviolet color, so I busted that out. Despite a few attempts, I soon abandoned it because it was just too big and heavy to carry everywhere.
At this point I only had my luggage, and my shipment with a variety of planners would not arrive for more than a month (despite the shipping company's "less than a week" promise). Nothing like having a planner crisis with no planners available! Also considering it was April, which is the Planner Dry Season, I was stuck for planner options.
So I bought a notebook and made my own planner, which was pretty successful. The day spaces were too small for everything I wanted to write, so I added in my pocket daily Moleskine for the daily details, and this worked well.
Then in June as I was struggling to settle into my new house and new life, I struggled with what planner to use. After a couple of scary medical incidents, I realized I had to have my Filofax with me at all times with our medical information in it. With my Filofax as my information book, I tried various planner combinations including going back to my self-made planner and then to my WeekDate, while using my daily pocket Moleskine as my log book.
In July I used the Women's Success Planner, which has loads of goal-setting tips and household reminders. It's very comprehensive and I was very excited to use it.
Then when school started in August I switched to my Extra Large 18 month Moleskine weekly notebook, because I needed the massive amounts of writing space and because I'd been gagging to use it ever since I ordered it back in early March.
The XL turned out to be just too big and heavy to carry all the time in my bag, and I had a planner crisis. On the advice of my sister I turned to the Quo Vadis Trinote, which is the planner that saw me through my move to Scotland.
Then in October I moved over into my 2011 Organised Mum Life Book, because it's what I was using exactly a year before in Scotland and I was feeling nostalgic. I used my pocket daily Moleskine along with it and this sytem worked so well that I bought the 2012 Organised Mum Life Book and continued to use this setup for the rest of the year.
I've left out a couple of short-term switchings-around, and I haven't even bothered to count up this total because, wow. It's a lot.
At this point, who can even speculate what I'll use in 2012?
Here is the reverse-chronology I posted on my What I'm Currently Using page, for more information on dates of use and why I used each thing:
October 17-December 31, 2011: I was feeling nostalgic for my Organised Mum Life Book because it's what I was using about this time last year in Scotland, so I got it back out again. It runs Sept 2010 through the end of December 2011 so I can still use it now. I LOVE the month on 2 pages calendars with the pages between the months for goals, notes and budgeting. I also love all the notes pages in the back for annual planning and goals. There's plenty of space at the sides of the weekly pages for my to-do lists, which I can categorize any way I want. The only thing I struggle with in this planner is the day spaces are a little small for me. I get around this by using my Pocket Daily Moleskine as my log book, as I have done for most of this year. I switched straight over to my 2012 Life Book diary (which goes from mid-August 2011 through the end of December 2012) when it arrived Nov 4. It has some excellent updates this year, which you can read all about in my review here. I also treated myself to the purple faux leather cover which I love!
September 8-October 16: After a total Planner Breakdown, my ever-wise sister convinced me to go back to using the Quo Vadis Trinote, which worked so well for me last year. The XL Mole was just too big and heavy in my bag. The Trinote is much slimmer and lighter and more portable, and the days as (huge) columns give me plenty of room to write the multitudes of things I need to do each day. The categorized list boxes alongside my weekly schedule allow me to see what I need to do and when I have time to do it.
August 17-Sept 7: When the school year began I discovered I needed the maximum writing space of my 2011-2012 Extra Large Moleskine Weekly Notebook. On it I have my Dodo Pad Nubuck cover in Aqua. I use my WeekDate Wall calendar on my fridge to keep everyone's activities visible for the whole family.
(September 1-3: In an attempt to incorporate journaling into my daily life, I switched to my Large Moleskine day per page, which you can read about here. Predictably, the day per page didn't allow me to plan ahead so back to my XL Mole I went.)
July 6-August 16: Woman's Success Planner (www.thesuccesschoice.com) with daily Moleskine as logbook.
June 21- July 5: WeekDate planner with daily Moleskine as logbook.
June 13-21 Back to self-made planner with daily Moleskine as logbook.
June 4-12 Filofax as information book and daily Moleskine as logbook.
April 10-June 3: Self-made planner in Daycraft Signature sketchbook. See my May 21 update of how I'm also using my Moleskine daily pocket planner along with it.
April 2- 9: A5 Domino Filofax (in the new Ultra Violet color) with the Quo Vadis Timer 21 inserts sent to me by Steve!
February 21- April 1: Quo Vadis Minister Habana weekly planner, with monthly calendars taped into the pages and a slim Moleskine address booklet in the back pocket.
February 1-20: Moleskine pocket size day per page.
January 16-31: Week on 2 pages in Filofax Deco.
January 8-15: Self-Made planner in Moleskine notebook.
(Concurrently "Calling the Dog")
January 8-15: WeekDate planner.
January 1-7: Moleskine large vertical weekly planner.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Guest review: Moleskine Taskmaster planner
Enormous thanks to Mstraat who graciously offered to review the 2012 Moleskine Taskmaster weekly planner. I've been very curious about this planner, so I really appreciate this review!! Here's Mstraat with the glorious details:
Many of the features are the same as in other Moleskine products; ivory colored paper that is fairly thin so you’ll need to be careful what pen is used; “in case of loss” inside the front, followed by pages for personal data yearly overviews for 2012 and 2013; month on one page grids for 2012, a space at the bottom of each page for notes; international holidays; one page for travel planning and one for travels memo; time zones, international airport and flight duration listings; conversions and clothing sizes; and two blank pages with legend.
I do want to add that the Jenni Bick folks are most helpful. They were quite prompt in answering my email queries about the Taskmaster and even with time for embossing it arrived quickly. The embossing they do is beautiful, as you can see:
and they repackage the Moleskines with the original label—and a free gift! I received a leather bookmark with one planner and a key fob with the other. I am anxious to begin using the Taskmaster and will update you on how it has worked out for me after I have used it a bit. Thanks to Laurie for letting me share this review!
Thanks again so much to Mstraat for this excellent and thorough review!!
I’d like to start by thanking Laurie and the folks at Jenni Bick for the embossed 2012 large daily Moleskine I won in the plannerisms.com giveaway. Of course I subsequently had to view every item on the moleskineandmore.com site and as a result came across something I have needed at work: a planner that has some space for appointments but, more importantly, lots and lots of space for lists. Here is a tour of the Moleskine Professional 2012 Taskmaster Planner – X Large.
The Taskmaster is the usual Moleskine X-Large size of 7.5 x 10 inches (19.5 x 25.4 cm). It is hardcover and so should be sturdy though that adds a bit to the weight, which is 1.5 pounds (680 gm) according to my kitchen scale. By comparison, the daily large Moleskine weighs in at 1.25 pounds, so it isn’t much heavier. It is not quite so thick as the daily one.
The weekly pages are a vertical layout, with the date and days across the top as well as indications for international holidays and moon phases.
You can see in the photo of the left side page that there are times for appointments, one line per half hour but printed hourly, with a blank space midday.
On the right side notice that Saturday and Sunday share the column with no times printed to the lines, and that at the bottom there is a small calendar for current and following month. At the bottom side left the week number is printed, and the month on the right.
You can see in the photo of the left side page that there are times for appointments, one line per half hour but printed hourly, with a blank space midday.
On the right side notice that Saturday and Sunday share the column with no times printed to the lines, and that at the bottom there is a small calendar for current and following month. At the bottom side left the week number is printed, and the month on the right.
So far this is pretty mundane planner stuff, but the page following the weekly calendar is what made my heart beat faster!
Look at all the space for lists! One of the features I like in a planner is the ability to use space as I want without needing to white out pre-printed titles. The left side page has the week’s dates and month at the top with lots of blank space, then two sets of lines with a blank space between. The lines are arranged as four columns with tick boxes at the left side of each and a slight break in the center of the lines, but the boxes are faint enough to write clear across the lines if you prefer.
The right hand side has “actions and projects” printed at the top, again with blank space.
There are two sets of lines that extend across the page with a blank space in the center. At the left of each line is a tick box and two dots at the right to use for your own follow up markings.
Look at all the space for lists! One of the features I like in a planner is the ability to use space as I want without needing to white out pre-printed titles. The left side page has the week’s dates and month at the top with lots of blank space, then two sets of lines with a blank space between. The lines are arranged as four columns with tick boxes at the left side of each and a slight break in the center of the lines, but the boxes are faint enough to write clear across the lines if you prefer.
The right hand side has “actions and projects” printed at the top, again with blank space.
There are two sets of lines that extend across the page with a blank space in the center. At the left of each line is a tick box and two dots at the right to use for your own follow up markings.
There is a set of these pages following each week, and I can imagine all sorts of ways to use them. To do lists could be arranged by day, week or project. Project and action lists could be located behind the appropriate date. There is room for agenda item notes or meeting follow up lists. . . Maybe you can tell I completely fell under the Taskmaster’s spell. To finish up, as in other Moleskine planners there are seven blank pages for notes at the back of the Taskmaster, as well as the inner pocket and indexed address book.
and they repackage the Moleskines with the original label—and a free gift! I received a leather bookmark with one planner and a key fob with the other. I am anxious to begin using the Taskmaster and will update you on how it has worked out for me after I have used it a bit. Thanks to Laurie for letting me share this review!
Thanks again so much to Mstraat for this excellent and thorough review!!
2013 Moleskine planners, wow!!!!
I just found the new Moleskine catalog with the 2013 planners! Woo hoo!!
http://www.chroniclebooks.com/landing-pages/catalogs/moleskine/index.html
There are some seriously exciting things in there!
I have already pre-ordered from Amazon some of the 2013 Star Wars planners (!!!) and the Passions Family diary. I'm also very pleased to see there are finally colored planners in the large size!
One thing that did upset me a lot though is I see the 2-year planner with vertical months (with a line per day) is back in the 2013 planners. This means they have done away with my beloved monthly grid calendars. This might be a dealbreaker for me. I absolutely must see my months as grids. I will get the monthly notebook to go along with my planner (maybe this is what they have in mind to sell more planners) but it won't be the same as having the months in my daily book.
Some other things I found in the new catalog that look cool are the postal notebooks and cards!
What looks exciting to you in the upcoming new Moleskine lineup?
http://www.chroniclebooks.com/landing-pages/catalogs/moleskine/index.html
There are some seriously exciting things in there!
I have already pre-ordered from Amazon some of the 2013 Star Wars planners (!!!) and the Passions Family diary. I'm also very pleased to see there are finally colored planners in the large size!
One thing that did upset me a lot though is I see the 2-year planner with vertical months (with a line per day) is back in the 2013 planners. This means they have done away with my beloved monthly grid calendars. This might be a dealbreaker for me. I absolutely must see my months as grids. I will get the monthly notebook to go along with my planner (maybe this is what they have in mind to sell more planners) but it won't be the same as having the months in my daily book.
Some other things I found in the new catalog that look cool are the postal notebooks and cards!
What looks exciting to you in the upcoming new Moleskine lineup?
Monday, January 9, 2012
Using your planner to set and achieve your goals
Now's the time of year when many of us are thinking about our goals for the upcoming year.
I love goal-setting tips, and I especially love to think of ways to use a planner to set and reach goals. Here are some posts I've written about using your planner to set and achieve your goals:
I wrote this post on Philofaxy a couple of months ago on using a Filofax for goal-setting, but it can be used with just about any planner/ notebook setup. It has a lot of general tips on how to set goals, track progress, document your efforts and what to do when you've reached your goal:
Setting goals with your Filofax
Below is a post that links to an article I read that explains how to set achievable goals, and the importance of tracking your goals and recognizing your benchmarks along the way. It also finally explains the flaws of many self-help books!
Secrets for Success
Here's a post I wrote awhile back about incorporating daily goals into my planner, with a link to Travis the Trout's excellent series on Goals journals:
Daily Goals
Goal-setting usually makes me think of Uncalendar planners (www.uncalendar.com), because they are designed to help you set your goals and then incorporate them into your daily schedule. See more about that in these posts:
Do you Uncalendar? (an explanation of the Uncalendar system featuring the Full Size Uncalendar.)
Uncalendar Half-Size review
Time for new goals! (How I used my Half-Size Uncalendar as my goals workbook.)
And don't miss the Uncalendar Training Room which is free to all and full of goal-setting and life management advice.
Do you use your planner to set and track your goals? Do you have any new goals for 2012? Please post a comment! :)
I love goal-setting tips, and I especially love to think of ways to use a planner to set and reach goals. Here are some posts I've written about using your planner to set and achieve your goals:
I wrote this post on Philofaxy a couple of months ago on using a Filofax for goal-setting, but it can be used with just about any planner/ notebook setup. It has a lot of general tips on how to set goals, track progress, document your efforts and what to do when you've reached your goal:
Setting goals with your Filofax
Below is a post that links to an article I read that explains how to set achievable goals, and the importance of tracking your goals and recognizing your benchmarks along the way. It also finally explains the flaws of many self-help books!
Secrets for Success
Here's a post I wrote awhile back about incorporating daily goals into my planner, with a link to Travis the Trout's excellent series on Goals journals:
Daily Goals
Goal-setting usually makes me think of Uncalendar planners (www.uncalendar.com), because they are designed to help you set your goals and then incorporate them into your daily schedule. See more about that in these posts:
Do you Uncalendar? (an explanation of the Uncalendar system featuring the Full Size Uncalendar.)
Uncalendar Half-Size review
Time for new goals! (How I used my Half-Size Uncalendar as my goals workbook.)
And don't miss the Uncalendar Training Room which is free to all and full of goal-setting and life management advice.
Do you use your planner to set and track your goals? Do you have any new goals for 2012? Please post a comment! :)
Back online!
Hi everyone, I'm back from my wonderful vacation in Scotland! I'm currently working my way through replies (and struggling with jet lag) so if you are waiting to hear back from me please give me a few days.
There's lots of excitement coming up here on Plannerisms, so stay tuned!
There's lots of excitement coming up here on Plannerisms, so stay tuned!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year!
Have you made any resolutions for 2012? Are you using a new planner/ diary this year?
All the best to you in 2012!
All the best to you in 2012!
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