Worldwide Giveaway! Gallery Leather Monthly planner and Quo Vadis Textagenda Daily planner!

This giveaway is closed. Check the post on Feb 3, 2014 to see who won!

Huge thanks to Mstraat for this giveaway! She is giving away a brand new and unused 2014 Gallery Leather monthly planner, and an academic-year 2013-2014 Textagenda daily planner.

Gallery Leather Monthly and Textagenda Daily Planners

I have used Textagendas for years, so I can tell you all about that one in a minute. I don't have any experience with Gallery Leather planners. Here is what Mstraat has to say about this one:

The Gallery Leather monthly planner is 7.5 x 9.75 inches and 3/8 an inch thick, so actually quite portable. Inside it has: yearly overviews for 2014, then 2013 and 2015; two-page monthly spreads for July 2013 through December 2014 with grid squares 1.5 x 1.75 inches; info pages including US time zone map, ribbon marker, then US area codes, international dialing info, and toll free number & website listings; 21 note pages (42 sides); and a listing of US holidays and space for birthdays and other events. The last page is for personal info. I didn’t test the paper but it seems fairly heavy and is just slightly off-white. The printing is a dark grey color.

Here are some photos of the Gallery Leather monthly planner:

Gallery Leather: monthly layout

Gallery Leather: holidays and birthdays

Gallery Leather: US time zones map

Gallery Leather: notes pages

Gallery Leather: reference calendars

She didn't send photos of the Textagenda because I have several of them myself (which you can see in this post here). Here are some photos of the inside pages. Note the cover shown in these photos is my cover, not the cover included with the Textagenda to be given away. That cover is dark blue, which you can see in the top photo.

Textagenda: daily layout

Textagenda: anno-planner

Textagenda: timetable

Textagenda: reference calendars

Here's how to win:

1. This giveaway is open to everyone worldwide!

2. To enter, please leave a comment here on this post. Your comment is your entry. Only one entry per person. In your comment, please say which planner you are entering to win, or both planners.

3. Entries will close at 6pm UK time Sunday February 2, 2014. Any entries submitted after that time will not be counted.

4. The winners will be determined via Random.org.

5. The winners will be announced here on Plannerisms Monday February 3, 2014.

6. The winners must email me with your mailing address by Friday February 7, 2014. If I have not received an email from the winners by that time, a new winner will be chosen. So be sure to check back on Friday the 31st to see if you won!

Good luck everyone!

12 by 17 cm (4 3/4 by 6 3/4 inch) planners

Kate recently asked me for other planners that are the same size as the Quo Vadis Textagenda, which is 12 by 17 cm (4 3/4 by 6 3/4 inches).

First of all, let me rant that there are NOT NEARLY ENOUGH options in this perfect size!!  This is such a great size to carry around everywhere, and even a daily book is still very portable in this size. So, planner companies, I want to see lots more options in this size!

The good news is, there are several options available in this size, in daily or weekly formats.

The Quo Vadis Textagenda (academic-year) and Quo Vadis Notor (January-December) are the same size and have the same format with the schedule at the top of the page and the rest of the page lined for lists and notes.

Quo Vadis Textagenda and Notor format

You can see my Textagenda collection with interior photos here and my Notor with interior photos here. Please note the Notor is available in the US only I think, but you can get the Textagenda in the US and from Quo Vadis UK which ships worldwide as well as in France, Germany and probably other European countries too.

The Quo Vadis ABP2 is also in this size, you can read my review of it here. I have to admit I was really disappointed with this one (you can read why in my review), and I gave it away.

Quo Vadis ABP2

New for 2014 the Quo Vadis Daily 17 is in this same excellent size with a traditional timed format. I'm really excited to get this one when it comes out! But I'm a little worried about how narrow the ruling will be. You can right-click on the image on the product page in the link above to see a larger image of the daily pages. ***Update: you can click here to see my review of the Daily 17.

I can also recommend the Undercover UK small diary which I have reviewed here and here. Its recycled leather cover comes in tons of colors, so you are sure to find a color you love from traditional, brights, pastels, neutrals and metallics.

Undercover UK

Its simple, lined format makes it versatile for any type of use. Undercover UK ships internationally. I did a video comparing the Undercover UK diary with the Quo Vadis Notor, click here to see.

Another daily planner that is available in this size is the Cavallini Moderno diary (which you can see here on the Jenni Bick website and I have also seen them at The Paperie UK but they are now out of stock for 2013). Even though the leather cover is beautiful, it is so stiff the book does not stay open and I abandoned it for this reason, which you can read all about here.

Paperblanks makes diaries in this size too (their Midi size), in daily and weekly formats. You can see my review of them with lots of photos here. The Paperblanks planners come with lots of beautiful cover options.

Quo Vadis makes weekly planners in the 10 by 15 cm size (4 by 6 inches) which is very nearly the same size. Check out their Business, University (academic-year), Horizontal 15 and Note 15 planners. (Links shown are from Quo Vadis UK, which ships worldwide). I haven't tried any of these exact planners, but you can't go wrong with Quo Vadis's superb quality and luxurious paper.

Another Quo Vadis planner that is nearly this same size (16 by 16 cm, 6 1/3 by 6 1/3 inches) is the Executive, which I have reviewed here. It is available in the US and from Quo Vadis UK.

If anyone knows of any other planners/ diaries in the 12 by 17 cm (4 3/4 by 6 3/4 inches) size please post a comment! I love this size and I would be very interested to know other options.

My Quo Vadis Textagenda collection

I have quite a Textagenda collection! I've been getting this excellent planner for years because it has so many features I love (which I will go on about in detail below). The Quo Vadis Textagenda is a day per page planner for the academic year.

Below are my Textagendas!

Textagendas from UK, US and France

From left to right they are:

The Grenadine Pink one at the left is from the UK, reviewed here. The purple one next to it is this year's in the violet Texas cover, which makes an appearance near the end of this video on my day per page planners. The gorgeous turquoise one is my new one for next year, with more details below. The Lilac one is actually a Quo Vadis Notor, which has the exact same format but in the January-December format. My Notor (reviewed here) won the battle of day per page planners last year (post here and video here). The dark purple one is from France (seen in this post here) and the blue one is my first Textagenda that I used when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal (shown in this post here)!

Here is my new Textagenda for the 2013-2014 school year. Many thanks to Exaclair for sending me this planner as a thank-you for some assistance I gave them.

Here are the features I love so much about Textagenda planners and why I keep coming back to them year after year.

First of all, there are several cover materials and colors to choose from. This year I went for the bright and summery Turquoise Club cover. I like to change the removable covers out seasonally.

The Textagenda is the perfect size for a day per page book: 12 by 17 cm, 4 3/4 by 6 3/4 inches. It has a large page size for lots of writing each day but is very portable and fits in all my bags. It's also a very nice size to hold in my hands.

The 64 gsm paper is super-smooth and white, and is an absolute joy to write on. This is one of the biggest reasons why I keep coming back to the Textagenda (and Quo Vadis planners in general) because the paper is so pleasurable to use every day! Also the paper is acid and chlorine free, which is important to me for archival purposes.

The binding is sewn so the book lays flat by itself, which is an absolute must for me. I have rejected planners in the past that didn't stay open flat.  This is one of my requirements in a planner!

There is an overview calendar for the entire school year:

There are timetable pages to write your weekly schedules, very handy:

Here is a feature I love in Quo Vadis planners: the Anno Planner. This shows you the entire school year at a glance for planning holidays, deadlines etc.

The Anno Planner continues through the end of the calendar year. Then come the daily pages. The Textagenda begins August 1st and goes to August 4 of the following year. There is a full page for every day, including Saturday and Sunday. This is also important to me, I need a full page on weekends too.

The daily format is unique and excellent: The timed schedule is at the top of the page. There is a Priority box, and then lines for writing lists, notes, journaling, etc.

At the bottom of the page is a Notes box for keeping track of things that you want to stand out on the page like expenses, exercise, weather, and anything else you like.

Another thing I really like is that holidays, reminders like Daylight Savings Time and moon phases are printed on the day spaces so I don't have to write them in myself.

I love month tabs!!!

And I love maps!!

There are several Notes pages in the back, and address pages. I like to tape in cards for easy access.

At the back is a reference calendar for the next school year. The refillable cover creates pockets inside the front and back covers where I tuck in papers, receipts, birthday party invitations, and anything else I need access to.

The Textagenda is such a complete daily planner with so many excellent features, it's one of my all-time favorite planners!

Many thanks again to Exaclair for sending me this Textagenda!

New video: the day per page saga continues

I just now posted a new video on You Tube where I go through the day per page planners I've used in recent months including Moleskine, Time Traveler, Paperblanks, Franklin Covey, Textagenda, and Quo Vadis ABP1, why I chose them and why I subsequently abandoned each. Then I tell you which one I've settled on, and why!  Click here for the video.

Reader question: Textagenda format in larger size?

Reader Sam emailed me to ask if I know of a planner in the Textagenda format (with timed schedule at the top of the page and space below for notes) but in a larger size, A5 or even A4. Here is a photo of the format I mean:

The Quo Vadis Textagenda is slightly smaller than A5 size, and is an academic-year dairy. The Quo Vadis Notor is the exact same size and format in the calendar year.

Has anyone seen a similar format in a larger size?

Thanks in advance for any information!

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.)

Daily Diary + Weekly Planner

Here are the details of how I'm using my daily diary (my Quo Vadis Textagenda that I reviewed yesterday) and my weekly planner (currently using my 2011 Life Book Diary) concurrently.

My weekly planner is Mission Control.  In it I write all my appointments, do my meal planning, plan holidays and otherwise do general planning.  In the Monthly section I see the overview of each month, track bills due and paid, fill in my monthly budget totals, write my monthly goals and monthly reviews.

Even though the day spaces in the weekly planning pages of the Life Book Diary are pretty big, they are still not big enough for everything I want to write each day (which is a lot). So, I ordered up my Textagenda.

I know some people find it redundant to use a weekly planner and a daily diary at the same time.  And then I know other people who use both, or have separate weekly and daily sections in their Filofax.  I'm using a setup similar to how this woman uses her Filofax as her planner, and her notebook for each day's task list. In fact she was my inspiration for using this two-book system, so many thanks to her!

I had a few days to think about how I was going to use my Textagenda while I waited for it to get here, so even though it's only Day 1 of using it, my plan is fully formed:  my Textagenda is all about Today.  My weekly planner is for planning ahead (which I absolutely need a week view to do), my Textagenda is for planning and recording today.

Today's appointments get written in the timed schedule area at the top of the page, and the day's priority goes in the Priority box.

Today's to-do list is written on the lines below. This is the space where I can do a brain dump to get out of my head all of those little details of what I need to do, things to bring with me that day, steps to do in a certain order, and whatever else needs to get done today.

Today's page is also today's In-Box. All those little notes, numbers, ideas, whatever comes at me throughout the day gets jotted on the page.  It's very handy to grab my planner, open it to today's page, and jot anything down rather than dig for a notebook or scrap of paper and then hope I can find that note again later.

Today's expenditures get written on today's page, to capture them immediately (and not rely on my questionable ability to keep all my receipts until the end of the day to tally later). At the end of the week I write totals for each category (groceries, kids' activities, gifts etc.) in my weekly planner, then at the end of the month I total each of these categories for the month.  I find it simplifies my process to have weekly category totals, which makes my monthly totaling much easier to accomplish (and therefore much more likely that I'll actually do it).

Today's record of events like: stuff I want to remember to write in my journal later at home; learning activities and books I read with my kids that day; exercise; the weather; and anything else I want to keep as a record of the day.  Some things (like journaling memories) may get transferred to a different book later, but writing it on today's page is a convenient way to capture it and allows me find it again later easily.

Any appointments or events scheduled while I'm out and about get written into their appropriate date and time, and I also make a note on today's page to write it into my weekly planner at home.

I carry my Textagenda with me everywhere, and my weekly planner stays at home, so at the end of the day I review today's page and transfer anything that needs to be written into my weekly planner. For me, it's very helpful to have only one place, today's page, where everything gets written even if I have to transfer it somewhere else later. That way the information gets captured reliably and I can find it again easily.

There are so many ways to use a daily book.  I love this article on the At-A-Glance blog about various ways to use a day per page diary (some of which I have incorporated into my Textagenda usage).  You'll notice my comment on that blog post, which refers to my post When Is A Planner Not A Planner? that has more ideas for how to use a daily book.

Quo Vadis Textagenda (UK edition)

My new Textagenda is here!  This is the UK edition of the Quo Vadis Textagenda.

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a long time know I have a special fondness for Textagenda diaries.  I keep coming back to these diaries because they are excellent.  I have a Textagenda from the US, one from France, and now one from the UK!  It's becoming quite a collection!

The Textagenda is Quo Vadis's day per page diary in the academic-year format.  This UK edition has pages of UK-specific information.  I'll walk you through the book.

Interestingly, according to the inside cover, the diary was made in the USA and the cover in Canada.

The next page is Personal information, and a reference calendar for July 2010 through June 2011.

The next two 2-page spreads are for recording your weekly schedule.

Next is a feature I absolutely love in Quo Vadis diaries: the Anno-Planner, with the entire academic year across a two-page spread.

I find the Anno-Planner extremely useful for planning out my year.  Near the back of the book there is another Anno-Planner for the following academic year for future planning.

Next comes the day per page section.  The Textagenda's unique layout has several excellent features.  (Click to enlarge photo.)

The schedule area at the top of the page is good for those of us with few appointments.  Below that the Priority box highlights the major event of the day.  There are lines over most of the page, and at the bottom of the page there is a boxed out area to highlight important notes.  The bottom corner of the page is perforated to tear off, so that the book opens directly to the current day's page.

I was very glad to see that US holidays are printed on the day spaces as well as the UK holidays.  The holidays are shown in the priority box, without taking up too much space:

Scotland-specific holidays are indicated (which I appreciate very much).

Even Equinoxes and Solstices are printed, which I love:

There was a debate awhile back on the Quo Vadis blog about whether people like the blue ink color (in the Textagenda and Notor), or if they prefer the gray ink that was used in previous years.  As I commented on the blog post, I think the circle looks nicer in blue ("more cheerful" as Gini Cooper commented).  The blue lines interfere with my color-coding system a little bit, but really not enough to be an issue.  The lines are dotted and fairly inconspicuous. 

As we all know, I love the monthly tabs at the edge of the pages.  I mean, I really really love them.  I wish every planner in the world had these.

After the last day's page (which is August 4, 2011) there are lots of pages of very useful information.

First are the maps, and Quo Vadis makes great maps.  There is a very useful and accurate Time Zone map, and maps of North America, Canada, South America, and a map of Europe that explains who belongs to the EU and who doesn't (which I never can keep straight).  There's also a good map of the British Isles which is very handy for those of us who live here.

After the maps there is the Anno-Planner for the 2011-2012 academic year that I mentioned before.  After that are some pages of UK-specific information that I find very useful.  There is a chart of "distances between principal UK towns," which I was a bit miffed to discover does not include Aberdeen. Next is a page of emergency and other useful phone numbers, which I really appreciate.

Next is a chart of international telephone codes, and a chart of international holidays.  I really like having this information in my planner.

There is a page of conversion tables, which is especially useful for me since I'm not all that used to the metric system.  There is also a page to record your website usernames and passwords but it seems too risky to keep such sensitive information in a book that I carry around with me. I'll find a different purpose for this page.

This is very handy: there's a page to record birthdays for the year:

After that there are several pages to record addresses and phone numbers, which I will definitely use:

At the very back of the book is a reference calendar for the 2011-2012 academic year.  At the right you can see how the cover of the book fits into the refillable Club cover. I like to stick papers and cards in this back pocket.

In my opinion, the Textagenda is the ideal size for a daily book.  At 4 3/4 by 6 3/4 inches (12 x17 cm) it's the perfect size and shape. It's pleasant to hold in my hands, it fits easily into any of my bags, and the page has plenty of room to write. It's smaller than A5, which can seem too big for a daily planner (unless you're using it as a journal), and it's larger than A6 which might not have enough writing space each day.  The Textagenda's size is just right, substantial yet portable.

The Textagenda has that super-smooth, extra white Clairefontaine paper that is my very favorite in the world for writing. There really is no comparison with any other paper. The paper used in the Textagenda is a little thinner than the paper used in the Quo Vadis weekly planners, to make the daily book not too chunky.

I ordered this Textagenda from the Quo Vadis UK website www.quovadis-diaries.co.uk, and I have a few issues.

When I placed my order, second class postage was included in the price, which was nice. However, I wanted my diary faster so I tried to find a way to get Airmail, but that was not available as an option.  (Maybe there is a minimum spending amount you have to reach to get the option to buy faster delivery?)  I placed my order on Sunday, got the notification Monday morning that it shipped (which is superfast processing), and received my diary today (Thursday).  Like I said, that's great for free shipping, but I would have liked the option of buying faster shipping.

This is the Club cover in Grenadine Pink, which turns out to be not at all what it looks like on the website. On the Quo Vadis UK website (click on Swatches) Grenadine Pink looks like a true pink (on my screen at least).  But in person it is a reddish orangey pink that I would call Coral Pink.

I'm very disappointed that the color is not what was shown on the website, and if I had known the true color of this cover I would have chosen the Aqua color instead. It's not a terrible color, in fact it's bright and cheery, it's just not to my liking and not what I expected the color to be.  As it is, I will probably remove the cover and instead use the purple cover from my Textagenda I bought in France in 2001. I hope the books are the same thickness so that the purple cover will fit.

Another misleading thing on the Quo Vadis website is the image of the inside pages of the Textagenda.  On the Club cover Textagenda ordering page, the image of the pages is actually of the EuroTextagenda, which is a multiple language format.  I did not want the multiple-language version, and I had to download the Quo Vadis catalogue and look through it to verify that the Textagenda in the Club covers has the English-only pages (like the US version seen here).  QV, please update your website accordingly.

I'm absolutely thrilled that my Textagenda is here, and I've immediately put it to heavy use.  My next post will detail how I'm using my daily Textagenda diary alongside my weekly planner.

Exaclair Week Wrap-Up

To wrap up Exaclair week, I have compiled a list of all the Exaclair reviews I have posted on Plannerisms to date, as well as some websites of interest.

I think Exaclair products are great. They are very high quality, have wonderful paper, and I love the colorful cover options. As a company, they really listen to their customers and make product changes to meet customers' needs and wants. Much of that has to do with Karen herself, she does a wonderful job communicating with users of Exaclair products.

Some Exaclair links for you to peruse:

The Exaclair planners website, which has Quo Vadis, Exacompta and Rhodia planners:

http://www.quovadisplanners.com/

If you haven't checked out the Quo Vadis blog yet, you must go have a look:

http://quovadisblog.com/

(While you are there you might have a look at my Feb. 1 guest post on planners while traveling.)

Also if you haven't seen the Exaclair Planners and Notebooks group on Flickr (which I admin) then check it out. There are a lot of great photos of people's planners and notebooks in action:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1275998@N23/

The 2011 Exaclair planners and notebooks catalogs:

http://exaclairretailers.com/gallery/content/flashcatalogs.php


Here is the list of my Exaclair posts. There's been a lot of Exaclair love here on Plannerisms!

bookmark/ elastic strap review

Journal 21 daily planner review

A fun story about my Textagenda

A look at my other Textagenda

My sister's Trinote

My sister's Rhodia notebooks

Monthly 4 review

Visoplan vs. Exaplan decision

Visoplan review


Posts about my Minister weekly planner:

The epic battle of the planners

Let It Begin!

Things I love about it

Suggestions to improve it

The victorious hero!


And these are just the posts where I directly talk about particular Exaclair products! They've had lots of mentions too--click on Exaclair in my sidebar under Labels if you want to see them all.

I hope you've enjoyed Exaclair Week on Plannerisms! If you are an Exaclair user, let's hear from you! What do you use, what do you like?

Sandy's FiloFAIL, Mole Love, and Trinote Try

Here's another guest post from my sister Sandy, chronicling her planner journey...

As you might have figured out, I’m Laurie’s younger sister. And, I have a confession: I’ve always looked up to her. What she thought was cool, I instantly thought was cool. And, one day, she showed me her Filofax. It was so awesome! It was a black Personal size with a beautiful leather cover. I was completely enthralled with the concept of a binder style planner. I LOVED her tabs and all the information she could load into them, in such an organized way. I quickly imitated her planner by purchasing my own Filofax and immediately filled it with tabs: Goals, To Do’s, medical information, ideas and designs for how I was going to decorate my son’s bedroom after he was born, and other various reference materials. I also purchased a Franklin Covey planner at Walgreens strictly for removing other reference pages that would fit into my Filo, such as “Meeting Planner,” “Goal Setting,” “Contact Log” (for new clients/leads/potential sales clients, etc.). Oh yeah… there was also a weekly 2-page spread planner in there. Ha! (it is a PLANNER after all.)

I wanted the pages to be “pretty,” so I purchased a Franklin Covey weekly inserts package that came in a variety of pastels with cute quotes on some of the pages. The planning pages were fairly simple and clean/not cluttered. Monday – Thursday were on the left and Friday through Sunday were on the right, with a “notes” box under Sunday that was equal in size to the daily spaces. Each day was split in half. On the left, there was a box for appointments, and then a double (vertical) line separated that box from a smaller box for “To Dos,” but the box was violated with the holes that held the pages into the binder. So, I pretty much wrote at an angle on those pages to squeeze it all in. I also tried to track my time for which projects I worked on throughout the day, so that I could fill out my timesheet correctly. Overall, the pages were full, and each day turned into a chaotic mess of appointments, completely ignoring the To Do list box to fill in all the scheduled meetings. Also, random information was everywhere and in sporadic places. Click on the above photo for a great view of the hot mess of my weekly pages!

Why was this a Filo Fail? Let me count the ways:

The damn thing was a BRICK. With all that information in all those tabs, it must have weighed a good 3 lbs. Ladies, can you feel me that every pound counts in your purse? It was so fat and wide that I could barely hold it in my hand without getting a cramp! I liked that it stayed open and laid flat on my desk, but the heaviness made it awkward to transport. Also, I am very much an “out of sight, out of mind” person. So, all that information behind my tabs? Yeah, I completely forgot about them.

As my sister might have told you, I once carried a Quo Vadis daily Textagenda during my Freshman year of college. I loved having all the space to record random thoughts, notes, and details for assignments. But, again, out of sight out of mind. Come Tuesday, I would open up the page, only to find that I had a quiz that morning! I had that tingly hot feeling throughout my body… like when you’re almost in a car accident… when I realized that I had completely forgotten to study. I forgot, because I didn’t flip through each day to see what I had going on. I didn’t have a week at a glance format that would’ve reminded me about what was coming up. What’s a girl to do? That’s when I went to my Filofax. But, obviously, once I started my career and my life planning involved more than homework assignments, such as meetings, bills, and planning a wedding or buying a house, I needed more.

A year or so ago, my brilliant sister turned me on to the Moleskine week + notes style. OH…. MY…. GAH! (that’s a Will & Grace reference for all you fans out there). I heard angels singing! This style worked PERFECTLY for me. I had the week at a glance! I had the empty pages of notes to records all my random thoughts; to-do’s; directions to events; contact information for meetings; appointments; and lists galore.

One GLORIOUS feature of the notes side of the Mole w+n is that I can record my life with souvenirs, such as tickets to events, cards for dentist/doctor appointments, fortunes from fortune cookies, invitations to parties, and the boarding pass from when I met my boyfriend in the terminal of Dallas Love Field airport. My Moleskine helps me plan my life and record it at the same time. I LOVE that. I love my Moleskine week + notes! But, guess what? By having all those lists, I have procrastinated big time. My To Do list looks the same every week, because I don’t do much on them. I think “Eh, I can put that off until next week.”

My (amazingly brilliant and totally awesome) sister suggested a Quo Vadis Trinote. I just got one in the mail the other day (courtesy of Karen at Exaclair in New York in exchange for a review), and finally I broke down and began to fill it with information from my Moleskine. So, far, I think I love it, but that complete review will come later. I’m scared to abandon my Mole, because it’s a great size with a hard cover, strap, and ribbon to mark the week I’m on. The flap in the back is AWESOME, and I love, love, love the removable address book, because I’ve made it a reference book instead of an address book. Under “C” I have all the information about my car… when I got my oil changed, when I got my tires rotated, the insurance company’s contact info, my loan number, etc. Under “A” I have the addresses and dates for every Address I’ve ever lived at and when I lived there. Under “M” I have “Medical Directory,” which lists the phone number for the pharmacy, the doctor, and contact info for my health insurance, eye insurance, dentist, and dermatologist. How awesome is it to flip to ONE page and have all that right there? Luckily, the Trinote has this feature as well. So, I’m not giving up that feature at all.

In summary – the Filo was a brick with very little space to record all of my appointments, let alone my lists. The binder style format was great for holding information, but there was so much in there that I forgot to look for it, and it wasn’t as organized as the Moleskine address book turned reference book concept. I love my Moleskine, but I’m going out on a limb with the Trinote to see if there are benefits that I’ve yet to discover. That review is in the works as I continue to use it and evaluate its effectiveness.