How is everybody doing these days? May is a deceptively busy month for many people: graduations, school year coming to a close (depending on where you live), work getting busy, summer vacations coming up.
Do you have anything big happening this month? How is your planner handling it?
And as always on Fridays, feel free to discuss and/ or ask anything planner-related!
Friday, May 16, 2014
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Marina Outdoors Moleskine cover art
Last weekend I went to the craft fair in Ballater and found these awesome decorated Moleskine cahier notebooks by Marina Outdoors.
I wanted to buy everything on the table. I don't even normally go for cahier covers, but these look so great with her artwork screen printed on the covers I couldn't resist buying some.
I got two Extra Large and my husband got two Large. (In her etsy shop she calls them Large and Medium respectively).
These are the notebooks my husband got for some colleagues of his who are in ship building. The contrast of the color on the dark blue looks very striking.
Here is one of the big notebooks I got, with the Atlantic salmon life cycle on the cover. Brings me back to my biologist days! I love it.
The other notebook I got has a great quote from John Muir on the cover. It says, "I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." This is how I feel when I walk in the forest: it's the best place for me to think.
These two notebooks were in her seconds box, with minor smearing of the silver color on the covers. No big whoop. My photos really do not do them justice, they look amazing in person.
I had to force myself to walk away from the table before I bought absolutely everything. Now I wish I had bought one of her butterfly printed covers. Also my husband wanted the one that says "The mountains are calling and I must go." Father's Day gift perhaps? She also does greeting cards and screen prints! Seriously, I wanted everything.
If you are looking for something different that you will enjoy using every day, I highly recommend checking out the Marina Outdoors etsy shop at www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MarinaOutdoors (she ships worldwide). Also find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MarinaOutdoors
These are the notebooks my husband got for some colleagues of his who are in ship building. The contrast of the color on the dark blue looks very striking.
Here is one of the big notebooks I got, with the Atlantic salmon life cycle on the cover. Brings me back to my biologist days! I love it.
The other notebook I got has a great quote from John Muir on the cover. It says, "I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." This is how I feel when I walk in the forest: it's the best place for me to think.
I had to force myself to walk away from the table before I bought absolutely everything. Now I wish I had bought one of her butterfly printed covers. Also my husband wanted the one that says "The mountains are calling and I must go." Father's Day gift perhaps? She also does greeting cards and screen prints! Seriously, I wanted everything.
If you are looking for something different that you will enjoy using every day, I highly recommend checking out the Marina Outdoors etsy shop at www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MarinaOutdoors (she ships worldwide). Also find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MarinaOutdoors
Monday, May 12, 2014
Giveaway winners: MiracleBind
The winners of the MiracleBind notebooks giveaway are:
Peach
Gregor
Tom Bridge
Congratulations!! Please email me your mailing address (email to Laurie at Plannerisms dot com) by this Friday so your prize can be sent to you. If I do not hear from the winners by Friday I will choose new winners.
Thanks to everyone who participated!
Peach
Gregor
Tom Bridge
Congratulations!! Please email me your mailing address (email to Laurie at Plannerisms dot com) by this Friday so your prize can be sent to you. If I do not hear from the winners by Friday I will choose new winners.
Thanks to everyone who participated!
Friday, May 9, 2014
Free For All Friday No 34: Do stuff between stuff
We got a puppy last weekend, she is sweet and fun but a real handful! It’s almost like having a baby, but instead of midnight diaper changes it’s midnight walks in the yard. I’m told the chewing and piddling will end eventually!
With my sleep deprivation and extra work training a puppy (including the constant vigilance of making sure she doesn’t chew or mess up anything she’s not supposed to, which is everything) I’m finding it hard to do my normal weekly chores. This is of course made more difficult by the fact that for now the pup is confined to the kitchen and living room (where we have linoleum and wood floors, respectively, for easier clean-up). So I’m getting stuff done in those rooms but every other room is neglected.
It made me think of a thread on Facebook a few days ago where several of us were talking about dealing with increased workloads and Josh said the busier he is, the more he gets done because he goes into get-it-done mode. I have discovered a similar thing: I do stuff between stuff. For example I sweep the kitchen floor while waiting for my tea to brew. I fold clothes while the pup is napping. These are tasks that I normally would put off until later, but now I know I might not get another chance until tomorrow so I better get it done now.
Do you do stuff between stuff? And do you find the busier you are the more you manage to squeeze tasks in?
And as always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything planner-related!
With my sleep deprivation and extra work training a puppy (including the constant vigilance of making sure she doesn’t chew or mess up anything she’s not supposed to, which is everything) I’m finding it hard to do my normal weekly chores. This is of course made more difficult by the fact that for now the pup is confined to the kitchen and living room (where we have linoleum and wood floors, respectively, for easier clean-up). So I’m getting stuff done in those rooms but every other room is neglected.
It made me think of a thread on Facebook a few days ago where several of us were talking about dealing with increased workloads and Josh said the busier he is, the more he gets done because he goes into get-it-done mode. I have discovered a similar thing: I do stuff between stuff. For example I sweep the kitchen floor while waiting for my tea to brew. I fold clothes while the pup is napping. These are tasks that I normally would put off until later, but now I know I might not get another chance until tomorrow so I better get it done now.
Do you do stuff between stuff? And do you find the busier you are the more you manage to squeeze tasks in?
And as always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything planner-related!
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
MiracleBind by Blueline from Filofax
This giveaway is now closed. See the post on May 12 to see who won!
Filofax UK recently started to sell MiracleBind by Blueline notebooks in A4 and A5 sizes.
The notebooks lay flat and come in two forms. The MiracleBind range with their removable and reposition able pages and the NotePro which is a refillable notebook.
Both ranges use a common system of cover and rings and with a clever design the covers perfectly flat and can be also be folded back on themselves too.
The covers come in red and black. There is also an A4 punch so you can create your own pages and they will attach to the ring system.
You can see how they are put together in this video by Blueline
Visit the Filofax Website to order from the full range of MiracleBind and NotePro notebooks.
Plannerisms in association with Philofaxy also have some MiracleBind and NotePro notebooks to give away.... yes you can get one to try out.
We want you to comment on this post about:
Judges decision is final, no cash alternatives will be offered, closing date for entries Sunday 11 May 2014 etc etc.
Thank you to Filofax for supplying the Blueline samples.
Filofax UK recently started to sell MiracleBind by Blueline notebooks in A4 and A5 sizes.
The notebooks lay flat and come in two forms. The MiracleBind range with their removable and reposition able pages and the NotePro which is a refillable notebook.
Both ranges use a common system of cover and rings and with a clever design the covers perfectly flat and can be also be folded back on themselves too.
The covers come in red and black. There is also an A4 punch so you can create your own pages and they will attach to the ring system.
You can see how they are put together in this video by Blueline
Visit the Filofax Website to order from the full range of MiracleBind and NotePro notebooks.
Plannerisms in association with Philofaxy also have some MiracleBind and NotePro notebooks to give away.... yes you can get one to try out.
We want you to comment on this post about:
- How you will use your MiracleBind or NotePro notebook.
- Which size would work best for you in either range and why.
- Like either the Plannerisms or Philofaxy Facebook pages.
Judges decision is final, no cash alternatives will be offered, closing date for entries Sunday 11 May 2014 etc etc.
Thank you to Filofax for supplying the Blueline samples.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Planning seasonally or quarterly instead of annually?
Today I ran across this article about a book called The 12-Week Year. I haven't read the book (and haven't decided yet if I will bother to) but the concept is interesting: focusing on goals 12 weeks at a time instead of 12 months at a time.
I like the idea of focusing on different priorities at different times of the year. This makes sense in places where there are large seasonal variations. Where I live, there are about 6 hours of daylight in the winter and 20 in the summer, so of course we are much more active outdoors during the months when we have more daylight. We have learned to go with the seasonal flow: long summer days are spent outside a lot; during dark winter days we keep busy in other ways.
Seasons aren't the only reasons to focus on different things at different times of the year. Academic schedules, production and sales cycles, sport events training, and lots of other things have different intensities of activities at different times of the year. It makes sense to focus on these schedules in themselves rather than plot out an entire year at once.
Something similar is the 120 day challenge, where people focus on one main goal for only 120 days. This makes many things easier to do. Running every day, giving up wheat or sugar, or other lifestyle-change goals are easier when you don't think of having to do it forever. 120 days is do-able, and is a long enough period of time to see some results. After that you can decide whether to continue or not, or to focus on a different goal.
This is something I've been thinking about for awhile. I use up a notebook as my Bullet Journal every 3-4 months, which allows me to focus on that period of time more closely than if I were trying to encompass the entire year at once. And anyway it's hard to think and plan past the next few months because plans and situations change. I spent a lot of years trying to plan as far in the future as I could. Now it feels good to focus on the shorter term.
Have you read the book The 12-Week Year, or something like it? Have you done a 120 day challenge? Do you focus on certain goals in bursts, or at different times of the year?
I like the idea of focusing on different priorities at different times of the year. This makes sense in places where there are large seasonal variations. Where I live, there are about 6 hours of daylight in the winter and 20 in the summer, so of course we are much more active outdoors during the months when we have more daylight. We have learned to go with the seasonal flow: long summer days are spent outside a lot; during dark winter days we keep busy in other ways.
Seasons aren't the only reasons to focus on different things at different times of the year. Academic schedules, production and sales cycles, sport events training, and lots of other things have different intensities of activities at different times of the year. It makes sense to focus on these schedules in themselves rather than plot out an entire year at once.
Something similar is the 120 day challenge, where people focus on one main goal for only 120 days. This makes many things easier to do. Running every day, giving up wheat or sugar, or other lifestyle-change goals are easier when you don't think of having to do it forever. 120 days is do-able, and is a long enough period of time to see some results. After that you can decide whether to continue or not, or to focus on a different goal.
This is something I've been thinking about for awhile. I use up a notebook as my Bullet Journal every 3-4 months, which allows me to focus on that period of time more closely than if I were trying to encompass the entire year at once. And anyway it's hard to think and plan past the next few months because plans and situations change. I spent a lot of years trying to plan as far in the future as I could. Now it feels good to focus on the shorter term.
Have you read the book The 12-Week Year, or something like it? Have you done a 120 day challenge? Do you focus on certain goals in bursts, or at different times of the year?
Friday, May 2, 2014
Free For All Friday No. 33: Tidy or Messy?
My planner is a mess. But I don't mind. My handwriting is scrawly, I don't decorate, heck I don't even keep my writing between the lines. When plans change I scribble them out or, if I really need the space, white it out with correction fluid. I arrow tasks over to the next day, check off, circle, write over. I use different colors of pen for no apparent reason (it was the one within reach at the time). The pages end up looking like an organic reflection of my life in general: appearances aren't important to me, but functionality is.
I admire people's tidy planner pages with gorgeous handwriting and decorated borders, but I don't function that way myself.
Do you like your planner to be tidy? Or is yours a mess like mine?
And as always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything planner-related!
I admire people's tidy planner pages with gorgeous handwriting and decorated borders, but I don't function that way myself.
Do you like your planner to be tidy? Or is yours a mess like mine?
And as always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything planner-related!
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