Welcome to March!
This month I'm doing something new (to me): I'm writing out my goals for the month. I'm hoping that having a specific list of what I want to accomplish in March will help keep me on track.
While preparing my list of monthly goals I've been reviewing my goals that I set out for myself at the beginning of the year and deciding what I can focus on this month. It's also a great time to jettison any annual goals that are no longer relevant due to changes in circumstances.
I was inspired to do this by Charlie Gilkey's Monthly Action Planner. It has a great format for helping you think through your month, any events that will happen, and your actions for making it a great and productive month. (I also highly recommend signing up for Charlie's Newsletter on his website Productive Flourishing. He sends periodic emails that are motivational and positive. They are like a helping hand to get back on track. Thank you Charlie!)
Of course any kind of list of your monthly goals is more useful than nothing at all. Most importantly, your monthly goals list needs to be someplace where you can refer to it often enough to be useful, at a minimum of once per week when you are making your weekly plans. It's one thing to write your goals, but it's a whole other thing to put them into action.
Last week I busted out my personal Deco Filofax (and am Calling the Dog with it and my Minister weekly planner), because I have so much going on right now and even more coming up in the next several months. I updated my tabs (which you can read about in What I'm Currently Using, scroll down) and freshened-up my Goals section.
Now I put my current month's goals page right behind my Goals tab so I see it first every time I open that section. The next page is my Annual Goals/ New Year's Resolutions, to refer to easily when I'm making each month's goals list.
When the month is over, I'll write the month review on the back side of that month's Goals page. This will let me evaluate which goals I achieved, and which ones I still need to work on. From there I can write the following month's Goals page. I'll archive the old month's page behind my Annual Goals page and put the new month's Goals page in front. That way I'll keep a record of monthly goals throughout the year to see how I'm progressing toward those annual goals. And with my current month's goals in front, I have easy access to it all the time.
Do you make Monthly Goals? Where do you write them? (On a page in your planner? On a sticky note on your bathroom mirror? In reverse-writing on your forehead with a Sharpie so you can read it every time you look in the mirror?)
Monday, March 1, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Countdown to FAIL
How long does it take for a planner to fail? Well, that depends on the planner, and your needs.
Planner Fail is something I think about a lot, because it happens to me so often. My planner problem is that my life changes frequently. The planner system that worked for me last year/ month/ week might not work for me this year/ month/ week because my circumstances are different now. A planner that works well for me at home might fail when I travel (due to not containing the right international information, or being to big/ heavy). The situation I'm facing right now is an international move later this year. A big transition like that requires a lot of planner power both for the preparation and follow-through.
Some planners fail the first day, because they just aren't what I need. But let me be quick to point out: don't judge a planner at first glance. Something that looks odd or confusing at first could turn out to be your Planner Holy Grail if you take a few minutes to figure out how it could work for you.
Most planners take a little time for the flaws to become apparent. Usually 1-2 weeks is the gestation period for a Planner Fail. It happens the same way every time: I get excited about some system and decide to switch over to it. But after a week or two I have that familiar feeling of floating in space, getting nothing done, and not knowing how I've spent my days. Planner FAIL.
Some planner Fails take longer to emerge, or the user keeps plugging away at a system to try to make it work. (Side note: whenever I say I'm going to try to "make it work," that's the signal it has already failed.) Sometimes the system doesn't fail horribly, but it limps along instead of performing like a well-oiled machine (the way a planner system SHOULD).
Nan's recent post over on Philofaxy about retiring her work A5 Filofax got me thinking some more about planner Fails. Her system didn't work great, but it worked well enough for awhile. But then a change in circumstances--an increased workload--caused the final Epic Fail and the system crashed and burned.
Now that we are a couple of months into the year, you have a pretty good idea of what 2010 will entail and what your planner needs will be. By now your planner system either sinks or swims.
Is your planner sinking or swimming? Is it time for a few tweaks, or maybe a total overhaul?
Planner Fail is something I think about a lot, because it happens to me so often. My planner problem is that my life changes frequently. The planner system that worked for me last year/ month/ week might not work for me this year/ month/ week because my circumstances are different now. A planner that works well for me at home might fail when I travel (due to not containing the right international information, or being to big/ heavy). The situation I'm facing right now is an international move later this year. A big transition like that requires a lot of planner power both for the preparation and follow-through.
Some planners fail the first day, because they just aren't what I need. But let me be quick to point out: don't judge a planner at first glance. Something that looks odd or confusing at first could turn out to be your Planner Holy Grail if you take a few minutes to figure out how it could work for you.
Most planners take a little time for the flaws to become apparent. Usually 1-2 weeks is the gestation period for a Planner Fail. It happens the same way every time: I get excited about some system and decide to switch over to it. But after a week or two I have that familiar feeling of floating in space, getting nothing done, and not knowing how I've spent my days. Planner FAIL.
Some planner Fails take longer to emerge, or the user keeps plugging away at a system to try to make it work. (Side note: whenever I say I'm going to try to "make it work," that's the signal it has already failed.) Sometimes the system doesn't fail horribly, but it limps along instead of performing like a well-oiled machine (the way a planner system SHOULD).
Nan's recent post over on Philofaxy about retiring her work A5 Filofax got me thinking some more about planner Fails. Her system didn't work great, but it worked well enough for awhile. But then a change in circumstances--an increased workload--caused the final Epic Fail and the system crashed and burned.
Now that we are a couple of months into the year, you have a pretty good idea of what 2010 will entail and what your planner needs will be. By now your planner system either sinks or swims.
Is your planner sinking or swimming? Is it time for a few tweaks, or maybe a total overhaul?
Friday, February 26, 2010
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?
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?
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Sandy's Rhodia Webnotebook and long notepad
Here is another guest post from my sister Sandy, where she reviews her Rhodia webnotebook and long notepad, which were generously sent to her by Karen at Exaclair.
Rhodia webnotebook:
Karen from Exaclair was so kind to send me a Rhodia Web notebook. I was immediately impressed by the little thing, mostly because of the quality of the paper and the unique feel of the cover.
The cover is so cool! It is both soft and hard. It has a firm board backing (so, the inside front cover), like the Moleskine; however, the (outside front and back) cover is very soft and kind of rubbery-feeling. The front cover is embossed with the Rhodia logo. The spine is extremely soft to the touch, reminiscent of a rose petal… seriously. I'd talk about it more, but I'll refrain. Just trust me. SOFT.
The paper is nearly an identical shade to my Moleskine week + notes (that I divorced, as you can read about here). In the sun, the Rhodia webnotebook is slightly darker. The paper is slick, like my TriNote weekly planner, but I couldn't decide if the pages were the same thickness or not. So, I had my co-worker close her eyes and rub a page of the Trinote and then a page of the Rhodia web notebook. She rubbed them each again and said that the Trinote page feels thicker to her, but they’re both equally as slick feeling. I think she’s right, but they’re so similar, it’s hard to tell. Where the Moleskine paper feels thin, flimsy and reminds me of paper I used in elementary school to practice writing my letters and numbers, the Rhodia pages feel solid, sturdy, and slick.
Also, when I write on a page in the Rhodia web notebook, I can write on the backside of that page without any distracting see-through action. That is very important to me. I want each new page to feel blank, even if there's writing on the backside of it.
The book does not lay flat when opened, but I'm using it as a journal and not a planner, so that's not much of an issue to me. Planners must lay flat, but I don't mind that the notebook has a natural tendency to close. The pages are lined with nice lines that have enough space between them that I can write comfortably. I don't feel like I'm squishing my letters, yet I can still fit quite a bit of writing onto each page. I can see how I could fill it up quickly. This book is good for writing random notes, lists, random bursts of venting, reminders, or basic points you want to remember during a speech/conversation/debate. Also, the Rhodia logo is on each page at the bottom corner, but it's not distracting in any way. In fact, it gives the page a little bit of character without being obnoxious.
From the pictures, you can see that there are 3 features that make this notebook similar to the Moleskine format:
1. It has a placeholder ribbon
2. It has an elastic band to keep the book closed
3. It has a back pocket. (Unlike my Moleskine week + notes planner the pocket is black, like the front inside cover of the book.)
This is a great little notebook to keep in my purse or carry around in a bookbag. I love the feel of the cover, and the paper is nice to the touch. It's definitely something I look forward to using and continue to use until I fill it up, which might not take long, since I like writing in it so much.
Rhodia Lined Notepad
Although I am very pleased with my transition from my Moleskine week + notes to my Quo Vadis Trinote, there are times where I just need to make. a. list. And, although there are boxes that provide lists for to-do’s and notes for each day, sometimes it’s just not enough. For example, my grocery list is a mile long, and I don’t want to keep that in my planner. Or, what about an RSVP list for a party? I can’t fit that anywhere.
Well… Karen at Exaclair was very generous in sending me a Rhodia lined notepad. The length and size is perfect for taping or paper-clipping into my Trinote for temporary lists. Also, each page of the notepad has excellent perforation … meaning I don’t rip the page when I’m tearing out a sheet. And, that’s just not like me. Most perforated notebooks end up looking mauled by the time I’ve got the sheet out. These notepad sheets tear out very nicely. The paper rocks. It’s slick but not too slick and doesn’t bleed through at all.
Everything about this notepad makes it to be a convenient accessory to my Trinote.
Rhodia webnotebook:
Karen from Exaclair was so kind to send me a Rhodia Web notebook. I was immediately impressed by the little thing, mostly because of the quality of the paper and the unique feel of the cover.
The cover is so cool! It is both soft and hard. It has a firm board backing (so, the inside front cover), like the Moleskine; however, the (outside front and back) cover is very soft and kind of rubbery-feeling. The front cover is embossed with the Rhodia logo. The spine is extremely soft to the touch, reminiscent of a rose petal… seriously. I'd talk about it more, but I'll refrain. Just trust me. SOFT.
The paper is nearly an identical shade to my Moleskine week + notes (that I divorced, as you can read about here). In the sun, the Rhodia webnotebook is slightly darker. The paper is slick, like my TriNote weekly planner, but I couldn't decide if the pages were the same thickness or not. So, I had my co-worker close her eyes and rub a page of the Trinote and then a page of the Rhodia web notebook. She rubbed them each again and said that the Trinote page feels thicker to her, but they’re both equally as slick feeling. I think she’s right, but they’re so similar, it’s hard to tell. Where the Moleskine paper feels thin, flimsy and reminds me of paper I used in elementary school to practice writing my letters and numbers, the Rhodia pages feel solid, sturdy, and slick.
Also, when I write on a page in the Rhodia web notebook, I can write on the backside of that page without any distracting see-through action. That is very important to me. I want each new page to feel blank, even if there's writing on the backside of it.
The book does not lay flat when opened, but I'm using it as a journal and not a planner, so that's not much of an issue to me. Planners must lay flat, but I don't mind that the notebook has a natural tendency to close. The pages are lined with nice lines that have enough space between them that I can write comfortably. I don't feel like I'm squishing my letters, yet I can still fit quite a bit of writing onto each page. I can see how I could fill it up quickly. This book is good for writing random notes, lists, random bursts of venting, reminders, or basic points you want to remember during a speech/conversation/debate. Also, the Rhodia logo is on each page at the bottom corner, but it's not distracting in any way. In fact, it gives the page a little bit of character without being obnoxious.
From the pictures, you can see that there are 3 features that make this notebook similar to the Moleskine format:
1. It has a placeholder ribbon
2. It has an elastic band to keep the book closed
3. It has a back pocket. (Unlike my Moleskine week + notes planner the pocket is black, like the front inside cover of the book.)
This is a great little notebook to keep in my purse or carry around in a bookbag. I love the feel of the cover, and the paper is nice to the touch. It's definitely something I look forward to using and continue to use until I fill it up, which might not take long, since I like writing in it so much.
Rhodia Lined Notepad
Although I am very pleased with my transition from my Moleskine week + notes to my Quo Vadis Trinote, there are times where I just need to make. a. list. And, although there are boxes that provide lists for to-do’s and notes for each day, sometimes it’s just not enough. For example, my grocery list is a mile long, and I don’t want to keep that in my planner. Or, what about an RSVP list for a party? I can’t fit that anywhere.Well… Karen at Exaclair was very generous in sending me a Rhodia lined notepad. The length and size is perfect for taping or paper-clipping into my Trinote for temporary lists. Also, each page of the notepad has excellent perforation … meaning I don’t rip the page when I’m tearing out a sheet. And, that’s just not like me. Most perforated notebooks end up looking mauled by the time I’ve got the sheet out. These notepad sheets tear out very nicely. The paper rocks. It’s slick but not too slick and doesn’t bleed through at all.
Everything about this notepad makes it to be a convenient accessory to my Trinote.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Quo Vadis Visoplan monthly planner
Way back in November I talked about getting a Visoplan monthly planner to tuck into my weekly planner. I like to use a monthly view calendar for certain things, and my weekly planner didn't have one, so I decided to get one to supplement my week view. I am happy to report it's going swimmingly, and I'd like to tell you all about it.
I went with the Visoplan specifically because there are so many features that I really like. The size is very small, 3 1/2 x 6 5/8 inches, so it can be tucked into the cover of a Textagenda/ Notor or anything larger. I tuck it into the cover of my Minister, which I'll tell you more about later.
I chose the Visoplan over the similar-sized Exaplan because the Viso has more holidays and events pre-printed in the calendar. And, the Visoplan has more space for weekends. Another thing I really like about the Viso is at the top of the monthly page, there are boxes for Priority, Phone, See-Do and Notes. These boxes are where I write reminders for the month like if one of us is due for a dental appointment, if my car insurance needs to be renewed, or any major events happening that month that I want to highlight.
Click on the photo at the top of the post to see a larger view of the December spread. There you can see the boxes at the top, and also all the international holidays listed.
As if the excellent monthly layout weren't enough for this great little calendar, it's also packed with other features.
There is an annual planner for an overview of your entire year:
A very useful and detailed World Time Zones map:
Detailed maps of the US (not shown) and Canada (shown below), and a chart of average monthly minimum and maximum temperatures for lots of cities worldwide (great for helping you pack accordingly):
There is an overview calendar for next year, and a couple of pages for notes:
The Visoplan uses the luxurious 90g acid-free Clairefontaine paper, and is printed with gray and teal inks which are very pleasant to look at. There is a lot of attention to detail and a high level of aesthetics in this little planner!At first I tried putting it inside the front cover of my Minister, but it slid around when opening and closing the book. So I realized it would stay put better inside the back cover. I placed it under my address book insert, and taped the back cover of the Visoplan to the edge of the back cover of my address book, so that it stays firmly in place. It's so slim it's hardly noticeable in my Minister:
The Visoplan opens horizontally:
I would prefer if it opened vertically, but it's not a dealbreaker for me. It's worth turning my book because the monthly format is so nice. I know the format would have to be different with a vertically-opening book.
I am really happy with this setup. Of course I would prefer having the monthly calendars already in my Minister, or a Minister-sized monthly insert, but the Visoplan is the next best option.
I bought the Visoplan refill (without the cover) on www.TheDailyPlanner.com for 3 bucks. You can also get the Visoplan with a variety of colors and styles of covers.
The Visoplan monthly planner is a great option for someone who needs a comprehensive pocket-sized monthly calendar to go everywhere with them, or to use (as I did) as an insert in your weekly or daily planner. It's an excellent planner at a great price!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Exaclair 2011 Catalogue!
Exaclair week on Plannerisms continues with a look at their 2011 catalog!! They have a lot of new products coming out that I am excited about including new planner formats, new cover colors and styles, and new notebooks!
Karen at Exaclair sent me the link to the 2011 catalogs, which I've had a lot of fun looking through. Here is the link, which you can click on to open the catalog in a separate window:
http://exaclairretailers.com/gallery/content/flashcatalogs.php
There are two catalogs: the top one has the Quo Vadis and Exacompta planners for 2011, and the bottom catalog contains their other products such as Clairefontaine and Rhodia notebooks, J.Herbin inks, Decopatch, and tons of other great stuff. I won't go through them page by page (although that would be fun!) but I will point out new products that I'm especially excited about.
There is one entirely new planner: the desk-sized Note 27 weekly planner. It has the week on the left page (with equal sized spaces for each day, even Saturday AND Sunday, bravo Quo Vadis!) and the right page is lined for notes. This planner is very large: the page size is 8 1/4 x 10 1/2, making each page almost the size of a US standard piece of paper. While that won't be a problem for anyone who will leave this planner on a desk or carry it in a briefcase or bookbag, it's too large to go into a purse/ handbag (unless you carry a really large one).
The Daily Pocket planner has a new format in 2011 that, in my option, is a huge improvement over the format from previous years. I used the Daily Pocket in 2009 and 2001, and loved the portable size (and especially the monthly calendars in the 2009 edition) but felt the daily format was too cluttered at the top of the page. For 2011 the daily format has an elegant, uncluttered look with the day and date at the very top of the page (like the Journal 21 format) and a large space just under that for the day's Priority. Below that the page is lined with times from 8 am to 9 pm, with a few lines after that for extended evening hours or notes. In the bottom right there is a calendar of the month with the current week highlighted. I'm thrilled they have kept the ivory paper that I like so much, and also the monthly calendars that make this planner exceptionally useful. I will definitely be getting a Daily Pocket for 2011!
Two planners that are conspicuously absent from the 2011 catalog are the Horizon 7 and ABP/1, both of which I believe have been discontinued. I know there were plans in the works to discontinue the Horizon 7 due to low sales, so I'm assuming the same happened with the ABP/1.
There is a new style of cover: Smooth covers with rounded corners, a back pocket and an elastic strap (not shown in the photo) come in black, Hawaiian blue, red, lime green and old rose. For 2011, three planner formats will be available with Smooth covers: Business, Daily Pocket, and Minister. I am very excited about these covers because the rounded corners and especially the elastic strap will keep the planners intact when being shoved into bags or pockets. I'm especially excited that the Daily Pocket will be available with the elastic strap, which will keep the small book securely closed. It really needed this in my opinion!
There are also some new colors available for some of their other covers: Club covers have added a very pretty Bamboo green. The Habana covers now come in Raspberry and Anise Green (for the planners and notebooks too). And for the coming year, the limited edition Robert le heros cover selection will be Taupe and Raspberry. There are also several pretty new colors for the Vinyl covers including Fuschia, Apple Green and Sapphire Blue. I read somewhere that more women than men use paper planners, and obviously Exaclair is working hard to appeal to this female customer base.
I'm also pleased to see the Equology planners will be offered again for the academic year (Textagenda and Scholar) and 2011 calendar year (President, Minister, and Sapa X). I am addicted to the velvety-feeling paper in my Equology Minister (and I'm still hoping for Equology notebooks!) so I'm especially glad to see these planners are in the lineup again next year.
The Equology Textagenda and Scholar planners are also available with Basic covers in black, green, red or tan. Basic covers are 100% recycled hardboard, with an elastic strap. Excellent option for very environmentally-conscious people on an academic year schedule.
Also, some planner covers and formats will include a Quo Vadis bookmark/ elastic strap, which is very useful for keeping the planner securely closed.
I won't go through the Exaclair products catalog in detail because there are SO many fantastic products. But there are a couple of new notebooks that I really like:
On page 15 of the catalog, the classic Clairefontaine staple-bound notebooks now come in a Two-Subject version with cutaway tabs for easy reference of each subject in one notebook. The classic Clairefontaines are my all-time favorite notebooks with their colorful covers and thick ultra-smooth paper. So any addition to that lineup is more than welcome!
On pages 18 and 19 of the catalog there are several new versions of the Clairfontaine Basics notebooks, some of which now have elastic strap closures. Those of us who carry our notebooks with us everywhere really appreciate the elastic straps for keeping our books closed and our pages from getting ruffled.
The notebook I am most excited about is, not surprisingly, the Roadbook on page 19. Ancient map print! Elastic closure! Clairefontaine paper! Portable size! I'm sold. I'll take a dozen. I'll definitely be getting some of these to use as travel notebooks as well as go-everywhere everyday notebooks.
So there are some very exciting new products coming soon from Exaclair! As usual, they have really responded to their customers' needs and wants. I'm already writing up my shopping list!
Karen at Exaclair sent me the link to the 2011 catalogs, which I've had a lot of fun looking through. Here is the link, which you can click on to open the catalog in a separate window:
http://exaclairretailers.com/gallery/content/flashcatalogs.php
There are two catalogs: the top one has the Quo Vadis and Exacompta planners for 2011, and the bottom catalog contains their other products such as Clairefontaine and Rhodia notebooks, J.Herbin inks, Decopatch, and tons of other great stuff. I won't go through them page by page (although that would be fun!) but I will point out new products that I'm especially excited about.
There is one entirely new planner: the desk-sized Note 27 weekly planner. It has the week on the left page (with equal sized spaces for each day, even Saturday AND Sunday, bravo Quo Vadis!) and the right page is lined for notes. This planner is very large: the page size is 8 1/4 x 10 1/2, making each page almost the size of a US standard piece of paper. While that won't be a problem for anyone who will leave this planner on a desk or carry it in a briefcase or bookbag, it's too large to go into a purse/ handbag (unless you carry a really large one).
The Daily Pocket planner has a new format in 2011 that, in my option, is a huge improvement over the format from previous years. I used the Daily Pocket in 2009 and 2001, and loved the portable size (and especially the monthly calendars in the 2009 edition) but felt the daily format was too cluttered at the top of the page. For 2011 the daily format has an elegant, uncluttered look with the day and date at the very top of the page (like the Journal 21 format) and a large space just under that for the day's Priority. Below that the page is lined with times from 8 am to 9 pm, with a few lines after that for extended evening hours or notes. In the bottom right there is a calendar of the month with the current week highlighted. I'm thrilled they have kept the ivory paper that I like so much, and also the monthly calendars that make this planner exceptionally useful. I will definitely be getting a Daily Pocket for 2011!
Two planners that are conspicuously absent from the 2011 catalog are the Horizon 7 and ABP/1, both of which I believe have been discontinued. I know there were plans in the works to discontinue the Horizon 7 due to low sales, so I'm assuming the same happened with the ABP/1.
There is a new style of cover: Smooth covers with rounded corners, a back pocket and an elastic strap (not shown in the photo) come in black, Hawaiian blue, red, lime green and old rose. For 2011, three planner formats will be available with Smooth covers: Business, Daily Pocket, and Minister. I am very excited about these covers because the rounded corners and especially the elastic strap will keep the planners intact when being shoved into bags or pockets. I'm especially excited that the Daily Pocket will be available with the elastic strap, which will keep the small book securely closed. It really needed this in my opinion!
There are also some new colors available for some of their other covers: Club covers have added a very pretty Bamboo green. The Habana covers now come in Raspberry and Anise Green (for the planners and notebooks too). And for the coming year, the limited edition Robert le heros cover selection will be Taupe and Raspberry. There are also several pretty new colors for the Vinyl covers including Fuschia, Apple Green and Sapphire Blue. I read somewhere that more women than men use paper planners, and obviously Exaclair is working hard to appeal to this female customer base.
I'm also pleased to see the Equology planners will be offered again for the academic year (Textagenda and Scholar) and 2011 calendar year (President, Minister, and Sapa X). I am addicted to the velvety-feeling paper in my Equology Minister (and I'm still hoping for Equology notebooks!) so I'm especially glad to see these planners are in the lineup again next year.
The Equology Textagenda and Scholar planners are also available with Basic covers in black, green, red or tan. Basic covers are 100% recycled hardboard, with an elastic strap. Excellent option for very environmentally-conscious people on an academic year schedule.
Also, some planner covers and formats will include a Quo Vadis bookmark/ elastic strap, which is very useful for keeping the planner securely closed.
I won't go through the Exaclair products catalog in detail because there are SO many fantastic products. But there are a couple of new notebooks that I really like:
On page 15 of the catalog, the classic Clairefontaine staple-bound notebooks now come in a Two-Subject version with cutaway tabs for easy reference of each subject in one notebook. The classic Clairefontaines are my all-time favorite notebooks with their colorful covers and thick ultra-smooth paper. So any addition to that lineup is more than welcome!
On pages 18 and 19 of the catalog there are several new versions of the Clairfontaine Basics notebooks, some of which now have elastic strap closures. Those of us who carry our notebooks with us everywhere really appreciate the elastic straps for keeping our books closed and our pages from getting ruffled.
The notebook I am most excited about is, not surprisingly, the Roadbook on page 19. Ancient map print! Elastic closure! Clairefontaine paper! Portable size! I'm sold. I'll take a dozen. I'll definitely be getting some of these to use as travel notebooks as well as go-everywhere everyday notebooks.
So there are some very exciting new products coming soon from Exaclair! As usual, they have really responded to their customers' needs and wants. I'm already writing up my shopping list!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Quo Vadis Monthly 4 Review
Welcome to Exaclair Week on Plannerisms! This week I'll be talking about some very cool Exaclair products. Today I will focus on the Monthly 4 planner. But first, an introduction to Exaclair:
Exaclair Inc. is the exclusive US distributor for the French company Exacompta Clairefontaine which makes Quo Vadis and Exacompta planners as well as Clairefontaine and Rhodia notebooks, J.Herbin fountain pen inks, and a bunch of other high-quality products. The paper they use in their planners and notebooks is famous for being extremely smooth, and the heavier weights are loved by fountain-pen users.
I really like Exaclair products and I have reviewed several of them here on Plannerisms. This week I have some new reviews for you, and will also talk about some of their new products coming out soon!
To kick off the week I want to tell you all about my fantastic Quo Vadis Monthly 4 planner that was very generously sent to me by Karen at Exaclair. Thank you Karen!
The Monthly 4 is an 18 month planner (July 2009 through December 2010), which is useful for anyone on an academic schedule or calendar year. The generous page size ( 7 x 9 3/8 inches) gives plenty of room for writing on each monthly spread.
The book is very slim with a flexible cover so it can slip easily into a portfolio, briefcase or bag. The cover is refillable and comes in a variety of colors including blue, red, pink, lilac, brown and more.
I really appreciate that these planners are made in the USA and that the paper is made from sustainable sources using a very environmentally-friendly process.
In this monthly format each week begins on Monday, so that the weekend days are together instead of split on 2 lines. I prefer this format instead of having the weeks begin on Sundays. My weekly planner starts each week on Monday, so I like having my monthly calendar using the same week setup as my weekly planner. And, having my weekend days together allows me to see and schedule my weekend plans easily.
The Monthly 4 is different from every other monthly planner I've ever used: on every month's page there is a dashboard of list boxes at the side of the page, and plenty of room for notes in the large Notes area at the bottom of the page. (You can click on the photos for a larger view)
The list boxes are labeled Priority, Phone, Fax-Email, See-Do, Pay-Receive and Notes. (And of course you can re-label these to use them for different purposes if you like). I love having space for notes and reminders on the monthly pages!
There are only two things I would change about this planner:
One is to remove the small Notes box under Pay-Receive, to make the Pay-Receive box larger. I usually have plenty of things to Pay (unfortunately not as many to Receive!) each month so I'd appreciate more space in that box. I don't think anyone will miss the small Notes box because there is plenty of room for notes in the space at the bottom of the pages.
The other is to do away with the black boxes that contain the dates in the daily boxes. I would prefer just having the numbers printed in black instead of inside the contrasting black boxes. I think not having the black boxes for the dates would give a cleaner and more streamlined look to the monthly pages.
The only other suggestion I have is to use two colors of ink similar to how they are used in the Minister (dates and holidays are in teal, the current week on the monthly reference calendar is highlighted in teal, etc.) I think it looks pretty and is visually interesting to have the two colors on the page. But, I do realize this could increase costs which may or may not be acceptable, so it's only a suggestion.
In addition to the monthly calendars, there is an anno-planner for 2010 with the entire year visible across the two-page spread. This is excellent for planning travel, projects, holidays etc. and to get a summary of your entire year at a glance. There is also an anno-planning calendar for 2011 for longer-range planning.
The Monthly 4 has the legendary silky-smooth acid-free 90 g Clairefontaine paper, which is The. Best. for writing. I did a pen test with several pens of different point width and various inks. Below are the pens (and a pencil too just for variety):
As the ink test itself I wrote the names of each pen and the ink color on one of the planner pages (you can click on the image to get a larger view):
Below you can see the back side of the test page. There is absolutely no bleed-through of any of the inks. I thought that the Broadpen would have bled through, because it does with most other paper I use it on, but it didn't at all here. There is some slight show-through of some of the inks, but even with the thickest lines the show-through is not significant enough to affect writing on the opposite page at all.
This planner has detailed maps of every continent showing the countries and lots of cities (and we all know how much I love maps!). There are lists of international telephone dialing codes (both into and out of each country, which is crucial) and an excellent chart of international holidays. I actually use these resource pages, so I appreciate them very much.
In the back of the planner there are 14 (!) pages for notes, and several pages for contact information.
There are TONS of things you could use this planner to plan for:
~You know what would be a great use for this planner, is planning a round-the-world or other international trip. You could use the yearly overview calendar to plan your travels throughout the year. The monthly calendars would offer plenty of space for writing transportation details, reservation information, and phone numbers. You can track your trip on the maps, tracing your route from destination to destination.
In the contacts section you can write in all the places you stay (because maybe you'll be back that way again someday and want to stay there again). In all those notes pages you can stick in ticket stubs, write the name of your favorite restaurants where you ate, note bus schedules, and whatever other details you want to reference later. And at the end it would make a great record of your big trip!
But if you're not planning a multi-national trip anytime soon, this is still an extremely useful planner for seeing your month at a view. Things you could use the monthly calendars to see easily:
~Bills due and Paydays, to help you budget throughout the month
~Exercise, to see when you're being consistent and when you fell off the wagon
~Lesson planning for teachers or homeschoolers
~When I was in school/ university/ grad school I always needed a monthly calendar to see upcoming due dates of exams, projects and papers. (It's everyone's worst nightmare to turn the page and see you have a big project due tomorrow that you forgot about, right?? This solves that.)
**Edited much later to add: I keep thinking of great uses for this monthly planner. Because it's 18 months, you can use this planner for things that go beyond the calendar year. And because there's plenty of room on each monthly page for notes and lists, you can use it to work out what has to be done each month to prepare for a big event.
~This planner would be especially useful for planning a move or a wedding. You could mark the date of the event, then backtrack and note what has to be done each month to prepare. (Wedding example: what has to be done each month to arrange the catering, flowers, invitations, reserving venues, dress selection and fittings etc.).
~It would be great to use during pregnancy to prepare for the baby's arrival. The mom-to-be could mark her due date, then backtrack to note what she has to do each month to prepare (such as arrange for maternity leave, preparations for the baby's room, baby gear to buy etc). Also the monthly format makes it easy to schedule all those prenatal appointments and childbirth classes.
~Over on the Quo Vadis blog, Leah describes how she's using her Monthly 4 as a garden planner.
~I am using my Monthly 4 (extensively!) for planning and tracking my blog posts. I have multiple blogs that I write for, and the large layout of the monthly view helps me keep them all organized. There's plenty of room to write post titles into the daily spaces. Luckily the strong paper holds up to lots of erasing, because I change my mind and re-arrange posts all the time! I have notes, reminders and topics to cover that month written into the notes boxes. In the notes pages in the back of the book I have lists of reviews to do, ideas for posts, and future plans.
There are endless uses for this planner!
The Monthly 4 has a great monthly format with lots of space for notes, excellent reference pages, and a large page size in a slim, portable book. So if you are looking for a monthly planner that will keep you organized, I recommend you check this one out!
Exaclair Inc. is the exclusive US distributor for the French company Exacompta Clairefontaine which makes Quo Vadis and Exacompta planners as well as Clairefontaine and Rhodia notebooks, J.Herbin fountain pen inks, and a bunch of other high-quality products. The paper they use in their planners and notebooks is famous for being extremely smooth, and the heavier weights are loved by fountain-pen users.
I really like Exaclair products and I have reviewed several of them here on Plannerisms. This week I have some new reviews for you, and will also talk about some of their new products coming out soon!
To kick off the week I want to tell you all about my fantastic Quo Vadis Monthly 4 planner that was very generously sent to me by Karen at Exaclair. Thank you Karen!
The Monthly 4 is an 18 month planner (July 2009 through December 2010), which is useful for anyone on an academic schedule or calendar year. The generous page size ( 7 x 9 3/8 inches) gives plenty of room for writing on each monthly spread.The book is very slim with a flexible cover so it can slip easily into a portfolio, briefcase or bag. The cover is refillable and comes in a variety of colors including blue, red, pink, lilac, brown and more.
I really appreciate that these planners are made in the USA and that the paper is made from sustainable sources using a very environmentally-friendly process.
In this monthly format each week begins on Monday, so that the weekend days are together instead of split on 2 lines. I prefer this format instead of having the weeks begin on Sundays. My weekly planner starts each week on Monday, so I like having my monthly calendar using the same week setup as my weekly planner. And, having my weekend days together allows me to see and schedule my weekend plans easily.
The Monthly 4 is different from every other monthly planner I've ever used: on every month's page there is a dashboard of list boxes at the side of the page, and plenty of room for notes in the large Notes area at the bottom of the page. (You can click on the photos for a larger view)
The list boxes are labeled Priority, Phone, Fax-Email, See-Do, Pay-Receive and Notes. (And of course you can re-label these to use them for different purposes if you like). I love having space for notes and reminders on the monthly pages!There are only two things I would change about this planner:
One is to remove the small Notes box under Pay-Receive, to make the Pay-Receive box larger. I usually have plenty of things to Pay (unfortunately not as many to Receive!) each month so I'd appreciate more space in that box. I don't think anyone will miss the small Notes box because there is plenty of room for notes in the space at the bottom of the pages.
The other is to do away with the black boxes that contain the dates in the daily boxes. I would prefer just having the numbers printed in black instead of inside the contrasting black boxes. I think not having the black boxes for the dates would give a cleaner and more streamlined look to the monthly pages.
The only other suggestion I have is to use two colors of ink similar to how they are used in the Minister (dates and holidays are in teal, the current week on the monthly reference calendar is highlighted in teal, etc.) I think it looks pretty and is visually interesting to have the two colors on the page. But, I do realize this could increase costs which may or may not be acceptable, so it's only a suggestion.
In addition to the monthly calendars, there is an anno-planner for 2010 with the entire year visible across the two-page spread. This is excellent for planning travel, projects, holidays etc. and to get a summary of your entire year at a glance. There is also an anno-planning calendar for 2011 for longer-range planning.
The Monthly 4 has the legendary silky-smooth acid-free 90 g Clairefontaine paper, which is The. Best. for writing. I did a pen test with several pens of different point width and various inks. Below are the pens (and a pencil too just for variety):
As the ink test itself I wrote the names of each pen and the ink color on one of the planner pages (you can click on the image to get a larger view):
Below you can see the back side of the test page. There is absolutely no bleed-through of any of the inks. I thought that the Broadpen would have bled through, because it does with most other paper I use it on, but it didn't at all here. There is some slight show-through of some of the inks, but even with the thickest lines the show-through is not significant enough to affect writing on the opposite page at all.
This planner has detailed maps of every continent showing the countries and lots of cities (and we all know how much I love maps!). There are lists of international telephone dialing codes (both into and out of each country, which is crucial) and an excellent chart of international holidays. I actually use these resource pages, so I appreciate them very much.
In the back of the planner there are 14 (!) pages for notes, and several pages for contact information.
There are TONS of things you could use this planner to plan for:
~You know what would be a great use for this planner, is planning a round-the-world or other international trip. You could use the yearly overview calendar to plan your travels throughout the year. The monthly calendars would offer plenty of space for writing transportation details, reservation information, and phone numbers. You can track your trip on the maps, tracing your route from destination to destination.
In the contacts section you can write in all the places you stay (because maybe you'll be back that way again someday and want to stay there again). In all those notes pages you can stick in ticket stubs, write the name of your favorite restaurants where you ate, note bus schedules, and whatever other details you want to reference later. And at the end it would make a great record of your big trip!
But if you're not planning a multi-national trip anytime soon, this is still an extremely useful planner for seeing your month at a view. Things you could use the monthly calendars to see easily:
~Bills due and Paydays, to help you budget throughout the month
~Exercise, to see when you're being consistent and when you fell off the wagon
~Lesson planning for teachers or homeschoolers
~When I was in school/ university/ grad school I always needed a monthly calendar to see upcoming due dates of exams, projects and papers. (It's everyone's worst nightmare to turn the page and see you have a big project due tomorrow that you forgot about, right?? This solves that.)
**Edited much later to add: I keep thinking of great uses for this monthly planner. Because it's 18 months, you can use this planner for things that go beyond the calendar year. And because there's plenty of room on each monthly page for notes and lists, you can use it to work out what has to be done each month to prepare for a big event.
~This planner would be especially useful for planning a move or a wedding. You could mark the date of the event, then backtrack and note what has to be done each month to prepare. (Wedding example: what has to be done each month to arrange the catering, flowers, invitations, reserving venues, dress selection and fittings etc.).
~It would be great to use during pregnancy to prepare for the baby's arrival. The mom-to-be could mark her due date, then backtrack to note what she has to do each month to prepare (such as arrange for maternity leave, preparations for the baby's room, baby gear to buy etc). Also the monthly format makes it easy to schedule all those prenatal appointments and childbirth classes.
~Over on the Quo Vadis blog, Leah describes how she's using her Monthly 4 as a garden planner.
~I am using my Monthly 4 (extensively!) for planning and tracking my blog posts. I have multiple blogs that I write for, and the large layout of the monthly view helps me keep them all organized. There's plenty of room to write post titles into the daily spaces. Luckily the strong paper holds up to lots of erasing, because I change my mind and re-arrange posts all the time! I have notes, reminders and topics to cover that month written into the notes boxes. In the notes pages in the back of the book I have lists of reviews to do, ideas for posts, and future plans.
There are endless uses for this planner!
The Monthly 4 has a great monthly format with lots of space for notes, excellent reference pages, and a large page size in a slim, portable book. So if you are looking for a monthly planner that will keep you organized, I recommend you check this one out!
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