A Pocket Full of Life - Guest Post - Jotje

Jotje's previous guest post is one of most popular posts on the site (watch it reappear in the popular posts list within a day or two of this post being published!), but when I heard that she had transferred from Personal size to Pocket size... I just had to go in to 'pester mode' "pretty please Jotje.... please up date us on your latest creation."

And it worked, I know it will cost me when we see each other in September, but I think you will agree with me, that it was worth the wait. Just sitting here inserting each photo, is like turning the pages and thinking 'how does Jotje manage to fit so much in to such a small organiser.... it is a tardis (bigger on the inside than it is on the outside)!

So enough of me rabbiting on.... over to Jotje....

Following Steve's repeated requests, here is my blogpost on the use of my Pocket Malden, which is currently my ONLY planner … plus wallet! I've been using the pocket since about May (which typically turns out to be my planner format changing months ;-)). The first spark of Pocket envy was kindled by Zoe, then Snarling and Oni, until Stirwise's post finally pushed me over the edge!

So, without further ado, please see and read for yourself what it's all about:

First here's a picture of the closed Pocket Malden in Vintage Pink. The colour in this picture resembles the real colour the best. You will have to ignore all the other pictures in this post as far as the colour is concerned. My iPod Touch is a great toy, but not so much a decent camera …

One note on the colour: If I were asked to name the colour I would describe it as meat colour. More specifically: the colour of a medium cooked steak. Okay, I see how this sounds less appealing than “vintage pink”, but at least it's the truth! I do love this colour (then again, I do love medium cooked steaks as well … LOL).

Next, the opened binder. I added tabs of a Dutch making, because they were so cheerful, and because they have an inner pocket (shown in another picture) for storing receipts or paper. As you can see I am using the purple FriXion point (0.5) which is a necessity with this binder: First of all this is the only FriXion that fits the Malden's penloop (the slimline is too thin, the Frixion Ball is too fat).

And this is why the Pocket Malden makes such a great purse: in the zipper I keep coins, in the card slots my cards, plus my drivers license and in the huge wallet pocket my money bills. Simple as that …

Here's a picture with some of the tabs I am using. I will explain them in further detail in a minute.

The first tab “Shops” contains A) my ongoing shopping list. I trim unused Daytimer Flavia pages for this purpose. Note the super handy pocket on the backside of the tabs!

And B) a list per shop of what I need or want to buy when I am there next time.

Next is the tab “Lists”. This contains various lists.

Lists like gift idea's (see picture below), books to read, movies to watch etc etc

In the back of this Lists section I have added To-do pages, sorted by category. I find these pages with the red Avery sticky tab (kindly sent to me by Nancy!). The brand of these pages are of the Dutch “Succes” planners. I like these because they have two lines per item.

Next is the Tab “Maand” (= Month), again from the Succes brand.

Behind this tab I have the month-on-2-pages inserts from Succes (for circ. 8 months), where I record my DH's working and appointment schedule. I love that the days have two lines. I use the lower line for day appointments/jobs and the top line for appointments at night. I have added a baby-blue Avery tab to immediately access the current month (again, courtesy of Nancy!).

Behind the monthly pages I have the weekly pages (circ. 6 months), the German Cotton Cream with lines. I use the pink BCC ruler as a page finder. I use my lime green BIC pen to colour code my entries:

Pink: reminders/events

Purple: appointments (this way I can also record them with my purple Frixion)

Babyblue for birthdays

Lime green for TV programs I don't want to miss.

As you can see I have added self adhesive monthly tabs to the weekly pages. I got these from Plannerpad.com. You will also notice that I attached them quite randomly and that they are not neatly aligned. But who cares, at least it works to find my month … ;-)

Now to the heart of my planner: the daily pages (about 1 month worth of pages). I am using the Day-per-page inserts from Succes. The lines are really tiny, but I need to have half-hour intervals. And as it turns out I can write very small as long as I use my Frixion Point!

In fact I can record all information that I previously had in my Personal sized 2-pages-per day inserts. The reason is quite simple: apart from writing smaller, I figured I don't need to write novels, when all I need is a quick reminder. For example, on my old ToDo pages I would write:

“Call GP for appointment for N.”

Now I simply write: “GP” under the PHONE section.

Another example:

“Mail quotation to (name customer)” can be abbreviated to “(name customer)” under the header EMAIL. Without any loss of vital information, I might add!

I used the preprinted thicker lines of the succes pages and added (in babyblue BIC pen ink) the headers EMAIL, TO DO and PHONE. An idea that I stole from Oni btw! I add small tick boxes, because I dislike crossed out lines on my calendar pages. The idea for the boxes are from Snarling and Stirwise!

As you can see I still assign time slots to my To do's, which is why I need the half-hour-intervals in my time line.

At the top of the page (hardly legible in this picture) I added my Flylady Routine reminders with boxes to tick off. A simplified version of the Woman's Success Planner principle that you need to track your routines.

The next picture is just for giggles and laughs. I trimmed the Personal sized 2PPD pages from Filofax and punched them for the Pocket binder. As you can see, all vital information and room is preserved. However, I decided I didn't need two pages per day, and that I'm way to lazy to do this for an entire year – thank you very much!

Next is the “Notes” tab, which – surprise! – contains nothing but a handful of lines notes pages.

Behind this section I have the address pages from Succes. Each address page is tabbed, and I use the front page for the first letter, and the back page for the last letter. I record all my login details and important phone numbers or insurance numbers here. Anything that I might need to refer to during a day, especially when I'm from home. No phone numbers from contacts, because those are all in my phone anyway ...

Next is the “Family” tab. This contains lists per family member with clothing sizes, and of clothing or other supplies that need to be bought. Also a list of birthday party ideas or websites.

A clear plastic envelope with bits and pieces and and a financial sheet (Succes again) with date and amount of the car fillups.

In the back I have the plastic card slot holder (with room for four cards).

The note pad pocket in the back finally holds some stamps

I love the pocket format! It is so easy to toss it in your handbag, or to just carry it in your hand during shopping (after all, it does contain all my shopping lists!).

Finally, here are a few more pics of my fat little life companion: a true Allrounder!

Once again thank you Jotje, that is quite a set up!