There's been lots of Planner Fail lately. I keep hearing about people tweaking their systems, trying new diary formats or even a different size from what they were using before.
Some people are dissatisfied with what they used this year and are looking for something better for next year. Other people have a change in circumstances (workload etc.) and are looking for an immediate solution.
Are you experiencing Planner Fail? Let us know and maybe people will have some suggestions for you.
And as always on Fridays, feel free to discuss any ring-binder related topics.
Happy Friday everyone!
I actually have been rather happy with both my binders. My writing journal Malden Personal Filofax has worked out well and I bought the same system as last year for its diary. I'm putting in a similar section of research notes for this year's Nanowrimo project. I am dropping the MO2P for tracking my word count, since I'm now doing it on the WO2Ps and feel that I'm motivated without it. I don't really view this as a failure though.
ReplyDeleteMy other binder is a Slimline Holborn and it is now my wallet/travel binder. I don't carry a diary in it and don't miss it there. I use ToDo pages, note pages for lists, a phone directory and general wallet items. So far it is working out great, except that I've had it mistaken for a book on more than one occasion because of its size.
Maybe I'm the only one left who is happy with her filofaxes, although I guess I got lucky and my two binders both came with excellent rings and impeccable leather coverings. After hearing all the complaints, I'm rather hesitant to buy a 3rd Filofax at this time.
I'm still as in love with my Holborn as when I first got it and the week on one page with notes diary is working perfectly at the moment due to the fact that I don't use it to track work and most of my to-do's are weekly, it also gives me space to note down what parcels I should recieve that week and tick off when I get them... in fact I put very little other than appointments and the odd day-specific to-do in the dated side!
DeleteI fully intend to use this next year as it's proving perfect for everything I currently have going on.. colour coded to-do's happen some times when i can be bothered to find other pens but generally I just go through everything
I'm going back to Filofax much thanks to you! Discovered this blog recently and have been consulting it every day since. I was going to treat myself to a Personal Malden in Vintage Pink but they were sold out (and discontinued as I'm sure all of you already knew), and as much as I love purple, it didn't feel right. I have the Purple Malden folio in A4 though and it's wonderful.
ReplyDeleteSooo, after nearly three years using other planners, I dug out my Personal Hamilton last night. This is how I discovered how long it's been as it's filled with the 2009 diary. I still love all its features, it's well-loved but that only adds character and now I can't wait to set it up for my new needs! I have been collecting tips from here and have tons of new tricks to try out. I'm sure it will work a charm!
Thank you everyone for your inspiration!
Jennie in Mölnlycke, Sweden
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I'm going to try on day per page for the first time in my life! I've used one week to an opening before but now I can't fit everything. Also I get stressed looking at the whole congested week when it's only Tuesday. This way I hope I can turn a page and feel I've completed something, and focus on one day at a time. I lose the overview but there are plenty of other inserts for that! We'll see how I go. :)
ReplyDeleteIs changing your system Planner Fail?
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has recently come back to paper and pen after five years of trying to use ONLY tech planning, I have the standard A5 Filofax-issue vertical week on two pages diary. I've tried this for a couple of weeks and have pretty much decided that my appointments could easily be put on a month-on-two-pages spread, so I will probably repurpose the "diary" as a food record. I won't need to carry more than a weeks worth of diary since food recording is just that, recording, no need to look ahead.
Is this Fail? Surely it's just what ring bound systems were designed to do. It's what makes them so flexible.
I can see how investing in a bound system and then deciding that you have made the wrong choice a few months later is more problematic, but a diary can be used for so much more than just appointments.
Size. Trickier. I plumped for A5 and I'm happy with it. Most of my Inserts were downloaded from Philofaxy or designed by me, so there isn't much financial investment after the initial purchase. There's a lot to be said for a ream of paper and a pen and ruler.
As a response to your question, I don't see changing my system as planner fail. Consider it "any ring-binder related topic". I'm new here so I don't know your do's and don'ts.
DeleteNo planner fail here either, though I did switch from my A5 Malden to a Compact Franklincovey with FC inserts. It's not that my Malden stopped working, but the workload decreased when one of our huge projects was concluded.
ReplyDeleteI'm superduper happy in my FC, it even doubles as a wallet! I now have everything in one planner.
I still have dedicated A5 Filofaxes, so I haven't turned my back on FF entirely. My dedicated binders are: record keeper on school stuff of my kids; address book, note book for specific projects.
Forgot to add that I also have an A5 Domino as my Leonie Goddess binder! ;-)
DeleteI'm happy to report no planner fail here....my system still jogs along happily coping with the large number of projects and tasks I throw at it. Most of all I'm happy with my decision to use only lined paper (no fancy printed inserts apart from the diary), since I can use cotton cream throughout, and always pick up a refill when passing a Paperchase if I need one, at minimal cost. And I don't have to keep reams of different inserts in a drawer, so most of my previous stash is now with Fiona in Oz!
DeleteThe only area where I'm undecided for 2013 is diary format, but I din't regard that as Fail, just as not yet decided....
I use two planners: my Personal Malden for my private appointments, to do’s (work and home), expenses (with the expenses envelope of Ray), etc. etc. and (o, god, should I say this) I use an Extra-large Moleskine planner.
ReplyDeleteI have always have a Filofax. As a student I first had a fake Filofax, but after my student years I got the Filofax graphic grey Personal. Very nice and I still have it. But I start carring more papers and I did not have a puncher for the Graphic so I swithed to the Moleskine (don’t kill me!!!) and also a PDA. I am definitely not an electronic girl. I love pen and paper, so I switched totally to the paper planner. And I was happy with the Moleskine, but again, the caring of loose paper problems arise again. I was looking at the Filo again, but there is no love with the binder. I both a Slimmer Personal. I love it, but the rings, to small. So back to the Moleskine. And then, just by coincident I came across this site and a totally Filofax commune. I always thought that I was the only one with a planner/paper/pen love. And the ideas here make me rethink my planners. So for the past two weeks I got myself a beautiful purple Malden Personal ‘Emma’.
I use ‘Emma’ together with mine Moleskine Extra-large. I am still looking for an A5. In the Moleskine (the one week on a page and a note page) I ad all mine to do’s for the week (from mine Malden) to the note page in the Moleskine. I have in one glance all mine to do’s for the work week. I color code everything: when it is done, or still in process (waiting for-status). This information I also transfer to the Malden at the end of the week. On Sunday I go through both planners to see what has to be done and do the planning for the week. I am using this system for two weeks now and I must say it works.
I was a little bit concern in using two planners, but I love the Moleskine paper more than the Filofax. But I adore ‘Emma’. The A5 Malden is very, very nice, but a little bit expensive. So I am waiting for a nice deal and then I can put the Moleskine in the A5. Best of both worlds.
I thought I had solved my Planner fail but now I have Planner Dilemma, which I think is different:
ReplyDeleteI have a personal for my day to day planner. It has a Monthly weekly and daily view. That works for me but the fail was that I used home printed inserts for the day and it took me an age to print them and they always looked homemade and I tended to get them slightly out of alignment when I punched them and - yuk! But I now have the French day on two pages for next year and a brand new Regency compact and its all set up to go.
In my Blog Planner A5 I have a self printed MOTP to scheudle posts that works fine and in my Studio Planner I have bought a WOTP rather than noticing times on lined notepaper so thats fine. For work I haev been trialing a page on one day on blank paper and thats working well so I have an A5 WH Smith/Letts bound diary with cream lined pages I have hacked apart for next year. So I am all set up and ready to go for 2013.
Then yesterday the Grey malden I bought on Adspot came (its far more gorgeous than I thought from photos never having seen a grey in person) and it included Personal-planner UK inserts. I had never heard of them until the seller told me she would send them. They are spiral bound products you can order from www.personal-planner.co.uk and when you order you can customise format and content. In the Filo they therefore have extra holes and have been repunched but that does not detract at all. I realy like the paper, the design, the colours and I want to use them very much. But the format of appointments in vertical columns is not what I personally would have chosen and its not obvious to me how to use them.
So, not fail but Dilemma caused by extra choice!! And a desire to go and buy a set of personal-planner.uk inserts to my own design as well:)
I've recently discovered the joy of using a personal which means I can carry it around with me. I have a dilemma though. I really do get 'planner envy' when I look at other peoples set up. I am using a home printed week on one page with notes (I think Steve and Ray call it weekly TM view) and I customised it with colour etc and printed it on cream paper. Really delighted with it. However my dilemma is whether to add day per page to the mix. I do still miss small tasks todo on a daily basis - I keep all my personal and work projects listed in the week view, but it depends on how granular I wish to become. I don't have a good history of keeping daily pages which is probably why I'm not as organised as I should be!
ReplyDeleteActually I'm toying with resurrecting my A5 'home' binder and listing daily tasks in there. We'll see!
DeleteI've been off and on the bloggersphere recently so I don't know if someone has already mentioned this...
ReplyDeleteI signed up to the Filofax focus group they have on their website last month. A fortnight ago I received an email from someone at Filofax asking me to take part in a discussion with their research company. I agreed and the next day I was on the phone for half an hour discussing the recent disappointments we have felt in Filofax, the quality lacking, the silly designers and the fashionista angle. It was all taken on board, but the most interesting thing to me was that the guy on the phone said he had heard this view from almost everyone he had spoken to so far. The research company Filofax have hired know how we are feeling in regards to the more fashion/less quality angle, and the general feeling that Filofax are ignoring not only their current customer base, but their biggest online resource - Philofaxy. The conversation felt me feeling excited and felt that for once we were being listened to. The research company were due to compile a report and present it to key figures at Filofax last week. My friends, we may see some positive changes happening next year. If not, and they continue to ignore what their customer base is saying, then I may just reconsider my brand loyalty...
Call me a cynic, but I think this sudden change of heart is largely down to their grim financial situation, falling sales and profits and the fact that the company is up for sale. There's certainly a great future for paper planners, but it will be as an increasingly niche product (sorry guys!). Sadly Letts Filofax have continued to assume for too long, that they can bombard the market with bulk sales of (too often) inferior quality products at inflated prices. Well that's my view anyway!
DeleteThe biggest change we will see next year will be new owners. Whether that will be a positive change will be interesting. I predict a very severe pruning of the current ranges, but with a return to quality workmanship and the more traditional values that Filofax was build upon.
Cynic! :) No seriously, I agree with you about their financial situation and it spurring this kind of research along. I'm just glad to see them contacting customers for opinions. I myself have encountered many companies who don't ask, but prefer to stick thier heads in the sand, pretending everything is ok.
DeleteTim, I fear that nothing will change at Filofax until Letts is no longer in the picture. Perhaps the biggest "planner fail" is Filofax themselves.
DeleteI'm happy with my current set-up -- Personal and Compact combo -- but now feel bad that my Pockets are being neglected.
ReplyDeleteDiary Dilemma has been solved with Cotton Cream WO2P which I'm looking forward to using for 2013. I love that Sat/Sun have equal spacing!
It's now official that we will be moving back to Somerset, England in February. We're renting the world's smallest cottage, so this represents a great opportunity for some radical simplification and 'going minimalist', both things which have been only mind since I first read John Lane's writing about 3-4 years ago, and since I discovered Leo Babauta's excellent blogs.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be a real, serious, no-holds-barred life simplification, and nothing is off-limits. I'll certainly be getting rid of all but one of my Filofax binders, so if anyone is in the market, email me. Additionally, I'll be disposing of my lovely black leather Time Manager binder, so ditto on that. I have a bunch of inserts to go with it, and the manual (original, hard copy), but no 2013 refills, and it could do with a new set of section dividers. Otherwise it's perfect and has served me well for over 15 years.
Meanwhile, the Chosen One (the Filofax which will remain post-move) is filling up with move-related tasks.....I'm so happy I have a working system!
Part of our move will include going off-grid so far as social media are concerned, and we won't be having hot and cold running broadband in the cottage, so I'll be picking up email on my BlackBerry and occasionally on a wireless dongle, so I probably won't be so omnipresent on message boards and websites - but this is a great move for us and we're really looking forward to it.......
Have you read The 100 Thing Challenge? Interesting read.
DeleteI can't see how to email you.
Do you still have the A5 Hampstead?
natalie at theyarnyard dot co dot uk
what models do you have that you will not be keeping?
DeleteI am looking for an A5 model. Do you have one? And what is the color?
DeleteI've got an A5 Kendal in brown (nearly new), a black A5 Finsbury (as new), both of which will be going, plus two Personals, a vintage Hampstead and an ochre Malden, one of which will be going. If you're interested, email me davidpopely (at) googlemail (dot) com - I'm sure we can sort something out....
DeleteGood luck David! This minimalist idea is interesting and I'll read your suggestions. There's no greater horder than me!
DeleteWe are this very day moving house ourselves. We've built ourselves a new eco-cottage in the grounds of the big house that we let for self-catering holidays (on the edge of Ilkley Moor). We're been moving everything ourselves - over a period of weeks! I've been truly staggered at how much stuff we've acquired over the years. Most of it we never use. But could I get rid of it. I doubt it!
Good luck with the eco-cottage Tim! A good part of this for us is about living more 'lightly' - you're right about the staggering amount of 'stuff' we accumulate. We'll be employing professional movers when the time comes, but also leaving a bunch of stuff which won't fit n the cottage (which is a lot) here in the Wales house and disposing of it by instalments. We've had the simplification goal on our minds for a couple of years at least, so its good to be finally in a position to do something about it.....
DeleteWe became minimalists last year, and downsized our household goods (got rid of about two thirds of all our possessions) and moved to a much smaller home (one third the size). It is a major life change, but all for the good. Can't wait to hear what you think as you make the move. Good luck and best wishes!
DeleteHi Ro
DeleteIt's something we've been wanting to do for a long time, only somehow ended up buying a place twice the size of our last one and filling it with Stuff - this is our radical realignnment!
I was thinking of making a series of blog posts about it, but part of our plan is to be far less Web dependent - we won't be getting in-house broadband or a landline in the cottage, so we'll be dropping off the majority of social media. I'll be getting my email twice a day, through a wireless dongle, and we reckon that's plenty. I'm definitely keeping my One True Filofax though....:)
Just had a quick look at "The 100 Thing Challenge". It's about living life with less than one hundred possessions in total. For sustainable living, that's a great aim for all of us. However, given the number of Filofaxes that the typical Philofaxer owns, that could be a real challenge in itself!
DeleteI've no chance I have more than 100 things in my stationary cupboard, probably the same amount in my wardrobe :-(
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI'd love to be more minimalistic - I love it when I am on holiday and I have few possessions with me! I have loads to sell and get rid of - I'm just struggling to find the time to sell it on ebay.
DeleteDavid - my business could not exist without broadband, and my customers would not put up with contact only twice a day. When I got back from my meeting this afternoon I had several emails, one with a 15mb attachment which I couldn't handle without broadband.
I have read Leo's blog for a long time - whilst I admire him and his thoughts - I couldn't go quite as far as he does! But I think some minimalism in our material world is a great ambition!
Good luck with your move, David, & with the radical simplifying! I love my copy of Timeless Simplicity & reading Zen Habits too. Even though I love filofaxes I realise that owning more than one just isn't right for me :)
DeleteThanks Anita....I really appreciate that. John Jane's books have been a great influence since I discovered them in a bookshop in Totnes 5 or 6 years ago, and Timeless Simplicity is one of the very few books which I find myself re-reading on a regular basis. We're very excited about the opportunity to simplify in this way.
DeleteHi Alison! Reading your comment reminded me of George Bernard Shaw's famous comment, which I will repeat here:-
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
Having only this week been told by a business-person that I am 'silly' for *not* leaving my business phone on all weekend and responding to client enquiries when I am on family time, I'm inclined to think that there is something wrong with the assumption that we have to be 'always on'. If my clients can't wait 3-4 hours for a reply to an email, I think they're probably not the clients I want!
I agree with you there, David! Even on landline phones, people expect to be able to get in touch with anybody at any time of the day or night. The local District Health Board is the worst for this: if I tell them the flatmate they've rung to speak to is out, and ask if I may take a message, I get a Spanish Inquisition of, "Where is he? When will he be back? What's his mobile number?" as though the concept of leaving the house is totally foreign to whoever's on the other end. My logic is, if your call were THAT important, the person receiving it would have known about it and waited at home to answer the phone.
DeleteAnyone know ho to remove an ink mark from a Domino cover? :*-(
ReplyDeleteHere are some tips I found on the internet: http://laundry.about.com/od/stainremoval/a/leatherinkremov.htm.
DeleteGood luck!
I saw the posting in the AdSpot for a Rio. I'm not familiar with this model.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone tell me anything about it?
Happy Friday,
PM
I'm a new FF user. I have a Holborn personal and a Holborn pocket. LOve them both. Before I was using a Day Planner brand binder which on the outside looks almost twin to my Holborn, I wasn't able to move my pages and inserts over to the FF as I was using my own made weekly views and they were too wide . I was scared to use the more narrow pages of the FF but after a few days with it I found Oh,, this does work,and doesn't stick out of the side of the binder. I think I like the weekly views it came with but I am writing the days of the week in colored and using a highlighter to draw lines between the days.. So considering to make my own pages as I like color. Should I just keep using the pages it came with and writing over the days? I don't know lol I'm still sorting out how my layout I want to be. I bought a laminate machine and waiting for it to arrive. I like the idea of making my own dividers all prettied up = ) Then I had to buy a small label maker to mark the dividers!!! I tell you this can be very expensive hobby. Some of my friends don't get it. I just smile and say well its not like its YOUR money I'm using! lol My husband just shakes his head...
ReplyDeleteI'm looking at some Slimlines and want to use it for a checkbook / finance binder. and to carry with me. I never carry my personal FF with me. I'm usually at home anyways.
I love seeing everyone's layouts and think OH I want it that way for me. Then I decided I want to just take it a day at a time and it will work itself out. I use stickers, markers,colored gel pens, stamps, and washi tape so my layout will end up being colorful and ME at the end of the week!
I've been using FC compact for the last 20 years and was definitely experiencing planner fail. So I decided it was time for a change and I made the switch to Filofax. I'm still in the process of setting things up - it took me a long time to set up my FC and it will take a while with the new system. I moved a few things out - including my financial information. I used to keep that in my FC compact but now I have it in a regular sized notebook on my desk. I didn't really need it in my planner anyway.
ReplyDeleteI'm using the FF 2ppd and LOVE them! I love the fact that there are 10 boxes for to do's. I get overwhelmed easily and have in the past limited my list to 10 things. It helps me decide what's most important instead of making an endless list. So when I saw the 2ppd with 10, it seemed meant to be.
I purchased a personal Malden earlier this year but decided I would be happier with a personal Holborn. It arrived yesterday and I'm hoping to spend some quality time with it today. I'm going to use the Malden as my blog planner and it will live on my desk. I had been trying to combine the two but there's not really room. I've never had two books going before but I think it will work out well.
Oh, another reason I switched to FF was because I've been downsizing things. I switched from a larger purse to a smaller one and have LOVED that. My FC compact has 1.25 inch rings and is actually pretty heavy and bulky. I can fit it in a purse but it makes it really heavy. The personal Malden fits in my small purse (barely) if I need it to but doesn't make it painful to carry. I'm really liking that!
Hi everyone. I'm a new Filofax user. I read philofaxy everyday! I love it! I own a personal butterfly pewter which I ordered from Filofax France when it was on sale. I put my life in this binder. It has become one of the most important things in my life. Now I want an A5 Adelphi for work. I read in allthingsstationery blogpost that TK Maxx has this binder on sale. I am wondering whether anyone can help me to purchase and ship this for me. Of course I'll reimburse all the costs... Plus agent fee ;) We don't have any store selling Filofax in my country so I badly need your help. adekku[at]gmail[dot]com
ReplyDeleteI am not suffering from a planner-fail, but from a planning-fail : my life is (very) simple, no children, 9-5 job, not a very busy social life, and it's been more and more obvious that I'm complicating my life trying to organize it.
ReplyDeleteReading about time management, gtd, flylady, etc, and trying to include these concepts in my life, has been frustrating : my existing system was working well, no real need to change it...
Furthermore, as it's autumn/winter, my jackets have enough pockets to carry the bare essentials (very slim purse, two keys, tissues, cell phone), I don't have my bag anymore, and my filo sits at my desk at home; unused, not looked at since the boyfriend and I share a simple wall calendar for our few appointments and reminders. Worst thing ? I don't even miss it :(
Therefore, I'm thinking of letting go of my latest purchase, my first "real" leather "grown-up" filofax, a beautiful compact osterley, in plum...
If I wanted to try and use a filo again, i could simply go back into my first one, a blue "college" that my mom gave me as a gift for my 18th birthday, it holds everything I could think of (and now, this content is spread between two binders, urgh).
Funny, Alice (from the wonderful life of alice) has an osterley on her wish list. I'll wait to hear from her first, but any of you who might be interested in purchasing a barely used compact osterley in plum from someone in France, well, contact me at 702723@gmail.com :)
So sorry you've struggled by over-complicating things. I've done that, too. Remember that old saying: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"! So true! Glad you figured things out.
DeleteI'm not suffering from planner fail as such, I just think the problem is me not the planner, i've over complicated things and haven't been giving my planner much attention lately which goes for most things right now, my blog, reading, the house etc
ReplyDeleteI just need some me time to work on my A5 Holborn Zip which is my Home Filofax.
My Slimline Holborn take everywhere Filofax is still working well for now :-)
I've only just broken into the extensive world of the Filofax with a Personal Portland that is quite possibly older than myself, and so far I'm loving it! I've already found it to be useful for keeping track of my shifts at work, and when they've failed to pay me for overtime.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am still struggling with a significant amount of planner fail. While my work calendar and contacts are coming together nicely, I'm yet to fully achieve even a basic level of organisation for the rest of my life, like blog posts, Christmas shopping, and general creative projects.
As a design graduate, I'd love to use my Filo to plan and organise my design 'work' (no one seems to like paying for work don by a graduate these days, or even consider it to be real work!). I'm already considering expanding into an A5 or A4 for more in depth work, but I'm finding it hard to get the ball rolling with my little Personal Portland.
Any advice, oh wise sages of the Filofax?
I have a seperate A5 for planning design work and another as a sketchbook. For some reason Blogger is refusing. Let me paste a link but if you search this blog for studio planner you will see my guest post.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI had two planner fails back in September.
ReplyDeleteFor years I had been using a little slimline WHSmith week to view planner for logging my work hours. And in September it kind of hit me that I wasn't all organised - I never forgot any appointments, but I pretty much forgot everything else.
So I bought myself a large Peanuts Week plus notes Moleskine, which I loved - I was finally able to write notes for myself to remember things and tick them off when I was done. I was so happy with it that I went and bought the 2013 one too.
Then one week after I recieved the 2013 planner, my job changed completely, from 4 half days a week to 2 full days at different sites and taking on more of a senier role. I knew immediately that my Moleskine wouldn't work.
I thought of Filofax, I had a mini Domino sitting in a box, but I knew that it would be way too small for what I wanted. Luckily that week I discovered Philofaxy, I trawled through all your reviews and decided on a Vintage Pink Personal Malden.
It worked out great for me, my personal life was recorded through Week on Two pages and my two work days, I'd just print some Day on Two Pages sheets for those days.
Then after three weeks, and more Philofaxy reading, I realised that the rings weren't aligned properly, so I had to put everything into my A5 Domino (my Household planner) and use that for a week whilst Filofax tried to repair it........ Alas they couldn't, shoe I chose a Compact Holborn in Wine as a replacement.
I had to pare down the contents a bit, but it's working out really well. I have about 6months of week on two pages, and two weeks of two days worth or day on two pages. Plus various information sheets that I can't live without.
Also, it's my birthday next week and I've asked for a Personal Holborn in Wine - just in case I need the space ;)
Late to the party but here we go...
ReplyDeleteI´ve enjoyed planner- success this year since I got a grab of the Perfect Alignment concerning my beloved Balmoral.
The key is, to have everything on sight in one flap. That´s it. To do lists on the other, diary on the other sheet. I have certain ( like cleaning tasks and mealplans ) on post- its to allow more space to evolve as the week goes by yet I do make markings what I already have accomplished and then I do a certain sort of a sit- down with myself to review the day and check out the other day ahead. This is also a fantastic time to give oneself a pat on the back. How often do we perform without stopping to take a look of how much is already been done.
Now, however I feel a ? arising on my knob. What I do love about Filofax is the ability to shove paper around, at will. Every day I seem to snap the binder open and close it to insert a to do to the opposite side of diary. This is at least 400 snaps times two yearly ( sometimes I need two sheets. My lists are almost legendary during certain days ) I would imagine that during the two´ish decades I´ve used the Balmoral this is a fair amount of snapping. Snappish existence, so to speak. Just how dim of a person one is to not print a diary on the one side of sheet and then leave the other side blank?!? That way there´d be a list- space readily on the other side. And a space for random doodlings. Well, this would increase the bulk volume of already a hefty A5. How about just using a paperclip to attach a to do on the opposite page instead? I think I´ll see if this one works- and holds and then make up my mind about it.
All this rambling was more verbal thinking more than anything else.
Hah, yes I've discovered this secret also: if I don't see it when I open it to my current day, then I don't see it all day. The whole point of me keepng a written diary is that I get it out of my head and trust the paper to remember it for me. How can I be expected to remember that I've written a reminder further along in the set-up??
DeleteAfter...I wouldn't call it planner-fail, I'm calling it planner-experimentation...I've discovered the best set-up for me. I've tried just about every possible option at some point in the last two years and have realised that for me, it's a week-per-page with notes that suits my lifestyle best.
I can understand with a glance what my whole week will look like, which shifts I'm on, what I can do in the surrounding hours, and then what I need to do at some point based on the week's to-dos page.
Planner heaven. :) Plus with all the inspiration lately of home-made planners I've found my favourite font/size/ruling/colour combo :) My best advice for those experiencing planner fail is to observe what you use, what you instead need from it, and how to make what you need. All you'll need then is a custom-page-size template (Personal/A5) and some basic skills with tables and margin-setting on Word and you're good to go.