My life hasn't stopped moving forward...I haven't missed any meetings or deadlines, so what do these symptoms mean?
Is my planner system not working?
Am I avoiding some deeper issue in my life?
Do you ever notice "symptoms" like this? What do you do when you encounter them? Do you ever find that taking a look at what's going on with your Filofax helps you learn something about what's going on with your life?
I find that when my life becomes extraordinarily busy, like it is at the moment, I stop looking at my FF. And really, it should be the other way around. I feel as though I am running too fast, and my feet can't keep up with my body. Then I either (metaphorically speaking) fall flat on my face, or grab something and regain my balance. If I remember my FF before I fall over, hen I can regain control of my work. I've been feeling like this for a couple of weeks, it is the end of the school year and time is running far too fast at the moment.......and I managed to grab back hold of my A5 Malden the day before yesterday. :D. Feeling calmer now.
ReplyDeleteI do this sometimes - just use it for the minimum, only looking at the calendar. And each time I have found that this causes me to have a major slip on working on the *really* important things that aren't appointments in my calendar - my major goals, habit changes and projects, which should be having most of my attention. I have to go back, update my pages, refocus and get majorly back on track!
ReplyDeleteIf I stop moving my today marker forward, it indicates pretty much total life fail for me. I *have* to check my planner at least once a day (last thing at night, if nothing else) and either cross things off or move them forward or everything (and I mean everything) falls apart.
ReplyDeleteShould it worry me that I rely *that much* on it? O.O
I also sometimes have noticed this happening to me & I agree that it's normally indicative of something going on. When it's happened in the past, I've taken some time to chill out & reflect on things. The last couple of times, this is what I found:
ReplyDelete1. I'd recently completed two big projects & whilst being proud of myself, I felt a bit burnt out. Conclusion: forget about the planning & I went on holiday!
2. I didn't really find anything much to explain what was going on. I gave myself a bit of time to goof off & then did a really indepth review of my system & binders. I think I'd just got a bit stuck & the review really helped.
Sometimes I just need a rest from working on projects & then when I get back into it I've got much more enthusiasm & energy.
I am in the camp of perhaps relying on my planner too much. I look at it several times a day, every day. The only (maybe) is when I'm on vacation, though I still take it out, at least at night, to record what we've done that day. My family always jokes that if I were ever to be accused of a crime, all they would need to do to clear my name is check my planner -- if it's not in there, it didn't happen. And, it's pretty much true. I wish I could let it go sometimes. I often wonder what life would be like if I chucked my planner -- would I feel more free? Would my life fall apart? How would I go on? Obviously, the answer is yes, life would still go on. But in a disorganized, dysfunctional way.
ReplyDeleteOur family's think alike!
DeleteThis is where I am also. If things are really hectic, I am depending on my planner to keep me on track. Clinging to a life line is more like it sometimes. I guess vacations are about the only time I am not looking at it, but I always take it with me.
DeleteI have abandoned my planner this week, apart from checking appointments, as I've been doing my new Academic Year diary and set up review... actually only 1 small tweak, but it has taken me ages to print off the diary and write it all in.... so all else has been put on hold. I am like Anita... being shattered or a set up that's not working usually means planner dis-interest and a break required.
ReplyDeleteWhen this happens to me then I am either going through a low point in my life and there is a huge amount of emotional baggage or I have gotten too complicated and am burnt out. It can also be a combination of the two, complicated life or planning leaves things undone and feelings of guilt.
ReplyDeleteMy first post to Philofaxy, one of my favorite sites in the world! And I have this slightly tongue-in-cheek remark: Moving the Today marker forward reminds me of mortality and the ever dwindling sands of time. There are days when I simply resist doing it, and on other days think nothing of it. On colder mornings (it is winter here in Australia), I am also fearful that the plastic will break. Odd, I know, but worth a mention.
ReplyDeleteFor the past few months, I've been writing my to do list as late as Wednesday or Thursday for the current week. I think part of it is that I didn't get through my prior week's list and (a) am still working it and don't want to drag the same items through to the next week's list AGAIN, and (b) I'm procrastinating.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I just want to get the "shell" of my list into my A5 with necessary daily comments as needed, THEN I'll add the basic bullet point list my my carry around pocket to conserve space and to make things neat.
What's funny is when I get in these moods and find myself late in the week still contemplating writing my to do list on paper (because they're still floating around in my head), I go back through the web finds or you tube videos to get my planner fix instead of flipping through my own. I suppose I'm looking for inspiration in those moments.
But usually by the end of the week, I'll have the current week on paper and will go ahead and flip to the next page and begin the shell of next week's list. I think the act of checking off items gets my motivation back and it's a natural flow into the next week.
Or, it could be that I just get lazy!
This resonates hugely and I realise that, like others here, when I am reaching 'planner fail' (i.e. not looking at my filofax etc.) really, I am reaching burnout or the black dog is making a come-back. It is actually enormously reassuring that it's not just me!
ReplyDeleteWhen I get into a slump and dont get my lists anywhere near finished, I tend to let my planner slip. It is a guilt thing.......
ReplyDeleteWhen I am very busy and not looking at my planner much, it's because I'm just reacting. I work better when I plan ahead and work my plan, but some days I'm too busy reacting to things that come up.
ReplyDeleteActually, I would use my planner if FilofaxUSA hadn't sent me the wrong one and turned returning it into a nightmare. Just wanted to warn anyone reading Philofaxy that ordering from FilofaxUSA is a nightmare when they get your order wrong. You can read my blog post about the situation that is happening right now actually:
ReplyDeletehttp://myspotlessmess.blogspot.com/2014/06/introducing-my-personal-saffiano-in.html
A question for those who post Filofax videos on YouTube. Which category do you post them under? The Advanced Settings say Category: Howto & Style but should I be putting them in a different category for maximum exposure to the majority of Filofax users?
ReplyDelete