I've just about recovered from all the excitement of spending a few days with the wonderful Van der Spek family and Janet Carr. Meeting up with people like that really spurs me on in to thinking about the way I work and the way I use my organiser.
I'm always trying to maximise the use of my planner pages to help me remember things and to ensure nothing falls through the cracks in busy weeks!
This week I have been trying out the idea of carrying a notebook with me to jot down ideas and thoughts that I need to remember. I've tried this before with a Filofax but they seem too bulky to use for just a few sheets of paper, so I'm using a Slim size Flex, it seems to be about the right size.
Do you use notebooks as well as your ring bound organiser? Let's have your thoughts and tips in the comments below.
I do use notebooks, as well as note-keeping apps, post-it notes etc. I like my planner to be a place for "permanent" information and check-lists, while the brain-dumps go somewhere else :)
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ReplyDeleteI always have a few sheets of paper at the front of my filofax for jotting things down on the move. They then get processed when I get back home - if they are ideas about projects or books or so on, they go into the dedicated notebooks for them. If they are just to remember to do something, they may well just go straight into my to-do sheets in my filofax. I don't carry a separate notebook - diary, planner, notes, info and wallet are all combined into my filofax.
ReplyDeleteThat's the way I work as well. as I've shared in guest posts before, the first section of my Filofax is *always* Notes/In, and *everything* goes in there first, then gets processed into the rest of the system.
DeleteSame for me, I carry my Malden (or my Siena when switched) where I record everything.
DeleteI bought a filofax with the idea of having everything in one place as I used to carry several notebooks. However I hate to write messy random notes and throw away expensive filofax inserts,so I have reverted to carrying a cheap generic notebook as well as my filofax. However it is in a Flex notebook cover (which I found really cheap at TK Maxx )
ReplyDeleteI have notebooks in my Flex too June and diary stuff in my A5. Seems to work well. Snap... I got mine cheap at TK Maxx too. A few pocket ones in this year in the build up to Christmas, but November is usually TK Maxx's big planner stock time. xx
ReplyDeleteI am using a Guildford Extra slim pocket with a home made WO2P, with a daily bullet journal in the center of the week. As the days go by, I put the bullet journal sheets just behind the WO2P, then archive them together in storage. All this is on Tomoe River paper (DeVinci) so it works well.
ReplyDeleteWell can I just say that thanks to the Van Der Spek visit I'm now looking to sell off my Malden et al to find a new touch me organiser, I'm in love!
ReplyDeleteI keep Franklin Covey Satellites around anywhere my planner might not be--in my desk at work, and in my car. These have saved me more than once.
ReplyDeleteI used to use a separate notebook but I like throwing away my notes and lists when I am done with them so I use lined paper in my Filofax. I don't use dividers so I just have headings on pages if I have a big issue that needs dealing with. Otherwise I just scribble notes as I think of things and neaten them at the end of the day if necessary. I have tried to be more organized and neat but jotting things down on the fly suits me as I am quite scattered and being neat and organized means I tend to put off writing things down until I can be neat and do it in the right place and then I forget.
ReplyDeleteWe have lots of used (printed on one side, then discarded for whatever reason) copy paper at work. I cut it down and put it in the first section of my planner. This Capture section is used for all those random thoughts...if I don't get them down on paper when I have them, they are gone in seconds. Because I am using used paper, I don't care about wasting "good" paper on these scribbles that will get crossed out when they are processed and the paper tossed when full. When I first started doing this, I was kinda hit or miss with it. When I started making it mandatory and keeping my planner within arm's reach at all times, my system started to gel.
ReplyDeleteThe lure of notebooks is strong for me. I keep a small Word. notebook in my filofax. I like it b/c it's cute and has skulls and flowers on it. Each individual notebook has a place for your name, contact information, a use guide and a guide for taking better notes. It seems to be a completely different system from the way I usually take notes, and at first I didn't utilize it at all, A few months in and I can now see the value of it. I use a composition notebook, occasionally, when life gets busy and I need to see everything laid out. I organize my thoughts and then put it in my filofax. That notebook stays on my desk as I don't use it that often.
ReplyDeleteSince I got my first Filofax my consumption of notebooks has reduced dramatically! However, I do still use them for things like my journal & for study notes. For studying, they take up very little space in my bag & I wouldn't be bothered if they got damaged or went missing. I am now a proud owner of a Raydori & will be using that in conjunction with my personal Kensington.
ReplyDeleteA large Moleskine cahier (13x21 cm) slips perfectly into the top opening transparent envelope in my A5 sized Domino. I use it for thoughts, ideas, and journaling. It's also handy and portable when I don't want to carry the binder with me.
ReplyDeleteI carry a little notebook for jotting ideas and lists and the like in the underneath-back-pocket of my Malden. I don't like to carry separate items, so I'll only go for slim, flexible notebooks that will fit in a pocket of my Filofax. I slip my phone into the notepad-back-pocket for the same reason - I like to be as unencumbered as possible.
ReplyDeleteI use the moleskine cahier. I actually carry it in my A5 filofax these days. When i feel i don't want to take the whole filofax with me to a meeting or such, i just take out the moleskine. It works like a satellite notebook.
ReplyDeleteI do not carry a notebook in addition to my pocket binder. I have note paper in the binder rings and a small note pad in a card slot in my binder. Even if I could slide my phone in the full length pocket in my binder I would not be able to use it because it is covered by the leather. In meeting with someone without access to a table or chairs it is not easy to use my phone and write on the planner pages simultaneously. The phone can easily slide off the pages. If a binder had a pocket that holds the phone securely in place and allows use of it then one can write on the pages without that problem. For me carrying a separate notebook would be a hindrance in this situation.
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