My wandering, wayward heart (my version of planner peace) by Anita

After reading Helen’s excellent post about defining planner peace, it reminded me that I’ve been considering writing about this subject for some time. The great thing is that everyone’s version of peace will look quite different, and that’s one of the things that I love reading about here or on other blogs. The flexibility of a ringed binder draws me back every time as it’s so easy to open the rings, remove the contents and start over.

I’ve had a little look back at my previous posts here on Philofaxy and there seems to be a recurring theme along the lines of ‘I’m so content with this one, I couldn’t imagine changing and thank you very much, I won’t be buying any more’. However, after a varying amount of time I do change and I’ve recently realised just what this means for my binder use and peace of mind.

Quite some time ago, I had a Facebook conversation with the lovely Ro about buying Filofaxes and something she said really struck me as very true that I have a ‘wandering, wayward heart when it comes to these things’ and about my tendency to like variety now and then.

So, this is what my planner peace looks like:

• First and foremost, I do not mess with my set up. This is my cardinal rule, I guess. Whilst some changes can be beneficial, I don’t want to tinker about with my system for the sake of it as this can just be another form of procrastination for me
• I am allowed to change my binder when I fancy some variety, as I am able to recoup my costs as I’m careful about what I spend. I love Filofaxes, but I don’t want a large collection and I dislike owning ones that aren't in use, so I sell my original one to fund the incoming newbie
• My main binder is either personal or one that takes A6 paper as I find them the best compromise between page size and portability 
• I am allowed to own more than one! For some time, I struggled with this with my minimalistic tendencies but I am finding that an additional A5 is very helpful for planning projects and taking notes
• I've learnt over time that my version of planner peace will change and I'm OK with that 
• Something new (for me) that I'm considering is the idea that I can keep one additional one that isn't being used. It may be just one that I love and don't want to part with, or maybe in a different size for my changing needs
• I keep my stationery supplies at a minimum. On purpose I have a limited amount of storage for this and I don't decorate, so it means I don't need much more than spare paper, my hole punch and a couple of pens. 

I've actually found it quite useful writing this post as I've been figuring this out as I go along and putting it into words has been very helpful. I've never had 'a unicorn' and I feel very fortunate as I usually find any new replacement quite easily thanks to this wonderful online community.