Lately I've found I have multiple concerns in my life -- work, family, two different volunteer organizations. Since I use 1 day-per-page, I can fit it all on one page, but I've found it helpful to use different colors -- blue for anything personal or family, red for work, green for volunteer. In the past, I've kept different concerns in different organizers or sections.
What's your favorite solution for delineating multiple areas your life in your organizer?
Of course, since it's Friday, free-for-all discussion is welcome, too!
I've never really 'colourised'. For me it spoils the effect on the page, but that's a personal thing. For me the main ossue would not be whether to colourise, but how I could carry the various pens involved. Getting a pen case full of fibre-tips out every time I go to a meeting would be a nightmare.
ReplyDeleteHow about work, family and VO next actions in different sections on the page, with a couple of lines in between? Are you using A5 or Personal DPP, and if the latter, is it the generic FF DPP issue? Maybe I can suggest something better if you can let me know.
I do not use the hi-liters when I am out and about, I use them at the end of the day when I am reviewing the day, and putting items in their proper spot in the future. I must admit that at times my planner pages look like something put together by a rainbow coalition, but at a glance, I can see where my energies will be focused. I do like the dot idea, I would use many more of a couple of colors than the rest, so what to do with the left overs would be the question.
DeleteIt's a Personal DPP, the standard Filofax DPP diary. Since I always carry a bag, it's not a big deal to carry different colored pens. I have a bunch of different colored pens in every bag I use so I don't even have to move them!
DeleteYour system of sectioning the pages does sound neater and more organized, though.
My main concern at the moment is with paper quality (again!). I *want* to use one of my fountain pens with my Filofax, and I CANNOT find inserts of good enough quality to facilitate this. It's very frustrating. I have a printer locally who will cut me Personal size blanks from A4 (3 up) for £3 per 250 sheets, which would give me 750 Personal blanks for the price of, say, a nice box of Conqueror high white laid, plus the price of the paper. For pre-printed supplies, though, it's a nightmare. Can no-one (apart from Clairefontaine) make a decent sheet of acid-free, smooth paper, at around 70gm? I've tried the Raymay Davinci which is nigh on perfect, and I'm now using that for everything I can, but it's still very light in weight and doesn't always tend to stand up to the wear and tear (literally) which I subject it to. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteI also use fountain pens and the best inserts I have found are Franklin covey compact size - I have to trim them, but it is worth it - I find the day on two pages layout suits me best as well.
DeleteDavid, you might take a look at nanamipaper.com He carries high end Japanese papers, and he carries "Life" papers, they come in plain, lined, or squared, they have A-5 pads, and could fill your needs very nicely. For what it is worth, I highly recommend it.
DeleteAs ever, thank you Crofter......I'll definitely check this out
DeleteHi David, I tried some of the Quo Vadis Exatime note paper. The writing is fine, but they are a lot thicker and are a touch wider than FF personal size. So all in all not ideal either. Would love fountain paper friendly thin paper in personal size, for both notes and diary inserts...
DeleteI'm with Nan on this - I love to colourise! I have several colour codes running simultaneously; days of the week; members of my family; months of the year and type of page in my planner. Not only does it help give me an at-a-glance overview of what is going on but also the visual interest keeps me engaged in my planning, something I've never managed to do for more than a few weeks at a time before.
ReplyDeleteI have favourite pens too but have resigned myself to using less appealing pens with my filofax paper. It's disappointing as fountain pens are more pleasurable to use and improve my handwriting noticeably.
I colourise with a four colour Coleto, I can just about get away with it on Filofax paper but the show through does annoy me.
ReplyDeleteI used to colour-code in my diary, but I stopped doing that recently and I find at the moment it's fine. I just use black pen, but I use a red line on my timed section to denote when I need to do my uni work. I think I will definitely need to go back to colour-coding when my life gets complicated, though!
ReplyDeletethe only colours i use is pink pen for appointments where i have to be somewhere, orange for holidays everything else is in black as its generally either people coming to the house or not an appointment/hubbys squash games that dont have an impact on me
ReplyDeleteColor coding or using symbols ... unless this is how I do it. ;-) The only problem is the my fresh husband want to be "dark green" and no way to make it blue or dark blue. This do not mach whit my brain at all XD
ReplyDeleteI use Mark-it dots. We all have a colour, plus one colour for events involving the whole family and one colour for events that are not specific to a person. This saves me from having to write everyone's name hundreds of times each year and saves space in my planner. Also, they are re-positionable.
ReplyDeleteI designed my 2015 Mo1P and Wo2P insert for my pocket binder. I experimented with drawing a few months of a Wo3P only to know quickly that I disliked the crammed three days on one of the pages. Also the Wo3P format did not solve the problem of having short lines on the daily space. It is curious that many people like writing on a space that is 48 mm wide. The columns on many vertical layouts and one column on the Filofax personal Do1P are this size. I dislike curtailing descriptions and notes in a short space or using three lines for one thought. I am using my Wo2P insert for the rest of this year in my pocket binder. However the short lines are not functional or appealing for some people. I do not foresee that I will bother with short lines next year. In this case I will have to find another binder that accommodates wider pages.
ReplyDeletehave you tried writing in the other direction? so you have 82mm lines to write on?
DeleteHi Dana. Thank you for the comment and suggestion. Do you mean the horizontal layout that has a rectangular space on each day and the width of the page is 95 mm? I have used that layout and liked the wide space; however the times are printed on every day or one has to write in the times. My format that I designed does not conform to that wide daily space on two pages for the week. Also I do not want to use more paper as in a Wo4P that will allow for that longer space. You could see my points in a photo but I have not resolved the blurriness on some of my previous ones. In hindsight for my 2015 insert I should have cut wider pages to have a daily space that is a bit longer in mm. Even though my binder is shorter in width than a personal Filofax one it can hold wider paper than that of my 2015 insert. It is an option for the next time if I do not want to buy a different binder.
DeleteI took your suggestion and designed a new Wo2P format. It is unorthodox to say the least but I will use it for one week. The lines on the daily space are 87 mm compared to the 45 mm short lines on my first insert. Two week days are half the size of the other days. Even though it is late in the year I am glad that I drew it, and I retained the overall function of the first Wo2P. I look forward to writing notes and descriptions on longer lines again.
DeleteI've been using symbols to differentiate between types of tasks. When recording a task that's dependent on someone else, I'll add their initial (s) before the context code. Otherwise, the only other color I use is a highlighter in either pink or orange, to mark off when that particular bugger is done. This really stands out since I use blue, purple or green for my writing color.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I use Pilot G2 pens in .05 and .07. The .05 don't show through, and the .07 show through a little on Filofax paper. I'm trying to stick to the .05 because they enable me to write smaller, and the DPP ruled very narrowly.
ReplyDeleteMy handwriting is naturally small, so the 5mm ruling on FF paper suits me very well. I'll give these pens a go - thank you
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