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08 April 2016

Free For All Friday No 386 by Steve

A few years ago I noticed a trend at about this time of year of people downsizing what organiser they were using, with a lot of people moving from Personal size in to Pocket Size.

I based this 'trend' on the number of blog posts on the topic at the time. At the time I put it down to people in the northern hemisphere moving in to Spring and Summer wear and may be downsizing their bags or coats because of the warmer weather and of course smaller capacity bags.

May be this year people have switched to an A6 organiser and that is a compromise of size/function that matches their all year around requirements?

I find I'm using my satellite A6 organiser more than I ever used my personal size when away from home. That might be because I now use the same layout in both organisers (A5 & A6).

So are you tempted to switch sizes?

But as it is Friday, you are of course welcome to discuss anything organiser related. Have a great weekend.

9 comments:

  1. I've been very tempted to switch to A6 for the same reasons that you did. However, when I looked at the huge amount of A5, Personal and Pocket paper and other inserts I already had still waiting to be written on and my large collection of binders in all sizes sat on the shelf, I just had to stop myself! The advantages of yet another set-up change simply did not justify the financial outlay and time required to set it up.

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  2. No, I'm not tempted at all.
    Since starting to use a ring-bound planner again my planner is personal size. I'd known from my first experience that pocket would be too small and after having one look at an A5-size I knew this would be too big.
    I'm using other 'planner' sizes for other purposes; the personal is always with me in my handbag (there you go, at least one advantage to being female :-) ), summer through winter.

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  3. I won't switch to A6 for the same reason as Tim: I have a lot of binders and supplies in A5 and personal size, and I don't want to have to invest in a whole new size of binder and inserts.

    That said, I recently took a short trip away and wished I had my personal size binder with me instead of my A5. Not that I carried it around with me during the days, but a personal size would have been more convenient for travel. Then I got home and back to my busy schedule and remembered all the reasons why I need the A5 size pages! I wish I could function in my daily life with personal size pages, it would be a lot easier to take with me.

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  4. I did switch to A6 for a short while (my lovely vintage Mulberry), but like Tim & Laurie all my supplies are either in personal or A5 size. It seemed such a waste for what was for me a small benefit & I now also have A6 paper in my Dundee. I'm currently focussing on using the system that I have without messing around with it & it's working very well for me :)

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  5. I would love an A-6. But, like Laurie and Tim, I'm completely geared to personal size. I do carry and use a pocket ultra slim some when out and about, but I will stick to my current system and my much loved Winchester.

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  6. I did my downsizing and switching last year. I’d been a FC Classic (half letter size) for a major part of my life. Jumping to a Personal, after having all that space, was disconcerting. However, the classic A5 / Personal size struggle, made life in the planner world, interesting. I want the writing space of my Classic, but the portability of my Personals. Enter the FC Compact size at 4.25”x6.75. My “Tardis” size. That .5” really does make a difference. The nice thing is that I can switch or interleave these pages with my Personal inserts. They even fit comfortably in my Personal size binders. The wear and tear on the tabs, are a non-issue for me. They just give my binder a lived-in look.
    Now, when putting my Personal size inserts into a FC Compact binder, they look a little lost. Then it’s “Hellooo pens.”
    Switching handbags is so much easier.

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  7. I'm lucky. I started with an inexpensive a5 for work about 2 years ago. When I decided I wanted a non-work planner, you and the rest of the Van Der Spek FB page swayed me to A6. Although I'm still tweaking my inserts, I love the size and can't imagine changing out of it. Every time I do I remind myself how easy it is to move things from my A5 to my A6 and back again. A6 for life!

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  8. I prefer my Franklin pocket binder for a long time and the week insert I created. I have not purchased inserts and most paper products in years and do not have drawers or rooms of supplies. The thought of writing every due date of bills and many household chores that people discuss online is puzzling with the options of automatic payments, housekeepers, and simple cleaning ways.

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  9. Like Carla, I went through the 'A5/Personal struggle'....plus some experimenting last year with even more struggle by trying to downsize big-time, by going small...really small.....tested out Mini and Pocket size.....love the size and portability....but after a bit, realized it's too small if it's to be my only binder....would need to have a two binder setup; Mini or Pocket plus a Personal or A5 to use for taking meeting notes, etc, at work. Decided not to go down that road.

    So, decided to compromise by using FC Compact size, as Carla said, the extra page width makes a real difference, especially with notetaking.

    The portability of the A6 size is tempting though.... :), but I hope to stick with FC Compact for now....and quite pleased with FC Compact inserts too....even with writing with fountain pens which I greatly enjoy......

    Mark

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