As the end of the year approaches, I've been mulling over some ideas and finalising my Filofax New Year's resolutions:
And as always on Fridays, please free to discuss/ask anything ring-binder related.
- Number one - to not buy or sell any more binders! Since writing my post about zero spending, all four that I'd planned to keep have been sold or returned. I will be starting 2017 with three (carefully chosen) binders which incorporate all my favourite features/qualities - more posts to come
- Use up the supplies that I have
- Use the accessories that I have, or give them away - e.g. my Muji checklist stamp that fell down the back of a cupboard years ago and recently found whilst playing with the cat, or a Coleto multi pen that I won in a give away and had forgotten about
- Do an end of year review - to consider what's working well or not and to help me simplify
- Write more Philofaxy posts and finally get round to being a guest on the podcast.
Do you set any planner New Year's resolutions?
Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and all the best for 2017.
Has anyone used the Pink Filofax week to an opening? Is the Pink the same as their notepaper?
ReplyDeleteHi Anita - I was so pleased to read this, and (at the risk of setting myself up for public failure) here are my not completely dissimilar offerings:-
ReplyDelete1. To make any binder purchases cost neutral in 2017. That means any purchase has to be offset by a sale - and the sale has to happen first.
2. To definitely use up the supplies I have right now. The only exception I'm allowing is for the purchase of a new divider set - or two. This is because I've discovered that a great way to refurbishment my system is to uplate the dividers and I'm planning to start the New Year with a refurbished and really smart-looking system.
3. To do an end of year review such as you've described. I already have the time set aside for this.
4. To stop being tempted by A5 (yes I know.....) and every new system I see (or old system I see). Personal works fine for me when I work it properly.
5. To constantly remind myself that there is no 'silver bullet' either in planner size or system, and to make sure I give the time necessary to my planner to make sure it works for me in return.
6. (This is the big one) - To be more proactive in my planning. To use my planner for planning and not just for capture and task management. To set goals and then plan for their achievement.
To everyone in this great community - have a great Christmas and a fantastic 2017.
I'm OK with the actual binders - I have only two, a Personal and an A5. It's the inserts that get me! After a few months of using the Personal I think I want to use the A5 so I have to buy new inserts. After another few months I realise the A5 is too heavy so I go back to the Personal and, you guessed it, buy new inserts! Plus I can't help looking at all the pretty pictures of other people's planners so I want to try new layouts which obviously require new inserts.... My resolution is to stick to the Personal for the whole of 2017 because I know it works best for me. I also want to organise all the old pages as a record but the last few years are just sitting in a bag at the moment, probably jumbled up. This will be more important in future as I've only just started writing some daily comments in my planner but I'm hoping knowing that I'll be saving them will encourage me to add something every day.
ReplyDeleteThis year, it will be manifestations, not resolutions. Christmas blessings and a fabulous New Year, to all.
ReplyDeletePlanner resolution: Know Yourself
ReplyDeleteTo remember what works for you does not necessarily work for me and vice versa. Each of our lives is different with different needs, priorities, and subjects of importance.
Stomp down Shiny Object Syndrome: Am I really going to use that new planner? Really? How am I going to use it? Figure that out before buying it.
Don't fix what isn't broken: I have used the same insert layouts for 20 years. That format works for me. My personal Original has been in daily use for 2 years. Again, it works for me. My work A5 has been in play for almost a year. My system is working for me and working well. Tweaks, yes. Full on revamp? No reason.
Use up the supplies I have: I fell down that rabbit hole and have spent the last 6 months NOT ordering more stuff no matter how cute. I don't use it. It doesn't look professional in my work planner. My personal can only go through so much paper. Lesson learned. No matter how terrific that item looks on Etsy or a blog post, it may turn out to not be your thing. Those charms? Love them. Too bad one ripped the stitching on my personal.
It's a planner/organizer: Use it or lose it.
Yes, yes - agree with all of what you're saying. I'm heading into Year #2 using my Filofax Pocket Malden as a wallet and planner - substituting the pages from a deconstructed Moleskine pocket weekly diary for my diary section as they're much more roomier than the FF pocket inserts. It also doubles as my wallet as well and includes only a Lists and Projects section along with a plastic pocket for stamps, labels and supplies. Two pens - a black and blue Pilot G2. Black for text and blue (slotted nicely inside the rings) for appointments and circling/underlining things that have to stand out. I keep a small pen pouch in my bag of bare necessities - ruler, mechanical pencil, ball point pen (just in case!)and two gel highlighters. That's it.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to my planner, I will be using a grid Exacompta journal as a 'commonplace notebook' for my daily pages, notes, ideas, jottings, macro tracking and workout log. My planner will just be something I check in the morning and evening for what's planned for that day (appointments, birthdays, due dates, time sensitive tasks, etc) and moved over to a daily page in the commonplace book. Because my planner is also a wallet I feel better about not having to keep it open all the time. I can work out of the notebook much easier and the B6 size is wonderfully portable, yet still roomy enough.
Other than a personal journal (a pocket Eccolo), that's all I'm using in 2017. I gave away my Franklin Covey 365 Polka Dot to someone on IG who was looking for one (discontinued) and included a lot of pens, stickers and washi I hadn't or don't use (I tried with the washi.....I really did, but.....I just can't get into it. Oh well!) I'm a simple, basic planner and keeping things as uncomplicated in my life as possible is key.
Before I went back to London in November I did a stock take of what inserts I have and was there any I really needed to buy... in summary no there wasn't! Plus these days I tend to create/print my own anyway.
ReplyDeleteI'm aiming to stay just in A5 this year, just using two binders, one with my two planners in it (one for normal planning, the other for blog post planning) That keeps that one fairly thin and light weight.
The other A5 is more of a reference binder with the archive of the current planning pages which get moved in to it after about 3 months, and the store of my pages for later in the year. Also in this one are things like maps, and other information pages, address pages as well, and other notes too.
And I look forward to you being a guest on the podcast Anita. 😀
Over the Christmas break I have an episode to edit and get ready for publishing, but otherwise I'm going to have a quiet week I think.