Guest Post - It’s All A Matter of Space and Time - Helen

Thank you to Helen Fennell in to this insight on how she uses a pocket size planner. 

I had already decided on the title of this post before the sad death of Professor Stephen Hawking. I wondered about changing, but kept it, not because I have any idea as to how he organised his life, but because I am a great admirer of his work, although I don’t pretend to understand much of it.

So, what is this post all about? Not cosmology you will be pleased to hear. I am in my fifth year of using a pocket Moleskine planner*, and I often get asked why I use something so small, and how I manage it. I have written a couple of times about it over on Plannerisms here and here. I need something small that I can carry everywhere, and I will admit that I work it hard, using every part of it I can.

At the end of 2017 I was mulling over moving up to the large size Moleskine, and as thought more about it I realised that using the pocket size had one huge advantage I hadn’t realised before… it stops me from overbooking myself. There isn’t room for me to put in more than I can actually do. This might seem like a disadvantage, what about writing down all the things I need to do? Well, they get stored elsewhere and I pick from that list as to what to do each day. I know if I fill up the daily space in planner, with to-dos or appointments, then that’s it. I am not likely to be able to fit in anything else without much wailing, moaning and gnashing of teeth. So you can see, my planning is based on the relationship between space and time.

Depending on what your day’s look like, perhaps lots of small things, a few very large items, or something in between, have you tried setting up your planner such that you can’t possibly overwhelm yourself on a day to day basis?

*Am I allowed to say that on this site?!

Thank you Helen, I'm sure we can translate your thoughts and ideas to Filofax Pocket Size.