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| A5 Finsbury Filofax in Coral, 2020 |
I have a theory that whatever system we use when we start our planning/ personal productivity creates an imprint in our mind, and after that foundational experience we tend to work around that framework. See what you think:
My first real planner experience was with a Filofax style ring binder. I used monthly calendar pages, weekly pages, and had tabbed sections for notes on different topics. Since then, I have used many (many many) different planners, book bound and ring bound, as well as different notebook systems. Whenever I'm using a non-binder system, I always have the nagging feeling that it would work better in a Filofax. I think it's because that's what I started with, so that's how my brain works.
Similarly, my first real weekly planning was done in a weekly planner with the days as vertical columns, timed to the half hour, with a space at the top of each day for that day's priority. Now, decades later and having tried many other layouts, my brain still can't function with any other weekly layout.
And, I don't want to call anyone out ;D but I've noticed over the years that people who started their planning by using the Franklin Planner system (which has a particular structure and is an entire system) forever after tend to gravitate back to some version of it, or similar.
Much of the planning and personal productivity content online and in new books these days seems to be geared toward people who started their planning in the digital/ apps space. I'm curious what challenges or benefits people experience who have only used digital before, then switch either entirely or partly to paper planning systems.
What has been your experience? Did you start with paper or digital planning? And do you think that initial experience shaped how you use your planning system now?
And as always on Fridays, feel free to ask and/or discuss anything ring binder organiser related!
The Franklin system works so well for me that there's no need for any other kind. Been using it for thirteen years now.
ReplyDeleteNow that I've reviewed my planners and systems, yes you are correct Laurie. Franklin was a Major system I returned to a couple times after a successful decade of use. I wanted Filofax for its flexibility. I started using personal FF, but I outgrew the size and needed A5. FF vertical weekly personal inserts in Europe are never affordable for US currency. I now use personal, A5, and pocket based on the 4Ws&H. -Jessie, Stateside Pittsburgh
ReplyDeleteLaurie, I agree. GTD is imprinted in my mind. It was the first "system" for planning that I ever learned, and my mind can't let it go.
ReplyDeleteWith respect to binder types, notebooks, or page layouts, I have never been very loyal... but I can see how they could cause the same reaction.
I started with Time Manager (TMI) in 1987. It was a complete planning tool that concentrated on identifying all the key areas of your life, helping you set work and personal goals and how to achieve them. Forty years on, TMI is no more but I still use all the same principles in my ring bound organiser on a daily basis.
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