One Book July 2022

1 July is tomorrow. Who will be taking part in One Book July this year?

Firstly, what is One Book July? I believe it started in 2014. A small group of people in the planner community came up with the idea of trying to stick to just using one planner/book for the whole month of July.

There is a great post about the history of 'One Book July' in Paper Planning Magazine it goes in to full detail, so I won't repeat that here.

There are also a lot of videos on You Tube about various peoples approach to One Book July and how they faired etc.

Hopefully people will gain from the experience in taking part in the challenge.

Good luck.

One Book July

July is just over a week away. Who will be taking part in One Book July this year?

Firstly, what is One Book July? I believe it started about 4 years ago. A small group of people in the planner community came up with the idea of trying to stick to just using one planner/book for the whole month of July.

There is a great post about the history of 'One Book July' in Paper Planning Magazine it goes in to full detail, so I won't repeat that here.

There are also a lot of videos on You Tube about various peoples approach to One Book July and how they faired etc.

I personally think that only using one planner for a whole month and not changing during that month will certainly make people focus on the good and the bad features of a particular organiser. Or the type of inserts you have been using, or the method of your planner usage in the year so far.

Hopefully you will gain from the experience in taking part in the challenge.

Good luck.

Guest post - One Book July – the second week

As you probably know by now, I’m doing One Book July, and these short posts are offered up as a chronicle of my progress (or maybe lack of) through the month. If you aren’t up with the plot and want to find out what One Book July is all about (now that it’s half over!), there is an excellent video by Carrie Harling, which will update you.

In my post last week I talked about my choice of binder – the chocolate Finsbury A5. I’m pleased to report that I’m still in A5, and still in the Finsbury! Those of you who know me will realise that this is something remarkable! But there it is – One Book July is definitely having an effect.

Having sorted out my choice and format of binder, my next job was to sort out what diary format I’m going to go forward with. Now this is where I have real problems…..not only do I normally see-saw between A5 and Personal (now settled by my choice of binder), but I have real issues between DPP and Wo2P…..and occasionally Do2P. OK, I admit it – I’m generally a complete mess in this department. However, there are reasons (there are always reasons, right?)……

Some of my weeks get very busy, so I like to have a week-per-view diary as my ‘default setting’. This helps me to see at a glance just how insane life is likely to get in any given week, while giving me enough latitude to make some adjustments before things really fall apart. Also, I like to plan far ahead. I mean far ahead. I already have stuff in my diary for July 2017. No - really, I do. So carrying eighteen months’ DPP diary is just a tad awkward…….

However, I also like to have the ability to add tasks and follow-ups to specific days in the future. Again, sometimes far in the future. This is also one way in which I deal with recurring tasks. So I like a DPP, or a Do2P diary, which allows me space to do that.

So as well as liking a Wo2P diary, I also like a DPP diary. Or on occasions (when it gets really busy) a Do2P diary. And I like to carry eighteen months’ worth of diary at once. No problem………

So now you know what my ‘issues’ are, and I have to tell you, this has been a really tough choice! I have experimented with TimeSystem Do2P, PoD DPP inserts, a nifty Wo2P layout which David Parker kindly produces and which allows for at least some forward task allocation, and I even tried a Daytimer Do2P before I ‘graduated’ to A5.

OK, so now you know……I’m a mess in this area. This is the beauty of One Book July…..if you hold yourself to your commitment – and I made my commitment public enough to need to make sure I hold myself to it – you have to deal with this sort of issue.

So the bottom line…the Big Reveal…the denouement is that I am using a very simple ‘minimalist’ DPP diary printed on Conqueror high white wove A5 which I bought from a local stationery store (local businesses rule, right?) and sourced from a file on the Philofaxy website.

There is an unexpected side benefit so far – until now and for many years I’ve used pencil, and only pencil, in my diary. This has been for two reasons, the first being that Things Change. Everything. All the time. I use more pencil eraser than I drink water. The second reason is that I loathe see-through and bleed-through. As soon as I can see anything on the other side of the page, that page is useless to me. Also, my writing is bad enough not to need the added problem of feathering. Sometimes even I can’t read what I’ve written.

So with my new-found Conqueror diary I’m at last able to use the lovely Sheaffer 300 fountain pen which my even more lovely wife bought me last Christmas:-

This is absolutely my Most Favourite Fountain Pen Ever, and I have been waiting to use it properly since I was given it. Of course, Things still Change, but I’m learning to tackle my planner neatness obsession at the same time, which I figure is a win-win.

For the real stationery and pen nerds out there, I’m using Noodlers Prime of the Commons blue-black ink. The drying time on the Conqueror is almost zero, which is useful when I’m making quick notes in my system. And my writing is still awful……but that’s another story.

So now I have binder size and diary format sorted. Next up is the task management part of the system…….but that’s for week 3……..

Happy planning!

Thank you David for the update

Guest Post - One Book July – the first week

Well, One Book July has started, and my first task was to decide which ‘one book’ I would be using for this project! Not such an easy matter for someone who is known for see-sawing between formats, setups and layouts over the past few months.

My first thought was that I would use my Personal Holborn, and there were a number of reasons for this:-

1. It looks great in a business meeting, in the gym, at the supermarket or in a coffee shop.
2. It is super-portable. I can literally take it anywhere.
3. The reduced ring size (25mm down from 30mm in the Cavendish or any of my A5 binders) would force me to be really ‘minimalist’ about what I carry.

However, I pretty quickly had second thoughts about this. If I wanted to use one book for *everything*, could I *really* manage for a month in a very compressed format, running my accountancy practice and several other fairly major involvements out of it? I had to take account of the portability issues that A5 has for me, but as I thought about it, it became clear that balancing the portability challenges of the A5 against the internal space challenges of the Personal, I would need the space far more quickly than I would need perfect portability!

So my binder of choice for One Book July is my chocolate brown Finsbury A5, a gift from the lovely Helen Fennell (thank you Helen). I chose this over the Bridle (also a gift), because the Bridle, although a truly beautiful binder (also a gift from Paul B), is significantly heavier, and I took the view that I had just handed myself enough portability issues without compounding them further! If I decide to stick with my One Book by the end of July, I may consider a move into the Bridle for a more permanent solution.

So that’s the first bridge crossed - no going back. More significantly, no *looking* back. The
Finsbury and I are going to spend some quality time together during July, and at the end of it I will either be a fully converted A5 user, or champing at the bit to get back to the portability of the Personal!

I’ll write more about setup next time.

So far, so good…….

Guest Post - One book July - Post 1 - David

It was a comment on a Facebook Group I belong to which first brought One Book July to my attention, and I was quickly drawn in. For those of you who don’t know, One Book July is a commitment to use one planner book only for the whole of the month as a means to find out exactly what is and is not essential, or necessary, in planning our lives. Anyone who wants more information can find it in a great video which Carie Harling has made on her You Tube channel.


Although I’ve been using Getting Things Done methodologies for some time to manage my life and the various tasks it throws at me, I’ve been feeling unsettled lately, GTD having become rather complicated to keep current with, while at the same time not really allowing me to ‘cover all the bases’ of my life without extensive maintenance work on the system itself – more or less forming another ‘key area’ all of its own.

As a result, I’ve become rather (OK, completely) unsettled over the last 3 months or so, finding myself see-sawing between planner formats, setups and methodologies, so I immediately saw One Book July as a chance to get ‘back to basics’. To start by committing a) to one format and b) to one methodology for a while month, and c) to make myself accountable for sticking with it.

For me One Book July is a form of accountability, firstly to the group I first made that commitment within, and then to the wider planner community. I hope that will help stop me from continually trying to change things, and get me back and settled in one planner.

Is anyone else out there doing One Book July? If not, it’s not too late to make the decision! I plan to post roughly weekly via Philofaxy, and also via www.davepopely.wordpress.com, so that you can see how I am (or am not!) doing. If you decide that getting back into one planner is the right thing for you, I look forward to hearing from you!

Thank you David, we look forward to seeing how you progress with the challenge.