First Friday

I'm so excited to add a new month to the planner. I'm looking forward to a productive August.

How Much Is Too Much???

Honestly, I don't believe in buying it if you are not going to use it. This is a Gillio, for which I paid A LOT. This is quality that can stand up to much abuse.

If I'm crying about the rings in 6 months, you can chastise me then.

Promotional to Useful

I often get these small promotional calendars in the mail at the start of the year. Sometimes they get stuck on the fridge and ignored. 

When watching a YouTube video, I noticed a vlogger using a project life calendar card to track her no spend March. It occurred to me that these small calendars could similarly be used to track a daily action over a month.

I tore off April and cut it down and clipped it into my planner and used it to track my blogging over the month.  Now that I am using DIYFish planner pages, I have a monthly sheet that is used to track a host of activities, but I still love this solution.

This is a good way to track those resolutions I'm sure many have forgotten. I don't set resolutions but I do choose a focus area or intention. This is my year of discovery and I am determined to discover myself through more consistent writing. I'm finding that the only way I will get to the more consistent writing is to implement some more consistent planning.

Free Planner Pages

I hear a lot of Filofax users complain about how expensive planner paper can get. There are endless comparisons between the different types of paper and what pens work best. Honestly, I love good paper but most of the paper that cycles through my planner will just end up in the trash so I don't bother with quality so much.  And because I change my pens so often, I will drive myself crazy trying to match up the perfect paper with the perfect pen.

All that said, I still need paper.

This is a snapshot of the "next steps" portion of my planner.  This is where I'm tracking all the project steps for myself and for my work group. With all of the projects we have going, the pages in this section will get filled up, marked up and tossed out quite often. As you can tell, this first page is yellow, reminiscent of the yellow legal pads. And that's exactly what it is.

I admit I have a problem...a big problem. I have piles of notepads, notebooks and tablets that I have collected overt the years. And this is just a small portion. What I can say is that these are probably the oldest. Some are even of college vintage. As I caught up on the latest shows on Hulu, many of these have become perfectly sized planner pages.

This is such an easy solution for both my growing collection of paper and having a steady supply of paper for the planner.

So, to all of you struggling with your paper supply, give this a try.  Use it, mark it up and then toss it away. No reason to stress about the cost.

Planner Revamp

One of these days, I will find a planner system that truly works for me.  I try different systems, different page layouts, various sizes and I'm still not settled on the perfect system for me.  This is one of the reasons I really want to delve into doing my own designs. But that is a long term dream that is still in development. While I don't have the perfect pages for me, I do think I'm getting my settled in the general layout of my planner.

This is my very chunky Gillio Medium Compagna.

I found these lovely metals tags by Tim Holtz. I think they give the perfect look to my Gillio beauty. I'm currently using DIYFish for my calendar but this layout I'm using can have any calendar inserted into it which is really important to me since I tend to change calendars several times a year. I've already tried out 3 this year alone.

These two arrow tags mark this week and today. They are on half sheet dividers  that I move each week/day as needed.

My main sections are divided by the wide folder tags. My sections are everyday (for routines, regular occurrences), life (calendar), wishes, notes, and stuff.

The bottom arrow is my "next steps" list. I use it to track what is next on my list and that of my employees.  I'm trying to teach the new engineers in my group to always be thinking of what they have to do next when a project phase is complete.  This seems to be working well so far. I know GTD uses this. Side note: I really need to read that book.  It's been on my shelf a long time.

Within my notes tab, I have six numbered dividers that I use for long term focus area or short term projects. 1 is my home. So many projects coming up. 2 is for my blog and writing. I am thinking about rebranding everything so I have a lot of notes here right now. 3 is for my crafting life. 4 is for work. I'm currently keeping a list of things that I PE stamp and job searching (never stop looking for a better opportunity). 5 is being used right now to manage my move. Once I'm settled, I'll reassign this tab to something else. 6 is all things financial. 

Because I have so much in my planner, I no longer use it as a wallet. It's just too much going on and I could never fit all the pages I need if I also tried to do double duty. 

Moving Down But Up

My responsibilities at work will be decreasing over the next few weeks to months, so I am determined to get back down to one planner. Honestly, I can't bear to put down my Gillio during the day so the best way to be able to pet it is to use it all day.  The planner geeks out there will know exactly what I mean.

Since I need to print more chronodex pages for my time tracking, I also took time to reprint my expenses pages for a full planner refresh. I have paid off a couple of bills recently and printing a new, smaller budget is a big incentive for me.

I have a rather large handwriting and I write down a lot so it's going to take some getting used to. 

I also like carrying a full year calendar at a time.  With just a personal calendar (week + notes) that is possible, but I need daily tracking for work. I plan to keep a week of work pages sandwiched between the weekly personal layout. Once a month, I will purge the work pages and archive using Evernote. I had considered doing that in the past but seeing this video from Carrie Harling finally made the decision firm for me.

I'll update you on my layout when I get it organized.

Peaks, Pits, Praises, Prayers

This stems from an idea I saw on Pinterest. It was a suggested as a daily journal concept, not too far off from the gratitude journals that many like to keep. 

What I appreciate about this is that it gives you an opportunity to pull from the bad things and frame them in a way that forces you to think about them differently. Instead of just being upset about a work situation and attempting to ignore it, I can put it down as something to be prayed about. And I don't have to avoid it because I will be seen as too negative (it has happened to me before).

I have incorporated this into my daily planner.  I typically do this on Sunday afternoon, but during Lent I am attempting to do it daily.

Today's entry...

PEAKS. I had fun finishing some bunting for a friend's baby.

PITS. I had to go to work for a few hours.

PRAISES. Thank God, I was productive at work and didn't have to stay for too long.

PRAYERS. I'm praying for new habits that will help me break though my health plateau.

Retail Therapy

Didn't I just mention how much I hate and love retail therapy???  I am having an especially tough year so I decided to splurge and really treat myself.

Granted, my idea of a treat is much different than most folks. But when something speaks to you, it just speaks.

This is my new Gillio planner, Italian leather at its best. It's the medium Compagna. This feels perfect and smells perfect.

The color contrast is what really sold me on this particular one. I love it so much that I can't keep my hands off of it.  I moved into it immediately. My goal over the next few weeks is to combine my work and personal lives into this one planner.

I currently still have my work life in an A5 Holborn Filofax, but since my work responsibilities are decreasing, I'm going to let me planner usage match. Since the rings on the Gillio are slightly bigger than Filofax, this shouldn't be a problem, but I still need to exercise a bit of restraint.

This makes me so happy, I can almost forget how unhappy I am with some aspects of my life. ALMOST.

Changing Planners Again

Lent is approaching and I want to be organized and ready to hit it running. I have a lot of goals I want to accomplish, none of which are down on paper, so I am getting my Filofax in order. I'm moving out of my Franklin Covey Veronica back into my Filofax Holborn. I go back and forth between these two depending on how much I want to carry at any given time, but I have to say the Holborn is my favorite.

More on my Lent goals later. Happy planning!

Franklin Covey and Filofax

As much as I am loving Filofax, I still prefer the accessibility of FranklinCovey. You don't get any better than having a dedicated store just down the street. So I stopped in one day for lunch. I went in of the hole punch which is much cheaper than purchasing from Filofax and walked out with more than I bargained for.



I won't bore you by waxing poetically about all the goodies, but I will say that with the exception of the Swingpad, I love them all. The Swingpad is a little too big for my personal size Filofax. It fits but closing the snap become difficult. Not sure just yet what I will do about that. For now, I'm going to use what I can and try my best to stay out of the FranklinCovey store. If you are looking into the variety of refills and inserts available, look at FranklinCovey, just be aware that the sizing is slightly different.

I Shut Down

I'm spending a little time in bed tonight catching up on my online life and setting up my new A5 Filofax. There has been a lot of goings on here in casa Kansas, but none of it should have stopped me from blogging or writing or enjoying life. But it did. I am that person that completely shuts down when all is not right and it is driving me crazy. When one aspect of my life is going wrong, I shut down in all things and can't quite manage to keep going, at least not effectively. I still move, but I move without purpose and without fulfillment. Everything slows to a crawl until that out-of-place puzzle piece catches back up and gets in line.

But now that my life is not completely my own, I really have to work on changing this. I had a great week of wedding re-cap and a giveaway all planned and a life hiccup with my husband brought that to a halt. It is almost impossible for me to be upset about something in my marriage and try to write about how happy the wedding was. It feels disingenuous. So, I shut it down and took a little time to reset and repair.

In that time, I set some boundaries and made some positives steps forward to help me keep things together and moving. I also did a lot of comfort eating so you will be hearing about me and my new Fitbit a lot! Also in that time, I got a promotion at work which prompted the purchase of the new Filofax. I quickly realized I wouldn't be able to track my group in my personal size. I will continue to use the personal size for all things personal and blogging and as a wallet.

So, look for some changes from me soon. I am hoping to revamp the blog a bit as it's been a little while since we've refreshed. And I promise the wedding re-cap and giveaway are fast approaching.

Catching Up-Filofax

These are the pictures of the last three weeks in my Filofax. This past week has been tough so I took a little blogging break. I hate doing that but I can't write when things aren't going well in life. I had something really special planned for this past week, so I'll be shifting some things around and trying my best to get back on track.

I'm happy to say we managed to get our taxes done. That's was not the easiest thing to do this year. Marriage and living in multiple states was a bear to deal with. But it's done. Only a year to go until we do it again. Actually, I need to gather some paperwork to determine if I need to do an amendment this year so maybe my tax woes aren't quite done. Oy!

I'm still getting used to the smaller format of the Filofax compared to the Moleskine that I was using. Although I miss the extra room to write, I'm enjoying have rings again to be able to customize the sections.

Until next week, happy Filofaxing!

Lack of Diversity?-Product Review

Sometimes you should just use a product for what it is intended. I bought these "sticky" flags that are branded for Smash Books. I don't have a Smash Book but I love the look of their products. I have bought some washi tape in their line and when I saw these flags, I just wanted them. 

But I'm trying to use them in my filofax. Let me first say that if something is branded as a sticky note, it should have enough adhesive on it or actually stick. The adhesive section is so small that the flags curls extremely when you remove one. This curling, in combination with the small section of sticky, cause the note not to stick well at all. 

You can see in the photo how the edge is curling. I thought I would use these in my blogging calendar to be able to schedule blog topics but this won't work. I'll have to tape them down when I figure out where they will go and that defeats the purpose of buying sticky notes. 

I think I'll be staying away from the Smash Books branded products if I'm not going to invest in the Smash Book itself or some other "smash" substitute or use it scrapbooking.

Fat Filofax

I never thought I would use a planner this small but it's the perfect form factor for my needs right now.

This little leather beauty (Filofax Holborn) has become my planner and wallet and I find myself wishing I had done this year's ago. But moving down to a planner this size was a journey for me. When my planner obsession started, the Franklin Covey classic size was hardly enough. I wrote down everything and carted everything around with me. When I stated traveling, my classic planner become a heavy albatross. It had to go.

I went through several planners before finding the moleskine weekly format and getting it to work for me. By then, my travel lifestyle had mandated that I pare down.

Now, I still carry too much as you can tell from my little fat friend. It's completely stuffed but everything fits and there doesn't seem to be any strain on the rings. I still need to cut a couple of things down or out but for now, it totally works.

This is how I have it laid out.

-ID, insurance and debit cards, check book, coupons in front cover
-Fly sheet Cover and info pages
-clear envelopes for gift cards and other things
-Information section
-Projects section
-Section for writing ideas
-Emergency information section
-Week on one page with notes calendar for main calendar
-Week on two pages calendar for tracking blog posts and writing projects
-Book section to record recommendations and write reviews
-I have a subsection for a friend's baby gifts that I need to get started on. She's not pregnant yet but I'm praying for it.
-I have a section for designing the perfect planner. This is a dream project that I've been thinking about for years.
-Financial - I have all my health savings and debt related cards here with a copy of my monthly budget. It includes a check register and savings tracker. I also have a separate section that outlines my debts so I can have a visual reminded of my payoff goals
-Stamp log for recording instances of using my professional stamp.

I'm still playing around with the sections and the layout but I am loving it so far.

Organized Chaos-Week13

Sorry I missed posting my planner shot last week. It was quite busy as I was finishing out my six month temporary assignment. I am hoping to be settled and rested for quite some time before hitting the road again but I think that might be asking for too much. I am still using separate calendars for life and blog/writing, but I didn't think to snap a shot of the blogging calendar.  I don't think its as interesting as this one anyway.

Organized Chaos-Week 12

This week, I have two planner views.

Moleskine Planner

Currently, I am using the week with notes format from Moleskine but I am moving over to my new Filofax Holborn.

Filofax Personal Holborn

Currently, I have the week on two pages layout but only as my blog organizer. I have ordered a Filofax week with notes to become my new daily calendar.

The challenge will be fitting both calendars in the binder. This thing is small compared to what I've used before so we'll see how this goes. Full review coming soon.

Filofax Madness

I have finally given in to the Filofax madness and placed an order.

This was a consolation gift to myself for not being able to attend Blissdom. There is nothing to soothe a little grief like some responsible retail therapy. And honestly there is nothing responsible about this since I didn't need it at all.  I'm quite happy with the Moleskine planner that I have been using. But there are some other planning needs that the Moleskine is just not suited for. So here we go.  I'll be figuring out a way to use the Moleskine planner from the Filofax binder.

I'm geeking out, I'm so happy about this purchase.