I don't normally write about diaries and such here (well let's face it, I don't normally write about anything here) but there have been a few planner posts recently that have raised a few questions for me.
At the moment I have a large plain Moleskine journal I use for everyday writing. You know the type, from what I had to breakfast / lunch and what I did, to why I'm feeling particularly good / bad today etc etc. It includes details of what we've done on holiday and tickets and prints from my beloved Pogo printer to support that (infact together with my day per page logbook this has completely replaced my scrapbooking and it's much more me than rearranging pretty papers that make me feel inadequate and bereft of an artistic gene).
So anyway, from front to back is my journal and from back to front is my planner.
My planner goes like this:-
- Weekly schedule / timetable
- Year to view (Oct 2011 - Sept 2012)
- April 2011 Month to view
- May 2011 Month to view
- June 2011 Month to view
- July 2011 Month to view
- August 2011 Month to view
- September 2011 Month to view
- Blank
- School Holidays - Easter 2011, week per page
- School Holidays - Spring Bank 2011, week per page
- School Holiday - Summer 2011, week per page
Generally my days are not overly planned, especially when I'm not working. I tend to just potter about and do bits and bats here and there. I HATE housework and do the bare minimum and I REALLY need to do more, plus I'm hoping to be working more hours once LJ starts school in September (Eeeek! My baby starts school in Septemeber) so I need to get more organised. I need to write everything down, not just the ununsual stuff but the everyday / week / month stuff.
I've been looking at new planners for the upcoming academic year but just cannot settle on one, then I read Laurie's post on The Woman's Success Planner (WSP), closely followed by Rori's posts on the same. These have got me itching to try it out. Unfortuately they don't appear to ship to the UK so now I'm tempted to dig out an unused Moleskine and create my own, using ideas from the Woman's Success Planner and adding a few of my own.
So here's where I'm hoping someone is actually reading this blog because I'm after some help / suggestions as to what to include.
So far I have:-
- 2pg Year to view with annual tasks and events listed (birthdays, pet vaccinatons, insurance etc)
- 1pg Monthly tasks and ongoing tasks (thank you WSP)
- 1pg Notes
- 2pg Month to view
- 1pg Weekly tasks and ongoing tasks (I don't think I'd use the meal planner and shopping list the WSP has, the family calendar and notepad on the fridge do this very well for me)
- 1pg Notes
- 2pg Week to view (columns) with the very useful daily tasks circles, tasks area & health tracker ala WSP
- 1pg Week in Review and expenses
- 1pg Notes
- 2pg (where required) School Holiday plans - Activity ideas separated according to free / paid / indoor / outdoor,
Rinse and repeat as required. I estimate that I will fit about 6 months into 1 large squared Moleskine. Together with my Quiver pen holder I think that it should be more than enough.
At the back of the journal I will have the next 12 months on a double page spread (or possibly 1 month per page) for forward planning.
I would like to note here that I'm not trying to 'rip off' WSP and would gladly buy their product if it was available to me.
All input feedback gladly received. Thank you for reading this far.
Normal service will resume shortly, I have been sewing :-)
6 comments:
I have read both Laurie's and Rori's reviews of the planner and there are some really awesome aspects to it. There's a lot that I wouldn't use, though, so if I didn't have my Filofax working so well for me, I'd probably do the same as you're thinking of - create my own incorporating all the things that I would use.
It's too bad that Moleskine didn't make a notebook that just had a yearly overview/monthly calendars in the front, then the rest of the pages blank so you could format them how you wished.
I'll look forward to what you end up with!!
Actually the Moleskine Monthly notebook does have the annual overview, then month on 2 pages for the entire year. Between each month is a two-page spread that is lined for notes. Then after all the monthly pages there are 51 lined pages. You wouldn't be able to get an entire year's worth of weekly pages in if you did all the notes pages in between each week, but if you bought two Monthly Notebooks you could do one for the first half of the year and the other for the second half. It would save you having to draw up the monthly calendars at least. You could put all your monthly goals, reviews and ongoing tasks in the pages between the months and have all your weekly things together in the pages behind.
But that doesn't help you right now because the Monthly Notebooks are calendar-year only. I like your idea of creating your own version and it sounds like you have a great plan, although it sounds like a lot of work! I wonder if you'd be better off printing something out (on nice paper, even the Moleskine printer paper) and taking it to have it bound? But you might want to draw up a prototype first so you can tweak it how you want it before you commit to an entire printed book. Please do keep us posted on what you end up with!
PS Does she really absolutely not ship to the UK? Did you contact Pamela to ask?
Here it is:
http://www.simplymoleskine.com/product/M7320/Monthly-Notebook-2012---Black-Soft-Cover---Large
This is the Large size, it also comes in Pocket and Extra Large sizes. Hope this helps! :)
@laurie - oh yeah, I forgot about those - but I don't think they'd have enough pages in them.
A person could always take a monthly book and a ruled book and mix it up and do something like the "reload" http://www.trumpetvine.com/sketchblog/moleskine-reloaded/ (skip down to Part VIII).
@terriknits I really tried with my filofax, I wanted it to work for me but it's just too bulky and the pages too small for what I want.
My filofax(es) now sit on my shelf at home with specific, non planner, tasks, so only come out when they're needed.
The Moleskine reloaded you linked to looks fab. Hard work but fab :-)
@Laurie I've seen the Moleskine Monthly and it would almost work but I want the weeks between the months (picky I know). I am seriously considering putting together some templates on the computer though, instead of hand drawing every page. I have my trusty Bind-It-All so I could probably do 3 or 4 months at a time myself. Definitely worth considering. I just need to make sure it looks smart for use at work.
I have asked Pamela (on twitter) about shipping to the UK, just waiting for a reply
DIY Planner has some good ideas, documents and templates. http://diyplanner.com/docs
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