Well, I added up the changes to my planner so far this year and guess what the running total is?
Yup. 13
Come on, you knew it would be.
1. I started the year with Day Timer week on 2 pages in a Black Filofax Malden. Functional & I could fit a veritable ton of other tabs too. At the time my schedule was pretty light, but I soon discovered my year was ramping up fast and I could really use more daily space to write…
2. Day Timer 1 day per page. Ok, more room on the page and still works with my other tabs but what a wonky page layout. I hate it. Let’s try…
2. Franklin Covey 1 day per page in the only design they offer this in, Monticello. The layout is wonderful and I really do heart FC paper best of all, but I sure do hate this dark blue crap all over the place. I don’t even last a week in these. How about…
3. Franklin Covey Her POV week on 2 pages. Much prettier and still my beloved FC, but even with the wider width pages I run out of space on the daily slots. As if 1/2″ would be enough to make this format work. Fool!
4. Determined not to spend any more money on refills (HA! Right…) I force myself back to the FC Monticello 1 page per day. My most favorite for function, my most despised for the “design” and I use that term loosely. This time I make it three days. Screw it, I am hereby abandoning Personal size all together for…
5. Pocket Filofax 1 day per page. Hey this might work! And I can use it as my wallet too! Why oh why didn’t I try this sooner? Come hither, adorable Fins Pocket in Aqua…mama is calling!
6. Love the Pocket size, but alas no tabbed months. Flipping around trying to get an overview of my schedule confounds me, so out of sheer desperation I try Day Timer Jotter day on 2 pages…yes, 2 pages this time (because they are thinner than Filofax Pocket pages). This lasted one whole day. The lines on these babies are wuh-AY too small.
7. From one extreme to another, let’s try A5. You want room? I’ll give you room. Hey look, a Finsbury in Aqua on clearance…that would complete my set! Sold. Came with Filofax vertical week on 2 pages (lined).
8. Nope, not enough room. Try A5 1 day per page Business format.
9. Much better, but oy this thing is heavy to lug around everywhere. Maybe I’ll go back to Personal after all. Seriously…everyone else seems to do just fine with Filofax pages. Let’s give the Filfoax 1 page per day Personal the ol’ college try. In a Personal aqua Fins no less. Let’s get some color into my day.
10. AAAARRRRGGG! I need my tabbed months dammit!! Moving on to Personal (er, I mean Compact in FC lingo) day on 2 pages in original green. Sigh of relief. Those monthly tabs truly are my comfort zone. Phew!
11. I actually go for several months with these. But, wait a minute: in this mid-year planning period, I sure would like to be able to see more than 1 month previous, 1 month current and 1 month future…so by this time I have forgotten how counter-intuitive I found the Day Timer 1 day per page and throw those back in.
12. Oh yeah, right…I hate these. Two days later & I’m back in my FC 2 pages per day green & white babies. Why can’t someone PLEASE IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY make a 1 page per day format that I like??!! I’m talking to you Franklin Covey! Just the masculine dark blue of Monticello? Really?
13. Fine. You’ve broken me. I cave to the desire for my favorite paper and the format that just plain works best for me. I will force myself to be stronger than my loathing of your dark blue. The Monticello goes back in. Somewhere along the lines, I have also switched binders too and am now in my Ochre Malden. Huh…these pages don’t seem to look as hideous as they did in the aqua Fins. Brown & blue…aren’t they complementary colors or something?
Predictably, now that I have run the whole freaking gamut of planner refills (and spent enough money to buy a Yugo)…I have come to appreciate them & may actually even like them. Hey, dark blue isn’t so bad. I mean, is it? It goes nicely with my Frixion in blue/black (which is my fave color for some reason) I suppose.
You’re probably laughing.
Hopefully with me…
As promised, I made it through the weekend, so head on over to the Flickr set, check out how I’m diggin’ the FC Monticello pages in the Ochre Malden and let me know what you think.
the zeitgeist of zoe 
Erin Dale
Jul 11, 2011 @ 20:22:29
I am now positive that we were switched at birth! How I love you and all of your zany planners and pages stories! Thanks for making my Monday a little less bleak!
Erin
thezeitgeistofzoe
Jul 11, 2011 @ 22:51:48
my pleasure!! glad you found as much humor reading the whole mess as i did writing it down : )
Anne
Jul 12, 2011 @ 21:20:17
This is hilarious! I see a bit of myself in this post.
Rori Lieurance
Jul 13, 2011 @ 19:06:16
Ochre Malden = Filofax perfection. It truly is gorgeous!! Too bad they’re ugly in the A5…*le sigh*
I don’t think the Monticello looks bad here at all! I don’t know how you get by with so little space..but that’s just me being freaky. It is, however, a really nice daily format!
Hope these work out for you !! (Aren’t Frixions just the BEST??)
I totally enjoyed this post…”no this won’t work, maybe that will–nope, that won’t work, maybe this will”…you are not alone, my friend!
Terri
Jul 16, 2011 @ 04:00:55
I AM laughing – but in commiseration. Oh, how I feel your pain. Last year I had 11 format changes. This year, five. (so far?) I actually don’t mind the blue Monticello scheme, but the thing I just can’t work with is the time column going down the middle of the page (not on FC inserts) because I don’t need appointment times, I need writing real estate.
Got a little order from JetPens today and it had five of the FriXion retractables, one of which is the blue/black and is in my Malden right now!
thezeitgeistofzoe
Jul 16, 2011 @ 14:42:36
have you ever tried the FC “perspectives” inserts? very open as to how one could use them. i have toyed with giving them a try but haven’t made the leap yet…
http://store.franklinplanner.com/store/category/prod2630060/US-Weekly/Perspective-Ring-bound-Weekly-Planner-Refill?skuId=37576
kanalt
Jul 17, 2011 @ 21:46:44
Wow, 13. Only you could have THAT number of trials (meaning the affiliation to 13, not the trials themselves). That is eerie. I just looked at the perspective layout too – it’s cool. I could probably use something like that since it has TONS of room for just about anything. The only problem is that I could live with the pink flowery theme. *Shudder* 😉
~AspireToBe.
Jul 25, 2011 @ 04:35:36
Hi! Can I ask how you archive your year, if you do so at all? It would be a bit difficult (?) because of the switching between pocket and personal and A5, no? Or maybe you find no need to archive and you just chuck this year’s pages when the next year rolls around?
I just use the personal size (always) and archive all my pages from a specific year into a personal Domino….
Just curious 🙂
Thanks for sharing your successes & your woes with your planners! Always such a treat to read another post from you!!!
thezeitgeistofzoe
Jul 26, 2011 @ 15:34:12
@aspiretobe i do archive…normally. however this year is going to be an issue. typically i don’t also switch SIZES, so i end up with an archival amalgam of different brands but all the same (personal) size. this year is going to be a disaster. i’m not sure exactly how i’m going to pull it off actually!
i tend to archive by putting a large clip or elastic around the year & then putting them in a rubbermaid bin in my attic. i suppose 2011 will end up in some sort of large envelope (or some such) in the archive bin!