It has been said I am a woman of extremes; the lean heart of a minimalist embodied in the succulent flesh of a hoarder.
Example: I have a large bin of Filofax (and I do mean large) however my true desire is to only actually use one.
At a time, that is.
I like the collection for it’s ability to indulge my ever-changing whims of style or mood (or season for that matter), allowing me to choose the professional lines of Guildford, the elegant sophistication of the Amazona, the urban chic of the Adelphi, the breeziness of the Piazza or the laid back vintage cool of the Malden, as I please.
But while I enjoy changing the outside of my planner at will (fashion), I prefer to have the system inside remain concise, dependable and unchanged (function).
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of dog calling. At one point I actually had three different sizes, as well as three different diary layouts going concurrently, making for a tiring amount of copy redundancy and an annoying amount of planner clutter on my coffee table.
I thought that settling on the personal size Filofax as my planner while using a pocket size Filo as a wallet would do the trick, however I found a restlessness for singularity whispering in my ear and tugging at my sleeve more than I cared to admit.
Then, while checking out of a doctor’s appointment the other day, I pulled out my wallet – a pocket ochre Malden – to produce my insurance card and cash for the co-pay and then my planner – a personal ochre Malden – to schedule my next appointment.
The look on the receptionist’s face as her eyes left my gaze and flicked down to take in the sight of twin Malden’s laying on the counter was uncomfortably similar to a look I have seen on my dog when she is contemplating an insect.
(somewhere between puzzled curiosity and pity, for those of you who don’t have crazy, bug-eating canines in your home)
Oh yeah, me thinks some consolidation is in order.
I went home, laid the two next to one another and set about determined to cull the fluff out of both.
While having all the accessory goodies in the wallet was kitschy and fun, the only items I actually used were the debit card, a couple membership/ID/discount cards, cash and coin.
And, although I started out dutifully jotting down all my shopping lists on the little note sheets in the back, the reality is that I quite often think of things I need either on the fly, as I am in the middle of experiencing their lack, or whilst bored in a meeting. Thus I still ended up with various and sundry sticky notes, bits of paper or cocktail napkins with lists on them tucked into my wallet anyway.
As for my planner, some pragmatic culling of tabs revealed that all I really need with me wherever I go (aside from my diary pages of course) is some contact information I refer to frequently and a few lined sheets for notes and any good quotes I come across as I am out and about.
The rest…journal, gratitude list, blog ideas, lists of books/movies I am interested in, tarot card spreads and the like…can all stay at home. I may like having tabs for all of those things with me, but truth be told most go without being touched until I’m home at the end of the day anyway.
I have an aqua personal Chameleon coming to me as a gift one of these days, so that will become a “Me Book” – an idea I have been wanting to implement since I first read about it on a friend’s wonderful blog.
But that, my dears, is a blog post for another day.
The happy ending for today’s post is that I am left with one book – the personal sized ochre Malden – which I can comfortably carry with me to adequately record/reference what I need and now use to buy things with as well.
Head on over to Flickr and check out all the details of this new setup…
Disclaimer: I mean it, go look at the pictures on Flickr like NOW, before I change my mind and tweak my system again!
Disclaimer #2: While I am going to finish out 2011 using the Franklin Covey “Monticello” 1dpp inserts you will see in the photos, my brand of choice for 2012 will be DayTimer incorporating a slightly different system & layout. Stay tuned for more on that as the new year approaches.
the zeitgeist of zoe 
Anne
Aug 18, 2011 @ 22:55:01
Good luck with the wallet/planner combo. Having my wallet in my planner would drive me buggy!
I’m glad your giving Day Timer a try in 2012. Having my pages hanging out of the side of my binder would unsettle me,but so would three different page formats. I’m having a brain spasm just thinking about it. Just monthlies and dailies for me.
Yea, I struggle between minimalism and contrived complexity myself. I am getting better at the minimalism part but I’ve got a long way to go. It’s particularly hard when you’ve got so many nice things stored away that you really want to use, hence a conflict…..
Love your Filofax.
thezeitgeistofzoe
Aug 19, 2011 @ 15:37:30
lol…”i’m having a brain spasm just thinking about it” : ) that cracked me up! you can imagine, then, the major twitches i go through using the thing!!
thanks for the comment & happy filofaxing : )
Rori Lieurance (@RoriRants)
Aug 20, 2011 @ 01:13:22
I loveses it. I’m still thinking about the FC pgs, but I like the 2ppd, so not stuck with Monticello :O( Which ones r u getting from Daytimer?
thezeitgeistofzoe
Aug 20, 2011 @ 02:58:16
from daytimer i got the plain/original (green & white) pages. I got a set of week on 2 pages for an overview – i’ll keep the whole year in my book. then i also got a set of the 2ppd (which handily comes with a set of the month on 2 page tabs) and i will keep one month at a time of those & record more detail on them. daily tracking stuff, my gratitude list, etc.
i’m also considering ordering the same set up from FC just in case. Not Monticello because if i do the weekly & 2 pages per day then i can pick another design.
i really wanted to only buy one set of refills for 2012…but you know how THAT goes!!
Beverley
Aug 20, 2011 @ 16:45:44
Talk to me about being in line in a shop and digging coins out of the pocket, please. I’d love to have everything in one place, wallet and planner but, and this is a big but, find the zip pockets useless for coins. Being Canadian means having $1 and $2 coins so this is a big deal.
George Mixon
Aug 21, 2011 @ 13:53:24
I always love your posts. I am currently working out of 2 planners – FC Classic for my work life and a personal size Malden for my personal life. Have had the same struggles bouncing between two planners, like you have, but this seems to be working for me now. I use the term “now” loosely. Good luck with your new system.
thezeitgeistofzoe
Aug 21, 2011 @ 22:25:59
@beverly: with the malden, the zip pocket is in the front and so far it hasn’t been bad at all (aside from some funny looks when you pull out a planner to pay for stuff, but i don’t care about that). pulling it out at the register is proving far easier than maneuvering change in & out of it at a drive through (like, oh i dunno…starbucks). managing the coin zip pocket with one hand (the other is holding my order) is awkward, but i’m learning. not quite ready to give in to a stand alone coin purse just yet.
@george: thank you for the comment!! i still have my FC classic at work/for work too. i’d love it if i could narrow the home stuff down to this one book & keep it that way : ) as you said…for “now” lol!!
kanalt
Aug 23, 2011 @ 09:48:14
Aww, thanks for the lovely mention.
As I have tried the two binder system before, I can say that it made for more confusion and angst for me. Looking at the pictures of everyone’s wallet Filos though, it is tempting. But I tend to think it wouldn’t work for me. So I don’t even want to spend the money to attempt it.
I can’t wait to hear how the DT inserts work for you. I have yet to buy my 2012 inserts, but I need to get on that. I think I’ll stick with Filofax, not because I love them, but because I don’t like anything else better, or rather, there’s nothing else I like better that wouldn’t make me spend lots of time “fixing” them. 😉
thezeitgeistofzoe
Aug 23, 2011 @ 15:30:45
well thank YOU for the awesome “me book” post : )
i will be doing a post showing my 2012 set up using the DT pages shortly. i staged the whole setup in my black malden to see how (and if) it would all fit together. i have cautious optimism that it may just work. i like the idea of inserts that actually fit my binder. i don’t mind the way the FC ones stick out, but i totally won’t miss it!! stay tuned for some detailed DT photos…