the zeitgeist of zoe

I’ve gotten several comments over the past couple days that my current planner conundrum and how I’m copying everything into 3 binders every day is insane.

I know.

Trust me, I know.

And now, as a result of my pro/con list for the other three, a FOURTH dog has entered the ring. I don’t have a desk anymore, but if I did things would be starting to smack of the infamous “desk of shame”.

Guess what it is?

Did you guess?

It’s a Franklin Covey Classic.

You’re rolling your eyes. I can feel it from here.

But bear with me…here’s why:

1. I want to move to a larger planner but not buy a whole new system or spend a whole lotta money (ideally no money) to do it, and my options for that have thus far been Filofax A5 and Circa Jr.

2. My major beef with the Filofax A5 is that (sorry Filofax) I hate the diary pages. I need lines because I write like a child and the only lined inserts are the vertical weekly. Me no likey. I also need monthly tabs, which…and I feel like a broken record here…Filofax not only doesn’t make, they don’t even allow for, because everything is printed back to back. Not to mention I think the paper quality is poor.

Since, at the end of the day, the real point of having a planner to begin with is using the diary pages and having them work for you, that’s a pretty big beef.

3. The issue I have with the Circa system (which has awesome paper, monthly tabs and a standard horizontal weekly insert option) is the very thing that sets it apart – the discs. While I love that the covers can be flipped over on themselves for easy writing, I just don’t feel like the pages are held securely enough. Sometimes the “smurfs” get stuck or bent and I can’t help thinking that, as much as I use my planner, over time they are going to fray and fail to grip the discs adequately. Rings, I feel, are far more secure in the long haul.

Also, it seems like they are better suited as notebook rather than planners. There really aren’t enough pockets, no zipped compartments, and they always have only one pen loop.

But I like the fact that paper size is essentially cover size; there is very little added bulk. Filofax A5 has a lot more cover than the page size requires in my opinion. But they also have cool pockets (some of them do anyway) and many have two pen loops.

In thinking about the things I liked best about both systems and wondering how I could kluge Franklin Covey diary pages into an A5 (for better paper and monthly tabs) or somehow better secure the smurfs to the discs, I had an a-ha moment.

Why not just use a Franklin Covey Classic size?

The paper size for FC is exactly the same as Circa (5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″) and the particular binder I have is just barely larger than the page size, so no extra bulk. It has awesome interior functionality,  two pen loops, is real leather through & through and of course I can use my beloved Her Point of View inserts in it without trimming and re-punching.

Into the planner bin I went, and I dug it out. I set it up last night and its with me today.

Check it out:

The binder is a lovely black pebbled leather. And you’re right…it is an open binder, which means it has no closure. Literally the only thing that I don’t like about it.

Here’s a nice side view. This is an older binder, which they don’t make anymore, so I have no idea the ring size. I believe they are 1″. You can see that they fit a full year of monthly tabs with weekly inserts, as well as some subject tabs I put in to mimic my set up in the Circa. More on that in a minute.

The inside front cover. Six card slots (with a nice leather snap strap to keep them all secure), and ID window, a pen loop and a secretarial pocket. Note that my fat Coleto multi-pen fits with no problem.

Behind the secretarial pocket is a full length zipped pocket and behind THAT is a full length slip pocket. Storage galore!

Not to be daunted by all that blackness, I stuck my favorite Life is Good sticker on the front page lifter : ) Yay…some color!

Here it is open (and laying flat). The pages are nice and big, and you can see how fun the Her Point of View design is. Monday through Wednesday are on the left page and Thursday through Sunday are on the right page (with a little section at the bottom of each for notes).

As always, I’m using DayTimer sticky hot sheets tucked inside the Franklin Covey page marker as my task list. Having my tasks right on the day (or in this case, week) keeps them fresh in my mind and I prefer this to keeping them behind their own tab.

In the back there is a notepad pocket and 2nd pen loop. I like to carry my Coleto multi-pen with 4 ink colors (black for most things, green for financial, pink for…you know…romance, orange for Weight Watchers) as well as a mechanical pencil for jotting down tentative appointments.

Under the note pad, or if you prefer not to use a notepad, there are additional pockets. Two full length horizontal slip pockets (one is for the notepad) and two half length pockets (that perfectly fit a sticky note pad, as it happens).

Now, back to tabs. Franklin Covey sucks at tabs. Their set is a full twelve, and they are tiny. My OCD won’t let me use fewer than all twelve…but I don’t need twelve, so to keep my brain from exploding, I simply avoid FC tabs altogether.

Part of what I want a larger binder for, however, is to carry around other stuff besides diary pages, so for now I have some tabs I had laying around that were for a smaller 3-ring notebook inserted.

The first 2 tabs I’m using are Capture and Lists. Capture…you guys already know what that is. Lists is self explanatory. Shopping lists, errand lists, photo a day challenge lists – if it’s on a list, it’s behind that tab.

Then I’ve got Notes, Quotes and Fitness. Also pretty self-explanatory.

Cute, colorful and fun aren’t they? I like them way better than the plain Filofax tabs in the A5.

I would like to note that, to this point, I have thrown this thing together without spending a cent.

Since I really liked the Circa colorful plastic tabs, tonight I am going to go to Staples and pick up another set of Arc ones to punch for this binder. I think the punch will go through them, but I’m not 100% sure since they are plastic, but I’m betting they will…back in the day I sprung for the good, metal FC hole punch ; )

Because the page size is the same as Circa, I also punched some of the awesome Levenger graph and note paper to use in this planner (FC does not make graph paper and I find their note paper to be too widely ruled for my tastes). Levenger paper quality is AWESOME, so I was psyched that the paper was the same size.

See the smurfs alongside the ring holes?

Here’s the note paper. These pages are right over one of the tabs, so you can see the smurfs a bit better as the color shows through.

Fraying smurfs are a concern…although since they aren’t being used to hold the paper in place they would only be an aesthetic issue. I could washi tape over them if I had to. Or perhaps since they are not being used to turn the page they won’t fray at all.  I’ll keep you posted.

See what I mean? This is a strong contender for Top Dog.

True, the binder has no closure and I don’t particularly care for that…and it’s black – in direct opposition to my craving for all things luscious and colorful. But the insides are fun and at least I have color there. And I suppose if the system itself ended up working well enough to stick with, I could hunt for a colorful Classic binder on eBay or something. They’re out there…I’ve seen some of you with them, lol!

So now it’s a four dog fight. Two Filofax contenders, two other brands. Oh, the drama!

Keep in mind that I couldn’t simply put the tabs, the Levenger paper or the FC Her Point of View diary pages into the A5 because Filofax paper is a different size; it’s actually slightly larger at 5 3/4″ x 8 1/4″. So to get what I want inside the A5, I would have to use all off-brand inserts or the size difference would drive me even more insane than most of you think I already am.

Maybe I’ll stick a poll in and let you guys vote…what do you think of that?