the zeitgeist of zoe

I’m doing it again.

Sigh.

As you know, I’ve been using a lovely new Filofax “Original” in drool-worthy fuchsia patent leather. My black little heart goes pitter-patt even just saying the words, “fuchsia patent leather”. Heaven.

But…

(And you know there is always a but with me)

As we have discussed in the comments to my last post, the inside of my beloved little patent fuchsia dream is proving to be somewhat disastrous the more I use her.

The elastic thingie is driving me bat shit crazy. Yeah, okay, I can use it to carry my Coleto multi-pen, but why oh why couldn’t they have put that first loop a wee bit further out? Even a skinny pen will bend my tabs. The fat Coleto is wreaking havoc with them.

Then there is the utter and complete nonsense that is the other part of the band. You can’t really PUT anything in those bits unless it is something flat (like papers…but you’d better hope they don’t slip out). More pens or do-dads or whatever will only make your left hand page lumpy to write on.

And putting a 2nd pen or mechanical pencil in the right-most “loop” does the same thing.

Bulge city.

And not the fun kind.

Add to that my desire to do more than just track my Weight Watchers points on the end page of every month’s tab and yet more changes to my life over the last week, and this weekend found me experimenting with alternative planners.

Big ones.

Thing is, there are TWO bigger planning systems that I like. And now I find myself lugging three planners around, doing some hardcore dog calling. Again. Still. Whatever.

1. The lovely yet vapid Original patent fuchsia in Personal size (even despite her flaws, I can’t quite let her go…)

2. A Filofax A5 Chameleon in Spring Green

3. A Levenger Circa in Junior size

I know, “one of these things is not like the others…” but I have to admit that, in my time playing with Circa (or Arc, or whatever) I have really liked the system and found some things I even like better than Filofax.

For today’s purposes, let me illustrate my Fitness section in both and maybe you can see my dilemma.

This is actually Part 1 of a two part post. Both systems obviously have plusses and minuses. I’m just showing you one section of what I use my planner for; sort of a microcosmic view into a macrocosmic problem.

The rest of which will come later on this week.

First the A5 Chameleon:

Here is the Fitness tab in my Filofax A5. Your average, every day Filofax tab. I’ve jazzed it up with an inspirational Life is Good sticker, but it’s still pretty…blah. I’m not clever enough to make my own tabs, so this is pretty much the best that I can do.

And below is my Weight Watchers point tracking page. It’s just Filofax graph paper and it’s not meant to be frilly – just serve the purpose. Which it does.

Now for the Circa:

Here’s the tab. Lime green baby! I actually think the tabs are from an Arc set from Staples, but Levenger has colorful tabs too (they’re just more expensive). Fun, right?

Here’s the tracking page.  Pretty much the same deal as the Filofax page…just graph paper.

And here, just because I haven’t copied it yet (yes, I am copying everything so that I have 2 identical binders going…one Filofax A5 and the other Levenger Circa. And yes, I realize that is insane) is my workout page.

Just another graph paper sheet. But what I like is that Circa’s fold over on themselves, so writing on the back of the sheet is super easy. No rings to get in the way. I went straight for the Circa to log my workout because I knew it would be easier to write on both front & back of the page.

Just sayin’.

Please don’t guffaw at my light weights…it was my first workout in ages.

And here is kind of the kicker…

Weight Watchers Cheat Sheets fit!

Because Circa Junior pages are 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ (a letter sized piece of paper folded exactly in half), my little Weight Watchers handouts can easily be punched and put right into it.

And the page size matches the refill page size too, so that pleases the OCD.

Check out the same WW page in my A5.

The WW pages are smaller than Filofax pages (which are 5 1/4″ x 8 1/4″), so I have to put them in clear plastic envelopes. This has the advantage of protecting them from my grimy fingers if I want to reference them while cooking.

Stop laughing…I cook occasionally.

Okay, I have cooked. In my life. Before. And I may again someday.

Anyway, the envelope has the disadvantage of sticking out just over 1/2″ beyond the rest of the pages, which means it will block my other tabs and would have to go in the way-back of my binder in order to not tweak the OCD into homicidal rage.

As you know if you follow me on Flickr, I also track my WW points in my Original, but there is no way I’d ever go to the trouble of trying to make inserts or cut down existing articles, etc for a Personal size.

Ain’t nobody got time for dat.

Plus, as I was starting to say, life is changing yet again and I’m feeling the need for additional room in my planner. As in, page size, not ring girth.

: ) I said girth

Stay tuned for Part 2 where I talk more about said life changes and why I’m toying with bigger planners, also I’ll include an in-depth pro/con list for the Circa and the A5.

For now I am, once again, torn between systems. I can count carrying three planners around as a workout…right?!

One of the most buzz-worthy new Filofax models for 2013 is “the Original”.

I was lucky enough to get my grubby little paws on one recently and I have to say, it was love at first sight.

I mean, how could it not be with shiny goodness like that?!

As you know, I am having an ongoing obsession with pink these days, so I was torn between the fluoro pink and patent fuchsia when it came to the Original.

Afraid the fluoro pink might be too…fluoro for my corporate alter-ego, I played it safe and went for patent fuchsia.

I was NOT disappointed.

There are several great reviews of the Original out there already, so I won’t waste your time with an unboxing or what refills came with it. If you know me at all you know I’ve already tossed them. If you want comprehensive reviews, definitely check out Plannerism’s awesome video review, or the press write-up on Philofaxy or Steve’s stellar review of the A5 size in comparison to his Malden.

There are more…these are just a few that contributed pretty heavily to my desire for one, lol!

This review is no match for those that came before…I’m just here to  show you my own personal spin on this juicy, luscious, fingerprint magnet in use.

Which is no small feat, given what awaits a potential Original owner on the inside!

As most of you know by now, the inside functionality of the Original is, um, original to say the least.

Not judgin’…just sayin’.

Along with 2 card slots (they aren’t pockets…just slits in the thick leather that you can stick business cards into) and a full length slip pocket behind those, the Original has what Filofax calls a “multifunctional elastic holder”.

Multifunctional.

Riiiiiiiiight.

I call it “the elastic weirdness”.

It is basically one small elastic section (which makes for the only reasonable pen loop location) then a larger elastic section in the middle, and another small (but awkwardly placed) section to the right that would fit a pen, but putting one there made a poorly placed bump underneath when writing on the left-hand pages.

I do use the outermost section as my pen loop, and as you can see above, it does accommodate even larger pens like my Pilot Coleto multi-pen.

But what the heck are you supposed to do with the middle section?!

Experimentation proved that it will hold an iPhone (however, I don’t have one anymore – I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 that is practically the size of the planner itself –  and to be honest, I’d be afraid it would stretch the elastic out to the point where, if you ever decided against carrying your iPhone there, it would be too stretched out to hold anything else) and of course you can stick small papers, receipts and other planner detritus in there…but again, unless it was something that clipped to the elastic, I’d be concerned about how secure it would be after the initial elastic-y newness wore off.

This is an iPod Touch standing in for an iPhone…but you get the idea

Suffice to say, I have yet to find any real, practical use for my very own multifunctional elastic holder.

But you know me, I am attracted to challenging, quirky things…so neither odd configurations or the constant compulsion to wipe down my planner with the cloth I use to clean my glasses (because the patent leather – any patent leather really – is indeed a fingerprint magnet) is gonna stop me from using and enjoying this stunning, iconic Filofax!

I attempted to take a photo of the ‘f’ on the side but the glare practically blinded me. THAT’S how shiny it is! I’ll leave catching the icon at work to the professional photographers ; )

You know who you are.

Back to…you know…planning and stuff. These days, I use a mish-mash of brands. Did you hear that OCD? A mish-mash I say!

What I see when I open my planner

To start things off, I have a Filofax transparent Flyleaf, which serves as somewhat of a dashboard. On it at the moment I just have a sticky note pad. I’ve also stuck a small “Life is Good” sticker on it. It says, “What is beautiful is good and who is good will soon be beautiful.”

Deep.

I try not to look at it until I’ve had my morning caffeine ; )

Then I have my favorite-est inserts in the whole wide world – Franklin Covey “Her Point of View” monthly tabs (I was going to post a link to them but they are sold out!!).

I love the colors, the easily readable font the tabs are printed in and the functionality. It is a month on two pages layout, with Sunday as the first day of the week (for those of you who care).

On the front of each month, there is an index page to list important dates for quick reference (or to just use for notes, as I do) and on the back of each month you will find a Master Task List with sections for Personal & Business. I use this page to track my Weight Watchers points (Personal = Food, Business = Activity).

I’m relatively confident I’ve blogged about these inserts before, so feel free to peruse the archives.

Looking down from the top you can see how nice and thick the leather is.

Yes, it lays completely flat, right outa the box

Despite the nice, substantial heft of one piece construction, the Original does indeed lay flat from the get-go. I will be very curious to see how it breaks in over time, because it starts out pretty wonderful.

Anyway…

In between the pretty monthly tabs, I just use your average, run of the mill Filofax Week on Two Pages inserts.

You’ll notice I’ve changed out the Filofax Page Marker Ruler for its Franklin Covey counterpart. I’ll wait while you scroll back up to see it.

The FC one is actually open (to accommodate their Progressive Task Lists, but I don’t really care for those) so I stick two DayTimer Self-stick Hot List sheets back to back and put them in the ruler. I use one sheet per week, toss it, and slip in another one when the new week arrives.

The Original has 9/10″ rings (that’s close enough to 1″ for those of us who just want to know how big the damn rings are without having to do math) so it can fit a full year of monthly tabs and weekly inserts comfortably…along with my fat Coleto pen…and snap shut.

The inside back, just like the front, is quite sparse.

It features a Notepad pocket that will fit a  Flex Slim Jotpad. It’s not a true pocket however…it is open at the bottom. So no using it to store tall, skinny things.

Because you know you were going to ; )

As you can see, I’m using this cute little pad for my Filofax Photo-a-Day Challenge list right now, and that’s probably how I’ll continue to use it…for lists. Seems pretty conducive, don’t you think?

Fortunately, the back also has a full length slip pocket. Now THAT is something I can use! Though, since the cover of the Jotpad is slotted back there, you do have to be careful that papers don’t catch on it when sliding them into the pocket.

Because the interior functionality wasn’t going to meet my needs, I loaded my Original up with plastic inserts.

I’ve got a couple business card sheets, one clear plastic envelope, and a multi-purpose holder in there right now, and a zip envelope on order.

That’s how much I love the Original…I don’t even really care that someone fell asleep when they were conceptualizing the inside of this thing (or was very, very drunk). I’ll deal with having to use plastic inserts…just give me that shiny patent leather fuchsia amazingness!

In all seriousness, I do really like this binder. It reminds me of my first Filofax from the (ahem) late 1980’s; solid construction, just leather/no padding and made in the UK.

Which was, I suppose, the point all along. Otherwise they would have called it “The New”. Amirite?

After seeing the other reviews, I honestly didn’t know what I would think of the slots rather than pockets, and the elastic….thingie. And I suppose how both fare in long term use is yet to be seen because the product is so new.

I will tell you this, though – it will be a pure pleasure to find out! I adore the look at feel of the patent leather, it makes me happy every time I pull it out of my bag, and lemme tell ya, I get a LOT of compliments on it when I’m out and about.

We Filofaxers are never ones to be put off by some of the wonkier aspects of our favorite brand and there is far more to love about the Original than there is to raise an eyebrow in puzzlement over.

Besides, how could anyone resist those colors!!

Kanalt and I were graciously given Filofax Calipso Compacts to review…be sure to check out our  posts on Philofaxy today : )

Gypsy…the “good twin”

Trixie…the troublemaker

I’ll leave it to you to guess which planner goes with which owner, lol!

http://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2013/06/twins-expected.html

Okay, substitute the word “pretty” for the word “heavy” and that’ll be more like it. But hey, looks aren’t everything! And I happened upon this binder the one day it was on wicked sale, so I almost don’t care what it looks like.

As seems to be typical of Franklin Covey, it is back to regular price now, so I will spare you the particulars of the insane deal I got on it.

Anyway…here it is:

This new planner is definitely NOT heavy! It is the Franklin Covey “Friday” binder in Compact size. It is constructed of lightweight black ballistic nylon and it is “designed for users who combine paper and electronic planning”.

Sound like anyone you know? **wink**

The exterior front features a gusseted pocket for your cell phone. It comfortably fits my iPhone 5 with room to spare.

(This is an iPod Touch…I was using the iPhone to take the picture…but you get the idea)

And since my objective is to use this as both a planner and wallet, I am very psyched that the rear has large zipped pocket (which I intend to use for coins).

Having***one thing*** to grab out of my humongous handbag when I run into a store that will hold my phone, wallet and has the added benefit of my lists and planner stuff, all while remaining light, durable and weather-proof, is just about enough to make me do the Snoopy Dance.

The outside may be Meh in the looks department, but functionality (inside and out) is really great.

On the inside of the front, there is an elastic pen loop, a full length slip pocket (from which you can see my checkbook peeking out – and also obscuring the pen loop, but trust me, it’s there) and four card pockets. Since this is going to be my wallet, I have some of my most-grabbed cards here, as well as a pad of sticky notes for quick access.

You can see that I also have a FC plastic card holder in the front with the rest of my cards/ID’s. This insert is also a plastic sleeve, so I have cash and coupons behind the cards. Coins are in the aforementioned exterior zipped pocket.

Those are the wallet bits. Behind this I have my planner. More on that in  minute.

The back has a full length slip pocket, a note pad pocket and a 2nd elastic pen loop. I have no idea what I’m going to use these pockets for at this point, but I like that they are there. I’m thinking the note pad pocket would make a great stash for receipts.

Yes, that is a Pilot Coleto in the pen loop. The color is “soft green” and you can get your very own at JetPens.

I’m not using the note pad pocket for it’s obvious purpose because this binder’s 1″ rings gives me room for a Swing Pad.

(I’ve got a plastic envelope on the left with my stickers & Hot Sheets, and the Swing Pad on the right, which currently holds a grocery list in progress)

Swing Pad’s are awesome, but I don’t always have room for them.  Being able to easily use the pad to make note of items I need on the fly and have the list handy like this when I’m in a store means the Friday gets an A+ as a wallet.

Traditionally, I have not much cared for zipped binders, but using the Giada as a planner/wallet for the last week made me long for the added security a zip-around would provide.

So, even though the wallet part is covered  extremely well, how will it do as a planner? Right out of the gate it gets points for laying flat!

(The iPod Touch was still in the front pocket when this was taken, which is why the front tilts up a bit)

As you know, I am trying to simplify my planner, so I am currently using FC Her Point of View Two Page Monthly Calendar Tabs, with Her Point of View Ringbound Weekly refills and THAT’S IT. Happily, as a result, I can fit the entire year in this binder.

Squee!

I am solely using my planner for personal items now – all work stuff stays at work. Appointments go on my 2013 desk blotter/calendar, and all work tasks go on a Steno pad that also gets left at work. If I think of a work task I need to do while I’m at home, I just write it on a sticky note and then add it to my work Task List the following day, but it does not stay in my planner.

Basically, my new minimal set up goes a little something like this:

Appointments only in the daily blocks. Maybe a critical reminder or two that I would need to refer back to, but not as a rule. Tasks will go on a DayTimer Hot List placed inside my Page Marker. The Hot Lists are sticky pads, but rather than gunk up my ruler with day after day of sticky residue, I just adhere two back to back and slip them inside it, thus giving me one for each half of the week’s view. Works great so far.

What about tabs you ask? Believe it or not I only have one these days…

The ol’ dub-ya, dub-ya (that’s “WW” for those of you not up on Southern US vernacular). Weight Watchers. This has a few note pages behind it on which I’ve created cheat sheets for Points Plus values of meals I can have at my favorite restaurants, so I don’t have to look them up every time, or be totally rude and search for them in the iPhone app at the table.

Other than that, it’s just Monthlies.

I love these Her Point of View tabs…they are both easy to read and colorful.

Quotes, notes, capture items, whatever can be jotted down on the Swing Pad and then removed/transferred to where they need to go once I get home. Easy peasy, bacon cheesy!

(Mmmmmm……bacon…..)

Four points per slice in case you were wondering.

But I digress.

I love the function of this planner, and the inside is sufficiently cute thanks to the Her Point of View inserts, but the outside is rather blah. Black nylon. Yawn.

Because I’m an uber-dork and I am still in my “fuchsia phase”, I ordered a cool, hot pink Lotus patch from Amazon to jazz it up.

The item description didn’t mention dimensions, so placement will be dependent on its size. What do you think…fun idea? Lame idea? “Oh my god cancel the order now it’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard you crazy broad you”?

Stay tuned for an update as to whether or not this potential planner solution is still going strong after a week, or if it joins the Fail pile. And you know you wanna see what happens with the patch ; )

As you are aware if you read me regularly, I have been here, there and everywhere as to which planner I want to use now that the new year is upon us.

Spoiler: I still am.

However, I do have a couple tricks up my sleeve that I want to try out but alas, some of the components haven’t arrived yet.

(**cough** Franklin Covey inserts)

I swear, they ship via tortoise.

Anyway, it’s a radical experiment I’m going to try that basically involves using ONLY monthlies and some note sheets, and…are you sitting down…not archiving tasks.

Dun, dun, DUUUUUNNNNNNN!

That’s right, tasks are jotted down on some disposable medium, such as sticky notes or Hot Lists or such, and then tossed when filled.

Radical.  Yet somehow compelling. At the end of the day, the planner is neater rather than more cluttered.

In the interim, I have thrown together a nifty little experiment in it’s own right…it is a Levenger Circa plastic cover in “Compact” size with Levenger 3/4″ teal aluminum discs.

Here it is closed. The plastic shell I picked up on eBay as a plain old notebook for practically nothing. I actually made that polka dot cover out of a spare 3-ring binder tab I had. Since I own the Arc punch, I just cut it to the right size, punched it and voila, cute colorful cover.

My first issue with the Levenger clear plastic covers is that they are just that…plastic covers. No functionality whatsoever. Not even a pen loop.

My solution:

I picked up a Leuchtturm pen loop and stuck that baby right on the inside of the back cover. Levenger sells the black ones, but the Leuchtturm website sells all kinds of neat colors.

Admittedly, it was frustratingly tight at first, but happily it seems to be breaking in, and these days I don’t feel like I’m wrestling a crocodile trying to slip my pen in.

My second issue is that, although very budget friendly, these covers lack any kind of closure.

My solution:

I snagged a large purple rubber band from my file drawer and inserted it in between the cover and the disc in a “mushroom” approximately half way up the height of the cover. It may not be glamorous, but it stays in place and it works.

Looking at the back, you can see the stick-on pen loop and the rubber band wrapped around. I suppose I could make a cover for the back too, however since it is merely a temporary solution, I remain unmotivated.

And now for my next trick:

Since the plastic covers are also sans pockets, I Arc punched a Filofax Personal size zip envelope. Perfect fit!

Filofax Personal size inserts/refills are the exact same size as Levenger Circa Compact inserts/refills; the only difference is that Filofax is a 6-hole, ring bound system and Levenger Compact is a 7-hole (or smurf, or mushroom…I don’t actually know what they are officially called), disc bound system.

The mushrooms and the holes don’t quite meet up, but honestly it’s not that bad looking, even to my rampant OCD. The envelope is still held securely and now I can carry my stickers around ; )

What I am really liking is Levenger’s daily planner page layout:

The left page is entirely comprised of appointment slots, from 7am to 7pm. At the bottom there are a few lines for Notes. The right page, on the other hand, is entirely delegated to Tasks. Even having a nice check column. At the bottom you get the same small Note section.

My next favorite layout is Franklin Covey, however even on their 2PPD inserts, the right page is split in two, squeezing in both the Task List and Appointments, and the entire right page is left for notes. All fine and good, however my handwriting is big, loopy and juvenile; Levenger’s layout means I don’t have to write small or abbreviate.

To complete my hack, I threw this together with some Franklin Covey Her Point of View “Compact” monthly tabs (at the time I didn’t know Levenger made monthly tabs for this size) that Staples kindly trimmed for me, and I Arc punched at home.

I think the colorful tabs go nicely with the polka dot cover!

The teal 3/4″ discs (which come standard on most Levenger Circa notebooks…these originally came with a Teal Leather cover I had previously ordered but have since decided I don’t like the color of) will hold one quarter of annual inserts in 2 Pages per Day.

In my book, I just have January and February because I wanted room for a Capture tab.

Another kluge, it is just a sticky tab with a custom label on it, attached to the top of a blank sheet of paper. Again, not pretty, but functional.  Behind it I just have some note paper.

“This thing is so bitchin’, why is it only temporary solution”, you ask?

It started because there was such a lack of any sort of accessories for Levenger’s Compact and because I didn’t (and frankly still don’t) want to spring for the single Compact binder available…which is black leather and $69…in order to get pockets and a pen loop.  I seem to be overcoming that obstacle, albeit not terribly attractively.

I feel like a Tween carrying this thing into meetings and, as much fun as I’ve had hacking this thing together, I really do want whatever planner I decide upon to be something nicer and a lot more professional.

The other factor that holds me back from just giving in and using this is the fact that I can only fit 2 months of dailies. Yes, I could put bigger discs on it, but I tried that. With 1″ discs it looked somewhat clunky and would only accommodate one more month anyway. With discs any bigger than that, it just plain looked silly. Like a planner version of a monster truck.

And since I’m trying to put together an organizer that works and not trying to compensate for a micro-penis, the oversized discs didn’t cut it.

When my Monthly Only Experiment materials come in (which I will carry out in my Franklin Covey Compact Giada) this is going to become my Weight Watchers notebook, so it will still be used and well loved…just not as my planner.

But in the mean time, I just wanted to show you this planner hack…and I needed an excuse to write a blog post while I wait for stupid FC’s shipping department to get me my damn refills!

Well folks, I’m about to change the name of this blog to “the Zeitgeist of Neurosis”, because I am still all over the place with my planner choice for 2013.

The problem is not my planner…it is my life. It keeps changing.

I know, I know…life is change, adapt or die, blah, blah, blah. I get it.

I’m not complaining about the ebb and flow of my life; in fact I quite enjoy the spontaneous challenging nature of it. Every day is an adventure…I actually love that about my life; it’s never boring!

Trouble is, I need to write more and more stuff down these days because I simply can’t remember all of it anymore, and finding the ideal medium for managing the adventure is what is causing me fits.

I was sick this past weekend. Trapped in my house. Forty-eight hours of jammies and one helluva Nyquil buzz. And so, predictably, I dubbed around with planners. Like, I mean a LOT. As in, I was in and out of three different ones before my right hand became exhausted and gnarled from re-copying and I gave up.

Typically, I have used my paper planner (I use digital planning tools as well, though only as a backup and for the handy dandy audible reminders) as both a tool for planning the future and as a snapshot of the days/weeks/months.  An ongoing archive if you will.

So I write down a shit ton of stuff. I track minutia like the weather, my mood, how I felt physically, whether or not I flossed or remembered to take my multi vitamin.

I write down stuff after it happens even. If I spend the day out and about with a friend, it’s not enough that I allocate the chunk of time I’m going to need, I have to go back that night and detail everything we did. Lunch at 1pm here, shopping from 3-5 here, here and here, movies from 7-9, this movie, that theater.

Smacks of the crazies now that I see it in undeniable type in front of my eyes.

Thing is, do I NEED all this information in what is supposed to be my planner?  In fact, do I need to know that stuff AT ALL? One could argue that no, I don’t. One could argue that whatever says I do need it is actually my OCD talking.

Do I need that stuff in my planner or am I drifting into the realm of the unhealthy and trying (in vain I might add) to exert control over my day/life by writing every last detail about every little thing down?

That’s what I thought.

So what, exactly, must I have in my planner in order to accomplish it’s one true job…PLANNING?

Two things really…where I need to be and what I need to do. Period.

Where I need to be:

1. I need dates & times for appointments/meetings. Both personal & professional.

2. My work schedule is the same every day, but I like jotting my boyfriend’s schedule down because that does change every week.

What I need to do:

1. I need to know when my bills are due.

2. I need other important dates such as birthdays or anniversaries (and ideally I need these ON the day or I won’t remember them) so I can send cards, buy presents, attend parties, etc.

3. I need to know about the day’s tasks.

The majority of my day, both for work and personally, is task-related. I have already taken my work tasks out of the picture and relegated them to their own (messy) Steno pad at work, that stays at work and gets archived at work.

So it is now only my personal tasks that I have to figure out what to do with. And I think I might be doing a bit of overkill in that regard.

In reviewing my daily schedule for today, for example, I see that I have “Shaw’s” (my local grocery store) scheduled at 5:00 pm in my appointments and also “grocery shopping” listed in my task section.  Wasteful. I don’t need it both places…I know very well I have to get this done today or eat crackers for supper tonight. Again.

And that is not a chore I need any sort of record of, so it seems better suited left as a task.

Other than noting what days I pay a given bill, or meet a deadline (which are few and manageable), who really cares whether or not I have an archive of when I took out the recycling, emptied the litter box or cleaned the house?!

Couldn’t those things be kept, not on a daily planner page that is pricey and may or may not be enough (or too little) space for any given day, thus causing me to purchase several incarnations of them each year in the hopes one will work, but rather on a disposable sheet of note paper?  As long as I have the satisfaction of checking stuff off when I complete it (because you know me…I love to check shit off!), I seriously don’t need to keep my task lists for posterity.

This leaves me with NEEDING only monthly tabs that have nice sized blocks to write appointments in (lined please) and some note sheets…or even better…To Do sheets to make up my planner.

Sounds easy enough.

Where I get stuck is that I also like to be able to jot down cool quotes I come across, or work on projects throughout my day.

I will typically have a few personal projects going at any given time; writing stuff, fitness goals, the upcoming move in March, etc. so my tendency is to want a large book that can accommodate these items as subject tabs.

But those things have nothing to do with planning.

I think what has been causing me to chase my tail  lately has been trying to do, essentially, three things in one book; plan, record personal details and manage projects.

Hence the fail.

I have a journal…I don’t need journaly stuff in my planner; personal stuff is best kept to a personal book. In 5 years I won’t care to look back and discover that I took my vitamin & flossed like a good girl on the same day that there was a Board Meeting! So that’s solved. Personal details  will henceforth go in the journal.

Now, what if I separate out my subject tabs into their own book.

Say, oh I dunno…a nice disc bound notebook, with which I find myself well stocked these days?

The paper is stellar, the sheets nice and large, I can still carry it with me and dig into projects on my lunch break or whatever; but it’s not something I would need with me 24/7 like, you know…a planner.

That way I can get away with what I crave – a small, portable system that would fit in any handbag I elected to use, and go with me always and everywhere without being cumbersome.

Yeah? Huh? Ya feelin’ it?

I think I am.

Whaddya think? Just monthly tabs and To Do sheets that get tossed when they are filled up. Planning only. Sleek & portable.

Can she do it? SHOULD she do it?

Chime in below…

“January 8, 2012:  Dear Diary, my hand is sore from seemingly endless re-copying over the last eight days, and I fear my boyfriend is slowly becoming fully aware of the true depth of my neurosis. It is now the second week of 2013 and I am still spending an inordinate amount of time and mental energy trying to decide which planner is going to work best this year.  If I don’t figure this out soon, I will no doubt end up dying senile and alone…slowly suffocating under a pile of organizers, rocking back and forth, weeping quietly to myself over what my life could have been.”

Lol, not really.

I’ve got the Desk of Shame narrowed down to two. As you know,  in my last post, I had three options I was dubbing around with and had set out to do some dog calling. You guys helped me out by voting, and the FF Compact w/Trimmed FC Weeklies won in the polls.

But guess what…of the two dogs that have stuck around since I started calling, neither are the winner of the poll. Oh, and I’ve abandoned having two planners (one for work & another for personal) too, so the Brick is now back in the bin.

Yeah,  that is a sad trombone you hear in the background.  Welcome to my new year.

One of the dogs (the little dog) nipping at my heels is close to what you voted for, however. It is a Franklin Covey Giada Compact, in a lovely plum color, with FC weeklies.

Here it is in action. check out pictures w/notes in Flickr too…

The Giada has 3/4″ rings  so it mimics the slimmer profile of a Filofax Compact. Sort of.  A full year of weekly and monthly inserts will fit, along with a Swing Pad and plenty of room for notes, and the rings don’t get in the way of writing nearly as much as a larger-ringed FC like the Veronica.

I also really, really like the color.

FC Giada in “plum”

Veronica is awesome, and even though the Latte color is lovely, at the end of the day, it’s still beige. And I’m just not feeling beige these days.  So smaller rings and a fun color won out over fitting more inserts yet being…beige.

Anyhoo, this binder is one of the two remaining contenders for the following reasons:

* Two pen loops (both are half leather, half elastic so Coleto’s or other fun, fat pens fit with no problem).

* Lots of good pockets. The front has a full length slip pocket, a zip pocket, an ID window with 4 card slots and a secretarial pocket to boot. The back has two full width slip pockets. Franklin Covey really gets it right with all the internal functionality!

Inside front

Inside back

* The ability to use FC inserts without all the bothersome trimming and re-punching. I’m nothing if not lazy, after all.

Now, I could also use the HPOV 2ppd inserts in this binder if I wanted, but only three months will fit and that’s it. No Swing Pad, no room for note paper, no nothing. Just three months of dailies with monthly tabs.

Last night I tried putting in the current month (January) of 2 Pages per Day and left the rest weeklies. That could work if I had a busy month and needed more space, but I suspect it could get confusing and/or lead to more copying of data than I want to do on an ongoing basis. So weeklies it is.

As you can see in the first picture, I’ve stuck in a sheet of lined paper between the weekly pages for overflow To Do’s. This actually works pretty well. At the end of the day I can copy (neatly) whatever I will need to refer back to (like the date I paid a bill or mailed something to a friend **wink**) into the tiny day block and when the sheet gets full, I can just toss it and stick in another one.

My only legit beef with the Giada (and all FC really) is that they have tiny subject tabs, and you need 12 of them to form a full set. I only need 3 or 4, and the asymmetry really gets on the last nerve of my OCD. The best I could come up with was this:

Hey, we do what we can…

Essentially, this is a pink page marker that I’ve labeled “Capture”, which is my main tab. Anything and everything goes here until I can figure out where it really goes. The thing you sort of see in the middle is just the FC Page Marker ruler that’s in my diary pages, so pay no attention to it for top  tab purposes. Then you’ll see a lime green sticky tab that says “Quotes”. This is just stuck to the first page of a bunch of note paper that I’ve designated for, you guessed it, quotes.

These kluged tabs will do, but I’m not really that excited about them.

On to the second dog (the big dog, if you will). This is the Levenger Circa system but, as you could probably predict, with some tweaks. Because you know I gots ta tweak ; )

I love, love, love the page size in this baby. It is the exact same as a Filofax A5 page, but Levenger does not up-size the cover much at all, so the whole footprint is pretty much the same as the page. Therefore while the page is nice and large to write on, the whole book doesn’t feel like a behemoth to drag around with you.

Check it out…the Giada is smaller, but not that much smaller.

Giada on top of Circa

Giada in front, Circa behind

Lined up with the spines flush, the exterior of the Giada is 1″ narrower and 1.5″ shorter than the exterior of the Circa. But I can tell you from using both, the FC pages are a lot smaller when you go to write on them.

Biiiiig difference!

The downside to Circa is that it has the bare minimum of interior pockets/function and if you mess around with your planner as much as I do, the mushroom shaped slits that secure the pages around the discs tend to get sloppy (with truly abused pages, you can simply run scotch tape over the edges and re-punch, so at least there’s that). Also, the Levenger leather covers offer no means of closure.

So…I resurrected the Martha Stewart plastic one I got in my initial Staples splurge. It has that Moleskine-like elastic closure. Turns out I sorta dig that.

Here it is on top of my (also Martha Stewart) aqua Letter sized disc 2013  journal.

MS Junior sized disc planner (sadly just plastic) with Levenger Kyoto 1″ discs

You can see the elastic closure doing it’s thing. Here are some pics of it in action:

Inside the front cover

Functionality is meh. The inside has a half-secretarial pocket and three card slots. Better than nothing, but just barely. I have a zip pocket inserted in the front to hold more stuff.

Sticky note dashboard

Next I have a sticky note holder insert that j’adore. Behind that you can see the colorful (Arc brand, by the way) plastic tabs.

Tabs

Ah, the glory and wonder of having subject tabs! My tabs of choice are (in order, so pay attention, there may be a quiz later), Capture, Quotes, Info, Goals and Planning. Pretty self-explanatory really.

Capture, I’ve already described countless times in my posts, so if you read me at all, you know what it’s about.

Quotes…duh.

Info holds those Special Days sheets that come with all planner refill packs, future planning sheets, and some graph paper.

Goals is the section that will hold my resolutions and where I will track how I kick their ass as the year progresses.

Planning is just a header tab to my diary inserts. Again…OCD…the set came with 5 tabs; gotta use them all or pay the price in my own head. But hey, at least I can have subject tabs in this option, and fudging one beats the hell out of coming up with nine no doubt extraneous topics to fill a whole row of twelve.

The 2 page spread

Speaking of planning, here is the Levenger (what they call) Daily insert. Technically, it’s a 2PPD layout. One inch discs are designed to hold a quarter at a time.

The left side is for Appointments

On the left are appointment slots from 7am to 7pm and a handy little note section at the bottom. I love how even the appointment page has check boxes. This way, if a meeting gets cancelled, all I have to do is place an “x” in the box and I know it didn’t happen. No messy white out or erasing. Which is good, because if you remember, these are the pages that had the major erase fail.

(Side note, in case you were wondering, I got a full refund for the inserts from Levenger and didn’t even have to return them. Yay for customer service!)

Right side is for Tasks

On the right is a really pretty great To Do section, complete with my beloved check boxes. Again there is a little note section at the bottom.

Monthly tabs : )

As all savvy planner companies know (she said sarcastically), monthly tabs are a key element to happy Plannerds, so Levenger Daily inserts come with a full complement of nice, large, easy to read monthly tabs.

Inside the back cover is, well, nothing.

Just a single, lonely pen loop

I have compensated somewhat by adding a pocket insert, but obviously when comparing, the interior of the Giada wins the day.

At least this pocket insert is double sided…

I am drawn to the Circa for these reasons:

* Roomy page size without the weight of a FC Classic or weight (and bulk) of a FF A5.

* The fact that it folds back on itself. This isn’t critical for the planner part, but when writing in my subject tabs or taking notes, lemme tell ya…it rocks.

*If needed, I could easily add larger discs (or smaller, but that seems unlikely knowing me) without effing up my entire book, having to buy a whole new book and/or doing any of the dreaded re-copying.

The downside here is a dearth of peppy colored, higher end covers. The leather  Levenger ones stick pretty much to black, red and saddle tan (yawn). The seasonal colors (like that Teal one I picked up) are nice but pricey, and still lack any means of closure.

Martha (the only one with the elastic straps) seems to have a pale aqua blue or black only thing going with her line, and although Arc does have some cool colors, the leather ones are too poofy to lay flat when folded back on themselves, the plastic ones have nary a pocket nor pen loop to be found, and neither of them have closures.

Yes, I know, there are book bands out there on the market I could use…but I want my band attached to my book. Otherwise I’ll just lose it or forget it somewhre, or the dog will eat it resulting in an expensive vet bill.

So there you have it. Right now I am (pathetically) carrying around both and updating each daily, in the hopes that I will gravitate toward one over the other in time.

I’m giving myself to the end of January to get this all figured out and then I’m having myself committed just going to go with which ever one I happen to have in my damn bag on the 31st and try to salvage my life.

Bottom line, the Circa is much better to write in, but lacks interior functionality (and although the discs are neat and all, they do come with a price; its super easy to change out disc sizes, sure, but you do lose that “snapped shut” feeling of ring security) and the Giada has awesome pockets and stuff but sucks in the subject tab department and isn’t that pleasant to do lengthy note taking or any real writing in.

Please don’t make me do another poll…just give me your two cents in the comments this time.

See, I told you I was lazy ; )

Well, I’ve managed to narrow my options on the Desk of Shame down to three.

Nothing like cutting it right down to the wire, as today is New Year’s Eve, but at least I’m getting there.

And I have decided one thing for sure…that I am going to have two planners this year; a large sized one for literally every aspect of my life,  that will stay somewhere the majority of the time (haven’t decided yet between leaving it at home open on my desk or toting it back & forth on weekdays to work), and a smaller more portable one for personal stuff only, that I can carry around with me 24/7/365.

I have selected the Franklin Covey Classic sized Suprema in saddle tan as my “hold everything, work and personal, bill-organizing, second brain, portable desk”  planner.  In it I will be using Franklin Covey Serenity inserts, in a One Page Per Day format.

I chose this newly released format for three reasons:

1. I can fit an entire year of 1PPD inserts in my binder (including monthly tabs), along with my subject tabs. I felt this was sort of a deal-breaker for my Everything Planner. No fishing around in the archives for dates I paid bills, etc. The whole year will be at my fingertips.

2. My beef with typical FC 1PPD formats is that the appointment part and task list essentially split the page in half, giving each only a narrow column in which to write. These new inserts separate out the sections into large blocks that each span the width of the entire page, thus giving those with large, loopy penmanship (such as myself) more room to write. So, although I am not wild about so much of the page being taken up with color/pattern, I have high hopes for the open format of these inserts. They simply have three lined sections.

The top (smallest) one I intend to use as my daily tracker (weather, mood, the BF’s schedule, whether or not I flossed…stuff like that). The middle section is designated for To Do’s using FC’s “Prioritized Daily Task List” format (which I adore) and since the majority of my work load is task-related, this being the largest of the blocks  is optimal for my needs. The bottom section (slightly smaller than the Task section) is designated “Daily Notes”, and my appointments will go here. Some days I don’t have any meetings (believe it or not)…so this is the perfect spot on those slow days for quotes, doodles, stickers and the like.

3. The set comes with tabbed months : )

That is my “Everything Brick” in a nutshell. Photos to come when the inserts arrive (should be January 4th) and I have it set up. Thank you to everyone who kept rooting for the FC Classic : ) You definitely helped me make my decision on this aspect of my planning for 2013.

Now for the smaller, personal planner that I will carry with me 24/7/365.

Yeah, not so easy to choose that one! I did, as I mentioned, narrow it down to three choices:

1. FC Compact Veronica in Latte with HPOV 2PPD. I do love these inserts the best, there is no denying that. Just enough color, plenty of room, tabbed months. Win. In the Veronica, I can fit 6 months worth of 2PPD and a small section of note paper for quotes on the fly.

The upside of using a FC binder with FC inserts is that they obviously won’t stick out that extra 1/4″ and tweak the ol’ OCD. You can also use the pen loop without fear of bending the tabs.

2. FF Personal Malden in Ochre with the same HPOV 2PPD inserts as above. Once again, I can fit 6 months of 2ppd inserts in it, however the Malden’s rings make it too tight for a section of note paper. BUT…the Malden has enough interior pockets that squeezing a FC note pad inside the back cover works just fine.

The upside to using the Malden is that I get the sleeker Filofax form factor, but still have my beloved FC inserts. Yes, they do stick out a bit but the Malden is floppy enough to adequately accommodate them so I don’t go bat shit crazy.

Side note: The good news with the first two options is, using essentially the same innards means that I can switch from the Veronica to the Malden pretty much at will, without irrevocably effing up my system.

3. FF Compact (not sure which one yet) with trimmed FC HPOV monthly tabs and FF 1PPD diary pages. Alas, FC inserts as-is will not fit into a Filofax Compact. They stick out too far to be even close to functional. But trimming & re-punching a dinky set of monthlies is no trouble, and I can fit 6 months of Filofax 1PPD’s in the Compact just fine, with a small section for note paper.

The obvious upside to this option is that it is the most lightweight and portable of the three. I do give up my HPOV inserts, but at least I get a full half year in my book, which is nothing to sneeze at considering the ultra small footprint. I still have my tabbed months and since the majority of the detailed stuff will go into the Brick, 1PPD should be more than enough page space for my carry-with planner.

3b. Another option I started kicking around this morning in the shower is a FF Compact, only this time with FC trimmed HPOV monthlies and weeklies. The reason I’m toying with this is,  if I’m already keeping a full set of deets on literally everything in the Brick, that should free up my carry-around planner for only personal, pertinent items and (in theory at least) weeklies COULD be enough. That way, not only would I get a full year in my book (which is optimal) but I also gain the ability to lay eyes on my whole week without flipping around.

True, I would have to trim & re-punch the inserts for use in a FF Compact, but doing a set of weeklies is far, far better than tackling a full year of 2PPD. For a mere $2 Staples will trim…and then I would just have to re-punch. But I have a FF Personal punch and a long weekend coming up, so why not?

Again, photos will come when I get whichever one I decide on, all set up.

This time, I’m gonna let you vote.  Fun!

Which small, portable option should I go with? Keeping in mind that I’ll also have ‘the Brick’ as a master planner holding down the fort..you tell me which one should be my 24/7/365 system?

Well, the world didn’t end, so now I guess it’s time to deal with my “desk of shame”.

On it, I began accumulating my potential planner candidates for 2013. This started around September, and now that 2012 is all but over, as you can see, things have gotten way, way out of hand.

The desk of shame (the sticky notes on each are my beefs w/them. See details below)

As you know, I recently discovered disc bound systems, and have been using (and loving) my Levenger Circa in Junior size (pictured in the middle of the desk, propped up against the Arc punch). My one and only beef with it had been that the interior of the covers left me wanting.

Wanting a 2nd pen loop (normally I can slip a 2nd pen into the rings…but oops, no rings here!). Wanting more than two card slots. Wanting maybe some pockets or something, anything really, inside the back cover. Wanting a means to close and secure the thing.

I was actually getting ready to dismantle the Desk of Shame and just go with Levenger.

Until yesterday, when I discovered, to my absolute horror, that attempting to erase a Frixion pen on Levenger’s (I used to think) superb paper resulted in this mess…

What. The. FUCK.

It is true I don’t use Frixion’s much anymore…really just for scheduling work appointments (which tend to change a lot) or things that are only tentative but I need to hold the spot…but this is ridiculous. Levenger paper is not cheap. Not only is it an ugly mess, but the paper in the erased area is all crinkly (almost like it got wet) so writing over it was pretty much a disaster too.

Attempting to erase after trying a good old fashioned pencil was smudgeless, however all the printed lines erased right along with my writing.

ZOMG Fail.

The Levenger annotation ruled paper and all of the cheaper Arc paper seems to be fine in erasing both Frixion pens and regular run of the mill pencil, however Arc only makes Monthly and Weekly inserts and those won’t work for me.

Levenger must use different ink when printing the daily pages then? I’ve gotta say, they really screwed the pooch with that decision.

This is a whole new, big, major, really freaking annoying beef. Could I just not use pencil or Frixions and stick with the Circa? I did just splurge on that lovely Kyoto pen after all. What about just using Arc inserts and dealing with the Weekly format and learning to write smaller?

Sure, I could do either, but isn’t this whole crazy planner obsession thing about finding a no-compromise solution? For me it is.

Whether or not my OCD will stand for this new development remains to be seen.

So in the mean time, back to the Desk of Shame I go, in case I snap and Levenger does indeed cease to be an option. Thank goodness I never got around to putting everything way!

To keep things fair, I set up each potential planner system in a tan colored binder, since my Levenger of choice has been the saddle tan one from eBay.

For some reason I thought putting everything in like colored binders might even the playing field and help me choose by function rather than form. But even I don’t know what I’m doing anymore when it comes to planners, so who knows if that logic will work or not.

Anyway, here are the contestants in the once again and seemingly inevitable New Year’s Planner competition  (from left to right in the photo, in case you want to refer back to it):

1. Filofax A5 w/One Day per Page – Levenger Junior is the equivalent of a Filofax A5 or Franklin Covey Classic; pages are roughly 5.5″ x 8.5″. My first option is to stay big and go with an A5 with One Day per Page inserts. The upside of this Ochre Malden I’ve chosen is that it has tons of great interior storage and a whole year of dailies will fit in it.

Beefs: No monthly tabs (and, thanks to the back-to-back Filofax printing layout, there is no option for off-brand monthly tabs, even if I could find another brand that would fit) and crappy paper quality. The large, leather Filo’s can also be heavy to lug around.

2. Filofax Personal w/One Day per Page – If I decide bigger isn’t necessarily better, that leaves my old standby, Personal size. This size could also be used as a planner/wallet combo if I so decided (though Personal is a little big for that) and again, the Carmel Finchley I’ve chosen with which to demo this set up has great interior function. The biggest plus here is that I can fit an entire year of daily inserts in a still rather portable book.

Beefs: The aforementioned lack of monthly tabs and crap-tastic paper (though, in this size I was at least able to trim & re-punch FC monthly tabs and use those, but since Filofax prints everything back to back, I had to just sorta stick them in near where they should go, which tweaks the ol’ OCD).

3. Franklin Covey Compact w/Two Pages Per Day – Kind of a happy medium between a smaller binder size yet a wee bit larger (and much better paper) page. These refills do come with monthly tabs, and refills are readily available in various designs. I’ve set 2013 up in Her Point Of View. Still wanting some color it seems : ) This Veronica binder has lovely leather and adequate interior function. The large rings allow for 6 months of inserts at two pages per day.

Beefs: To accommodate the larger page size, FC binders feel boxy and awkwardly square (not that this fact has stopped me, or will stop me from using one…it just makes it feel less optimal when carrying it around). These do not make good wallet/planner candidates even a little, and I don’t care for their tiny subject tabs.

4. Levenger Compact w/Two Pager per Day – While we’re talking smaller, it seems the perfect time to mention the Levenger Compact. Page size is exactly the same as a Filofax Personal. I picked up this plastic sample from eBay on the cheap to see if I’d like it. I do, however Levenger seems to be discontinuing this size, so although refills are available for it in 2013, will they be in the future? Unknown. Also, currently there is only one leather cover available for it on the Levenger website; in a smooth black leather.

Beefs: This plastic one has no pen loop or interior pockets whatsoever (the leather one would, but that would cost me an additional $69 for something I might not be able to refill beyond 2013). No monthly tabs were included with the inserts (however since Levenger does leave breaks in between the months, I was able to trim & re-punch FC Compact monthly tabs and use those). Accessories/refills for the Levenger Compact size are in short supply and may be phased out at any time.

5. Filofax Compact w/One Day per Page – Confused yet, since the last 3 all call themselves “Compact” yet they are all different sizes?  This set up would essentially be the same deal as the Filofax Personal, except that only three months of inserts will fit. However, the smaller rings would make writing a lot easier. The obvious pro with this choice is that it is the optimal planner/wallet size. I had to go with my yellow Finsbury (of the now famous Drunken YouTube Review), as I don’t have any tan Compacts in my collection.

Beefs: Same as with the Filofax Personal. Must kluge trimming/re-punching FC monthly tabs for it and stick them in willy nilly, and the thin Filofax  paper. Also, only having three months in my planner is tolerable but not really that great for my needs.

6. Franklin Covey Classic – I have no inserts for this one (yet). Another large option, and this Classic Suprema in saddle tan is chock full of awesome slots, pockets and compartments inside. I’ve had this binder for years and I adore it. It also has the 2 pens loops I crave. One thing I like about this option is that FC has some nice One Page Per Day refills available for it (all with monthly tabs included, I might add). Often with the FC Compact, you’re stuck with either Weekly or Two Page per Day refills, but for some reason they do plenty of dailies for the Classic, and a whole year will fit comfortably. Were I to decide this is the way I want to go, I’d probably order up the Serenity design for some color.

Beefs: As with the large leather Filo’s, this binder can be like schlepping around a brick in my bag. Also, despite the amazing pebbled leather, there is no closure on this binder, same as the Levenger.

There you have it folks. Welcome to my neurosis. And my messy desk.

I’d put up a poll and let you vote your little hearts out for which I should ring in the New Year with, but I suspect this is beyond a vote.

I suspect what needs to happen is some good, old fashioned dog calling.  And hey, I can think of worse things…it is January in New England after all. What else do I have to do until spring?!

The possibility exists, too, that I end up with two planners running…something small and portable to carry 24/7/365 (ideally that doubles as a wallet), and a behemoth desk version that stays at home (or possibly at work, since that is where the majority of my need for page space originates), or is dedicated to work and only gets toted around on weekdays.

As a post script, let me just say that Levenger Circa is an awesome system and I don’t regret delving into it as I have.  My intention was to use one of these as my 2013 Journal anyway, and that will stand, as the lined paper seems to be fine, and I don’t use pencil or Frixion in my journal anyway.

I have submitted a complaint email to Levenger about the issue with the ink used for the Daily inserts, and am hoping for resolution by either returning the them outright for a refund, or exchanging them for the Julie Morgenstern Balanced Life inserts, which I am told are printed with different ink and therefore withstand erasing.

As always, stay tuned!!