Archive for the ‘Simplify Your Life’ Category
March 11th
We often hear from people who are trying to decide between several different planning formats, or who’ve used a particular format for years but have always been curious about another one. As a Business user recently explained: “I still love the others and am pondering excuses to use them all, somehow.”
I totally know the feeling — I’ve been a Sapa X user for years, but have always wondered if I should try a format like Space 17 or Rhodia, with weekly note-taking space. Still, my jury-rigged time management system doesn’t make me feel like I *need* weekly note-taking space, so never I’ve indulged the curiosity. Though I did just find an excuse to use a Monthly 4!
What do you do when you see a new format that you like? How do you decide whether or not you’re going to switch?
March 9th
Our weekly planners are more popular than our daily formats, but daily has its core users. One recent convert wrote in with an interesting rationale:
As I was starting to fill things into my planner I was like: wow, this is so much less stressful looking than my old planner was.
Daily planners are more “stress-less” because you can use them with a “one day at a time” mentality.
As always, it depends on your particular habits and schedule, but I thought it was a very good point!
March 4th
Chet Chin recently tipped us off to a cool idea for setting and sticking to goals: a small, downloadable booklet that you fill out, fold up, and carry in your wallet to remind yourself of, say, your financial goals and educational goals and so on. There are six categories in all — including one blank one — and enough space to list five goals in each category.
Chet decided to paste the categories into the notes pages of her customized planner rather than carry the card in her wallet. That made plenty of sense to me, because really, who needs another piece of paper in their wallet, gathering lint and dust? It also turns her planner into a nifty goal-tracking tool, because she can flip to those pages whenever she needs some inspiration:
Besides writing down the goals, I plan to write down the progress of meeting those goals. Which would make the “Notes” section a log of sorts.
Neat idea, eh?
Image via.
February 3rd
Lots of people write in with good suggestions for tweaks to our planning formats, and often those tweaks take the form of supplements or additions. More space for notes is a popular one. Another popular idea, at least for those formats that don’t already have it, is adding a monthly view that would supplement a daily or a weekly planner.
First of all, let me say that we are always grateful for your suggestions, because it helps us understand how people actually use our planners. Also, they do make a difference, as Karen has described. But when it comes to adding pages, we face a problem: if we add pages to our planners, for the most part, then we have to delete other pages. We can’t make the planners larger because the refillable covers would be useless—the planner inserts wouldn’t fit. (Of course, they could stretch a little bit, and as Karen will describe later, we are indeed planning to make notes supplements for the Business and Minister planners.)
So periodically we ask: what would you like to add? And more importantly, in exchange, what would you eliminate? An address book seems quaint to me in this era of Outlook and cell phones, but maybe there are still people who prefer to store that stuff in their planners. Similarly, the maps and reference materials—I like that they exist (though I rarely consult them), and it’s true they come in handy while traveling, but as Marty pointed out, Google can give you the same information with much greater specificity…
So, what do you think? Should we do an annual bound book (i.e., not refillable) with extra pages for notes and calendars? Would you be willing to pay more for that expanded edition? Or should we try to find a way to fit those things into our current planners, or create special supplements for them?
February 1st
Guest blogger Laurie Huff is a planner aficionado and frequent traveler. She currently lives in Tirana, Albania.
When your daily patterns are mostly predictable, your planner needs are straightforward. You know what your home and work life consists of, and your planner needs are usually consistent from week to week.
But all this is turned on its head when traveling. What works fine at home or in the office may break down when you’re out in the world. Unpredictable things happen while traveling (which of course is part of the fun of traveling in the first place), and you need a planner that is flexible enough to handle out of the ordinary needs. This is especially true when traveling internationally. Suddenly you need information at your fingertips such as international dialing codes and time zone information that you might not normally need in your day to day life. Especially for people who travel frequently, whether for work or pleasure, you need a planner that can handle your day to day life as well as your travel needs.
Several years ago while traveling back to the US after living in Nepal, I spent 3 weeks in Paris and 3 weeks traveling around Scotland. That year I used an Exacompta Daily Pocket planner, and that little book was a champ. The book itself is tiny, light, and took up no space at all in my bag. But the page size is still substantial, and having a page for each day was great during my entire trip. I used that little book for everything. Each page had plenty of room to write flight reservation details and phone numbers of hostels I stayed in. While in Paris I took a short course in French language, and the daily pages held my lesson reminders and reading assignments. On one page I drew a map of how to get to a new friend’s apartment off the Champs-Elysees for dinner. I recorded each place I went on my journey around Scotland. In the cover pockets I tucked in slips of paper with people’s email addresses, ferry schedules and postcard stamps. I filled the pages with the location of that excellent crepe place, the quaint restaurant where we ate a delicious dinner, and the cool shops I found on the little side streets. Now it’s an excellent record of my trip, and when I look through that little book the memories come right back.
Last fall on a trip to Budapest I didn’t even bring my planner because the one I was using at the time was too bulky. Besides, I was only going for a week, surely I could live without my planner? No, of course not. I had forgotten to notify my credit card company that I was traveling, and when I used my card to pre-pay my hotel the early warning protection caused it to seize up. I needed to call the US from Hungary to rectify it. But what is the code to dial OUT of Hungary for an international call?? If I’d had my planner with me with its page of international dialing codes, I would have had that information at my fingertips. But instead, with no planner (and no internet) it took me about 30 minutes of searching and asking people before I found out it’s 00, like much of the rest of Europe. By the time I placed my call, the Fraud Protection office was closed. 5 minutes ago. So I had to wait until the next day to call. Lesson learned: don’t leave home without my planner and its list of international dialing codes!
My most recent trip was to Scotland over the holidays, and I brought along my Minister planner (with its list of international dialing codes, time zones and extensive maps, which I love). I didn’t really think I’d be using it much during my vacation. I wound up using it extensively, to my surprise.
Read the rest of this entry »
January 22nd
I’ve said it before, but everyone has their own idea of what makes a perfect planner. Most of us muddle through by selecting the company and format that best suits our needs, and perhaps a bit of customization.
Some dedicated souls, however, bust out their pens and their rulers and make the planner of their dreams. As a non-crafty person, I’m in awe of the patience this requires. But I can certainly see the appeal; after all, what other planning system can claim to be exactly tailored to the way you think and live?
If you’re curious about exploring homemade planners, check out Chet Chin’s posts about converting her large Habana notebook into a 2010 planner — then making sure it feels like her own.
Chet does her customization in advance and by hand, but reader Dave Terry uses a date stamp and stamps each new day as he goes. He also creates a detailed index so he can find things later. You can read more about Dave’s planning system on his blog and at D*I*Y Planner (which, incidentally, has a wonderful collection of ideas and templates for customized planners).
January 21st
This morning’s post, from guest blogger Kate Marshall, reminds me of a quote that’s usually attributed to May West: “Too much of a good thing is wonderful.” Still, sometimes you’ve gotta pare things down…
I first started using fountain pens when I was a child but I didn’t start collecting or using them on a regular basis until about four years ago. Next thing I knew, I had about 20 fountain pens: Lamys, Bexleys, Sailors, Pelikans, etc. Eek. I had too many pens and I didn’t use them often enough to justify keeping them. It’s time to sell some pens. As I do this, I’ve been rethinking the focus of my pen collection. When all is said and done, I expect to have:
• four Pelikan M400s
• three Pelikan M620s
• one Pelikan M205
• two Aurora Optimas
• one Bexley Submariner SE
• one Namiki-Pilot Vanishing Point (also known as the Pilot Capless)
• one Sailor Professional Gear
• two Sailor Sapporos (Professional Gear Slim)
• one Levenger TrueWriter
In four years of pen collecting, I’ve learned that:
I really like Pelikans, especially when they or their nibs come from Richard Binder.
I favor piston-fillers and other filling methods over cartridge-converter filling systems.
Why didn’t I buy a Vanishing Point sooner? Despite the converter’s painfully tiny ink capacity, this is the best pen ever! And it comes in pink!
I’m really hoping that once my pen collection is slimmed down, I won’t snap up every new pen I see. By focusing on pens I really love, I hope to better appreciate their value and quality. I know there are others whose pen collections (or watch collections or misprinted calendar collections or what-have-you) number in the hundreds or even thousands. And that’s cool—Kate’s not here to judge. But I’ve decided that I just have too much darn stuff in my life and it’s time to pare it down.
Granted, the day that Pelikan announces a pink M400, all bets are off.
January 18th
IT lawyer, fountain pen aficionado, and guest blogger Tom Hall recently took the Journal 21 for a test drive. Here are his thoughts…
“Let me check my calendar.”
The first time I uttered those words, I knew I was no longer young and carefree, with my every moment under my sole control. On the other hand, it meant that I was out of school and gainfully employed. In another moment I realized that I did not HAVE a calendar. Thus I joined professionals worldwide in the Quest for the Perfect Planner.
For a long time I used a simple, pocket-sized planner. It was all I needed to navigate from meeting to meeting to meeting to meeting during the work day. More than once it kept me from arriving at the office on a holiday.
Then along came pocket sized, electronic planners. Like most guys, I’m a sucker for gadgets, and this one came with a built in rationalization: it made coordinating my schedule with my secretary far easier. I used it quite happily for several years, until I was asked to give a deposition in a contract dispute. The opposing attorney asked where I had been on a given day, several years earlier. Thanks to the electronic gadget, I was able to tell him. Unhappily, he decided to explore my schedule for that day in detail, and then did the same for every day for the week before and after. Needless to say, I no longer carry around such extensive records of my days.
As time moved forward, the maker of my favorite electronic gadget fell on hard times. They revised their products to keep pace with competition, raised their prices and eliminated the features I valued. When my gadgets wore out, I discovered that there were no adequate successors available. I was, apparently, obsolete. Somewhat bemused, I rejoined the Quest.
About this time, Karen put out a call for volunteers willing to test Exacompta planners. Her timing was exquisite. I had strayed from the True Path, and was attempting, with little success and much frustration, to sync the calendar on my cell phone with an on line service. My brother said it best: “Isn’t pencil and paper faster, easier and more reliable?”
Read the rest of this entry »
January 15th
If good suggestions come in threes, it’s time to put this to a vote: would you be interested in an unlined planner? Jeff Abbott made the suggestion in a comment to an earlier post, where it was seconded by NateB.
Then Kim Brugger mentioned how busy the pages of her Minister looked, which I suspect has a lot to do with the lines.
At the moment, our only unlined planner is the Sapa X; I use it, and I’m definitely a fan of the clean and simple format. But it’s a relatively small planner, and that’s not to everyone’s taste.
Anyway, if you have an opinion one way or the other, talk to us! Let us know what you envision (is it a daily or a weekly planner? is it big or small? does it offer different boxes for organization, or just present you with one big, blank page?), or tell us why you think it would never work for you.
December 29th
Thumbing through the Winter 2009 issue of The Herb Quarterly looking for receipes and garden tips, I discovered instead a wonderful article by herbalist and freelance writer, Barbara MacPherson, called “Wisdom from the Stillroom.”
As she describes it, historically, a stillroom book “was simply a notebook in which health, healing, and medicinal information were recorded.” A stillroom book was so named because in the past one of the most important areas of a house contained a still to make medicinal “waters” of all kinds.
“The earliest versions were written on parchment, then vellum, and finally in bound books of paper…Generally, they would write down each entry as an informal paragraph in scrapbook fashion. The book was not limited to medicinal knowledge and preparations; often included were recipes for cosmetics, soaps, and preserves, as well. Gardening information, measurements, useful tables, and sometimes even magic formulas all graced the pages of a stillroom book.”
Some examples MacPherson cites include: Arcana Fairfaxiana, a stillroom book compiled by the Fairfax family in England and published in 1890 by Mawson, Swan & Morgan; and Collection of Above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick, and Surgery - attributed to Mary Kettiby, 1714. 
MacPherson encourages her readers to make their own stillroom book, using the knowledge passed down from generations, or gathered from friends and neighbors. “Be sure to use your own handwriting in your journal,” she said. “Don’t worry about mistakes; the old stillroom books were full of corrections, adding to the sense of the real person behind the writing. Date your entries. Imagine a great-grandchild opening the pages in 2060 to see your handwriting with the date of, say, September 25, 2009.”
There isn’t much on the web about stillroom books, but I did find this one gem thanks to the Project Gutenberg’s free ebooks: The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by Kenelm Digby.
Sir Kenelm Digby was born in 1603. It contains all sorts of things, including a recipe for mead, “Aqua Mirabilis. Sir Kenelm Digby’s Way,” and my favorite,”The true Preparation of the Powder of Sympathy, as it was prepared every year in Sir Kenelm Digby’s Elaboratory.” The “Powder of Sympathy” was used to heal wounds.
Herbal Quarterly Winter 2009 edition here.
The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened here.
