Posts Tagged ‘planning’

How do you use your Anno-Planner?

Posted June 13, 2011 by
in Pens, Paper & People, Planning Tips | 9 comments »

Image by Mia Balaquiot

There’s lots to love about monthly calendars, but what about the semi-annual pages that are found at the start of planners like the Space 24 and Rhodia (and that we often refer to as “Anno-Planners”)? I have some in my Space 17, but I’ve never touched ‘em. I was spurred to recently, however, when we received the following email:

I was a faithful APB/1 user until it was discontinued. I recently purchased a Space 24 and LOVE it, especially the monthly calendars so I can put all of my bills due and paydays in that area. However, there is a semi annual planner and I’m not sure what to do with it. I’ve never used it before even though it has been in some of the planners I’ve used (the President). I’m sure it can be utilized effectively but I don’t know how. Could you please do a post based on possible utilizations of this area?

One of our guest bloggers wrote about her Anno-Planner (“I have a hard time visualizing time, especially long-term, and having six months on one page really helps me with the big picture,” she wrote). Laurie of Plannerisms wrote on Flickr that she finds hers “extremely useful to plan travel, see due dates and deadlines, and indeed to see the entire year at once.”

Do you have an Anno-Planner? What do you do with it?

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Graduating planners

Posted May 16, 2011 by
in Planning Tips | 3 comments »

The end of the school year is close, and I’m wondering: are those of you who’ll graduate planning to stick with an academic-year planner? Or will you switch to a January-to-January planner, like most of the working world uses?

After college, I stuck with academic planners for several years since that was the only way I knew how to measure the year. It was helpful when I went back to grad school, but once I started working again, I went January-to-January and it feels very comfortable now.

What are you, er, planning to do?

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A new year is right around the corner

Posted April 20, 2011 by
in Announcements | 1 comment »

… a new academic year, that is! We’ve gotten a couple of emails from people who are looking for new academic planners, so I thought I would make the announcement that while they’re not quite ready yet, they’ll be shipped to retailers May 1.

After that, there’s no excuse for procrastinators.

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Update on the ABP/1

Posted March 8, 2011 by
in Announcements, Pens, Paper & People | 2 comments »

Thanks to all who weighed in on our post about reviving the ABP/1. As it turns out, the format is still being printed for sale in Canada, and I’m pleased to announce we’ve made sure that it’s also still available for sale in the US.

New Jersey based Classic Office Products is one retailer who carries it, and you can always call our offices to locate other outlets. (Or just ask your favorite retailer to place a special order.)

It’s also back up on our website. Unfortunately, though many of you suggested it, we can’t change the name at this time, though we’ll certainly bring it up at our next North American meeting.

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Blank pages and Sapa X

Posted March 2, 2011 by
in Planning Tips | 3 comments »

I’m an erstwhile Sapa X user, and I never really knew what to do with the blank pages that precede the start of each month. Occasionally I’d jot down notes, but I wasn’t systematic about it, and I rarely referred back to them afterwards. Maybe that’s due to the unsystematic way in which they appear? Because some months start towards the beginning of the week and others in the middle of one, the Sapa X’s two blank pages sometimes face one another, and other times are formed by a single, blank front-and-back sheet.

In any case, judging by one email we just got, I’m not the only one who doesn’t know what to do with them:

I’ve been buying Sapa X for years. I really like this planner, but I never use the blank pages that occur now & then, so I cut them out. It would help if you made them easily removable, using the little holes that you use to make the bottom corners easy to remove.

Of course, that wouldn’t be possible unless each blank page was exactly that — a single page, front and back — otherwise, you’d tear out part of a planning page, too. But it’s definitely an interesting suggestion. Are there any other Sapa X fans who would like to see us implement it? Or people who’ve figured out how to incorporate the blank pages into their planning routine?

Let us know!

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Expanding Equology

Posted February 2, 2011 by
in Pens, Paper & People | 6 comments »

A Quo Vadis fan in Alaska recently asked us if we’d consider making the Space 24 in Equology, our collection of recycled paper planners.

Thus far, we’ve only made a handful of formats available in Equology: Minister, President, Sapa X, Scholar, and Textagenda. But we realize that people are increasingly interested in using sustainable products, and we’re happy to consider expanding the lineup.

If your favorite planner format were available in Equology, would you try it? In case it makes a difference, note that while our recycled paper is thicker than average at 72g, it doesn’t perform as well with fountain pens as non-recycled paper.

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How many planners do you use?

Posted January 25, 2011 by
in Pens, Paper & People, Planning Tips | 6 comments »

Plenty of people pair a paper planner with a digital device, but how many of you use more than one paper planner? Here’s how one of our fans does it:

I pair the IB Traveler with the Visoplan in a Chelsea cover, and I’ve got everything on the calendar covered!

I paired a Sapa X with a Monthly 4 last year, but the Monthly 4 was really just for gardening, and I kept it in a separate cover. And now that I’ve switched to the Space 17 — which has a monthly calendar in the front — I’m hoping to do everything in one book. Less is more! Or is it? How many planners do you use?

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Cover designs

Posted January 10, 2011 by
in Pens, Paper & People | 2 comments »

Here’s a suggestion we received from a Scholar user:

I wish you could get more decorative colors, or covers with a little bit of a design. Only the nonrefillable ones have a design, which I almost got except I harm the environment less with a reusable cover, so make some covers for the hippies in the world!

When I first started blogging for Quo Vadis, Karen sent me a lovely planner from our Robert le heros collection — powder blue, at that time. The format didn’t work for me, so I switched to a refillable planner. First, though, I ripped the leatherette cover off its cardboard backing since it seemed silly to let it go to waste. (Sadly, it didn’t look as inspiring after it’d been skinned, and is doubtless now buried deep in some box somewhere.)

At any rate, I sympathize with those who want a bit of decoration on their covers – though I daresay our Club covers offer plenty of fun colors! The reason we don’t make reusable graphic covers is because of our licensing agreements, which are negotiated in France and geared toward the French marketplace. We can license those designs in the US, but we can’t change the basic terms of the agreement.

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Are you switching planner formats?

Posted December 20, 2010 by
in Editorial, Pens, Paper & People, Planning Tips | 6 comments »

I’ve used a Sapa X planner for the past few years, but this fall I decided to switch to a different pocket format: the Space 17.

On the one hand, the Sapa’s blank daily boxes fit my unpredictable and un-appointment-heavy schedule. But I’ve long lusted after a full page of notes for each week — just think how much stuff I’ll be able to keep in one place! Addresses, to dos, and all the random details I now jot down in the idea notebook I always carry with me, but that sometimes get lost in that clutter … It will take some adjustment, I’m sure, but I’m already excited to make the transition this week.

Plus, I’ve already found the perfect use for my old Sapa covers.

Are you switching planner formats? What prompted your decision?

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How do you use your Quo Vadis?

Posted December 2, 2010 by
in Announcements, Planning Tips, Where to Go? | 6 comments »

Today, we’re launching a very cool, if I do say, new project: a dedicated area of the blog with stories about all the ways that people use their planners.

But first, we need your help. Whether you use your Quo Vadis for birding or bible study, we want to hear about it. Tell us what you do with your planner so we can share it with our readers, and we’ll send you a planner of your own, just in time for 2011! We’re looking for actual stories, not just a sentence or two — something that explains your ideas in a way that’s understandable (and even inspiring) to other readers.

In the meantime, we’ve posted a couple of sample stories, which you can check out at the project’s homepage.

Happy planning!

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