Setting Up a Ring-Bound Planner

Greetings humans!

Today I thought I'd share with you a few tips as to how to set up a ring-bound organiser. I don't really remember when I did this, since I've had a ring bound organiser of some kind for over ten years now and I've only recently discovered the online planning community. Anyway...

Lists!

I'd really recommend listing what you need in a planner before doing anything else. Diary? Diaries? Lots of notes pages or to-do lists? Thinking about what you need is especially important with a ring-bound planner since you want to fit as much useful stuff in there as you can without making it bulky with all the things you don't really need or use. 

The Diary

Definitely give this special consideration. How will you use the diary? Just for appointments or for your to-do lists or as a journal as well? I use four diaries: Month on Two Pages, Week on One Page, Week on Two Pages and a Day per Page. It may seem like overkill, but it all works for me. 

The Pen

This may seem like a little detail, but honestly, the right pen can be make or break for a planner. I prefer Muji 0.5mm gel pens (both normal and erasable), but it's up to you. I use erasable pens for plans so if they change then I can just rub the entry out. 

Accessories

Welcome to the internet, where everyone else has all the pretty stickers which you think would look SO GREAT in your planner. And they probably would. But the thing is, do they work for you? I'm thankfully emerging from the "I Need Everything" phase now, but similarly to diary inserts, think about what's actually useful. I've used a WO2P insert for what seems like forever for my day-to-day planning, just because firstly my family, and then the internet, was full of people using that system. But now I'm using a Day per Page and that's working out for the best. Similarly, massive(ly cute) post-it notes and other such frivolities began to hinder, not help, my planning. Here are some of the products that I use now, and enjoy using:

So, there are a few tips as to how to set up a ring-bound planner. Has anyone else got any more tips? Please post in the comments!

Blog Post Planning

Greetings humans!

Today'll bring with it a quick post regarding how I plan my blog posts with my A5 Paperchase Organiser. If you've been reading my blog since it began, you'll be aware that the frequency with which I post is unreliable to say the least. As a consequence, I have created these inserts to help me plan when I'm going to post (the aim is twice a week), and especially with 2014 coming up and my plan to join in with the lovely Angela-from-paperlovestory.com's "My Week", I know I need to be as organised as ever. 

There are two of these to an A4 page, so when scaled down to A5 and printed double sided, I can get eight of these on one sheet of A4 paper.

The page is fairly self-explanatory. Blog post planning has its own sub-section in the Planner tab of my A5, and I also use Paperchase's monthly pages (well, for 2014 anyway) to schedule my posts, since this is an easy and visual way to make sure I'm staying on track.

(Apologies for the shoddy editing - the natural light is poor at the moment and I'm trying desperately to cover that up)

So, that's how I'm organising my blog posts now. Hopefully they'll be a bit more regular...(she says, posting on a Sunday when she meant to post on a Saturday)

Double trouble!

Greetings humans!

Today I want to share a little set-up change with you. There's a bigger one coming in the new year, but for now...

I'm using a satellite and home binder. My A5 from Paperchase wasn't getting much love, and my productivity levels were slipping as it is, so I thought I'd use it for things I need to get done at home. This is something I've found difficult recently, since I stay at school to do homework so I'm not used to working at home so much. I've been using this setup for a week and it's actually going quite well - they're not 100% synced, but I've got a lot more done, and that can't be a bad thing! Another positive with this set-up is that I've managed to clear out my Personal, meaning that it's not as heavy or difficult to close. Result! Now I keep my blog planning, wish lists and other information in my A5, which also has the advantage of nobody secretly snooping at it whilst I'm at school (yes, yes, it still happens).

As I mentioned, I've done some blog post planning. But more on that later!

A Filofax...for EVERYTHING?

Greetings humans!

Many members of the Filofax (and other similar planners) community use their organiser for absolutely everything, from diaries to shopping lists and from internet passwords to keeping track of their finances. Incredibly convenient, you know where everything is, you won’t leave the house and then kick yourself for forgetting something in your other organiser (which has happened to me more than once), and it’s considerably cheaper to run. It’s great to have everything in one place - apparently.

The thing is, I’m not really sure if this is something that I would be willing to do. In terms of practicality, it wouldn’t work for me because there’d be hardly enough room for EVERYTHING I’d need/want in there, since an A4 probably wouldn’t cover it and I’m not carrying one of those everywhere with me if I don’t have to! But there’s another reason as to why I’m sceptical - security.

I’m sure you’ve probably heard of the 1990 film ‘Taking Care of Business’, where an advertising executive’s Filofax is found by a crook who then manages to steal his identity and live his life, all with great comic effect (apparently). Although this is very unlikely to happen in reality, if you keep absolutely everything in your Filofax, and then lose it, how much of your private information may be compromised? The chances are that if someone found it they’d try and return it to you (even if it is just for the free gift that Filofax offers upon the return of registered organisers) but not all humans are nice creatures and not everyone can be trusted.

Furthermore, what about you in the meantime? If I mislaid my main Filofax, which is used to plan my school/social life (since that’s how I spend most of my time), I could probably cope by asking my friends what homework was set and when we were next meeting up outside of school. If I lost my finance Filo, I’d probably be a bit more worried, but I have online banking and if any personal data was in there, I could simply call the bank and explain my situation. If my internet planning organiser went missing, then I could probably pull from my memory what was on there, and most of the ideas would probably be duff anyway. If, however, all of this was in a single Filofax and I lost that, I’m not sure how well I’d be able to cope. Yes, if I did lose an ‘everything’ Filofax, I could do all of the above simultaneously and I doubt there would be much of a problem. However, that would mean that the school I go to, my place of work (if I can find a job!), my personal details, my financial details, my thought processes, the exact locations of my appointments, my health details and much more could fall into the hands of someone else. As I said, not all humans are nice creatures and not everyone can be trusted.

I appreciate that I have an incredibly cynical view of humanity. Losing my Filofax would be very unlikely to happen (I’d like to think!), and identity fraud even more so, but isn’t it better to be safe rather than sorry? What do you reckon?

The Magic Notebook Haul - Stickers!

Greetings humans! Recently I found out about this company called The Magic Notebook. They're based in Cambridge and specialise in Japanese and Korean stationery. As a "well done, you've finished your AS levels and you're still alive" present to myself, I ordered some stickers to use in my organiser and used the adamsfilo promo code which meant MORE STICKERS (offer ends 30th June) (also check out his internet presence - it's fab!).  I placed my order on Tuesday and it got here today - Thursday. How's that for great service?

The envelope was sealed with this tape, which I thought was a lovely touch.

Upon opening the envelope, I was greeted with my order wrapped in a translucent envelope, also sealed by some patterned tape - I soon peeled this off and decorated my diary with it! 

These are the two items I paid for - they are fabric-effect stickers by the brand Dailylike, and the two editions I purchased were "My Memory" and "Blooming". At £3.75 each, considering there are six sheets of stickers per pack, with shapes ranging from rectangular to circular, I thought these were reasonably priced. 

These are other items included with my order - the geometric stickers are E2 Deco, and came in violet, lilac, red, green, yellow (x2), light blue and hot pink (these were as a result of the adamsfilo promo code - thanks again!) and I am unsure of the brand of the wildlife stickers - very lovely, though.

Overall, I am incredibly pleased with my order from The Magic Notebook, and I will not hesitate to do so again!