planner status, September 2016 edition
Today is officially autumn, so it’s time for another review of my planner system. Summer and July are now a distant memory. As the leaves begin to turn, am I still experiencing planner love this September? Yes!
Have I made any small adjustments over the past few weeks? Of course! I’d love to think I’m a most productive person and that’s why I’m always refining my methods, but I think it’s more because when something becomes too habitual I just do it without thinking. It’s important for me to be mindful about my planning and by making small (and often large) changes to how I do things, it helps keep me focused.
Current, September 2016 planner system setup:
- Quo Vadis Principal® (aka “QV”)
- Monthly A5 planner in use since October 2015, December usage pictured.
- Daily log book, a Miquel Rius — medium sized 300 page 4mm graph book
- Tombow ABT Dual Brush Pen – N75 or Zebra Mildliner in Mild Gray
- Whatever black pen I grab
Occasional Players:
- Hobonichi Avec July-December volume
- Jr Sized Circa/Arc hybrid
Thoughts:
I made the log book switch after I realized how much I loved the tiny and subtle 3.7mm grid of the Hobonichi. That size is hard to find here so I am using 4mm grid instead. I love having one book to grab, even if it’s a bit big and heavy.
The format of the Quo Vadis Principal® is working well for me. In time I will find a better way to utilize the timed sections of each day, every week I make small adjustments. This week I used colour to shade in my time blocks. It’s not been as effective as I’d hoped. I don’t know what I’ll try next week. Some days the sections I’ve allocated to planning for work feel limiting (personal stuff gets the big roomy middle). However, I am more realistic in my planning and a bit deeper in my focus. If it doesn’t fit in the box, it must find a new day! I don’t know why I didn’t get friendly with correction tape before and just switch Saturday & Sunday. It didn’t take me very long to get used to the new layout of the week.
Yes, the Hobonichi is an Occasional Player. I love it, but I haven’t figured out how to fit the A6 into my workflow. I’ve thought about getting the cousin for 2017, but I’m also intrigued by the Stalogy Editor’s Series 365Days Notebook, but am quite happy with my current system. I may acquire a separate notebook for daily drawing and doodling practice, but as of right now my occasional doodling suits me fine.
Itching to change:
It’s been both wonderful and frustrating to return to one master logbook. I miss being able to spread out my week views across all the notebooks and the planner at once. Photos help, but they’re not the same. Yes, of course I wish all the notebooks were the same size, but I gave up on that. I need my main future planning book to be different. I guess bigger is better in this case!
Most surprised by:
The community that has grown up around the bullet journal! I was ignorant! A friend of penguingirl, shared with me many links to the talented people influencing the direction of planners and journals. While I still don’t decorate my planner, I do like it to be laid out cleanly and in an aesthetically pleasing manner. So I guess it’s no surprise that I’ve gone a monochrome grey-black. I’m still using my highlighter rainbow in the planner book, but I leave it on my desk. If I finish a task while I’m out, it gets a standard ✗. It’s taken me some time to be comfortable with both the grey mildliner and the brush pen on the same page as they are different greys, but the highlighter travels easier as it’s smaller and fits in my pen pouch.
Conclusion:
I still have one or two things I would love to change (and would likely require magic), but this is finally the system I feel I can trust.