Planner Preparations for 2016

I cannot believe that 2016 is almost upon us already, this year has gone so fast!

It is that time again where I start to get organised for the New Year and I already have my planner's set up in progress.  I have bought the calendar, a week on two pages, from Filofax as I just couldn't really be bothered making my own this year. It is in the format that works for me and doesn't have the squashed up weekend.  

I have also bought a new pack of 'to do' sheets and also 'shopping list' sheets from Paperchase.

I have rounded all the corners as I really like how this little action makes the whole lot just look so much better.

I ordered some flyleaves with tab from Amazon as I started using these quite by chance and I love it now so much that I have ordered them for all the other sizes of filo I have!  I don't like dividers and I don't like the 'today rulers'.  I like having a marker to the current page or section and I love that it is clear so does not obstruct any entries.  This works for me so well.

Unfortunately Filofax doesn't do them any more for pocket and mini sizes but I managed to get them from other sources, thank you Amazon and Ebay!  They do still do them for Personal and A5 sizes and as they come two in a pack it is pretty good value.

Clear page 'divider' is great for an unobstructed view

This was a birthday card that I cut down and punched.

It marks where my addresses are.

I have realised over my filo journey that I like clean lines, uncluttered and neat.  It makes me feel more professional and efficient, even though I don't use it for work purposes!  I do use some stickers but very sparingly and usually to highlight something important - hairdresser appointments, birthdays, etc.  My go-to-used-all-the-time hack has got to be the neon arrows that I use for important dates such as my eldest coming home from university or date night with my husband, spa days with my friend and other such lovely things.  I also like to write in different colours - the pink and the blue of the 2-colour Bic being my favourite.  There is no colour coding going on though, it is just whatever button I click down.

I have decided that for 2016 I am going to stick with one size and therefore only one set of inserts.  I am fed up of writing and re-writing everything whenever I change size.  I absolutely adore the VDS Senior (A6) size but it is just still too big for my handbags.  And it's heavy.  I'm not sure what I will end up using them for, maybe I will even sell them on...or perhaps take one into work...just seems such a shame to have such beautiful binders not being used.

So the size of choice for 2016 is pocket.  I have a few different binders to choose from - a VDS Junior Touch Me in Brown, a Raspberry Chameleon, a slimline Executive and a Ruby Deco.  So I can change binders but not inserts - that is my rule for 2016.  At the moment I am in the Chameleon, I love the pockets and the softness of the leather on this one and also that the pen loop is on the left so is not obstructing the zip pocket at the back.  I used this one as my purse/wallet for quite a long time last year (or maybe the year before) and it worked out extremely well so I am doing it again.

I hope I can do this, I am really not a huge fan of duplication so I am going to give it my best shot.  What are your plans for 2016?

Until next time, take care xxx

A new A4 zip Filofax

I went into TK Maxx yesterday lunch time just to see what they had in the way of filofaxes as usually at this time of year the stock is coming in for Christmas.

It was quite a sad offering actually, a few personal and pocket Domino's and one or two Blooms but hidden away on the bottom shelf were a couple of A4 Filofaxes - Zipped Pennybridge, Apex and two other styles I didn't recognise the name of (and I've promptly forgotten but they were a canvas material with a faux leather spine) and then this lovely black zip Domino with red detailing.  I had to have it. £12.99 and it was in a Filofax protective bag, something I have never seen before so that was the main selling point!

I like how minimal the Domino's are and I kind of regret selling my A5 Snake but the lack of pockets are a big plus for me as it doesn't allow for bulk and so as it quite slimline it means it is pretty light too! Bonus!

I have always wanted an A4 but find the ones with rings are quite bulky and heavy. I like that this one doesn't have rings but still has the same slots and that I can take the pad out to write in.  I think it will be perfect for studying purposes, holding all those notes together and my ipad mini for when I want to study on-the-go (not that it normally happens very often) but I do like to have my notes all together - makes sense but I always seem to amaze myself with the number of different places my notes seem to end up!!

I've noticed that there is a vertical opening on the right hand side where the pad slides in so if need be I could slide in the cover of an A4 notebook so that's a bonus!

I've added a few things into it now in readiness for more studying...

Love the red detailing on the zip

Even chunky pens fit in the elasticated pen loops, shown here with a Papermate Inkjoy Quattro and a zebra stripe mechanical pencil.  Lots of room for post it notes and page flags too.

It is still uber light so I am very happy indeed!  I will do an update once I've started using it.

Until next time, take care xxx

Changing directions

At what point in my life did I become any less important than the next person?  I am not sure how this happened but it seemingly did and I am not good with that.  I don't know why it has taken me so long to realise that this was happening but now that I have noticed it I kind of wish I hadn't because everyone seems to be doing it!!

I think I am at that point in my life - let's call it a mid-life crisis if we have to label it - where I am not happy with the way my life has turned out.  Please do not get me wrong, I have got a great life in the most part, wonderful family, good job and some good friends...but - and here is comes - this is not the life I had envisioned for myself.

Therein lies the biggest problem I have ever had - how do you deal with your own visions that never materialised?  Time has ticked on without me even realising that I was never getting any closer to those dreams and goals...then all of a sudden it is like something has erupted in my head, I am no closer to the finish line than I was when I started.

I am not the person that I thought I would be.

For a long time I thought that the qualifications were what would make me succeed and be the person that I thought I wanted to be - this apparently is not the case at all.  All that time I have wasted following a dream that quite frankly is older than I care to mention.  Not only that but it seems to have died a long time ago and I would just not accept that it wasn't meant to be.  

All that time that I could have spent following a new dream, a new goal, a new direction...wasted.

Now I am at that time of my life when I seem to be frantically looking around desperate to fill the void of the old dream...ok I have accepted that I am not going to be the academic success that I wanted to be but that's fine, I actually hate studying with a passion.  Academic I have never been so why I forced myself down that particular path I'll never understand.  I'm more of a hands on type of person, I like to learn by doing and unless it is something I am passionate about I will never learn by reading.  It just falls out of my head immediately!

I need to give myself a break.  I have one last assignment to do by Tuesday - my personality will not allow me to just give up - so I am just finishing this one last coursework assignment and then that's it - unless I pass it and then I'll have to do the final exam too.  Regardless of whether I pass that, I have decided that I am not continuing with this qualification.  It has already cost me too much of my life.

Roll on Monday which is when I have set my deadline - Sunday would be better as I have got Monday off for Study Leave from work and it would be just awesome to have had it finished and submitted so I can spend the day actually relaxing and having a good think about what I want my new future to look like!

I know that I want to be more energetic, to be able to do things without having the burden of being too tired or feeling too fat - both of which I think can be addressed by getting my lardy arse down to the gym that I pay for on a monthly basis!  I feel unfit.  Fat.  Frumpy.  And old.  I don't need to feel any of those things...not for a few decades anyway!

I want to be able to pull on my leathers easily and hop onto my bike, load it up with a picnic and go off somewhere with my hubby,  At the moment, it is all I can do to squeeze into my boots!!  This has GOT to be addressed immediately!!  So that is where I will start.

Getting ready for 2016!

It's that time of year when us plannerds start to stress if next year's diary hasn't been designed or chosen, punched, noted and sat neatly in a pile waiting for the new year to begin so they can be lovingly transferred into the current binder of choice.

This time I have started earlier than usual and as well as sorting out next year's calendar I have also done from now to the end of the year in the chosen format just to make sure that it does work for me because I am fed up of constantly trying out new styles only to end up back with the insert that I started with!!

The truth of the matter is that I like simple, clear formats with minimal fuss and just a sprinkling of decoration so that is what I have designed.  

I have 2016 ready on my computer - saved to the cloud just in case - and I am going to use that format from now until the end of December, if it works I will print out the rest, if it doesn't I should know why and be able to tweak it.

So, here is my clean and simple layout...

Highlighted arrows indicate important stuff and a cheeky little sticker :)
A space at the beginning of the week rather than the end suits me best.

This is the notebook that I pulled apart and used to print on

Different types of paper - cream and thinner kraft (would be good for notes)

Pen test!

How fab is it that the fountain pen and highlighter didn't bleed or even shadow!!

And just while I'm taking photo's, I got these from Paperchase too.
Can't beat a bit of Rose Gold!

I am intending to stay in this planner for the forseeable future as I am fed up of having to re-write everything so that I don't miss anything out of my current planner...and things I don't think are important enough to duplicate usually always are!  So the most ideal plan is to stay in the same one...I can swap to my black one if I want but the Senior Touch Me is the chosen one for the next 12 months AT LEAST!

If I can do that then I will sell off all my others, even the rare desirable ones.  That is my promise to myself...eek!

Until next time, take care xxx