Notebook Collection

I did it, I went through my house in all the drawers and cupboards and on the shelves and I managed to pull together all my notebooks from their hiding places...I think I have got them all but you never know where they might still be lurking!

To be honest it wasn't as bad as I thought - which is why I think there could be a few more somewhere - although I have managed to fill the shelf (that isn't even up yet!) with what I have found.

All but two of these are empty.  One is my journal and is about half full and another has some pages written in (the leather wrap around one) from over 10 years ago!  It seems that I started using it as a journal back in 2003 but then the dates on the entries jump a few years each time!  

I've found a few more since this was taken, now filled the whole shelf!

I've now also sourced the brackets so as soon as they arrive I will be able to put the shelf up above my filo shelf.  My little room is getting more organised and I am feeling a lot happier about it :)

I even managed to get my pictures/wall art up in between rearranging my stuff to make it look more aesthetically pleasing.  A day well spent!!

Now to relax start studying in it and enjoying the calm and tranquility that reigns...for now!

Until next time, take care xxx

New Flex Planner!

I've bought a new A5 Flex in lovely smooth purple - which happens to be the colours of the Insurance Institute which is the qualifications I am doing - how cool is that!

I bought the paint brush notebook at the same time as it matched perfectly with the colour scheme and I like the creativity it suggests.

Unfortunately my new Ipad Mini Cover doesn't fit in the Flex so I am looking for a new one, I will use the lovely leopard one when I'm travelling instead and don't need the Flex for study purposes. I've already got my eye on a lovely champagne gold one...

Until next time, take care xxx

Flex Planner for Study Purposes

I am quite excited.  I have just received the result of my first assignment in Insurance Law and I got an 'A' - I am very proud of myself!

I am also excited to learn that the format for future exams is changing as of the 1 April 2015 to a multiple assessment which is coursework following by multiple choice exam at a time chosen by me - this is very different to the three hour written essay exam that could only be booked in either April or October.

For people like me who know and understand what they are learning only to forget absolutely everything come exam time then this is wonderful news!!  I may finally get my qualification.  This pleases me a lot!!

What also pleases me a lot is the fact that when I upgrade to the mixed assessment format in April I can choose the textbook to be via e-book rather than the chunky (and extremely heavy!) textbook that it currently is.  This means that I can have it on my ipad mini - much easier to transport around and read on the commute!!

This also means that I can properly utilise my A5 Flex which I was trying to use by photocopying the pages of my text book but they were still hard to read on my ipad but this way, this way I will be able to not only read the text but also annotate it and highlight and even get the 'text to speech' going if I wanted to!  (Which to be honest I probably wont as last time I tried it I found it too be too much like listening to a 'speak and spell' and the whole sentence was lost in bad translation!)

The ipad mini fits perfectly in the flex, even with the keyboard attached!

Much sleeker and lighter than a massive textbook

I am looking forward to studying again - I realise how sad that sounds - but I miss it, I miss the organisation and scheduling that is required with proper studying.  I miss the notebooks and the highlighting...yeah, that sounds even sadder!!  Lol.

I'm looking forward to the wonderful bonus paid by work for each exam passed and then the award for getting the qualification - does that make me sound any less sad?  I thought so!

I could do with making a small monthly calendar for the Flex though, I could just print one out and have it bound, it'd only be for reference purposes...

Obviously my timetable will be scheduled in my delicious Van Der Spek Senior as this is my ultimate tool in keeping me in check.  I may have mentioned previously how delightful and exquisite the Van Der Spek Touch Me range are...maybe just once or twice.  I have the A5 Manager size too with the 35mm rings and that is such a beast of a binder that there is no way that I could use that on the go, not without some sort of trolley device!  But I may store used paperwork/notes from the Flex into a section of the Manager...that's actually quite a good idea :)

Roll on the 1 April - this had better not be an April Fool's thing or I will not be impressed!!!

Until next time, take care xxx

2015 Preparations

Has anyone tried Leonie Dawson's yearly workbooks? I am on my second one although I didn't complete much of 2014 to be honest but I liked the style and illustrations in it and it does make you think about what your goals and aspirations are for the year ahead. I bought the one for 2015 and I am loving it!

There are parts of it that I wouldn't use, a bit too spiritual-esque for me but overall it is a great bit of kit and I have enjoyed filling it in bit by bit, I find that I keep going back to it and adding a bit more each time, which I guess is the whole idea of it. 

I think my set up for my VDS A5 Manager is evolving quite nicely and 2015 hasn't even started yet but my calendar that I got from Paperchase started on Christmas Day so I have jumped straight in!  I wasn't sure what I was going to use the calendar for as I use my Senior for appointments and the like and to date all my other A5 calendars never got used but with making this planner my 'me' planner I have already started using it to make a quick note of what I did at the gym and how that made me feel and what I am grateful for, it seems to be working - although I appreciate it is only two days in as I write this but still, it is something I think I can work with and continue to do.  I am not writing too much, just a few lines as I do have a seperate journal for innermost thoughts and feelings so this is more of a health log of how I am progressing.

Working on that alongside Leonie's workbook seems a good way to wind down at the end of the day and leaves my mind thinking of the good stuff before I go to sleep rather than everything else and that can only be a good thing!

I am looking forward to the new year and what it will bring, I am determined to get my goals especially in respect of my exams and my weight loss/body image. My friend came out with a fab saying that I love, she said "By this time next year I want to be a Christmas cracker not a Christmas pudding!" And I can so resonate with that!!

I have a few more days off work and I am spending that time researching good healthy lunchbox ideas and gathering all the necessary things I'll need such as Tupperware containers etc. my plan is to spend lunchtimes at work studying and eating a healthy lunch rather than wandering around the shops and buying pre-packed full of salt lunches...sounds like a plan don't you think?  I can go out on the lunchtime of payday to reward my efforts with a new funkier piece of gym kit, hopefully in a smaller size!

I have my first exam in April and I have to submit 6 more assignments before 20 March so I have a lot of work to do, I've already submitted the first one and got an A, which made me feel so proud of myself but has now set a precedent for my future assignments....I have to get a B at the minimum for them to count towards my overall grade. I am going to be so busy!!  That is one reason why I have set myself the task of using my lunch hour, that and it will stop me spending as I still feel a bit guilty about the gym membership!  Although I am currently spending over £15 a week on those pre-packed lunches so I will save a bit of money there too by making my own. Win win I think! 

I will be using my VDS to track my studying too and I need to work out the timetable again for when I need to have the assignments in by as I have slacked off a bit over Christmas but I really need to get back into it at the start of the year. The next exam will be in October and if I pass these two I will be halfway to fully qualified.  I want them to be over so much as that is the end of the line for me and I won't have to study any more, I feel like I've been doing it forever as it is!  The step after that is to get a better job hopefully with the company I am with already as I really like it there but if not it'll be time to move on...but I'm jumping the gun a bit, I need to concentrate on the here and now and not worry about the future yet.

At the moment I am feeling bright and positive and that's the way I want it to stay!

Until next time, take care xxx

Can I justify another A5 VDS Touch Me??

This week end I attended a two day workshop run by The Coaching Academy for a Personal Coaching Event and it was really interesting!

For those who have been following my blog you will know that I have a few things simmering along at the moment, my Insurance Qualifications, a Diploma in CBT and I am at college doing a Life Coach Course which is due to finish this week :(

All this is to try and work out what it is I want from my career and how to go about finding that out as I have nothing really specific in mind, just something to do with my insurance background in claims and old buildings, although to be honest, I think it will be too long and too expensive to go down the degree in Building Surveying route now and I may just have to keep the old building thing as a hobby, would probably tie in very well with the photography course I want to take next year.

But back to this week end.  I met some very interesting people and found out a few more interesting things about myself.  What I am finding very intriguing about talking about myself and my career choice/want with complete strangers is that out of the dozen or so people I had to do role play/exercises with they all came up with the same kind of job role for me and gave me similar strengths that they thought I had - which is funny because I never thought I possessed any strengths really...certainly not the ones that they suggested I had!!

Apparently my strengths came across as:  Confident, Tenacious, Committed, Personable, Organised and generally passionate about my work - WOW!!!  How on earth could they all come up with pretty much the same thing after only a few minutes talking to me??  This made me feel fantastic I have to admit!! 

This has driven me on this morning to speak to someone higher at work and ask about any future opportunities that may come that I could be considered for as I cannot see my current role as being enough for me once I get a grip of my studies...but for now I have to work out what it is exactly that I am aiming for to ensure that I am studying the correct subject.  It is all looking positive and I am feeling quite pleased with myself.

Can I just say that it has also boosted me that I got my first assignment back today too and I have been graded an 'A' so I am floating somewhere around cloud 9 at the moment. :)

I need to set up my A5 Manager Touch Me from Van Der Spek now as my motivational and inspirational planner that keeps me going on this path of wonder.  Has anyone else seen these planners?  They are so divine and so beautiful and so BIG!!!  (If not, see my previous post!)

I am crossing my fingers and toes that they come out with a red leather version of this as I am most definitely having one if they do...I love this range so much...I may have to get a black version of the A5 for my studies as although I don't currently use a filo for this I think I could absolutely make an exception for a Van Der Spek!!

Black & Brown VDS Touch Me's having cream tea

The black ones are just as delectable as the brown ones but a red one would be magnificent!!

I will do an update once I have set up my A5 Touch Me and also my Study Planner.

Until then, take care xxx

Deciding on which planners to use!!

I have printed, cut and punched the free 2015 Monthly Planner from Lime Tree Fruits and they are amazing! They are available here and if you haven't come across her work yet then you should really go check her out as she has some awesome things available for your planner.

They have the most wonderful illustrations and 'feel good' quotes, I love these and normally print a few copies in various sizes so I have them in all my planners but this year I am not doing that, this year I am going to try and dedicate a planner for specific things rather than have things all over the place between the different ones as that has really not worked - surprised?!

So, as my gorgeous VDS A5 Manager Touch Me has not turned up (see previous post for a rant on why!) I am now wondering which planner to put them in...then it dawned on me that I was going to end up repeating what didn't work and we all know "if we keep on doing the same thing we are always going to get the same thing" and I need to sort it now before I get carried away doing exactly that!

I have a few things on the go at the moment and I have enough planners to be able to designate each one to a specific purpose so all I need to do is figure out which one I can use for what...easier said than done when you want to use ALL of them for everything!  But it doesn't work!!!!!

My projects at the moment are:

1. Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
2. Diploma in Insurance - two courses, Liability and Law
3. Life Coach Course
4. Neuro Linguistic Programming Workbook
5. My life stuff in general - goals, musings, etc
6. Everyday stuff - calendar, lists, etc (this one is easy as it is all in my VDS Senior that stays with me so this one didn't really need to be on the list but for completeness of thought...)

With that in mind, the planners that I have available for these purposes - all in A5 - are:

1. VDS A5 Manager - when it turns up!
2. Grey Malden
3. Grey Holborn
4. Domino Bronze Snake
5. Original Nude
6. Cuban Zip in Chestnut
7. Black Aston

To summarise what will be in each and to try and figure out which one would be best for the job, I think as follows:

No 1 - Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - there are going to be lots of notes and research for this one so I am thinking maybe the Black Aston for that...looks professional for when I attend workshops and is one of my favourite planners.  Although I do have a lever arch folder for this subject too as there rather a lot of text book that I printed out so maybe my notes would be best done in this one?

No 2 - Diploma in Insurance - Liability and Law - this is currently being done in an A4 notebook along with the text book that I need...so I guess I should just keep it there too, it seems to be working at the moment so why change what isn't broken?

No 3 - Life Coach Course - this is currently residing in my Domino Bronze Snake.  I was using my Original but I was too worried about scuffing as it goes to college with me so I'll keep this one in there.  The elasticated closure makes it easy to stuff additional handouts in so I can keep them safe until I get home to hole punch them in properly, so that one is working well.

No 4 - Neuro Linguistic Programming - this is a workbook that I got to learn the basics of this course to see if it is something that I would want to do at college later on.  The workbook has space for you to write as you work through it but I hate writing in text books!!  I think the Original Nude would work well for this as I wont be taking it out anywhere and it will stay in my study,

No 5 - My life in general - this one is screaming for the VDS Manager!  I ordered it from Van Der Spek with 35mm rings and so this is going to be a beast of a binder!  I am very excited to receive it (when UPS stop messing about) and there is already some things that I have got ready pending its arrival - like the Lime Tree Fruits monthly planner above and a full set of dividers and inserts from Paperchase for just £6:

I want to put the Leonie Dawson's "Your Amazing Year 2015" in this one too.  I want to find something that I can use for goals and projects and how to break them down into do-able chunks so this will include my study timetable as they are part of my goals (although I will have duplicate ones in the respective place too).  It is going to be a reflective place - but not my journal which I have a separate bound book for that (I've tried moving out of it but always come back to it so again, it's working as it is) - but somewhere that I can just doodle and muse, maybe mind map my ideas and try and figure out what is going on in my head!  I'm definitely going to need the massive rings for that!

No 6 - Everyday life, that lives in my VDS Senior that accompanies me everywhere.  I love this planner sooooo much!  

With all the above in mind it looks as though the Holborn, Cuban and Malden are going to sit unused again, and maybe even the Aston!  Oh no!!

I guess I don't like to study using A5 - seems that I end up always going back to A4 so I suppose I'd better leave it that way...

It is time to admit defeat I think - I just cannot use all of my planners.  I need to simplify my life (there's enough going on as it is as you can see!) and this is just not helping.  The additional stress I am giving myself because I feel guilty that I have beautiful planners going unused is ridiculous!!  The question is, what do I do with them?  Do I just put them on a shelf to admire and feel happy that I've got them even though they aren't used or do I sell them on to someone who would love and use them? Would I end up with seller's remorse?  Do I have time to feel that??? 

Dilemmas, dilemmas...until next time, take care xxx

Creative Organising

I don’t know whether it is because I now have a room that is calm and purposeful but whenever I come in here I get the urge to be creative or academic.  I guess that was the whole reason that I wanted to create this room in the first place so the fact that it is actually working as planned is fantastic!!

I had recently decided to give up all my studying for the time being until I figured out what it was I really wanted to do, I felt a bit lost.  But sitting in this room at my desk with all my stationery and tools needed to carry out some successful study made me feel like I actually needed to study something, anything! 

Then an update arrived for the course that I was doing that I’d decided I didn’t want to do anymore and I don’t know whether it was the urge to open a brand new text book or whether subconsciously I decided that it was actually what I wanted to do I don’t know – and I’m not questioning it any further – but I sat down and started…

Obviously some additional planning and sections were required in my Malden to accommodate such a demanding schedule that now needed to be done as I’ve left it late as usual to get started and now time is of the essence so these were created – not sure what they will be used for but I have them anyway – and I am not actually using this Filofax to hold my study notes, just my schedule. 

I’ve tried using a Filofax for study notes before and it’s just not big enough, I need A4 notepaper and I don’t think I want to go into an A4 Filofax as they are just too big!!  I am in a spiral bound notebook at the moment and I am not sure whether that is going to work for me as it is very constricting and it isn’t one that I can tear the pages out and re-punch either so we’ll have to see how that goes but I do kind of like the fact that I HAVE to do it in order (my OCD will not allow me to do it any other way!) as I can’t swap the pages around.  I’m trying the ‘Cornell Notes’ way of doing it, I haven’t tried it before but so far so good, I think it will come into its own for revision purposes…again, we’ll see.

What I wish I understood was where this urge comes from to want to study, to learn more, to achieve higher qualification status – what is the point?  I can see the point if you’re young and have your whole career life ahead of you but I’m not such a youngster and my company have already said that, although they actively encourage and finance further qualifications, it won’t make any difference to either my status or salary...so again I ask, why bother?  If I hated the company it would be rebellious to let them pay for something that was ultimately set me free to go wherever I could but this is not the case here.  I like it and I like the people.  So, big dilemma really!

I guess the only real answer to this is that I am doing it for me.  For my own personal feeling of achievement.  To have proof that I am good enough and knowledgeable enough to undertake the examinations and to enable me to have those designatory letters after my name…

I wish I knew the answers…or even just one would be a start!!  I don’t want to lead a complicated life but I do seem to keep throwing myself into a pit of quandary whenever and wherever possible!!

Until next time, take care xxx



Plan for life goals

I have succumbed to the fact that no matter how hard I try I just cannot study using an A5 planner or notebook.  It just is not big enough for me to express all I want to get written down and turns out to be pages and pages because they are just too small.

So, I have decided to use an A4 pad - I did look at A4 planners but they are just too big and cumbersome I think to use practically and realistically - so I will be filing the papers away into a ring binder as I can't get away from the fact that I love to insert different things and I cannot cope with the whole spiral bound thing!  I guess that's the result of using a Filofax for so long, I just don't know how to deal with the fact I will want to do my own inserts and dividers and the dread of messing up a page fills me with fear so much that I never actually get started!!  So, the file idea is a good one from that perspective.

I have already designed some pages with inspirational and motivational quotes and images, whether I will make those into dividers will become apparent once the system has evolved a little.  I think they probably will although I like the idea of using some fun sparkly dividers just to jolly it up a bit - I mean the subject is Insurance Law and Liability Insurance and you can't really get any duller than that so it may need an injection of something!

As I have spent all morning designing special pages I have done no studying at all - I hope though that at the end of the study this will look like something worth looking at!  I am hoping that by making a dull thing interesting that it will keep my motivation going - or get it started - and that I will start to enjoy the whole experience rather than the feeling that it is just draining me of everything!!

I will be using my pocket Kate Spade or maybe Chameleon for flash style cards, I think they will come in very handy at holding those kind of index cards and it will give them a purpose, plus I get to use a Filofax in my study plan!

I have no photographs to share yet as I haven't printed out my special pages, my printer is low on ink and the one at work is much better quality so that's when I will print them out.  I will update on the progress of my new Study File and Flash Style Planner as soon as I have got them looking anything like interesting.

But here's a sneak preview of some of the delights that will be included:

Always work better with caffeine!

Something that relates to anything and everything

This case established the modern law of negligence and established the neighbour test!

And here's a pic of my newly set up Flash Style Planner, these index cards were really cheap (I think £1 for 50) and they are going to be great for study use on-the-go...

Let's hope this all works out otherwise I am back to square one!  I have TWO exams in October as I didn't plan my study time and as a result I failed an exam that I took in April by just 13 marks!  If I had taken the time I needed to study properly and effectively I would have easily passed but cramming it all into the three weeks before the exam was both extremely stressful and stupid.  So to keep within my 'game plan' of passing four exams by October 2015 I have to now do two in October - and pass them!  Then I will have another one in April 2015 and the last one in October 2015 - I will then be qualified!

And then I will truly and honestly be able to say...

Until next time, take care xxx