I've been meaning forever to give an update on my planner. So I had moved into my NakedCow Fauxdori, using self-printed inserts from DIY Fish. I loved the small format and the portability that came with it. I really enjoyed many aspects of the inserts but others simply didn't work for me. The main issue I found was that on some days I had way too much space and on others, even though the layout was the same, I had not enough to write to fill the pages. I needed a more flexible layout. That's when I came across the concept of the Bullet Journal. I'm not going explain what exactly it is or how it works, as the inventor Ryder Carroll does it so much better but I'm just going to say that it is totally customisable and ultimately can be whatever you want it to be. I am also going to give you a quick flick through of my first two months on this system. Ok, so I started in November. Yes, it took me rather a while to write this up. But I am still doing it!
The Cover is from Naked Cow The inserts are from Clairefontaine The pen is a Pilot Coleto, some parts bought on eBay, some on Amazon
So after pondering over going ringless for ages, I finally moved out of my Filofax. I decided Field Note size inserts would be worth a try and started out with a lovely handmade "Raydori" (which you can order here) and moved into a Naked Cow Cover shortly after that, as I just needed space for more inserts.
Have a look at my current setup - I really like the size and the flexibility this system is giving me. And as DIYFish inserts come in this size for you to print as well, it was an easy transition.
Apologies for the abrupt end: that was my phone running out of space.
About a year ago I went to WH Smith and bought a gift. I remembered that I needed some sticky tape but all I could find in the store (that did stock some wrapping paper, by the way), was this silly, colourful stuff. Little did I know what I was missing! I have since been introduced to the wonderful world of washi via some amazing blogs and lovely Facebook groups focusing on planners, journaling and everything around that. If you are a washi virgin, just pop over to Pinterest and search for washi - not only will you be amazed in how many different designs it comes in, you'll be astounded what you could use it for. I won't go into that for this post, maybe I'll revisit that idea later. Anyway, what I really wanted to share here, is my current wish list. Washi wishes, really. So here it goes... 1. MT German Map Washi It's a wide washi of German maps. Not only will I be able to try and find places I know, I can also use it to wrap Mr. G's birthday pressies as he loves maps!
2. Yano Purple Flower Washi I love the combination of the different flowers. I think this would be a nice one to chop up and use individual flowers for scrapbooking etc as well.
3. Yano Book Washi Like a little library on tape. Do I need to say more?
4. Totoro Washi I don't know what it is about japanese cartoons, or kawaii specifically. But I just love them. Even though I'm supposed to be a grown up.
5. Zwillinge Poetry Washi This one actually covers a poem we had to learn in school (and I can still recite). I love the calligraphy and the sentiment of the poem, which is all about spring awaking. Ok, so I'm not being very seasonal...
I've had all of these in my Etsy basket for days and am trying to justify spending more money on sticky tape that's a different colour from the one I already have...
I've been in my Filofax now pretty much exactly three months. If you have followed my "planner journey" you might have watched the first review, which showed what did work so far - and then my second of what didn't work. You might have also gathered that I am considering going ringless. Anyway, in this next review instalment of my personal size Filofax, I am showing you which inserts I moved into after realising that the previous combination just didn't work.
Stumbling around the various Facebook planner groups, I was introduced to the Etsy store DIYfish. Designed by the lovely and talented Sheng, they are so clever that you can move into them straight away and then continue to discover new ways to use them every day. The latter not least because of the big community of DIYfish users and fans.
Sheng also has her own blog
where you can find an introduction to the different versions and well
as useful hints and tips about printing and binding of the inserts. The DIYFish Facebook group is fantastic for getting your queries answered and Sheng herself is never too far to answer a question. Anyway, have a look at my first steps in those new inserts...
This post was scheduled to go live tonight. Coming home from a day out today with Mr. G and little M. we were involved in an accident that could have been fatal, had I not been lucky enough to to see the oncoming vehicle in time and pull into a hedge. The other driver was not so lucky, swerved off the road and into a tree and I have no idea in which state he is right now. My point really: Sometimes coincidences change your life. Things that seem like a mistake work out for the better. Things that are going as per "the plan" lead you onto a path that might not have a happy outcome. All that I can take from that right now is to be thankful for whatever circumstance let us escape this situation, which could have so easily turned nasty. And I think I'll be thankful for that every day for quite some time.
I wasn't going to film the state of this setup. And then after I did and skipped through the clip (still don't really watch myself back on film), I was just going to delete it. All I could see was
My messy handwriting
My not very artistic layouts (quite offensive for somebody who likes aesthetically pleasing things)
Inserts that are lovely but have just stopped working for me - mainly because of how I combined them
However, thinking about all of the above I thought that somebody might actually find this useful. It will certainly show you what didn't work for me and also why. The inserts are lovely and would probably work in a different combination or situation - links to them below!
I know I'm swooning over lovely handbags and various other luxurious bits and bobs. However, there are, of course, things money can't buy and one of them is time. Time to spend with your
children. Time to read a book. Time to finish that task during which you
kept getting interrupted. Time to go on a holiday. Time to smell the
flowers. Or, maybe especially so if you do have small children, time to
sleep. For me, the biggest one on the list probably would be time to spend with your children.
Little M is racing towards his third birthday and I feel like the years
are just passing by. Working full time means he spends all weekdays at
nursery, which he does love but that bit of time we have at the morning
and in the evening is often filled with me trying to do 4 things at
once, not really being able to focus much on him. Of course nobody can just conjure up these extra few minutes or hours.
The day only has 24 of them. For all of us. However, I have a plan to
ignore reason and pretend that I can. Not by magic but by making a few
simple adjustments.
1. Get up 10 minutes earlier every morning
These
10 minutes sleep won't really do much difference to me being tired or
not and, lets face it, they are usually just lost by me pressing the
snooze button. But if I can get ready and get him ready and then have
those 10 minutes to just have a chat or read a book with him, I will
have spent some quality time with my favourite person in the world.
Right at the beginning of the day.
2. Get my Filofax sorted
I
am slowly moving into some DIYFish inserts, that I have received a few
days ago. My plan is to have them set up in a way that I will avoid
duplicating and re-writing lists as well as panicking and fixing stuff I
had forgotten to sort out.
3. Go to bed earlier, aim to be tucked in by 23:00
I work full time then
come home with little M, sort out his tea/snack and whatever else needs
doing when we get in. He then has a bath at 19:00, story around 19:40
and usually is in bed at 20:00. I'm very lucky in that my OH does all
the cooking and kitchen stuff, so we tend to eat around 20:15, which
means I start to look at my blog and various online things (such as my
bag obsession) from about 20:45. I probably get in a good 1.5 or maybe 2
productive hours. And then I should just go to bed. Instead, I faff
around and start getting lost on Facebook or some other page and go to
bed way too late. And then suffer the next day not being as productive I
could be, which means I waste even more time.
4. Use commuting time more efficiently
I spend a total of about
60 minutes on the train to a from work and usually end up reading daft
things on Facebook, Buzzfeed etc. Instead I'll try and get my Filofax
out, review what I didn't achieve yesterday, what's planned for the day
and how my week is shaping up. If I have a few minutes left, I might
allow myself a quick peek on Facebook or Instagram.
5. Make proper plans for the weekend
Quite often the weekend
flies by in a blink-and-you-miss it kind of fashion. Monday comes and
you feel like you haven't really had a weekend as all you did was run
errands and try to keep the kids happy. The last couple of weekends
though, on at least one day I took little M and went out. We're lucky
enough that we live right at the edge of the Peak District so there are
lots of lovely places to visit right on our doorstep. Last weekend
Saturday we went to a hidden valley in a village nearby and on Sunday
drove to Castleton. He climbed up all the way to Pevril Castle, we had a
picnic and hours' worth of running about. This weekend we spent
Saturday looking at a "big mountain", sheep, caves and then went for
icecream. On Sunday we chased the Gruffalo through Lyme Park. Not
only do I know that I spent some real quality time with M, I also feel
like I had a tiny little holiday. And we still talk about what we did
for weeks afterwards.
I know there are tons of
time saving tips out there but these 5 are what I'm starting with. They
should either give me more time or ensure that I feel like I've had
more. I'd love to hear what you do?
(PS: The irony of me posting this on a Monday evening at 22:49 is not lost on me...)
In a bid of becoming more organised, spending less time trying to remember things and having a record of what happened when, I decided a while ago to set up an oldfashioned planner again. A friend of mine kindly gave me one that she hadn't used in a while and off I went into Paperchase to buy some inserts. All done, right? Wrong! Little did I know how much I might ponder over what kind of inserts, what kind of dividers, what kind of system I would adopt to keep me on the straight and narrow. And I had never even heard of the world of #plannering, #planneraddicts, #plannerpeace and the likes. I have since found an amazing community of creative, crafty and (obviously) highly organised people, where I can ask my silly beginner's questions, find inspiration and share my small wins, such as the dividers I made out of Morris&Co wallpaper samples.
I am now trying to document my journey from setting up this planner and will explain what worked and what didn't and why. My setup is a personal size Kingston Filofax. The idea is that it's small enough to carry with me every day but big enough to hold the essential sections. Once I have properly grown into that, I might set up another one, which will purely be used to keep track of blogging stuff. I started out with just a couple of sections: the diary inserts in one and my notes and to dos in another one. I then dumped the entire contents out and put it into an order that I thought would work for me. Have a look at the following clip, which is a very quick run-through of my setup.
