Saturday, December 26, 2015

Most used planner in 2015? (Filofax, Midori TN, Hobonichi, Bullet Journal)

It this post I discuss which planner I used more in 2015!

I just realized that I don't know which planner is my winner in terms of usability in 2015! I need to check it out!
(I have returned) i have made a tremendous effort to remember what I have used, month by month, in this year!
I checked:
my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/mysummertouch,
my Instagram account (which is more accurate on it)https://www.instagram.com/mysummertouch/ ,
and my blogposts on this!
Thanks God I have them, or I wouldn't remember anything! Do you know how hard it is to collect all planners archives for the whole year???

So, my 2015 looks like this:
January:

I started the year strong in my pocket Crimson Filofax! I have the phooto on my IG with it on the New Year Tree!
Oh, and I remember my faux Hobonichi then! I used a Moleskine to have a day on one page while I decided if I want to order a Hobonichi!

I used my standard Midori for my planning and journalling! Love those photos!

February:

Then all of my Hobonichies arrived! I was happy! https://youtu.be/dMtNVc1QyKo
It was brief. I didn't like the pressure of daily pages!

And I decorated my Cousin briefly:https://youtu.be/B-fQzGgy0E8
Also my new pocket size Holborn arrived! https://youtu.be/dMtNVc1QyKo


March:
I used my Midories, and I got into the art journaling, and I use what for this? Midori!

April:
I tried a passport size Midori, very small and portable!
And then I made a video how I used it all together:https://youtu.be/Y5MBKPmDzlo

May:
ahhhh....Didn't happen much, probably, it was...Standart Midori!


June:
I went to a vacation for the whole month, and I really missed my Filofaxes, and I used my aqua Malden in personal size!
Here is a funny blog post what I took to the vacation with me: http://mysummertouch1.blogspot.ru/2015/06/how-plannerneard-goes-to-vacation.html


July-August:
I did a onebookjuly challenge:https://youtu.be/i4JN_ZBIYt4

 And then... Then my smarphone crused! And I didn't took any pictures!
So probably it was
Midories in both sizes! I started to make my own printables for them! I love it!https://www.instagram.com/p/8t70VLkWm7/?taken-by=mysummertouch

November:
I took my Moleskine that I use in January-February, and started a bullet journal! Yeas, I'm yet to make pictures of it! But it did helped me tremendously, as my brain dump! I loved the A5 so much that I decided to move into my purple  A5 Malden!


December:
And then I saw a review of the Happy Planner on youtube! Oh my! I just felt in love! I remembered that I have the discs and the Levenger punch, and I immediately wanted the same planner for me! I decided that I'm going to buy scrapbooking paper and make my own! It's going to happen! I do think that a Letter size and A4 size planners have their plases in this world!
And now I use....personal size Ochre Maden! I make my own inserts on etsy here https://www.etsy.com/shop/MySummerTouch?ref=hdr_shop_menu Please check it out!

So, the winner is....Midori Trave;er's Notebook in Standard size!!!!

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Thursday, December 24, 2015

Which Filofax to use in 2016?

I have a true planneraddicted problem - which Filofax do I want to use for 2016?






My Ochre Malden in personal size?


My aqua Malden in personal size?


My black Domino in peronal size?


My purple Malden in A5 size?


Maybe my Crimson Malden in pocket size?
Which one would YOU choose?
Please check my etsy shop where I sell my planner printables https://www.etsy.com/shop/MySummerTouch?ref=hdr_shop_menu
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Saturday, December 19, 2015

My Planneraddict' Solution for 2016 Filofax Planner Pages!

Here is my planneraddict' solution what to have in my Filofax in 2016!

I learnt that I don't do well with dated pages - I hop around in my planners a lot, so it's such a wasted money for me! I have tons of 2014, 2015 planners that lay around, and they are pretty, and I don't want to trash them because they cost a lot of  money, if you take international shipping into consideration.
@MySummerTouch Week on One Page


There are several solutions to have planner inserts for a new year:
1. to white out dates on the previous planner pages and reuse them,
2. to print your own,
3. to buy ready made planner.

Option 3 is out for me. I decided that I'm not going to spend more money UNLESS it's is an obsession. I have a crush on the happy planner right now, and I want to buy it, but Filofax pages - I have tried them before, and it's not an obsession anymore, and I don't have to buy them right now.

Here comes the quick and easy solution to reuse these pages and to save a little bit - reuse these pages, if I'm lazy to print something, just to white out the dates. I know that I'll do it, especially if I want a Day on one Page (Do1P), it's so much easier than to print my own everyday pages, and I like Filofax day on 1 page inserts, they make more logical sence for me than Franklyn Covey day on two pages (Do2P), where the column with hours is on the right side (in the Filofax day on one page the hours are on the far left side). My rule is that I treat my tasks as my scheduled events - I schedule them to estimate how much time I need to have them done, and I don't mix them with my appointments. So, the left column is my scheduled events and appointments, and the right column is my tasks, and on the far left there are hours to glance over both columns. It make more sence to me than to have the hours in the center of the page. So the 1st option is in for me.

The 2nd option is my main option.
I make my own inserts, for now for the personal size Filofax I made Week on one Page vertical, and Week on 4 Pages vertical. I plan to make more. And I know that eventually I will be bored with them, and I'll want to switch them! So how to manage it all and not to be overwhelmed? What to have in my Filofax for 2016 as a planneradddict? In other words, HOW TO HAVE IT ALL?

I decided to print dated monthlies Mo2P and weeklies Wo1P from philofaxy for now. Week on one page just to have something dated and because they are thinner than other inserts (as, i.e., W02P) and take less space in my Filofax.

These pages are my insurance to HAVE a place to write on in the future in case I'm too lazy to print my own. I don't love them for the esthetical reasons (I'm not in love with the font! - here is my planneraddict' side singing!), and going to throw them away after they are used.
@MySummerTouch Week on 4 Pages 
@MySummerTouch Week on 4 Pages

 I'm just going to use my own undated pages AND dated pages that I'll print just for small period of time. I know that I will be bored with just ONE type of insert and I know that I'm going to have time when I WILL be overwhelmed with a lot of to do's and won't open my filofax, and WILL switch the inserts to something else. It comes from my Filofax experience since 2012, when I started to use Filofax organizer. So, this is it!  I just MAKE IT WORK like that!

What is YOUR solution for 2016? Do you plan to have just ONE type of planner insert for the whole year (seriously? I admire you for your courage!), or you have another solution, knowing your planneraddict side of yourself? Is there something else that I haven't took into account??? I want to know your way of doing it!

P.S. I plan to make videos to describe how to make work different type of inserts on my YouTube chanel MySummerTouch, so, if you're interested, please subscribe to see updates: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UChkOQ59SjcPHXrPve2SS6yw
I sell my planner printables here, please check it out https://www.etsy.com/shop/MySummerTouch?ref=hdr_shop_menu
http://mysummertouch1.blogspot.com

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Who used ONE planner for the whole 2015 year?

In this blog post we discuss who used one planner for one year!

Well, I admit that I have not been consistent with my planners this year.
I used:
  • personal and pocket Filofax, 
  • Cousin and weekly Hobonichi,
  • standart and passport size Midori Traveler's Notebook, 
  • Bullet Journal in Moleskine and even one attempt of an A4 ARC (disc bound system).
Oh, I forgot an A5 ARC planner! 

What about you? Have you wondered around? Have you tried a lot of planners? Have you wentured into something completely new to you, like bound vs.ring bound, or disc bound vs. ring bound systems? maybe you've tried coil bound planner? I've yet to try it out in the next year! Maybe you've tried a new layout?
I sell my planner printables on etsy, please check it out https://www.etsy.com/shop/MySummerTouch?ref=hdr_shop_menu
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Thursday, December 10, 2015

What is Essential for my Planners (Filofax, Midori Traveler's Notebook, Bullet Journal)?

In this post I discuss what is the essential part of all of my planners- Filofax, Midori Traveler's Notebook, Bullet Journal.

I recently played with a stack of post-it notes, and, because I have a curious mind, one question has popped up in my mind - what IF I didn't have all my Filofaxes and Midories, and Bullet Journal? What if all that I would have is just these small pages of post - it notes? How would I set up them to use as a planner?

I wrote on my 1st page -  To Do
on the 2nd -  Daily Routine
On the 3rd - Weekly Routine
On the 4th - Monthly Routine
On the 5th - Calendar and Scheduled Events
On the 6th - Goals/Projects/Their Tracking
On the 7th - Budget

That's all!
It was a BIG surprise for me that I really could do without my weekly pages - the one that I used to use for so many years already! Because of my practice in my Bullet Journal, where I write ALL by hand, without using any printables, I realize that I could do WITHOUT them! Even my scheduled events could be just written not on preprinted pages, but in a list form - dates on the left side, scheduled events on the right! And I could use just 7 pages, and don't take with me my Filo!
What do you think? What would work for you? What is essential for you?
I sell my planner printables on etsy, please check it out https://www.etsy.com/shop/MySummerTouch?ref=hdr_shop_menu
Please subscribe to see updates: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UChkOQ59SjcPHXrPve2SS6yw http://mysummertouch1.blogspot.com

Monday, December 7, 2015

Who wants to try out my new Filofax personal inserts?

First two people who email me will get FREE personal size inserts for the rest of 2015 and 2016 years in PDF form in exchange for their opinion on them!
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Friday, December 4, 2015

New Filofax Inserts for 2016?

In this post I write about my new exiting Filofax inserts for 2016!
Hello my Filofax lovers!
I have been thinking A LOT about my planner piece and what kind of planner I want for 2016. I have to admit that I MADE finally my own calendar that I have been talking about since 2013 (yes, for so long!), and I'm testing it, but it's development takes a lot of time, and I need my new inserts NOW to plan 2016 year!
What could a PLANNERNERD that have tried everything want? Of course, her own customizable inserts! I have found the perfect solution! 
Photo belongs to agendio.com

https://agendio.com/ sells planners and refills (and soon pdf's) in different sizes. As  a Filofax lover, I'm interested, of course, in Filofax inserts, so check them out here:https://agendio.com/customizable-planner-refills. They offer Filofax A5, Franklin Monarch and Classic, and Day Timer Folio and Desk sizes. This is the downsize - no personal size yet. And I write "yet" because they do TAKE suggestions from plannerlovers, and do consider what kind of products to offer! Yay! That's not a big deal for me now because I want to move to my Filofax A5 Calipso in hot pink for on the go planner and Filofax A5 Malden in purple for home storage binder!
But back to the main feature - customization: I was BLOWN AWAY with their different layouts and features (https://agendio.com/customizable-planner-refills/filofax-weeklymonthly-all-layouts), You could log in and play with them as much as you want! They have a feature that I haven't seen ANYWHERE before, they call it spanglets, I will tell you all about it on my video review when I get the inserts! Shortly, you could customize the layouts of weekly and monthly, colors, fonts, put the events YOU want to put (as birthsdays and anniversaries of YOUR family) (!!!), activities (which are routines that you choose to put there yourself with YOUR frequency - monthly, daily, weekly), you could coose national holidays of YOUR country, religious holidays of YOUR religion, and choose accessories as pagemarkers and detachable corners. Isn't that great??? Can't wait to receive them! I'll put a video on my YOUTUBE channel MySummerTouch, so please subscribe to watch updates: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UChkOQ59SjcPHXrPve2SS6yw http://mysummertouch1.blogspot.com

Monday, July 6, 2015

How Filofax helps - two years experience

I came to my mom's house, where I haven't been in two years, and I found a ring binder in a personal size. I forgot about it completely.  And I forgot about my goals and projects that I've written two years ago and left inside of this binder, at my mom's house, miles away from me. It meant that I couldn't look inside the binder, I couldn't remember what I have written, I couldn't look it all up to remind me what I wanted to accomplish!

I was astonished.  Goals that I couldn't even imagine how to start and where to have a starting point, let alone how to finish/accomplish them, that's how unrealistic they have been for me, almost all of them, have touchable, real, finished boundaries, they are clear on how to make them happen now!
It also was a good check on what I unconsciously  considered was worth to work on, and what wasn't.
That was the point when I started to use my filofax again. A little bit later, I made another "eurica"moment.  While I was writing in my Filofax, I realized how I was lacking rings! I could write each of my project and goal on a SEPARATE sheet of paper,  and leave it like that to work on it later. For some unexplainable reason, it didn't work in my Midori Traveler's Notebooks! Probably, the physical boundaries of the bound notebook has kept me from writing out each and every project tgat I wanted to do. I was afraid to use up the notebook, the I would needed to rewrite them all again! And I needed to reshuffle pages in order to organize them in  a logical order!
What I did right after that  was cutting the pages for my filofax. A lot of them.  Damn, I don't let paper to dictate me what to write and how to write!
P.S. I didn't stop using my Midori Traveler's Notebook, I use it for my journal writing! Filofax is good for planning and goals and projects setting, and Midori is good for journal writing because I need a lot of pages for it and rings prevent me from writing on the left side of pages!
Now I'm happy!


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Monday, June 29, 2015

How to Use a Planner regularly (Filofax)

 The most EVER useful trick that I learned in organizing space, was "have things where you need them". Even if you need them in unconventional places!

If the only one place,  where you use your planner is a toilet,  have your planner suplies there. No, I'm not going to confess that I use it there. (No, I don't want to hear your confessions that you use it there too! Yes, you could make a secret toilet planner society and invite me there).
Your planner supplies could be:
-an archive box to store your future and past planner pages, as well as blank pages,
-pens, highliters, pensils, stensils, stamps, incs,
-stickers, flags, tabs, dividers.
The best way to use them is to have them all in one tote or in one rollable cart.
I am guilty in not using an archive box regularly,  which results in loosing my past pages because I can't remember where I left them and then I'm lazy to collect them to have one proper year archive. I cannot stress enough this! Have your supplies where you need them!
In different times I used to use my planner in different rooms and places, it was my kitchen, my living room, my bedside table, my bag. And if you notice that the place where you use your planner has changed, change your planner supplies place accordingly!

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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Classic GTD set up in a planner (Filofax)

In GTD, the productive workflow looks like that:
1.collect everything that is capturing your mental energy, and it literally means everything,  not just a part that you think that's worth collecting, 
2.process it to decide what is it and what to do with it, 
3.organize it, 
4.review it, 
5.do it.

Paper is the best tool for collecting all thoughts, ideas, things to do. It's the quickest tool ever. Try to open up an app, and write several words on paper,  what would be the quickest?  Paper!

To collect things on paper, the GTD advices an inbox tab or divider, whatever you prefer.

After that, you have to process it, or to clarify what is it and what to do with it:

-If it is a note that you will/might need in the future,  it should go to the "Reference" section. "Reference" section consists of an information that stays in your planner if you are referring to it often or will be referring in the near future (I.e. your children's school's bells schedule). In GTD, reference material also is needed to support the projects that you're working on currently, I.e. for a Vacation project, it might be geographical maps, my different brainstorming notes on where to go, schedules for planes, trains, busses, etc.,

-if it's a note that you won't need, just cross it off (or trash it as GTD refers to it), 

-if it's an idea that you might need in the future,  it goes to a "Someday/Maybe" list in the list section or to Tickler Files (it's a system that consists of 43 folders that are 12 folders for a year plus 31 folders for the days of a month, they are actual folders with papers that you will need in the future, and that stay at home or office, these folders do not live in your planner!),

-if it's something that you need to do, and it takes less than 2 minutes,  do it now!,

-if it's something that could/should someone else do, delegate it (the sooner, the better imho), and write it to calendar pages to the expected deadline. The classic GTD advices to put it to a "Waiting For" list, but, in my experience,  it should go to the calendar because you do have an end date in your mind by which you expect something to be done (I.e., a package to arrive), or you might miss a deadline, as I did several times! Don't forget to inform the one who does this to do to understand what kind of the end date you have in your mind!, 

-if it's something that you can't do now, and can't delegate, it goes to:

○"Projects" section (a project in GTD is any outcome that require more than one action step to achieve it. For each project you need one or several sheet of paper,  I write clearly the name of the project on the top of each page and number them, for instance, "Vacation-1" on the first page, "Vacation-2" on the second, etc. In the project section you describe this project in terms of the what is it, why you need to do it, how much it will cost you in terms of resources (time, money, people, etc),  how you will do it (actual next actions/steps/to do's), when you do it (a deadline) , where you do it,  contacts, etc.),

○"Calendar/diary" section (in GTD, you put there only things that HAVE to happen on this particular date, everything else goes to the "Next Actions" list or to the "Projects" section), 

○"Next Actions" list (any ONE step actions goes here. For everybody, it's the longest list, so you want to organize this list further and divide it by category: 
* by context in which you need to do it: @home, @work, @computer, @ the internet, @errands, etc.,
*by time required to do it (if you have just 15 minutes,  then choose only to do that requires 15 or fewer minutes to do), 
*by energy required to do it (for instance,  at the evening,  after work,  I most often don't have a lot of energy,  so I do tasks that I absolutely have to do only, and the things that don't require a lot of energy, as a computer work,   and on Sunday mornings,  I do physically demanding tasks, as cleaning the whole house.
I switch between having one long "Next Actions"list , where I write the next actions together with categories,  and the date when I have written them, and I also have tried to write them on separate pages by categories.  Try both methods and choose what works for you!).

Chances are, your head is spinning around by now, so I will summarize all sections in a planner in a logical order:
•Inbox, 
•Calendar,
•Projects,
•Lists ("Someday/Maybe", "Waiting For" divided by the person or company who do the task, "Next Actions" divided by category),
•Reference divided by project reference pages and stand alone reference pages,
•Contacts.

"Waiting for" list might describe everything that you expect from others in details, while "Calendar" have the deadlines for those to do's.

"Contacts" are phone numbers or addresses that you need most often. 

You might include your projects into the lists section because they do include your next action steps, but I prefer to keep them separately just to have a clear distinction between sections.

Also you might keep the "Reference" section pages, the ones, to which you need to refer in order to do a particular project, together with this project in the  "Reference" section.

 If you've been focused enough in reading my post, then you notice that "Next Actions" lists exist in two sections -"Projects" and "Next Actions". It's your preference, where to keep "Next Actions" list from the projects pages that you have - right in the "Projects" section , without rewriting them, or in the "Next Actions" lists, then you need to rewrite them there.  In my opinion,  rewriting them works better because this way you have ALL of your actions in one place!

Live doesn't stay in one place, it goes and changes, no matter if you are doing what you suppose to do or procrastinate.  So, to keep this system alive, you need to review it. 
You have to review your "Calendar" and "Next Actions" list, and "Inbox" every day. You have to review everything else weekly.
I do have a certain procedure for that, that I will describe it my later post because this post is already too long. (Update:  please require it if you want to read it!)

In terms of DOING part of the system,   GTD, in my opinion,  lacks the actual process. It's the weakest chain link in the whole system! David Allen describes that in order to do your next actions, you have to rely on your intuition, and then  choose between your next actions steps.

That's not all that I have kept in my planner. In GTD system, there are the levels of perspective,  on which you choose what to do first, what to do next, and what not to do at all:
 _ life purpose
_vision of yourself in the future, 
_medium-term goals
_areas of responsibility
_your current projects,  
_the actions you need to do every day.
 But about it in later posts also.

I do have a video that I made a while ago about a Classic GTD setup:https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V2P4F9CfBUg

I hope you find my post useful. Please contact me if you want further explanations from me!
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#filogax with my routins according 5#gtd #post


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Thursday, June 18, 2015

May Filofax, Midori, and Hobonichi Photo Challenges

The number of my Instagram subscribers have grown to 600!!
And the number of my blog followers have gone up also, I could see it on my post viewers! So here are my favorite pictures for this May!

















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