On Dealing with Planner Fatigue

For those who don't know me, I am a paper planner nerd.  I have been ever since my first real job as a receptionist for a printing company.  Our bosses introduced the team to the Day-Timer planners. From the moment I saw it, I was hooked.  Even before the Day-Timer, I used the free pocket calendars from Hallmark to note birthdays and such.  But the Day-Timer was definitely the turning point for me.

I used a paper planner consistently for several years, and then backed off a little bit.  I don't really remember why.  And then I was introduced to the Franklin Covey planner system, and once again, it was love.  The Franklin Covey system was even more in-depth than Day-Timer, because it helped me focus on my goals, and getting those goals broken down into manageable tasks.

I continued with the Franklin Covey system for several years, becoming more and more dependent on it as the years went by.  My system became a well-oiled machine.  Soon I started to wonder about other ways I could use my planner, and so I started reading blogs and looking at photos of planner pages on Flickr.  Yes, I had it bad!

It was then that I was introduced to Filofax.  I had heard the name before, but never dreamed of moving away from my Franklin Covey, so didn't look into it further.  Until I saw the photos.  Oh, the photos.  There were so many!  From there I stumbled upon YouTube videos.  Yes, YouTube videos! People actually filmed themselves flipping through their planners, and sharing how they setup their planners.

It was nirvana!  I had found my Happy Place!  Not only was I able to see how others used their planners, but now I had a community of people who loved their planners as much as I did!  Woohoo!

It wasn't long before I started taking photos of my own planner, and I even created my own YouTube channel and started recording videos of my own!

Fast forward to the end of 2014.  I was in a new, more demanding, position at work, the daughters' school and activity schedules were busier, and life in general was just more hectic.  You would think that I would have become more dependent on my planner than ever, but for some reason the opposite occurred.

My planner became a burden.  Suddenly it was too much trouble to write things down.  It was too much trouble to flip through pages and tabs to see if we were free for an event or already booked.  It was too much trouble to sit down every Sunday and do my weekly review and planning for the coming week, which had always been something I treasured as "my time."  Suddenly, I no longer wanted to use my planner.  And so in October, I put it away.

I started entering appointments and reminders in Google Calendar.  And my tasks went into Remember the Milk.  Everything was electronic, and so EASY!  I could access everything on my phone (iPhone 6 Plus = I can see!) or my laptop.  I shared my calendar with my husband so he could see on his own what was on our schedule, rather than having to ask me.  My tasks were set up to recur automatically.  I didn't have to rewrite anything, and just had to click a box to complete a task. It was awesome!

Still, there's a sadness in my heart -- a feeling of being unsettled.  I miss the paper, and the pens. And I miss my lovely Ochre Malden, with the soft, squishy leather.  I've tried several times over the past month or so to go back to a paper planner, but just a few minutes into it I'm turned off by having to write everything down.  I just don't have time for that.  And the desire is not there, either.

For those who are not in the paper planner world, I'm sure you think I'm a nutcase.

But those who do use a planner know where I'm coming from.  I'd love to get some feedback from you. What do I do?  How can I find a happy balance between using my paper planner, and having the ease of the electronic world at my fingertips?

Thanks a lot for stopping by.

My Filofax - Week #27

I got nothin'.

I have had planner fail, big time.  I completely shut down, and wasn't using my Filofax at all.  And my life was suffering because of it.

For the past several weeks, I have been using Google Calendar for my appointments and reminders, but my task management went out the window.  I wasn't writing them down, I wasn't keeping them electronically, and for the most part, they weren't getting done.

I've been in Overwhelm for the past few weeks.  I started a new position at The Bank; something completely different and unknown to me.  I looked forward to the learning experience, but quite frankly, it turned out to be nothing like I was expecting.  That experience has kept my brain on overload and I've been fighting back the fear and the disappointment every single day.  But that's a story for another day.

I did try to get back in the swing of things with my trusty Personal Chameleon.  (Yes, I've set my A5 Malden aside for now.  More about that later.)

And today I'm regrouping by working on my planning for the coming week.

I'm hoping that returning to my planner will help me feel more in control of the things going on around me.  In fact, I know it will.  That's what has helped me to stay focused so many times in the past.

Sometimes I guess we just have to falter a bit to be reminded of what works.

Here's to a great week ahead!

How To: Weekly Planning in My Filofax

jakebourna

Hi there!

Not long ago I posted a YouTube video on my weekly planning process in my Filofax.  Since then, several folks have asked for the list of my weekly planning steps.

So, here's the list of things I do for my weekly planning each Sunday:

• Add important events of the week to the monthly index page.
• Clean out my planner and move old items to the archive.
• Review goals, update the status and schedule the next steps.
• Journaling:  Where am I in my goals?  What new ideas have come up?  What decisions need to be made?
• Write out tasks for the coming week.
• Review the past week to be sure no tasks have been left unaddressed.
• Review monthly list of things to do and schedule one or more for the coming week.
• Review planner setup things to do and schedule for the coming week.
• Review master task list and schedule one or more for the coming week.
• Add appointments in my Filofax to my Google Calendar so my husband can see them.  Put a check mark next to the appointment in the Filofax to show that it was added to Google Calendar.

There you have it.  It seems like a lot, but it really doesn't take too long.  I probably spend about an hour on my weekly planning each Sunday.  I think that's a small price to pay to make sure that I'm organized for the coming week.

Do you have a ritual for your weekly planning?

A Week in my Filofax #6

Hi!  I've fallen a little behind in my weekly review posts, but I'm ready to get back on the bandwagon.  So let's get started.

Sunday, Feb. 3:  Not a very productive day, as it was Superbowl Sunday and we met friends late in the afternoon to watch the game at the Tilted Kilt.  We didn't really have a favorite in the game (ours is a Steelers household), but part of the fun of the Superbowl is getting together with friends and watching the commercials, right?  By the way, the "farmer" commercial was by far my favorite.

Monday, Feb. 4:  Fairly productive day, even though I took a half-day off from work to go to a much awaited doctor appointment.  Nothing of any relevance to report.

Tuesday, Feb. 5:  Spent the day at home sick, partially related to the doc appointment on the previous day.  Not cool.

Wednesday, Feb 6:  Pretty productive day.  We also found out that a good friend of several years passed away suddenly.  Most of the evening was spent in shock and reaching out to mutual friends. 

Thursday, Feb. 7:  Another productive day, including several high school related activities in the evening for Sarah.  She's already planning her schedule for next year!  Time really does fly by too quickly.

Friday, Feb. 8:  Average day with nothing  major to report.  I was really exhausted in the evening, and fell asleep on the couch at 8:30.  I woke up at 9:30 and went right to bed.

Saturday, Feb. 9:  Pretty busy day.  I was up early to have my annual mammogram, and then did a bit of shopping at Staples and Walgreens.  After that, I went home to pick up the rest of the family and we did some more shopping for guinea pig supplies and a stop at Bath and Body Works, and lunch at Panera.  (A half bacon turkey bravo sandwich and broccoli cheese soup is my staple there!)  I finished off the night by going to a girls get-together with a friend.  That was much fun!


I've been thinking of my friends in the Northeast who are buried in snow.  I love the white stuff and pray daily that we get some, but I don't think even I want THAT much!  :)

I hope you all had a great week.  Did you do anything fun and exciting?

A Review of My Week #3

Hi there!

So I set out this year to share "A Week in My Filofax," where I share a photo of my week on two pages from my Filofax.

Well, last week I ran into a challenge.

I switched to 2-page-per-day pages.  (You can watch a YouTube video here of my planner setup.  Yes, I'm on YouTube!  You can see all my videos here.  Totally out of my comfort zone, but I'm going to give it a go and see what happens.)

So I don't think it would be very interesting to share seven photographs of each day.  Because, quite frankly, my pages have become less art and more utilitarian, as can be seen in the photo of Wednesday, January 16, below.

(My apologies for the poor photo quality.  I'm working really hard to improve my photography skills!)

I'm not doing much artwork in my planner now, which is a little bit sad, and may change.  But I've been trying to figure out how I'm going to use my planner to the fullest to help me achieve the goals I've set for the year.  That doesn't leave much room (or time) for stickers or drawings.  Don't worry, I'll work hard to fit that in too going forward.

I do have a bit of doodling to share with you, which occurred on Thursday, January 17.

(My apologies again for the poor photo quality.)

We actually had a dusting of snow!  I was beside myself.  We only got a dusting, and although I'm still praying for the 20-inch snow like we got in January 2000, I'm happy with what we do get.

So, I do want to continue with a recap of my week.  Here we go.

• Monday:  Big temporary project started at work.  Should last for the next three weeks or so.  Not that hard for me to manage, but I was instrumental in setting it up, so I'm proud of that.  I also worked out at the YMCA, doing a weight routine for my lower body.  I'm especially proud of that because I hate exercise.  (No offense to exercise.)  But since my gastric bypass surgery, I've reached a plateau in my weight loss, and at this point exercise is the only thing that will help me to reach my goal.
• Tuesday:  Nothing of significance to report.  My exercise yesterday (I am assuming) helped to stir up a health-related flare up that made me quite miserable, so I didn't get to do my upper body workout.  Not cool.
• Wednesday:  Very busy day at work (related to the big temporary project that started on Monday).  Also, a WINTER STORM WATCH was issued for Central NC for tomorrow night.  You know I had a hard time containing my excitement.  Also looking into Yin Yoga.  A blogger friend of mine is doing it, and I think it fits right it with my "personal well being" goal that I have.
• Thursday:  WE HAD SNOW!  It was only a dusting, but that didn't matter to me, or to our two daughters.  They were outside with their winter coats at 9:00PM as the snow fell (and didn't stick) because they "wanted to experience the snow."  They are definitely girls after my own heart.  Aside from that, I spent the day home from work because of the health-related flare up that occurred on Tuesday.  Not cool.
• Friday:  Nothing really of significance.  Just a regular old day.
• Saturday:  We were going to take a friend out for dinner for his birthday, but he was under the weather so we rescheduled.  John and I still went out.  It was lovely, and I really enjoyed spending time with him (outside of our home where electronics are a huge distraction!).  We spent a lot of money, but were really not happy with the food.  The restaurant was lovely, and we'd go there again for cocktails and appetizers, but not again for a meal.  
• Sunday:  This was an uber productive day for me.  John went with his friend to watch football, and the girls were at their mother's, so I had the whole house to myself.  I got a lot done and am proud of that.  (Although a part of me was disappointed that I didn't get *everything* done.  I think I schedule too many things for myself sometimes.)

So that's basically it for my week.  I hope you guys had a good week, and have a good week to come.  I'll see you again in a couple of days.

My Filofax Week #1

Hi all!  I'm following along with Paper Lovestory and all of the other awesome Filofax bloggers and YouTubers who are sharing their Filofax weeks.  I've been playing along for a few weeks now on Twitter, but I think it would be fun to blog about it too.  This will give me a good start to getting this blog up and running again, which is one of my goals for 2013.

So, let me introduce you to Week #1 in my Filofax!

(Pardon the shadows.  My photography skills are a bit lacking.)

1. The first thing you'll notice is the two different types of calendar paper.  I ended the year with the Filofax week on two pages, which came with my Raspberry Chameleon Personal when I purchased her earlier this year.  I'm starting the new year using the Day-Timer Flavia week on two pages.  I don't know if I'm going to stick with that, though.  I'll post more about that later.
2. The week started with me being sick for New Year's Eve.  We had dinner reservations with a friend that evening, so I managed to go to that and we had a wonderful dinner and a really nice time people-watching.
3. New Year's Day was a holiday from work and was spent at home relaxing.  
4. Our family joined the YMCA, and we visited on Wednesday so the girls could have their orientation for middle-school-aged kids.  While they were doing that, I managed to get in 45 minutes on the stationary bike.  Woot.
5. Thursday I went to the Y for my orientation.  I wanted to get to know all of the machines, as well as which ones are best for me and my goals.  That hour-long orientation turned into two hours because the trainer was so thorough in explaining.  It was great.
6. Friday night John and I went out for some karaoke fun, and were surprised by our friends who recently moved out of state.  They were in town and we didn't know it.  They saw on John's Facebook page that we were going out, and decided to join us.  It was great to see them and we had a lot of fun!
7. Saturday I got to use a portion of my anniversary gift from John -- a visit to a wonderful spa for a Swedish massage.  It was my first massage ever, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!  And what made the experience even better was I took my good friend with me to treat her to a massage for her birthday.  
8. Sunday was our annual family Second Christmas, hosted by my sister and her family.  It's always so good to see family from out of town.  Our Crazy Santa gift exchange is always a hoot.

So that's about it.  This week we get back to business.  The holidays are over and life returns to normal.  (Sad face.)