I've been using a Travellers' Notebook system for yonks now! I blogged about being in a TN way back in 2015. Then, I'd been in my Stamford Notebook Company red TN for six months (and thought that was a record!). I blogged about it here. Since I moved into the red TN, my system hasn't changed at all, though the actual TN being used has.
What I'm using at the moment:
At the moment, I'm in my Meadowgate Leather (see here for my initial review of it). It's a Snowbell, but with card slots in the back cover as well as the front cover, and in cahier size, rather than regular. I have a Traveller's Company (used to be Midori) vertical week to view diary in it, a zipper pocket insert for money and a notebook in the back for notes out and about. All my cards are held in the cover card slots and there is space in the vertical pockets behind the card slots for receipts etc.
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| Interior of my Meadowgate Leather TN |
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| Diary insert |
The vertical, undated, weekly diary (insert 018) is working brilliantly for me. It has the days split into timed slots so that I can time-box each day if I need (or at least accurately indicate when I'm busy with appointments etc.). There's also space at the RHS and at the bottom for a to-do list and notes. I usually use the column at the RHS for my to-do and the space at the bottom for notes (whether I've ordered anything, so I can tick it off when it arrives; notes on weekly word-count when I'm writing; maybe an inspirational quote...). I use space by the date to record the weather (I'm British) and since I never really have anything before about 8.30-9.00 a.m., I can use the first couple of lines of the day to note things too. I don't have any book marks in, but fasten previous weeks' pages back with an elastic band. Here's an example of a completed week... (with some bits hidden).
2018 is split over two inserts (with a few weeks spare at the end...) which works well for me. At the moment I don't have the second half of the year in there as I rarely need to plan that far ahead. Anything I do need to note, I can just write in the note book at the back. Once we get towards the end of May, I'll pop the second half of the year in, and as soon as I'm into the new insert, the first half will come out (so the two will only be in for a few weeks, keeping it light).
I realised many years ago that I have no idea how to make a monthly insert work for me. I can't get the granularity right - I either put in too much detail and can't see the wood for the trees, or don't put in enough and have to refer to weekly pages anyway. My best option is a week to view, but big enough that I can time-box each day and have space for notes. I prefer the Traveller's Company insert 018 over the dated version, because in the dated version, that column on the right is filled with mini month-calendars (and regular readers will know just how much I think they are utterly pointless!).
But...
I'm about to switch the cover from my beloved Meadowgate Leather one, to...
Another Meadowgate Leather one! I bought this one second-hand in a Facebook group. The woman who sold it said it was the wrong size for her. It's a standard size (so not as wide as my current cover) and is a standard Snowbell layout with card slots in the front cover but not the back. I still have my card holder insert from when I used my red Stamford Notebok Company TN, so will pop that in for the cards I currently have in the back cover of my TN. I don't know which colour it was (the woman I got it from had got it from someone else) but it's gorgeous!
No reason for the change, other than the fact I needed a colour pop with all the rubbish weather (and to try and convince me that Spring is actually going to arrive at some point!).
Anyway, that's what I'm using at the moment, and I suspect that it will be what I end up using for some time to come! Aaahhhh.... planner peace!
I'm delighted to hear that you've found your planner peace!
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful, isn't it? I recently wrote about mine on Philofaxy & I'm feeling very content.
I love the colour of your new Meadowgate & agree with you about needing some colour in the less good weather. I've had some lovely black binders in the past, but sold them all to settle down with my red one, as black just isn't colourful enough for me when the sun is hiding.