Sunday 7 April 2019

Current set-up: diary, to do/notes, and Travellers Notebook

I haven't blogged on here for a while (I've been busy writing and editing my novels, as well as writing for Nero's Notes), but I did tell you about my 2019 diary a while back, so I thought, since we're now in the second quarter of 2019, I should update you on how it's going.

I'm pretty much using the same system that I've used in the past, but with a couple of tweaks. I have my main diary/planner, which lives on my desk and never goes anywhere else, I have a running list of 'stuff to do/remember' and I have my Every Day Carry that is usually in my handbag as it's predominantly a wallet.

Main Diary:


This is still the Box Clever Press one I blogged about. This has honestly been one of the best diaries I have ever used! I'm even using the month at a glance pages (and we all know how terrible I am at knowing what they're for!).

So, why is it so good?
A few reasons...

1. The weekly layout.
This is the beating heart of my diary! As you can see in the picture above, this has a vertical layout, and Saturday and Sunday have the same space. There's a column at the left where I list the tasks for the week. Along the bottom are the weekly goals, which link back to pages at the start of each month. I'll come on to them in a moment.

Each day is split into thirds. You might want to have a different third for different family members. I use it as morning, afternoon and evening (though the evening bit is usually blank). I time-box what I'm doing over the day. Appointments are blocked off at the appropriate time. I start with 8am as the top line, use 2 lines per hour and usually stop labelling the hours when I get to the bottom third (which would be 6pm with this system), unless I do have things happening in the evening.

2. The monthly goals pages


I don't actually use the expenditure page as for any expenses, but as a list of tasks for the month. I put correction tape over the date and bills bits and use the line as one continuous line, and the check box at the end for ticking tasks off. It works for me!

3. The month to view page


I don't record much on these pages - mostly scheduled blog posts, which get a juicy big tick next to them when they are completely written and all the pictures etc are done. I don't really use the notes strip down the right-hand side either (as I use the expenditure pages for task lists). Since I now write on 3 blogs (here; my author site - www.amandafleet.co.uk; and for Nero's Notes - https://www.nerosnotes.co.uk/blogs/news) the month to view is a handy place to see which blogs have posts written and which don't (and yes, I know there haven't been many on here!). I also block off time I'm away so that I don't forget to schedule ahead for times when I won't be able to access the internet.

To Do/Notes
This also largely lives on my desk, partly because I'm not sensible enough to remember to take it out with me (and anyway, my EDC has a notebook in it), but mostly because 90% of the time I need it, I'm at my desk.
Currently, this is a hateful Moleskine thing - 9 x 14 cm - with quite narrow ruling (6 mm). I'm using it to get rid of it and I'm writing in pencil in it because the paper is dreadful for fountain pen (and a lot of other pens, frankly!). I don't bullet journal - this is a running list of things to do, or notes I've needed. As soon as the item is no longer relevant, it's crossed out. At the top outer edge of the page is a circle - "The Circle of Done" - an idea I've poached from "The Square of Done". If I moved to a squared notebook for my to do/notes book, it would become a square of done. Essentially, since I don't keep transcribing uncompleted tasks to a new page (the way a bullet journal does), but keep all of the to do as a long list, once everything on the page has been done/is irrelevant, I colour in the circle. This tells me without having to scan down the page, that there's nothing needed on it. I'm on page 6 of the book and no page has a circle filled in yet... there always seems to be one pesky thing still on it. I may (after all) transcribe all the long-term/less vital things on to a new page and fill in the circle, just to tidy it up! As I progress through, completed pages may well get torn out and discarded.

Every Day Carry
This is still my undyed pocket traveller's notebook from Meadowgate Leather, which is a fabulous colour now.


In it I have a fabric wallet insert, which holds a few bank cards, has an open pocket and a zipped pocket. After that, is a diary and notebook, made from another hateful Moleskine. I've drawn out a page per view diary at the front, and the back is for jotting the rare notes I need to when I'm out and about.


There are so few appointments that need to go into this when I'm out, that the tiny diary is okay. It's almost entirely hospital or doctor appointments for my parents, or my next hair appointment. As soon as I get in, I transfer them to the A5 main diary on my desk.

Behind that, is a homemade card holder, made from pieces of card and laminated to hold it together. One day I may share how I made that! It holds all the cards I sort of need if I'm out, but not very often (loyalty cards... that kind of thing). As it's just made from card and laminated, it's very slim.

And that's it...

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