Posted on 10 January 2010 @ 14:28 in Notebooks
I finally wrote in my 2010 planner (a “converted” large Quo Vadis Habana notebook). I mean with ink. Before this, I was using a pencil to write in the planner.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was going to use this for the rest of the year. I found myself thinking I’m glad I only marked up the first three months of weekly pages. I’ve been feeling intimidated by its smooth white pages. I also didn’t much care for the size (I liked it initially, equating bigger size with more space to write in) which I have found hard to “grab and run”. There was also the rubbery cover that I still haven’t got used to. (Confession – I found myself missing the Moleskine’s rough cover and rough, off-white pages, so I took out a previous year’s M home-made planner to hold and caress.) Plus I’m still not used to the too big space between the lines.
I’d earlier personalised the cover with a sticker.
I guess it wasn’t enough.
But now it’s all good. I’m keeping the 2010 planner to use for the rest of the year. The change came when I broke the surface of the first set of weekly pages with ink. The previous pencil markings were tentative (and timid) attempts at claiming ownership. Now, I own my 2010 planner. I’m not intimidated by its white pages anymore.
Here are the two pages for the current week (4 – 10 January 2010).
The weekly layout is the change I mentioned in a previous post.
Reviewing the above week also helped me work out the process of using the pages from now on.
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Looking forward, items will be pencilled in on the right “notes” page of the relevant week |
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If there’s a date to an item, it will be pencilled into the relevant page slot on the left “planner” page |
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During the weekly review, ink will be used to write in comments (completed, next action, etc.) |
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As with previous years’ planners, different coloured inks will be used for the different areas of my life (purple – personal, blue – work, brown – family, red – ultra important, etc.) |
I’m glad I got the usability problem sorted out within the first full week of the year.
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Posted on 11 December 2009 @ 11:55 in Notebooks
At this time of year, we are all thinking about the new year, with the more organised thinking about staying organised in the new year, possibly with the help of a planner of some sort.
While most people have migrated to an electronic planner, there are some who still like a paper planner. I use both. For the electronic, I use two – on my computer, it’s an awesome software called Evernote, while away from the computer, there’s my Palm TX. I’ll be writing a post about Evernote, but for this post, I want to talk about my paper planner, particularly about preparing my 2010 paper planner.
Why do I need to prepare my 2010 planner? After all, there are lots of ready-made planners available. Well, I’ve yet to find a ready-made planner that meets my needs. If it’s the right size, the layout is wrong. If the layout is right, the size is not.
Last year, I received a Space 17 planner as part of the Quo Vadis offer in return for writing a review. There were various planners, in different sizes and featuring different layouts, and I chose Space 17 for its weekly + note page layout.
In the end, I didn’t use the Space 17 planner at all – it was a case of right layout but wrong size. The Space 17 is a weekly pocket planner, which is too small – almost tiny – for my large handwriting. As a result, I didn’t write a review as I was supposed to. Actually, as soon as I held the Space 17 in my hand, I knew I wouldn’t be using it, but I would write the review as promised. But I soon realised that I couldn’t write a review of something I don’t use. So I never wrote the Space 17 review, but have been given a second chance. Read on.
So, with no ready-made planner offering the right size and right layout, I have been making my own home-made planner for a few years now. Since 2006, I have been making them from Moleskine notebooks, but for 2010, I will be using a large Quo Vadis Habana, once again sent to me by Ms Karen Doherty, Vice President, Marketing, Exaclair, Inc (exclusive US distributor of Clairefontaine, Exacompta, Rhodia, Quo Vadis, G Lalo, Brause, J Herbin and Decopatch products), who sent me the Space 17 planner, and is giving me the second chance I wrote about earlier.
Quo Vadis Habana
When I received the Habana, I was so excited I took a picture of it, shrinkwrap and all.
Details:
* Lined
* Round corners
* Elastic closure
* Pocket insert
* 80 sheets
* 6″ x 9″
* Premium “Clairefontaine” 90g paper
The shrinkwrap has since come off, and I’ve fallen in love with the Clairefontaine paper. But I’ve also found three possible disadvantages to the Habana.
The non-slip cover is really non-slip. This means I can’t nudge the Habana to one side to make room for something on the desktop. Not at all. It’s 100% non-slip. That’s supposed to be good, as it won’t slip and slide away. I wish it were less non-slip. Maybe with regular use, the non-slip might wear off? I’ll report back on this later next year.
The space between the lines is big – 8mm compared to 6mm in the large Moleskine. This means only 25 lines per page against 30 lines in the large Moleskine. And the Habana is bigger, too, so there should be more lines to the page. It’s a disadvantage, and I wouln’t mind have more lines to the page, but it’s not a major disadvantage; I can live with it.
The Habana only has 80 sheets (160 pages), compared to 120 sheets (240 pages) in the large Moleskine. My usual home-made planner has 4 sections – quarterly (4 pages), monthly (13 pages – current year plus 1st month of following year), weekly (104 pages – 2 pages per week), and notes (balance of pages). There are also the various divider pages. On the 240-page large Moleskine, I have about 90 pages for notes. On the 160-page Habana, it would only be about 40 pages. This might put the Habana at a disadvantage, but precisely because it’s going to be a home-made planner, the layout is flexible, and I will be tweaking the past year’s layout to get as many notes pages as I can.
Planner Sections (Current)
Quarterly
Monthly
Weekly
2010 Planner Sections
There will be two changes in the layout for my 2010 planner.
There won’t be a quarterly section. This is the least used feature since I stopped working 9-to-5. My current work-from-home set-up doesn’t seem to require a quarterly overview (hence, the empty spaces in the above picture of the quarterly section).
The weekly section will feature the same layout as the Space 17’s – week on the left page and notes on the right. This was a layout I used when I was working, but had forgotten about until I saw the one in Space 17.
This layout will actually give me more notes pages. Another advantage is that the notes will be next to their respective week.
So, that’s the planned layout for my 2010 planner. I haven’t made them yet, but I expect to do so soon, at least before the end of this year.
I will be following up on how I use the Quo Vadis Habana for my 2010 planner throughout the year.
Note – as the pictures show, I haven’t really been using my paper planner. It’s one thing to plan and to have a planner, it’s another thing to actually use the planner to plan! I’m hoping my 2010 planner will help me to be more oganised and to really use the planner. It looks promising – I’m looking forward to writing on the Clairefontaine paper (which is smoother and classier than the Moleskine … but I’m digressing).
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Posted on 12 June 2007 @ 17:25 in Notebooks
We all know how expensive Moleskine notebooks cost, especially in Malaysia. Well, I’m happy to tell y’all that fellow notebookolic, Armand (he runs two notebook related sites – Moleskinerie and Notebookism – as well as their related sites on Flickr) is giving away free Moleskine notebooks, courtesy of Kikkerland Design Inc, NY, between 16 June and 31 August 2007.
Here’s what you have to do:
1) Email your complete name and mailing address to: moleskinerie@gmail.com. Write:
“2007 Moleskinerie Summer Giveaways” as subject. Do not write anything else. Multiple and blank entries (without mailing addresses) are automatically deleted.
2) We will pick 3 random winners each week. Each person may enter only once and may not win more than one prize. Non-winners automatically qualify for the next draw. Make sure you provide a valid email address. We will pick an alternate winner if we cannot contact you within 7 days from posting of the winners.
3) There will be three (3) weekly drawings one on each of the following dates: June 16, 23, 30, July 7, 14, 21, 26, August 4, 11, 18, 25 and 31 for the following weekly prizes :
One (1) Large Moleskine Notebook (each week) Selections may vary.
- Only one (1) winner per email/physical address.
- Anybody, anywhere in the world age 18 years old or above may join.
- This contest closes on Friday, August 31, 2007 at 11 PM. CST.
Winners’ packages will be mailed out within one week following each drawing (provided the winner has supplied their mailing address}. Sorry we cannot send out replacements in case of loss in transit.
Privacy Notice: Your email address will only be kept for this promo and deleted thereafter. It will not be used, sold or distributed for any other purpose. Promise.
Good luck and happy summer! Get out out! Have a life – and write about it!
Note – anybody, anywhere in the world age 18 years old or above may join, so go ahead and email in your details.
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Posted on 27 February 2007 @ 23:00 in Notebooks, Writing
Notebookism is a site for notebook fanatics that was set up by Armand B. Frasco as an alternative to the Moleskinerie site he created three years ago for Moleskine users.
The site features interesting pictures and stories of notebooks and their contents. I’m honoured to have had my homemade Circa notebooks featured more than once on the site. The latest feature is not about my homemade creations but rather about my gift from Levenger. I reproduce the article below.
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After years of using Levenger products – specifically its Circa system – I was rewarded with a gift from the company recently, courtesy of Ryan (aka Rasmussen on DIYPlanner.com).
Even tho I was expecting the package, it was still a thrill to open the courier box and come upon the gorgeous gift box with its matching elastic band.
What was inside? Let’s see … there were soft colour pocket dividers, 3×5 size; 3×5 white and soft colour vertical tabs (with and without the Circa notches); 3×5 white and multi-coloured cards; and a Circa-Dex, too.
And how many years have I been a Levenger user? At least 7 years. I was going through my old diaries last night and came upon references to Levenger purchases dating as far back as November 1999. Some references included the promise never to order from Levenger again, but as you can see, I’ve not kept that promise.
It has been a love-hate relationship with Levenger. I love its products but I hate the exorbitantly high costs of having them shipped to me in Malaysia.
I’ve purchased a wide range of Levenger products, and my old diary entries indicate some early disappointment with items that did not meet up to the glossy catalog pictures. Recently, however, I’ve finally settled on using the Levenger Circa system as my primary notetaking system. The desktop punch was one of my earliest (and probably most expensive) Levenger purchase, but it has proved to be the backbone of my personal Circa system. With the punch, and the Circa rings, as well as notebook covers, I can make my own home-made Circa notebooks. My favourite feature is the Rolodex-style notches that the punch makes, that allows me to move pages within my notebooks.
Love it, love it, love it!
And thank you, thank you, thank you, Ryan and Levenger, for the most welcome gift!
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Original Post
Gift from Levenger
Related Sites
Levenger
D*I*Y Planner
Related Post
Notebooks
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Posted on 8 February 2007 @ 21:25 in Notebooks, Writing
I’d like to say I went on a notebook making frenzy recently, but that wouldn’t be entirely honest. The truth is yes, I did make 4 notebooks but not in a frenzy, not all at once, but one at a time.
The first was a 3×5 notebook with purple covers. This was followed a couple of weeks later by a pink covered 3×5 and a blue covered 3×5. And my most recent notebook – a Moleskine Cahier made with buff covers and containing blank, ruled and squared pages from 6 Cahiers.
Actually, these aren’t the first notebooks I’ve made. I’ve done A4 notebooks for work – dated pages in front, and blank pages behind – but found them to be too big. Next, I tried A5 notebooks, again for work, and again with dated pages in front and blank pages behind, and found them to be the right size for me.
And always there were the 3×5 notebooks scattered here and there. This was my preferred size for travelling, when I would carry a blank one, and allocate a page each to everyday I was travelling. On each of those pages, I would put the date and also the plan for that day. Throughout the trip, I would use the back pages to note what I did everyday, and then pull out the pages to put them behind the dated page in front. This then was my travel journal for each trip.
Why not just get ready-made notebooks? Lots of them available in bookstores and stationery shops.
Well, I am very fussy about my notebooks. First of all, I prefer spiral to bound. And not just spiral, but a specific type of spiral where the pages are not fixed and I don’t have to snap open any rings to take out the pages. Instead, the pages get pulled away from the spiral and put anywhere else in the notebook.
It’s a particular system I discovered quite a few years ago, something called Circa made by this US company, Levenger. The system is similar to a Rolodex where the rings are fixed and the pages have little notches that hook around each ring and do not fall out easily.
Almost at the start of my love affair with Circa, I bought the desktop punch so I could punch my own Circa paper without having to buy refills from Levenger. True to form, almost as soon as I ordered the punch, the price dropped by more than US$10/-. It is probably my most expensive online purchase to date; I still remember my bank calling me to ask if I’d made such an order to a company in the States. I’d replied yes, and approved the purchase.
I used to cut up thicker colour paper to use for the covers. Then, recently I realised I could use some 3×5 plastic folders that I’d bought from Levenger. That was how the purple, pink and blue 3×5 notebooks came about.
As for the Moleskine Cahiers, I’d been buying them whenever I saw reasonably priced stock at the neighbourhood Borders. But for some reason, I never took to the Cahiers, and especially disliked the perforated pages in the second half of each Cahier. The other evening, I had a flash of brilliance and realised I could detach the perforated pages and punch Circa notches in them to make into a Circa notebook. I used the original buff covers of one Cahier and filled it will blank, ruled and squared pages from 6 Cahiers.
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With so many notebooks, I don’t have a problem of having something to write in when I needed one. But what if I had to go somewhere and could only bring one? That was what happened yesterday evening. I didn’t want to bring a bag, and only had pockets and my hands to carry one notebook, my Palm TX PDA and my phone. I so wanted to bring along the Moleskine Cahier, but in the end, decided on the purple notebook. A fitting choice actually, as this is my everyday catchall notebook that I take with me most everywhere.
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