2011-2012 Moleskine 18 month planners available now (already!)!

Yesterday when I received the tweet from The Paperie UK (@thepaperie) that they have the 2011-2012 Moleskine 18 month planners (click through here to see their page) already, I could hardly believe it!  Is it that time of the year already?

Yes. Yes it is.  (It's never too early for New! Planners!)

First of all, I want to pat The Paperie on the back for offering us the chance to buy planners for next year in February. Wow!!

Second, I have to force myself not to panic-buy these planners in every size, because they do sell out very quickly.  If you wait until July when they start, they may very well be gone by then.  One year my sister decided she wanted one in August and had to search far and wide, and then was very lucky to find one at all.

I love these planners for their excellent layout (which I reviewed the 2009 version of here and the 2010 with monthly calendars here).  The week + notes format works very well for lots of people in various circumstances: students, parents, business people, anyone really.

I love that they start the week of end June/ beginning July and go all the way through the end of the following year.  That way you have a 6 month window in which to begin your planner. There's lots of reasons why this is useful.

Those of us jonesing for a new planner mid-year can start it right on the first day.

For students, teachers and parents in the US and Scotland who start school in August, you can start it then and use it for the entire school year.  Here in the UK I've discovered that many of the academic year planners begin in September, when England starts school.  That's too late for those of us who start in August.  The 18 month planners give everyone starting school in autumn the opportunity to start the planner at the beginning of the school year, no matter which month you start school.

Something else I could do with this planner is something I've thought of for awhile: begin a new planner on my birthday (in October) and use it for my entire age year.  I could label the spine with my age and "2011-2012."  I don't know many other planners that could go October to October. I don't think I'll actually do this though because it doesn't follow the academic or calendar year, so it would break up the year in an odd and not-useful way.  I have a friend whose birthday is December 31st, she could do this!  Anyway, I digress...

I hope Moleskine has kept the monthly calendars with the days as blocks to write in, instead of reverting back to the months as columns which were in the previous-years' Moleskine planners. I know there were a lot of people who cried out for the return of the monthly columns, so much so that Moleskine made them available as printouts on Moleskine.com (although I can't find that template now).  But the monthly block-calendars are so much more useful for those of us who need to visualize each month.

I love the idea of buying a planner now that will go all the way through 2012.  I have a freakish desire to plan ahead as much as possible.

I'm trying to resist buying one right now for a couple of reasons. I am really loving my Quo Vadis Minister weekly planner, and I don't have any desire to change from it.  I don't really need the Mole.  It has failed me in the past. And, I don't know what my planner needs will be in Indonesia.  My Minister might continue to work great for me all year. Or I may find new and glorious planner possibilities there.

But can I resist buying the Mole?  It appeals to me even if only for the comfort factor.

Will I?  Won't I? ...  ;)