Paperblanks Midi Ventaglio Rosso Journal as Day Per Page Planner

Merry Christmas everyone!

So I've already changed my mind about what I'll use as my day per page planner for 2013.

For the past two years I've used a day per page planner to record each day in addition to my weekly planner (which I use for all planning, scheduling and goal-setting). For 2013 I'll be using my weekly Plannerisms planner, of course, which I'm very excited to use! But I've gone back and forth a lot on which day per page planner to use.

I like a fairly large page size, but I like to carry the book with me absolutely everywhere and if it's too big and heavy I tend to leave it at home.

For most of 2012 and 2011 I used a pocket size Moleskine day per page planner, but finally gave it up a few months ago because the page was just too small for everything I wanted to write and record each day.

In my post on my 2013 lineup I predicted I would use my large Moleskine day per page planner with the Magenta cover. I love the color and Moleskine's open daily format, but the book is just a little too big and heavy to carry everywhere. I carried it in my bag for a few days and it's more weight than I want to bring along with me everywhere.

I considered going for a leather A6 size daily, because my favorite DPP I've ever used was A6 size and I loved how the book felt in my hands. But I feared the pages would be too small like the Moleskine Pocket was.

Yesterday I showed my husband the large Moleskine (too big), a 2009 Time Traveler A6 day per page (too small) and my Paperblanks Midi size Ventaglio Rosso journal (perfect size). He, wisely, said, "Why don't you just make your own in the medium size book?"  Of course!

Originally I had been opposed to doing this because I couldn't fit an entire year in one journal due to too few pages. But I realized I could fit six months in, with plenty of pages for notes. The book is the perfect size (4 3/4 by 6 3/4 inches) to carry everywhere but the page is still big enough to write a lot.

Below you can see my Midi Paperblanks is the Goldilocks of the planner sizes. The Large Moleskine (left) is too big for me to carry everywhere all the time and I end up leaving it at home most of the time, which defeats the purpose of having it on hand for recording expenditures and other notes. The black A6 diary on the right is nice and portable, but the page size is a little too small and for the past two years I've been wanting a larger page size. I think the Paperblanks Midi will be Just Right! 

It's the same size as two of my all-time favorite day per page planners: my Russian diary and my DIARYYYYY TWOOOOO THOOOOOOOUSAAAAAAAAAND, so I already know I like this size. The page is a good size for writing details, and the book is small enough to go with me everywhere.

And it's such a beautiful book! I've been trying to think of a really good use for this book ever since I got it. You can see my review of it here from last spring with lots of photos of the features.

I would have happily bought a Paperblanks Midi size day per page planner, which is available with several beautiful cover options (including this exact same one), but it has a fatal flaw: Saturday and Sunday share a page. I must have Saturday and Sunday each on a full page.

So I went to work. My date stamper saved me a lot of writing. I wrote the days of the week in a different color for each month, for variety.

**Edited to add: I'm using some of the extra pages in the back of the book as an index of events, like how Patty uses her index pages in her Franklin Covey. It's a line for each day so I can write any major events for quick reference.

I'm also experimenting with some features in this book that I've been wanting but have never found in a day-per-page book. If I get my Daily Plannerisms planners published for 2014 they will contain these top-secret features!

I taped Filofax maps into the back pages along the holes so I can still open them out. Here you can see my world map, and I also taped in my Scotland map (not shown.)

I tucked the address booklet from my pocket Moleskine 2013 Star Wars planner into the back, which looks really cool. That way I can transfer it to the next notebook I hack into my day per page planner for the rest of the year.

Because it has fewer pages than a day per page planner (240 pages, to be exact) it's slimmer than a normal DPP. And it has a cool metal clasp and decorative page edges that add to the enjoyment of using the book!

Because I wrote the dates in myself, I had the book start yesterday so I could start using it immediately instead of having to wait until January 1! I'm really excited about this as my DPP and I'm very happy I found such an excellent use for this beautiful book!

Have a wonderful holiday everyone!! :)