In the past when I've used a very large planner, I felt crazy pulling it out in front of people. This was one of the reasons why I stopped using my Extra Large Moleskine planner a couple of years ago, and same with my A5 Filofax binder too.
Interestingly, it's less about feeling like people are judging me for having such a big planner. It's more about feeling self-conscious about it. My life is really not that complicated. What's wrong with me that I feel like I need such a huge planner?
And to be honest, flipping expansive pages in a gigantic book in public to write in an appointment just made me feel nuts.
Now I don't carry a huge planner. My day per page A5 is pretty big, but it's well within the limits of sane-sized planners. And my weekly Plannerisms planner is very normal-sized and slim, no craziness there.
In recent conversations I've heard from other people who feel crazy using a too-big planner in public. Do you feel slightly nuts when you whip out your massive planner in front of other people? Or do you figure, hey, whatever works?
Yes, when I use an A5 ring-bound planner in public I sometimes feel crazy, especially in business meetings when everyone else is just whipping out their tiny smartphones..... and some people comment on the big "brick" ...... but that never stopped me from using it. But interestingly since I had to downsize due to back and shoulder problems to a small ring bound planner ´on -the-go´ I sometimes had a strange feeling when among other paper-planner users: mostly they use FF personal size or A5 planners and I felt a bit lost with my little book. I have a very busy life with two jobs, house, garden, family....and I got some questions like `you can really organise everything with this little thing???´ So maybe it depends also a lot on your surroundings whether you feel crazy or just in place .......
ReplyDeleteExcellent point, and I hadn't thought of that! If everyone around you uses big planners and you use a small one, what that feels like. It never occurred to me because I've never been a small-planner user. :)
DeleteIn time terms though... getting out any paper planner what ever size is considerably quicker than getting out a smartphone to enter an appointment or to check for a free date... You will be sat there waiting pen poised whilst they are tapping the screen and muttering through every single action.
DeleteReaction when I pull out my Filofax organiser is always an admiring one when people go 'wow look at the beauty of that'
I've had comments in the past about the size of my A5 Finsbury in work meetings but everyone was carrying A4 size note books so it's not that bad really.
I did once experiment with using an A4 appointments diary. It was horrendously unwieldy. I use an A5 Filofax at home, but don't take it out. Partly because it's far too heavy, but also I would feel a bit daft. I really don't need to access that amount of information when I'm out. I don't want to be one of those women staggering along with a huge tote when everyone else has cute little handbags!
DeleteI do have a colleague who uses an A4 page per day planner. She only writes a couple of lines each day and we do all feel she uses it to make herself look busy and important (she's that sort of person)!
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Delete@ Steve:
DeleteYes, I definitely agree (and I especially like the description of the muttering- > so true;-)): pen & paper is much, much faster than electronics - and I really love the situation when someone is on his/her mobile desperately looking for a piece of paper to write some info down.. realising you can´t use both functions simultaneously ;-))
Why would you care what anybody thinks? Life's too short for that.
ReplyDeleteYeah I don't think I explained that very well. It's more like, I must be crazy to think I need this. In the privacy of my home it doesn't matter what I use. But when I take it out in public I realize how nuts it is. Kind of like I don't realize how messy my house is until someone comes over and I realize they must notice the laundry pile in the hallway and stacks of books and planners on every surface.
Delete'Like" !!
DeleteI feel the same way, Laurie. I tried using the Franklin Covey classic but I hated the conspicuous way it made me feel. I don't care what anybody else thinks - I thought it was nuts.
DeleteAhh, I see.
ReplyDeleteWell big seems to work. I would love to have small, but it doesn't take long for me to feel cramped and I go big. I have had the stares and comments, but they are far and few between. They have made me uncomfortable at times and sometimes I can make a joke, sometimes you cringe (like that pile of laundry) andsay, "hey, this is life!" Like Rori said, who cares what others think, it makes me happy and keeps my ark functioning.
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ReplyDeleteHas anyone made you sny comments about that?
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way when I use even a personal size Malden. I tried to use it as a wallet for 2 days, but I'm not comfortable pulling it out. People don't use planners here or I haven't seen them use them. Most what I have seen were small a6 notebooks to have contacts, and they are people of my mother's age. I've seen people at work using a day on one page A5 planners but not all, and it is only for work.
I wrote a blog post on this very thing a couple of weeks ago and the word I used was "uncool". When I pull out my fat little Personal, I feel like it's cute and compact compared to my A5. That thing just feels like I'm pulling out a textbook. But I love using my A5 at home. Maybe it draws too much attention? Like when Bluetooth headsets first came out and you'd see some guy walking around the store talking out loud. Everyone would be looking at him wondering why he's talking to himself. Now it's commonplace.
ReplyDeleteI think that's why I like the Uncalendar - it looks so much like a regular spiral bound notebook that nobody has given it a second glance at my desk or in meetings (though I wish the pages had more subtle coloring).
ReplyDeleteThe size of page should be decided by how much you have to write, record, detail each day. It's physics, I have this much information on average each day, my hand writing takes up x amount of space therefore I need a page of size Y plus a bit!
ReplyDeleteOnce you know what page size to use on a regular basis then use that size planner/organiser. Go too small and you will end up with lots of extra notes pages, sticky notes etc... OK but there's a risk of them obscuring things getting lost etc.
Steve
Yes exactly Steve!
DeleteAgreed, Steve.
DeleteThis is why I love your blog! I definitely feel crazy, even just pulling out an A5. The personal sized filo and the plannerisms planner are the perfect sizes for me. Any bigger and I feel like I've just pulled a phone book out of my purse
ReplyDeleteI've felt self-conscious not about planner size, but about the fact that someone else may notice how often I am carrying yet again a different planner. And then I have thought that maybe no one else cares enough to notice what I am using anyway.
ReplyDeleteMy Franklin Covey Classic size planner weighs 3 1/2 lbs. It's a big beast with 12/8 size rings, and I wouldn't have it any other way...unless I could get my hands on a Monarch!
ReplyDeleteHoly moley, 3 1/2 lbs! Do you carry it with you, or leave it at home?
DeleteYup mine is 3 lbs. on a very lean day.
DeleteWow! When I was using the FC Classic it was 1.8 pounds and I thought it was heavy.
DeleteDepends on my day. Sometimes it comes with me to work, other days it stays at home. Nephi (some of the Filofax owners had named theirs, so in Franklin Covey style I gave it a good name out of the Book of Mormon) is a massive brick of a planner. Since I'm used to this size, I sometimes wonder how people with, say, a Filofax Personal size or smaller, get by...
ReplyDeleteLate to the party on this one. I definitely have felt that some of my bigger planners just looked absurd which made me feel foolish pulling them out in front of other people. I don't think that these other people noticed, it's really a personal thing, that I notice and it makes me feel silly. My zipped Franklin Covey compact with the 1.5 inch rings definitely fell into this category. It was just so thick and large and just seemed conspicuous. Conspicuous in a not-good manner. Interestingly my current green open FC with 1.5 inch rings does not share this too-big characteristic, it seems normal. I definitely feel that A5 looseleaf systems are too big.
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