Planner Temptation is something that strikes us all. Whether we are perfectly happy with our setup or searching for something different, Planner Temptation can strike at any time. Anyone who has been reading my blog for awhile knows I frequently succumb to Planner Temptation!
Something that has helped me resist Planner Temptation is recognizing my triggers. For example, last Monday I went to the Philofaxy meetup at Filofax/ Letts and met Gordon Presly and Charles Letts. Learning more about their company and products definitely tempted me to try a Filofax again. And handling Nan's gorgeous Cuban Filofax and seeing how she uses it made me miss using my Buckingham (and made me want a Cuban too!).
For those of you who haven't followed my multiple-decade long saga with Filofax, I used a personal size Filofax successfully for many years until I decided I needed a larger page size. I tried the A5 Filofax multiple times but at nearly 2 1/2 pounds/ more than a kg it's too big and heavy to carry everywhere, so I switched to bound books to have the same page size in smaller, lighter books.
But often I get tempted back. This time I realized I went through this exact same temptation last year, on the Philofaxy Edinburgh meetup where I bought my Malden Filofax! I used it for awhile but it was too big and heavy to carry along with my Plannerisms weekly planner (which I absolutely must carry everywhere) so I switched back to a bound daily book instead.
Another Planner Temptation that happens every year is the desire for a Moleskine 18 month weekly notebook when they start in July. I bought one every year for several years in a row, despite knowing the day spaces are too small for my needs and my pens bleed through the paper. This year I finally managed to resist, because I knew my 2014 Plannerisms planners were coming out and I wouldn't use the weekly notebook at all. Planner Temptation successfully resisted!
I see a lot of people on Facebook saying they were happy with their system until they saw someone's post/ video about their Filofax/ Midori/ Arc/ etc. planner and now they are tempted to try it! Seeing someone else's success can be a big trigger, even when your current system is working just fine.
Can you identify your Planner Temptation triggers?
And as always on Fridays, feel free to discuss or ask about anything planner related!
I can.
ReplyDeleteNew planners are only truly tempting if they are scuffable Nubuck type leather, in brown, or if they are dark forest green.
Dark green Filofaxes are astonishingly thin on the ground, which is why, when two came up on eBay in the same WEEK, I had to bid on both of them, just in case.
Pockets, ring size, zips, are all completely irrelevant, if it's vintage and green I'm gone.
Thankfully, brown Nubuck is a little more "available".
Am always tempted. Succumbed just yesterday to an expensive frivolity that won't work but I just had to have it - http://art.papaya-store.com/papaya/cards-paper/calendars.html. Trigger? Found one of these for 2010 in a thrift store, filled out by a young woman whose life was so exotic (travel to luscious destinations for jewelry shows) that I figured having the same planner might just transform my own. Have you ever wanted to fantasy-fill a whole year as if you were living the life you would really like to have? I want to do this (just to see what that might set in motion!) and might now that I'm buried in planners I won't be using. BTW, this person left a page in her book with her logins and passwords for various financial institutions and airlines. Makes me wonder how her planner ended up in the thrift store.
ReplyDeleteYes. When people post pics of anything in a bound format that they use like crazy--you know when the pages get all filled up and look so cool? Yeah, that does it every time.
ReplyDelete*IDEA* Fantasy fill a planner! "Yesterday, Tom Hiddleston called me and asked me out!" LMAO!!!!
My Time Traveler journals arrived today! I ordered online Nov. 6 and received a shipping confirmation Nov. 12. They were sent media mail so delivery time was pretty quick for Florida to Nebraska. I think the online descriptions are not accurate as both are the same size (the blue and the fuschia with the heart); they each weigh 316gm. So I would guess the 176 page description is accurate. Shipping seemed high at $15. But I am very happy with them. Did you ever get an answer to your email inquiry?
ReplyDeleteHi mstraat, I want to know more about your Time Traveler journals!
DeleteFirst, yes, I did hear back from TT customer service. The medium fuschia non-hearts and purple small journals that I want are due to arrive in the shipments with their 2014 diaries, which are delayed because they had a shipment damaged en route! Which is a horrible thing to happen this late in the year for dated products, so I really feel for them. Their products are so good they are worth the wait!
Thanks for the weights of the journals! I wonder why the blue one says it's 352 pgs and costs $25 and the fuschia one says 176 pgs and is $20 if they weigh the same. If the page count is accurate, the paper in the fuschia one should be thicker than in the blue one. Can you tell any difference in the paper? And is the paper white in both? Oh, and can you please measure the ruling? Thanks for any info! I'm anxiously awaiting the shipment because I think this might be My Ideal Notebook with the white paper and soft-feel cover!
I really think the journals are identical so no idea why there is a price difference. The paper appears to be the same. It is white with 7mm line spacing. There is a 25mm space at the top with the word "date" and the first line is darker than the others. The bottom line is also darker with a 14mm space below. The lines end 10mm from the outside margin. There is a white ribbon marker. The book doesn't lie flat so will see if that happens later. The covers are so nice--but you already know that part. :-)
DeleteThanks for this info! My day per page Time Traveler didn't lie totally flat at first but did with minimal training, so hopefully these will too. And if they do, they sound perfect!!!
DeleteCarol from Maine here. Sure, it happened earlier this year. I came across this website,watched the videos and had to have it!
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteI'm always tempted when my schedule goes crazy and I don't feel that my set-up is working for me. Then I start playing around with other options. But I always end up back where I started. Guess that means I should stick it out, huh?!
ReplyDeleteSchedule craziness always triggers me too. And I always (ALWAYS) get triggered at transitions: start of the school year, moving, starting something new.
DeleteI so understand this situation!
ReplyDeleteI think what triggers me is when I see a new system and it looks so simple and easy. Bonus if it's in a leather format.
I also tend to like "loose" styles of planning, like GTD + R, the Bullet Journal, or simply using what you suggested to me oh-so long ago: a simple monthly calendar and a notebook.
Recently, I also have discovered size also matters. I really love my pocket Kensington--it's beautiful and a gentleman on Flickr has posted loads of his pocket Filofax and I love how he uses his. However, try as I might, his life is much simpler than mine (he's retired--I'm a school teacher), so it doesn't work.
I like the smaller size, but I need space and I'd rather see my whole list of items to do, versus individual items (like on writing each task on a single index card).
But heck, I'm still looking for my 'perfect system.'
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Christine, have you ever contacted the girl? Sounds like she lost the book by accident ....
ReplyDeleteJotje - no email, no phone number, just logins, passwords and security questions answered. Really such a dangerous thing to put out for sale in a thrift store and a reminder to all of us to keep that information out of our planners! Am following up with one of the jewelry suppliers right now just in case they can help me find her.
DeleteOh, that's easy . . . reading your blog tempts me shamelessly. -grin-
ReplyDeleteSo I gave in to Planner Temptation: a few days ago I decided I'd rather have a Cuban in Chili than Ink, because I have enjoyed my red-covered day per page diary so much this year and wanted the cheery red color. Today at TKMaxx I found a personal Cuban in Chili for only 29.99 GBP!!! (Normally 68 GBP!) So I grabbed it!! It was the only Cuban they had. Meant to be? I'd like to think so!
ReplyDeleteI think it was fate, for sure! As far as my biggest Planner Temptation triggers, pretty much every time I read Philofaxy's Web Finds or read any reviews about Planner Pads or other vertical weekly pages, I get tempted to redo my whole setup :)
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OMG yes! I found one of these just a fortnight ago, in a huge tkmaxx in Bournemouth when visiting the in-laws! It was virtually the only filofax in the shop, the other was a pocket chameleon whose the popper had come off the strap. I clutched it (the cuban) in my hot little hand all the rest of our way around the shop until hubby realised how important it was to me and bought it for me (we're supposed to be on a budget) :-)
ReplyDeleteSadly after only a week I knew it wasn't for me - which is sad as it has been my number 2 favourite model for a while now. But it does not stay open on its own, and actually because it's pristine I'm scared to use it the way I normally would (which is quite roughly). I hadn't realised before how relevant it is that all my filofaxes are second hand!
Anyway I'm happily back in my personal Ranger (£10 on ebay including shipping, thank you very much!!) and am trying to convince hubby to either adopt the Cuban alongside his A5 zipped Finsbury (a cast-off of mine when I got my A5 holborn, which is my dream model), or swap to it entitely. He works free lance and is finding the A5 a bit cumbersome to carry around with the rest of his equipment.
Ooooh, a Ranger! Enjoy that purchase=)
DeleteJust recently I came across someone selling an orange compact Metropol. I've been lusting over any-size-bigger-than-mini orange Metropol ever since I laid my eyes on one but I JUST received a Filofax in the mail and I can't bring myself to buy the Metropol. So I had to turn it down. :( It was very tempting. Maybe I'll get the burnt orange Calipso in the future. I really want more orange coloured Filofaxes to be available!
ReplyDelete