Friday 30 August 2013

How I'm using my Midori Traveler's Notebook!!

Hi guys!

Today's post is all about my Midori Traveler's Notebook!

I love this thing! ... well, actually, it's 3 things- Maru, my first Midori, which I got when I swapped my personal orange Osterley with Sara, and is now being used as my journal; Mido, my second, which is currently on vacation (waiting until I move back into him), and my as yet unnamed 'Raydori', which isn't actually a Midori TN, but a Midori-esque leather notebook holder made for me by the amazing Ray Blake of My Life All in One Place!!

L-R: Maru, Mido, and my Raydori


In this video, I show you the set-up of my Midori for August 2013...



... before I change it all up again!!

As you can see in the video above, for the whole of August I've been using my Midori as my diary (agenda, not journal), ideas notebook, and other stuff like that. It's a pretty simple set-up, especially compared to the complex set-ups you can get in Filofaxes, where people can have dozens of sections! In a Midori, you can have 1, 2, 3, 4 or even 5 sections, made of notebook inserts, plus some plastic pocket inserts, so it's easy to keep the set-up simple. And I do love how free that makes you feel- no over-complication like a Filofax can achieve, with millions (ok, that's over-exaggeration!) of dividers, lists, sections, etc etc. I just love how rugged and handsome Midoris can be too!

So why am I changing my set-up?

Well, actually, I'm changing quite a bit in my planning system tools.
When I've tried to use my Midori as my planner, in August and earlier this year too, it works well to an extent, but I still can only achieve a medium degree of planning. My Midori set-up is simple; but really it's too simple, and so most of the time I actually need the ability to add pages, move pages, make new sections, take old sections out, which I have only been able to achieve with my Filofax. I have had my A5 Aqua Malden Filofax set-up (almost finished) as my in-depth planner alongside my Midori- my Midori has my WO2P diary and ideas notebook, and my Filofax has all proper planning, lists, projects etc- but unfortunately I haven't been using my Filofax properly. It seems that when I split my planning between my Midori and my Filofax, I ignore my Filofax because I love my Midori so much, and carry that around more! And because I'm ignoring my Filofax, I'm forgetting about all of the important things I've planned out in there :S
So I'm going to not be using my Midori as my planner any more (don't worry, it will have another purpose!). Instead, I'm going to be using my Filofax (A5 Aqua Malden), and a diary/agenda made from a notebook (as I need a bound diary, not a loose-leaf diary in my Filofax, because I'm rubbish at archiving Filofax diary pages!), alongside each other. These two will work together as perfect partners! I'll do a blog post when I've finished setting these up :)

What will I be using my Midori for?

I'm still going to be using my Midori every day! It's going to be more of a 'nice things journal' (It's hard to describe!)
I'm planning on using 3 notebooks in here because I find that's the perfect amount to fit in a Midori. I've decided to have:
     1) Hobbies/projects/goals journal- where I record what I've done in my hobbies etc
     2) Random nice lists notebook- maybe with some sketching and a bit of scrapbooking too
     3) Commonplace notebook- I already have this in my current Midori set-up
plus my credit card pocket insert and ziplock pocket insert.
Basically, this is going to be for nice things I want to keep and look at often. I'm not a daily journal person, but I like writing down nice things in list form (my preferred way of writing things, I have a very linear brain!) and looking back at them when I'm bored. I'm excited to use my Midori for this because it's a lovely notebook holder, and like I said, I'm rubbish at archiving, and if I did these on Filofax paper I'm sure I'd lose them! So I love that I can keep safe them in my Midori, and I can carry it around the house or pop in my handbag! I'll be using it everyday, writing in it, decorating it and reading it when I'm bored, and I love that it will be fun and pretty and self-reflective :)

I'll be making this up this weekend, and I'll do a blog post on it soon :D

Speak to you soonly!!


Friday 16 August 2013

A5 Aqua Malden- Winner!!

Drum roll please...


And the winner is...




Natalyn Bradshaw!!!

She left this insightful comment: 

Open your planner every day. Even during those times when you feel stressed or feel like you don't have anything going on. When you get bogged down with life or stressful times and you don't feel motivated to use your planner, still use it. You can re-purpose it for a moment to write things or save things that are encouraging and uplifting, or write good memories that can help you regroup and re-focus. There are many great uses for a planner, not just for scheduling appointments.


This is such a perfect piece of advice for me, and I'm sure many others will find it useful too! I sometimes find it difficult to actually use my planner when I'm over-busy, or tired, grumpy, or feeling lazy! Or sometimes I feel like I just don't have anything to write in it! So this advice is great, and will help me use my planner more, and better!
I love this comment, but random.org picked her too!



Thanks to everyone who entered! You left loads of inspiring and useful tips, which I'm sure will be really helpful to loads of people! I'll definitely be using lots of them to help make me more productive! Thanks for taking part!!

Thursday 1 August 2013

Competition!!! A5 Aqua Malden! CLOSED



Hiiii!!!

Today I have a very special post for you... I'm launching a COMPETITION!!!


In yesterday's post, I told you all about my A5 Aqua Malden!! They are now for sale at www.filofax.co.uk in Pocket, Personal and A5!

Malden, Personal Organisers
Pocket
Malden, Personal Organisers
             Personal          
Malden, Personal Organisers
                                                                             A5


If you read my post Introduction to my A5 Aqua Malden... you'll know that I accidentally got sent two A5 Aqua Maldens from Filofax UK!
I've been in contact with Filofax, who have agreed that I could give away one of them as the prize in a competition!


*** COMPETITION!!! ***

So today I'm giving you the chance to win this gorgeous Filofax!!

The A5 Aqua Malden is made of antiqued buffalo leather, has 2 pen loops, 30mm rings, on the left a zip pocket, 3 credit card pockets and 3 larger pockets and a full length slip pocket, and on the right a notepad pocket. The A5 Malden is worth £105!

The binder you would receive if you win is the one you can see me unboxing in this video!



To enter:

Leave a comment on this blog post to answer this question:

What is your best piece of organisation/time management advice for using your Filofax personal organiser?


Rules:

  • The competition runs from 1st August 2013 (today) to 15th August 2013.
  • 1 entry per person. Any additional entries will be ignored and won't count.
  • This competition is open worldwide.
  • If you would like your piece of advice to be featured on Filofax's Facebook or Twitter page in their organisation advice series, please write (Yes) at the end of your comment. If you DON'T want your piece of advice to be featured, write (No) at the end of your comment. Filofax and Ideas Network have the right to choose which Filofax tips they wish to post on Facebook and/or Twitter, and may not publish all of them. 

Good luck!