The Perfect Planner Set Up ??

Could it be? Could I have found my perfect planner set up?

I have quite given up on the idea of the perfect planner/set up -- then I realized that what it's all about is really the perfect planner for my current needs.  And that's good enough for me.

Backtracking a little bit, I've been working out of this set up since I switched back from a Midori Traveler's Notebook as an everyday planner, back in December, and I've made very few tweaks since.  (Barring, of course, re-arranging flyleaves, sticky notes storage, etc., and the switching out between planners).

On to the pictures.  (My dog snuck in on some of the photos and fell asleep right away.  I didn't have the heart to shoo him.)

I love the Fluoro Pink Original! I won't do a review as I know you've seen tons of them.  I just want to add that I wish they made all Filofax leather this way.

The absence of a lot of pockets doesn't stop me from loving it.  It just means I have to be choiceful about what I put in it.  Currently, I have some Post-it flags, note pads, hole reinforcements and stickers. The dog bookmark is just to remind me of my chihuahua.

The first flyleaf keeps everything together and keeps pages from running under the rings.


A top-loading envelope has an image I love for its color and message.  Doesn't hurt to be reminded to "count  your blessings" everyday.  I also put a pen loop inside the envelope for extra pen storage.







A flyleaf with Post-its to jot down quick notes, followed by the first divider.

The Notes section (left) opens up to a few Quotes I love.









Next is a tabbed flyleaf, followed by pages of jottings.  I take out these pages after I've done filing them away where they belong, or when they're no longer relevant.

The top bookmark takes me to the 1st blank page.

The To Do section opens up to a scrap of the Project Life divider I use in my weeklies. It's just for sticking on quick notes for throwing away at a later time.  I only have 1 or 2 pages of to do items here at a time. Longer-term lists are elsewhere.  (I'll write a post of how I manage my to do lists at a later time.)






The Blog section has another Project Life divider scrap.

The 1st page is a list of topics I want to write about, followed by a notes/outline section for each of those topics (left).



The Diary tab follows and I'm still using the Kate Spade planner pages which I still love.  A bookmark takes me to the yearly overview and a Project Life divider takes me to the week.  (You can go to the link to see how I use it.)



Each monthly overview is tabbed with just cut-up Martha Stewart tabs and I hand-wrote the months.  I kind of like the quirky hand-made look.  And I need the tabs to find the months quickly.

I carry only one Coleto pen in it at this time.

My color-coded categories are next which follow the system I've been using for years.  I'll elaborate on this in a later post.  If you want to know anything in particular, shoot me a comment and I'll make sure to answer your concern.

Flyleaf leads into color-coded tabs

Fun sticky notes

More sticky notes and stickers

At the very back, some fun sticky notes, stickers, and an envelope for flags, a ruler, and loose bits of paper.

Stickers, flags, ruler

(I tried the DIYfish Life Mapping color-coding system but I'm not sure if I want to continue with that so I'm using it as a page-lifter for now.)

And there's nothing at the back.






To wrap it up, here's why this system is working perfectly for me right now:

1. I let it grow organically.  I originally had only 3 sections and added the To Do tab when I thought I needed it.  Basically, I add and take away as needed.
2. I have everything I need in one place on a daily basis.  The Home Binder has other, non-daily reference items in it that I don't  need tocarry around with me all the time.
3. There's a minimum of tabs.  I can even reduce it to 2 or 3 if I wanted to.
4. The color-coded section makes things easy to find, and I never second-guess myself about where I want to file things away.  It's my 'filing cabinet' of sorts.
5. The Kate Spade diary is a key contributor to my planner happiness.
6. And lastly, I try to manage the thickness by occasionally purging and/or putting written items in their rightful place.

My system makes me happy right now.

Thanks for visiting!

Jan-Dec Index Tabs

Hi everyone!

Whenever I'm with my mother and/or sister, we always peek into each other's filos.  The last time I saw my mother, she asked me if I wanted these monthly index tabs.  My reply:  "Yes, please!"

All 12 Jan-Dec tabs run down the side so you see all 12 months at once.  Convenient, I think!


















Each month has a different picture on the front.  The design is decidedly feminine, I would say French-inspired, and very pretty and chic.

January tab

February tab

Different designs on each tab

One month squeezed onto one page

The current month is squeezed on one page at the back of the tab, obviously to give room for the pretty pictures.  This set was from 2006.  If you don't need a lot of room for a month-at-a-glance, I think this is a good idea.

The left corners of the tabs have rounded corners which I think gives it a nice touch.














I use them mainly as monthly markers for my diary as, obviously, the diary section is already obsolete. I don't know how I'll feel about them later as I can get tired of color sometimes.  Or if they'd take up unnecessary ring space.  Only time will tell.

And here are all 12 in the Calendar section of my filo.

I don't know what brand they are, I'm guessing Daytimer, but I really don't know because it doesn't say the brand anywhere on the page. It only says "Made in USA" in the right bottom corner. If anyone has any idea, it would be nice to know.

I'd love to be able to get some 2013 ones of these as I love both the design, and that the month is only on one page.  Very practical I think as you turn to the tab and see the month all at once.  If anyone knows what these actually are, I would appreciate the heads up.

And that's it, thanks for visiting!