Here I am doing something I’ve been meaning to do for a few years – a planner post. And even including (*gasp*) a video!
Yes, I’m coming out, to those who don’t know it yet, as a planner nerd. I have quite a large collection of ring bound planners and travelers notebooks – I collect them like some girls collect shoes.
You can view the video I made or, alternatively, I’ve provided text and photos below if you don’t wish to watch the video.
On a sudden whim, I’m undertaking the One Book July 2016 challenge. That is, to use ONLY one planner for the entire month. And only one pen.
One Book July was started a few years back by Carie Harling, who is my absolute favourite planning youtuber and Rhomany of Romany’s Realm, another favourite. I can’t get enough of their planning goodness and they constantly inspire me.
Why is One Book July a challenge for me? Usually I have an A5 kikki.K ring bound planner I keep at home, an A6 Hobonichi that is my every day carry and wallet, and a beautiful tri-fold travelers notebook cover made by an Australian artisan.
As for pens, I’m a colour-coder. I colour-code because I’m a visual person. so dealing with one pen only is a challenge for me when it comes to planning. Granted, my ‘one pen’ is a Lamy Safari fountain pen, which I adore, so I’m not complaining much.
One Book to Rule Them All – July planner
So … for One Book July, I have chosen as my ‘One Book to Rule Them All’ my brand new Paperflower Design Studio (from Western Australia) purchase.
I’ve been a rabid Lord of the Rings fan since I first read it at age 13 (many decades ago now), and had to have this when I saw it. A unique feature of this design is the spine, which Glenda has made to look like a beautiful old leather book.
The inside front of the planner has two full length pockets. Inside I have a Midori card holder, a folder from analogstationers.com, and four notebooks.
The first notebook is a monthly planner made of downloadable inserts from Marsia Bramucci. The second is a Midori notebook I am using as a daily bullet journal. The third is the bullet journal that I usually keep in my work TN for my daily to-do’s, made by Bookbinders with the divine Tomoe River paper, and the last is my A-Z filing system, for passwords and other things.
The back of the cover has one full length pocket plus a small secretarial pocket.
The cover comes with two bookmarks with charms.
This is a very pared down system compared to what I usually use. There are no weekly planning pages – I do like to see a week at a glance. And the bullet journal makes it very unstructured. I have not moved any of my lists over to the ‘one book’, apart from some books I want to read (in case I happen to be at a library), and some wines I like.
Whether I can stick with this for an entire month remains to be seen, but I’ll give it a good ol’ try.