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Thursday 18 September 2014

Organiser review 2014:

It's that beautiful, joyful time of year again, folks: new academic planner time.  Most universities have just begun their new terms, and crazy people like me have been drooling in front of 'back to school' stationery displays all across the country.

Last year I posted a back to uni stationery haul, and also a guide to my favourite academic planners.  After finishing university this summer (hopefully for the last time...) I decided to become a real grown up lady and purchase my very first Filofax style organiser which should last me for the foreseeable future.  Although I wasn't completely against buying a proper Filofax, the organiser I eventually fell in love with was from Paperchase.  I've never seen anything like it anywhere else!


My new baby is a wood effect, teal coloured A5 size organiser, with plenty of room for all of the business cards, inserts and customisations anyone could ever want or need.  It also cost £22 which (as long as I use it for at least a few years) is pretty good value, and cheaper than the Filofax brand.


Devastatingly, I can't find this exact organiser on the Paperchase website any more, but I bought mine in store here in Edinburgh, so there might still be a few lurking in shops if this particular planner tickles your fancy.  The website still has different designs in the same size, like this purple, floral pattern (£22), or alternatively a pocket organiser in the wood effect teal (£12).

Along with the organiser, I also bought a pack of A5 'To Do List' refills (£2.25) - because I'm a to do list obsessive! - and two A5 plastic zip wallets (£2.25) which I've been using in the front of my planner to store pens and post it notes.  The organiser came with an all important 18 month week per page diary insert (usually £5) included in the £22 price, making it even better value.


Although I might like to personalise my organiser a little more in the future (possibly with customised dividers or inserts for added functionality) at the moment I'm quite happy with the system I've developed over the last month or so.  I had a day to day style planner last year, but found that I never really used up the space on each page.  Going back to a week to week set up has been absolutely fine, and I love the flexibility of using inserts.

As you can see from the snapshot below I have a vague colour coding system on the go (blue for work, red for important dates, black for everything else).  I've also started using small post it notes to plan out my blog posts.  This means I can plan well in advance, but also easily move the order around if I want to change things, or if I simply don't have time to publish a post on that day.  Once I've written the post in question, I write it in my organiser, tick it off (because who doesn't love the satisfaction of ticking off a task once it's completed?) and throw away the post it note.  

I keep my every day to do lists on a larger post it note, stuck on the opposite page, and then another to do list over the page on one of the Paperchase refills, with more longterm tasks.


Do you have a stationery and planner obsession like me?  Thanks to Instagram, I know I'm not the only one!  Please feel free to share your own planner and organisational set up with me, I'm always on the lookout for inspiration!

2 comments:

  1. Do I spy your 'Singapore' pen doing the sterling work with the colour coding system???? LOL xx

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