The elusive quest for 'planner peace' plagues so many of us in the Filofax and planner community. It's a bizarre phenomenon, born from the dark belly of commercialism and social media influencers, and fed by an insatiable desire to see our lives perfectly presented in between the pages of printed vellum.
I don't know about you, but I for one have really struggled on my quest to find 'planner peace'.
I've poured so much energy (let's not talk about money) into trying to force various planners and planner systems to – work for me, to look good, or to feel right – that I've often completely lost sight of the point.
I sometimes wonder if the big question I should be asking myself is not whether my planner looks, feels or works 'right' – but do I actually even need one to begin with? And if I do, what do I specifically need it for?
I've been taking some time to think about what I've learned about 'planner peace' in 2022 so that I can have a great functional relationship with my planner this year. I thought that I'd share my personal insights with you.
Maybe I can help shed some light on why you've struggled with 'planner peace'?
1. Less is more when you're trying to achieve 'planner peace'
The main reason I've failed at building great functional relationships with my Filofaxes as planners over the years was that I've always ended up feeling totally overwhelmed and lost inside of them...
...which is ironic, seeing as these are products meant to help us find our way through all of the chaos.
There are many things about Filofax planners that contribute to my internal struggle:
Firstly, there are the dividers...
- How many sections do I need?
- What should they be?
- Will I even use all the sections?
- I want more sections but I can't think what for!
- What if I write on the tabs and then change my mind?
- I'm only using two tabs, should I take the others out?
- What's the point in having a Filofax planner without all the tabs though???
- Should I just get a notebook?
Then it's the size of the planner...
- The A5 will give me loads of space to plan an awesome life...
- I don't have an awesome life though, and the A5 is far too big for it!
- The personal size still has great potential for stuffability, we'll try that...
- Oh dear, my life still isn't full enough to stuff even a personal Filofax!
- I know! I'll try a Slimline...
- Oh FFS – now there's not enough space.
Dare I talk about inserts...?
- Week on one page?
- Week on two pages?
- Do I need a monthly?
- Do I need tabs for each month?
- Why can I never keep up with my trackers?
- Why am I spending so much money on inserts?
- Maybe I should make all my own inserts?
- What kind of printer should I get?
- Maybe I should open an Etsy shop?
- Maybe I need a bigger planner for my new business?
- Argh!
I've come to realise that less is more...
6-months in I felt overwhelmed as I wasn't using it how I imagined. In fact, I only used one section - the diary section. The rest was just fluff, and VERY distracting.
So I got rid of ALL the fluff (well, I stored it all in one of my pretty Filofax boxes for later use), and I switched to my black vintage slimline Filofax containing just three months' worth of the Filofax week-on-two-page diary inserts and some note paper.
It was great. I loved how minimal and compact it was. Zero decoration, zero distraction – and it fitted beautifully into my tiny handbag, which meant I could take my planner with me everywhere.
I did miss having a whole year's worth of diary to hand. But the whole year simply didn't fit the cute but tiny rings, and so I had to make the sacrifice. This was true functionality at its finest.
The problem was that I was stuck with my idea of a Filofax being stuffed with a billion cool sections for all areas of my life because of what I see on Instagram and YouTube.
I've had to come to terms with the fact that the truth is my planner is never going to look like someone else's planner – because – my life and other people's lives look different.
I needed to listen to my own personal needs, and they were saying – less is more Zara!
And it was true, for me at least, and certainly for that time in my life.
2. A planner system will grow when the time is right
Towards the end of this year, I was beginning to feel like I needed more than my slimline could offer. So I moved back into my personal Centennial and it felt much more comfortable.
This was because my life was beginning to expand and I needed more space to express myself, and you know... plan! Soon my planner was beginning to look pleasingly stuffed.
It felt good, not because the planner itself was beginning to resemble what I thought a planner should look like, but because I was actually using it, and it was really helping me to organise myself and get my head straight instead of confusing me – which is the whole point of having a planner.
I also noticed that I went from being minimal and functional to add back a few choice decorative inserts that I had previously removed because they had been too distracting.
My planner was now naturally becoming an expression of my identity – as well as a tool to assist me in my life, rather than a pre-designed-to-within-an-inch-of-its-life useless disaster that was really upsetting and stressing me out! (Why are we doing this to ourselves ladies?)
Basically what was happening was that my planner was growing and developing alongside my needs.
3. Change is good
I've always struggled with my sense of identity. It's something that's linked to my struggles with mental health. For some reason I always find myself trying to attach my identity to external things, from career and business ideas, to relationships, and even to the things I own – like my planners.
In order to try and achieve some consistency, it has always felt stupidly important to me to find a planner that kind of defines who I am or reflects my sense of self. I had to 'bond' with it in some way, and it had to feel like it was part of me, or an extension of me, or a symbol of who I am as a person. Which is obviously bonkers.
I've come to realise and accept that as we grow, so do our needs, interests and preferences. I don't have to stick to the same planner to feel like I'm being true to myself. I'm not betraying myself or my planner. It's just a planner Zara, and it's totally okay to try something new.
So for 2023, I'm giving myself a fresh start with a brand-new Filofax planner – because it feels right, and I wanted to treat myself to a prezzy as my Christmas was so disppointing...
Regardless, my new Filofax and I are going to work on our relationship and grow together, because I have great plans for 2023, and a great planner is going to make things MUCH more fun.
Thank you SO much for reading my blog, I hope that you enjoyed it :) I absolutely love reading and replying to your comments, so please feel free to put your penny's worth below, because we all have different ideas and experiences with planners, which is what makes our community so interesting!
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