Friday, November 21, 2008

organization is fun

Ususally around this time of year I am busy wandering in and out of various office supply stores, stationers, booksellers, etc. seeking out the most perfect appointment book for the following year. For some reason, I love doing this. It fills me with great pleasure and a sense of fulfilment when accomplished. And great hope that the appointment book will be well thumbed and full of notes and well, appointments.
I am very particular about this book. It must be a weekly, so that when you open it up the whole weeks worth of daily activities can be seen on two pages. And, because the majority of my appointments are in the evening, the time must go beyond 5pm, preferably to 9pm. I like to circle the time and write in the name beside it. This limits the choices severely. I usually like it to be a professional black cover, but often alternate between black and burgundy. Secretely, I would love to have one in one of the bright springy green or light blues so that I can find it more easily. But not pink, I hate pink. And, it must feel right - the paper has to have a certain weight to it, the cover mustn't be so flimsy as to get bent, laying flat is a bonus, as is a bookmark. It should also be of a size that fits easily into a purse, or even a large pocket, but not so small that I will lose track of it or have to write neatly with tiny letters. I have been known to spend a good month or more researching every available new appointment book before making my final choice.

Then last year, I found the perfect book. So perfect, I want no other. It doesn't have a time going well into the evening, but I've learned to not be bothered about that. Mostly I have only one appointment an evening anyway, so that was the first particular to fall by the wayside. It is a weekly, but not on two pages, only one. But the other page is lined and I find I am using that for notes more often than I thought possible (sure saves on the bits of paper I usually use then lose). It has a ribbon bookmark and an elastic band thingy to keep it all closed. And the cover is nice and soft and pliable. It lays flat when open. There is an envelope attached for keeping receipts handy. It is used by the most creative and freethinking people the world over (or so it claims). It is actually a pleasure to write in its pages. I write down thoughts and ideas and overheard conversations and books I want to read and things I want to buy and addresses (she says breathlessly) and can easily find them again and when they were important enought to be noted.

I managed to get it on sale for half price. Which was good because it originally cost $40.

And is a Moleskine

And I love it.
I cannot wait to get my 2009 copy.

But I will. Because, I am cheap. No, I am thrifty.
And I know that by the middle of January it will again be half price.

18 comments:

  1. I love datebooks, too. Mine is an August to August, comes in bright colors, and can be found in only one independent bookstore in Chicago.

    However, I love the idea of a note page across from the calendar~may have to take a look.....

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  2. I love your description of it, almost makes me want to get one but then it would be wasted on me because, well, I don't have much to put in :)

    And I'm also thrifty, no point paying more for something you know will be half price in a few weeks.

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  3. Can you get me one too? That is exactly the sort I have, except its on 2 pages...and it's bright red. I also get my diaries mid-January, so I'll drink to that too.

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  4. I have already got my 2009 diary and it already has appts in it! Mine is only for in the house as I use the calender on my mobile phone when I am out and about. It is just a question of remembering to keep both up to date so every sunday I check through both and make sure the coming week is all sychronised. Organised or just obsessed I leave that for you to decide!
    Mad Asthmatic

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  5. Robin: your almost personal daytimer! I like the newer bright colours.

    UA: I remember a time when I was desperate to have a daytimer but, like you had nothing to time. I was sad.

    Sagittarian: yeah, I've seen the red ones, but they seem to get sold out faster - or aren't as well stocked as the black.

    MA: If I had mine, it would have appointments in it too!

    MSW: I had no idea how lovely they really were.

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  6. I gave up on paper datebooks some time ago. I used to love the look and feel of my Day Timer, but, it just got too unwieldy. I far prefer my PDA nowadays. I still have the Day Timer case, as it has come in useful for other things. I will occasionally use paper notes for certain things, but, I still far prefer electronic these days. Cuts down on waste.

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  7. Mr Nighttime: I remember being excited about Filofax, but quickly found that unwieldy. There's something about flipping through the pages though that I find comfortable. But having to transfer all my clients addresses and phone numbers every year is a pain.

    Mainly, I just like buying a new book every year!!

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  8. Oh I love the tactile reality of a book! The electronic is all very well, but ... something you can feel & study at your leisure, without "online" or 'net access'?
    Priceless.
    xx

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  9. Meggie: and then there is the choice of pen to use...

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  10. I have a Daytimer with a lovely well-worn soft leather cover. The initial expense was fairly significant, but now I only have to get refill pages every year. They have tons of different kinds and colours and styles so I can change it up annually. They snap in like a little binder. I have a whole week at a glance with times well into the evening. I have all my phone numbers in a separate section in the back and lots of little slots and pockets to slide in stray bits of paper. Each refill package comes with some note paper and there's this cute plastic ruler/divider I can slip in to the current week pages so I'll always know where I'm at. I love my Daytimer. It will never be replaced by some electronic thing

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  11. I've settled on one I like because it has the week-on-two-pages deal and a line between each hour so I can fit in all my patients on any given day. I'd love a more interesting color than the black or burgundy or forest green I always get,but can't find a cool outside with a workable inside.

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  12. CotW: I used to have one with 15 minute increments which gave me lots of room to write patient info like name and tel#.
    Yeah, getting the outside to co-operate with the inside details is tricky.

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  13. Hey I read and got sidetracked before I commented, now have christmas sorted for a few people thanks to you :) They do a watercolour pad and a sketch pad too, perfect.. Thanks, Katie, x

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  14. Katie: happy to be of help!
    I wish I were an artist worthy of having a sketchbook.

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  15. I was going to say my husband has something like that but just buys refills, but I think xup explained it for me. I just write stuff on the kitchen calendar and even have silly stickers like a tooth for the dentist and scissors for a hair appointment. And if it's not on that calendar, I will forget it. I used to buy the little (checkbook sized) calendar books in my late teens and early twenties to write down all the stuff I did. Unfortunately I used a lot of codes because I was a bad girl and don't know what half the stuff means anymore.

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  16. geewits: that's funny - reminds me of a diary I kept as a teenager, full of initials and anagrams and now I have no idea who those initialled people were or what the anagrams meant. Or why I did that.

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