Day planners?

Ah well... "Gift" I'm only cheap when it comes to money in hand (mine or others...) Once its "mine" I'm set! ;)

I'll have to track down a store that sells them... Or bungee cord a legal pad to the binder! That way I can take notes, and have a calander as well...

I do need a decent pen for this... My Pilot G-2 (Favorite pen... besides a bic stick!) doesnt fit the pen holder! Bic sticks are rough because my last couple packs the ball in them has kept getting stuck! Doesnt matter how much I write with them in a day, it'll lock up! They must have changed something in how they are made... :( Hate it when manufacturers do that with "disposable" stuff. I like buying it once...
 
Do yourself a huge favor and read completely through their Goals/Values planning system.

Try it for a few weeks (in other words, go hardcore with it - do Everything it says). Then discard the parts that aren't working for you.

Over time, I've built up some sections and completely eliminated others. But it's terribly difficult to do that if you've never gone at it full-turkey.

That's why it's hard to give you detailed advice....what I've done I'm certain won't work for you - it's very custom-tailored.

But that, my friend, is the beauty of the system. (imho, ymmv)
 
I'm closing in on ten years with the Franklin system, Classic size, two pages per day. I need to take notes during the day and have found the smaller sizes are too hard for me to write into and be able to read at the end of the week:)

Since Covey absorbed them I've found the new systems they put out to be much too complicated--I have been through the Covey plan and read the books and I'm still scratching my head trying to figure it just what to do.

The basic Franklin plan works well with, as they say, maybe 15 minutes a day to work it. If you can find it, they used to sell a book called something like the ten basic rules of time management. It was written by the founder of the Franklin company and it's solid material.


Some pointers: I keep usually no more than three months of pages in at a time, more than Franklin recommends(they say one month). I need it because we work a quarterly plan and I need my notes. Get the hard case binder and sleeve and store the other sheets where you can find them when you need them.

Next, if you use the red tabs, make sure you have copies or a backup somewhere, especially if it's important info like credit card numbers. I lost my binder last August and it really screwed me up--nothing critical but I had a lists and lists of info I had accumulated over years(restaurants, Kinkos locations, books I had read, toll free numbers, stuff like that)and with no copy I have to start over.

I bought a new binder at Staples and it's ok, but not as high quality as the other ones I saw at Franklin stores, and it's missing some plastic page lifters that make using the binder much easier. Franklin Covey used to have a a lot of stores but they're down to just a few these days--check them out to see what else they offer if you can. A great binder is just a few dollars more and if you keep it a year or more it's worth it. Ditto with a decent pen or two!

I have a PDA--using it mostly for a GPS system right now--and would love to go with it as a planner but I just can't get into it yet. I guess i just like the paper too much. My latest time management dilemma is dealing with the onslaught of emails--talk about future shock :barf:
 
I'll try to track down the book!

Thanks again guys...

Maybe I need to start a pen thread now... ;)
 
I used the Franklin Covey system for about 5 years and it is a great system, kept me in line really well.
Then I got a palm, and it has some applications that worked ok, but didn't do everything I wanted.
Then I went to a Pocket PC and after the initial break-in period(for me, not the PPC) I love it. There is I believe a day planner app from Franklin Covey(I know there is a stripped down version for palm) but after getting used to it, I use the built in apps and a few add-ins. Just great. I can do all the normal day planner stuff, and be able to open and read/alter Excell and Powerpoint,Access, etc sheets just like a laptop, but with no boot time, and alot smaller size. Plus E-mail(I sync with Outlook and Lotus notes) full contacts, etc, all searchable too. And even better, to me, is that it is all backed up on my computer at home, and extremely simple to back up to CD for instance.
Everybody has different needs, and some people just don't like the tech, but it's worth looking into.
Jon
 
Hey guys, long time no post! Anyway I use a Day Timer "pocket size leather planner myself. My only complaint is that I wish I could "customize" it for what I need. Most companies send needless stuff with these planners. A good cover, calendar and a phone list are all I need. I would like to have a PDA but, I doubt I would use it for "date" keeping functions. Its too easy and much quicker for me to write my daily to dos.
A friend of mine in the guard has a real nice Covey brand planner. He got it on base. Its more of a man bag with a planner inside. I called Covey and had one sent out to me but after looking it over it was more than I needed.
 
I think I'm going to pull out a couple sections... the money management stuff...

I'm liking it so far, but I'm also realizing that I need to start carrying a watch! :p

Maybe I'll replace the battery in my old timex and pull one of the bands off, cut the other to size and hang it in the binder. (I'm not a watch wearer...)

Thanks again guys... I think this is going to work for me.

What brand pens are you guys using? :D Or really nice mechanical pencils. Mainly the type that dont wear out, but are easy to get lead/erasors for! I have a hard time with the cheapies cause the plastic parts inside wear out...
 
What brand pens are you guys using?
Click to expand...

You must be new here. Fisher Space pens, of course, or at minimum something made with Ti ;)

I do use one and they really are pretty great. Campmor has a lower cost version that's maybe $6, so buy a few and stash them. I also have/had a thin three color Rotring pen-pencil that comes in handy, or at least it does till you lend it out to a coworker and it never comes back. :mad:
 
I've been using a Franklin classic binder for the last ten years. Most of the time it has been filled with Franklin stuff. Last year I used dayrunner inserts to cut down on the costs. I also experimented with making my own pages on excel, an 8.5x11 sheet folded in half fits right in the classic.

I've also switched to using 2-page Weekly view pages along with 2-page month inserts. If I need more space within the week for notes and ToDos I use extra note sheets as appropriate. This way I can record all of my items and info and keep the whole year in my binder.

Last year I also discovered that Franklin is selling inserts through Target (called the 365). It is not as snazzy or dressed up as the other themed inserts, but it is still the F/C system. I bought weekly and monthly inserts and an extra set of note paper for ~$16 :D

My wife never really got going on the Franklin system and uses the slim weekly At-a-Glance Calendars.
 
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