And the Dilemma Continues…
Since last week, I have been pondering which inserts I’d rather use—the Filofax 2 pages per day or the DayRunner 2 pages per day. There are pros and cons to both:
- With the Filofax 2PPD, there is plenty of room to write my to-dos and appointments. DayRunner’s 2PPD lines are a little squishy, making me adjust my writing, which isn’t a huge deal but an annoyance to me. (1 point for Filofax)
- The layout of the Filofax 2PPD is clean and uncluttered. DayRunner 2PPD isn’t bad, but the ones I had to buy are of a garden theme, which is fine but not really me. If I stick with this layout, I’ll have to buy the un-themed version for 2012 (there weren’t any 2011 available). (no points added or detracted for either product since the un-themed DayRunner version cancels out the garden theme)
- I’ve been using Filofax 2PPD for a while, so I am used to their layout and have my own way of keeping track of my items, even if the layout isn’t ideal as compared to the DayRunner 2PPD. (1 point to DayRunner for having the more ideal layout)
- While the Filofax 2PPD Monday – Friday pages have one page for appointments and another page for to-dos and notes, Saturday and Sunday are just one page each, for appointments, whereas the DayRunner 2PPD has the same layout for every day of the week. This is a big plus for the DayRunner inserts. With the Filofax pages, I have to use a regular to-do page for my additional Saturday/Sunday information—not a huge problem, but an annoyance just the same. (1 point to DayRunner for keeping the layout for Saturday and Sunday)
- The DayRunner 2PPD has an entire blank page for whatever information I want to keep track of. Generally I would use this for my food diary, water intake and weather record keeping. But there’s enough room that I could add other information if I so desired. (1 point to DayRunner for additional space)
This week I will use only the DayRunner pages in order to give them the fair chance they deserve. I’m still wondering which I should use for the remainder of the year. I just can’t decide. My gut is telling me to stick with the Filofax inserts, but to be fair, I don’t know if that is because I really want to use them or if I just don’t like the idea of straying from the Filofax brand, mixing DayRunner with the rest of the Filofax inserts I have and use (2 points to Filofax for instilling such a strong sense of loyalty to the brand). It’s just my OCD talking. So by sticking with the DayRunner brand for the upcoming week, I’m hoping to decide which it is—if the issue really is the OCD and not the functionality of one brand over the other, I’m hoping that Laurie’s “calling the dog” method will enlighten me as to which version to use.
Many readers have offered their suggestions (see comments) as well and I have to say that my planner envy always has me taking other’s uses and suggestions into consideration and sometimes even leads me to try out new things.
Any other suggestions are welcome. I will be back next weekend to reveal the final (hopefully) decision.
Final tally: Filofax = 3 and DayRunner = 3. No surprise—it’s a draw…
Wow. You're so good. I'd stick em both in for a week, fill em both out, and then see which one I just loved more. Looking forward to seeing what you choose!
ReplyDeleteI've looked at your pictures on Flickr, and was quite surprised to find the lines so much narrower than the FF-ones! I can see your dilemma here.
ReplyDeleteHere's another thought: it seems that it's especially the Todo-section on the left that is very limited. How about writing the Todo's on the righthand note page? You could use every other line and still have plenty of lines available. You could even save some room on the bottom to make notes on the weather, without having to sacrifice Todo-space.
The notes on Excercise and Water etc. could then go in the Todo-section on the lefthand page. It doesn't seem that you will write long entries on Excercies and Water and/or Food, but I might be mistaken since you showed us an empty page.
In her book, Julie Morgenstern says to disregard preprinted titels on planner pages or to take them merely as suggestions, and to use the pages so that they will fit YOUR particular lifestyle. So, you've got here blessing ... ;-)
Rori - I had thought of that but then I'd have to update both and that's a little too much work for me. Plus, if I had the Filofax inserts in there, I'm sure I'd end up using them instead of the DR and I want to give DR the chance they deserve without Filofax being a bully and taking over. (This probably speaks volumes about which way I'll end up going.)
ReplyDeleteJotje - Thanks for the suggestion! I hadn't thought of that. Typically I only have a few to-dos a day (there are more items on my weekly list on the DR hot sheet), whereas the food/weather/water notes can get long since I will add notes about how I'm feeling and anything else I want to record. True, I could break up where I keep those particular items. In my mind though, they're usually in the same spot, so I'd have to break my mind of that pattern. Not a big deal really. I'll have to give it a try.
I've actually (if you can believe it) not read Julie Morgenstern's book but I do tend to use inserts the way that makes sense to me, even if the headings are different. Does this mean I'm an organizing "pro"?
You've got your dilemma bugging me! I can't even decide, and it isn't even my planner, lol.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I think you made a good point in your response to Rori- I have a feeling that you have your mind already made up :)
Two points to Kanalt for giving DR a fair shot!
LOL! I'm glad my dilemma is reaching across the country and possibly even the world. Thanks for awarding me two points - woo hoo!
ReplyDeleteDayRunner has so many varieties of inserts available with different lines and formatting that I'd give them another point for flexibility (especially since you gave FF 2 pts for instilling loyalty -- are you sure it's not just a matter of habit?)!
ReplyDeleteOops, guess I was thinking about DayTimer -- yes, the lines on DayRunner's inserts are all very very narrow. I don't use them for that reason, lol.
ReplyDeleteYes, in the personal size, daily format, there's not much to choose from. I am getting used to the narrow lines, but somehow I still feel I'm not jiving with them exactly. But I still have a few more days for my trial.
ReplyDeleteI gave FF 2 points for instilling loyalty for two reasons - because that's some power they have, and because it then made the score even and I could go on with my rant. ;)
I will do a final (hopefully) write up about this on Monday and let you all know what I've decided...
You may just not be used to them. You know how even a positive change can be a little uncomfortable at first. I'm looking forward to finding out what you decide. They are both good planning pages in their own way.
ReplyDeleteYAY - I finally got my Dayrunner leaves (well, actually they came last week but I was out of the country (Canada) on vacation so just got them yesterday).
ReplyDeleteYou are right - the lines are way closer together - even compared to the Daytimers (portable Flavia) that I am currently using. However, I do like the layout of the 2PPD of the DR. The other thing I will have to get used to is the lack of color - as you may know/guess, the DT Flavia is very BIG on color (which was my main draw to them in the first place because creative I AM NOT and was a tad-bit jealous of all the pretty planner pages being posted by artists on Flickr).
I bought the 2012 pages and so far, I intend to use them.... haha - the year is still early enough, though, for second/third thoughts.... Didn't Zoe just post something about FC pages????
Good luck with your own experiments!
~AspireToBe
Question: On the monthly pages that I presume are before the dailies, do the weeks go Sun-Sat, or Mon-Sun.
ReplyDeleteI love the way FF does this as I prefer to be able to see my weekends together. Thanks!
Sorry for the delay in posting comments and a response - I was offline for a few days. I will be posting a detailed decision tomorrow. In the meantime...
ReplyDeleteSavannah - It definitely took me a while be able to make a decision. However, after having used them for a full week, I have reached one.
Aspire - Did you get the PRO version? The garden theme is doable - a little color but not over the top. Zoe did just post about FC inserts and I will be addressing that tomorrow as well...
Rori - The DR monthly pages have the weekend broken up. The week runs Sunday to Saturday. I too prefer the FF Monday to Sunday layout since that is how I plan my week. It's not a deal-breaker for me though. I could use the other format if I had to. I am not yet using the DR monthly pages, as I wanted to make sure that I was sticking with them before transferring all of my information.
More tomorrow! =)