The Dilemma, The Decision

So, it has been a week since posting about my big insert dilemma. After this week I have come to a conclusion about the DayRunner inserts.

I love the layout of these inserts. They work well as far as providing much needed space for everything I keep track of in a day. However, I just can’t get over how small the spacing is between lines. True, maybe eventually I would get used to it. But how long do I have to go on testing this theory if I’m not enjoying the act of writing on the pages to begin with?

For now, I have returned to the Filofax 2 pages per day layout.

However…

Zoe’s recent post got me to thinking. Franklin Covey offers some great inserts as well. Really, the only reason I have not used them in the past is because they are a little wider than the Filofax inserts. So while they fit into a personal Filofax binder, they run to just about the edge of the binder (unlike the Filofax inserts which are narrow enough to leave some space between their edge and the edge of the binder). But, after seeing Zoe’s Flickr set, the FC inserts are a pretty good fit in the Malden. So I ordered the 2 pages per day layout and some new tabs (I can’t use the Filofax tabs with the FC inserts—since the FC pages are wider, I wouldn’t even see them). The daily pages have the same layout as the DR inserts but the space between the lines is very close to that of the Filofax inserts (thanks to Zoe for sending me a picture illustrating this fact).

It will take about a week or so for these new inserts to arrive. If I happen to fall back in love with the Filofax inserts, I can simply return the FC inserts (I will, I tell you!). Or, if I decide they are too wide for me to use, I can return them and I will have saved myself the time it took to transfer all information from my Filofax inserts to the DayRunner inserts.

In regards to the FC inserts, my plan is to use the monthly pages for all future planning. I’ll keep 2 months worth of daily pages in my planner. I can either continue to use my Filofax weekly pages for additional future planning, or give them up. Originally, I didn’t like the idea of giving them up. But I’ve not really been using them for the past week anyway, so I think I can safely do that. And if not, the Filofax weekly pages will work fine even though they are not the same width as the FC inserts.

Of course I will post about the FC inserts once they’ve arrived and a final decision has been made. In the meantime, I feel like I’m in a state of flux—there are unused weekly pages in my binder and only a week’s worth of daily pages. I will be happy when a final decision has been made and I can once and for all set up my binder in a manner befitting a well planned life.