School Week: Planning

So to kick off this week, I will describe a little bit how the classes are set up, and explain how I put together my planning.

I registered for 2 different classes this year. I have 6 papers to hand in in each class, up until the end of April. I have specific deadlines to respect for the papers. If they are not met (even once), I'm out. After that I'll first sit for the exams mid-June, then again at the beginning of October. Right after this second round of exams I'll start next year's classes. I sit twice for the 'same' exams (=same program) because the first is just for the degree, the second to work towards a national certification. If all goes according to plan, I'll repeat that for the next three years, and then work on a thesis for another three years, and then graduate and receive the certification :)

Now I'll take you step by step through my planning process. I realize how boring that might sound to some people, and can literally hear the footsteps of my readers leaving... I'll try to add some picture to spice things up though :)
To start on planning this project, I first worked out how much time I could spend on it each week, and when that would be. I jumped to my 'distance degree' project page in the 'Projects' section of my Chameleon. The section already existed since that's also where I did all my research before I actually registered. I wrote down my usual (and optimistic...) working hours, set aside two/three days for 'sports', and figured I could study for 2 hours 2 nights a week, plus a good 7 hours on Sundays. At that time I hadn't realized that I'm not able to study for 7 hours anymore... but anyway it amounted to 11 hours a week.

Then I printed out a yearly calendar to use only for this project, and wrote down all the papers hand-in dates. I figured I would start planning backwards from them, since they are the only thing 'imposing' me a rhythm of work.

From there, I looked into each class what chapters needed to be done for each paper, and, working backwards for the hand-in date, assigned weeks of studying to each part of the class. I summed it up in a table, because it wouldn't be readable if I put it on the calendar (but if you have an idea around it...!!)

Now I can see what chapters I need to have studied each week, and I know I need to study around 10-15 hours a week to get there.
Each week I go over my plan, to see if I sticked to it or not, and write in my diary what I'm supposed to do the coming week. Of course, it's color-coded, orange for my classes :)

I can haz editing skills

My initial plan of studying only three times a week for longer periods of time is not working out too well for the moment, as I already said, so I find myself working around an hour everyday instead, and more on weekends. In order to keep track of the time spent studying, I use this very nice little application, Timesheet. It's intended for much bigger projects than mine, you can export the data and stuff... I use it because it's very pretty and easy: just press start when I start, pause for break time, then done... then I can see the data for that day, that week, and so on.

That's it for the planning part. So I have a section dedicated in the 'Projects' part of my Filo, with my master plan, and then the more detailed program goes into my diary. As for a lot of things, my phone and apps help me :)

Hope you enjoyed this post, and I'll see you tomorrow for the rest of our school-week!

My new set-up, part two

I've been reading about Getting Things Done for a few years now. I've always been an organizational geek, so when I discovered David Allen and his system, I was in heaven. I read everything I could find that was free, especially off the official website, because I'm poor thus cheap! That means that I only read the book this summer, when I had the opportunity to borrow it. I wasn't disappointed, and decided to include a bunch of GTD ideas in my set up. I won't explain the whole system here because I think you guys basically know the principles of GTD, but if anyone wants to talk about it please let me know in the comments!
So my new set-up is a balance between the cutesy I love, GTD ideas, being plain enough for work... perfectly adapted to me :)

As I was saying in my previous post, I now take this binder more or less all the time with me. It starts with the same cards as before in the cards slots, I only added my ID and some business cards, as well as a blue BIC pen in the pen loop. You'll see I try to color-code my entries, and blue is for the 'personal' stuff. I also have a pencil in the second one.
I have the fly leaf right at the beginning, with a variety of post-it notes on it. Right behind it there's a sheet protector and then some draft paper. I took the calendar pages I haven't used and turned them upside down. I did 'erase' the dates to make it less confusing... This part is basically my 'capture' area. I'm trying to make it easy for me to collect my ideas and thoughts, wherever I may be : small post-it notes to quickly jot down something, sheet protector to insert a note I might have taken from somewhere else, blank pages...

Right after that I have my registration page, personal information page, and my 2012 goals mind map.

The next section is my 'next actions' and 'waiting for'. Like last time, I used washi tape to mark my tabs, this way I can reuse the section page easily. In this section I have, again, a bunch of blank pages. The context is written at the top of the page, and actions and waiting fors are separated by these pretty postcards, on which I put Tracy's Martha Steward for Staples tabs :)

The next section after that is the calendar itself. I start with a year calendar I printed off the internet, and then monthly calendars I made and printed. They have a section at the bottom that uses Ray's monthly planner main parts. I decorated them with the tape Tracy sent me. Here I write the main events of the day, like trips for instance. I also use them to track my weight.

Then I have my week on two pages calendar. I try to color-code my week so it is more readable. Black ink is for work, blue for personal, pink for sport, brown for blog, and purple, bright blue, green, orange for everything nice :)

I write down the appointments in the time slots, use the remaining of the column for to do list and a summary of my day. Most of my to-dos are on the next actions lists, so in the calendar you'll only find things to do on a specific day.

After the calendar I have a 'Projects' section. It starts with a list of all the projects inside, and then the main ones are identified with Tracy's tabs. I have Finances (I designed my Finance sheets, so I could follow my budget), Sport (with my C25K training plan, list of workout, etc.), everything about our move here (budget, plan of the apartment with dimensions, shopping list, infos...), Next summer vacation... There are a few more blank pages here as well so I can insert them where I need.

Then I have my 'Someday/Maybe' section. For the moment it's just a list of things I may or may not pursue... This section feels very liberating, I must say! It allows me to think about things I may not have the time or money to do for the moment without feeling guilty.

And finally, my 'References' section, of which I am most proud. I decided to organize my references with my alphabetical tabs. I have a first sheet here on which I have my access codes to a bunch of sites, written with a code of course. Right behind that I have a 'work' page where I put all the important contacts from work + my MS exchange access to Outlook. And then, I have a summary of what is behind each tab. For instance, under 'EF', you'll find a page about Filofaxes :) (more specifically, ideas about set-ups). So behind these tabs I have the corresponding contacts, and then a few references. Under 'OP', with my organisation-related notes, I have my GTD notes.

And then, we have some business cards, and my beloved notepad.

Here you go, my new set-up! I really like it, it's easy to use, and to find everything I need. The only thing is that it's quite heavy...
What do you think? Did you see any ideas you liked? Do you use GTD? Have you solved the 'I need all this with me but my back is breaking' problem?

My new set-up, part one

Every year, I feel like September is the best 'good resolutions' time for me, and that it's truly my beginning of the year, much more than January. This year it's even more so, as we had a true back to school period! We left our previous jobs around June, moved out, moved in with my parents for the summer, then both started new jobs in a new country we had to move to early in September. And just like when I used to start school, I found myself in need of a new planner with a new system. I actually did call it back in June in my first set-up post)

As you may recall from this post, I used to carry my Malden Pocket in Vintage Pink around with me all the time, using it as my wallet and writing everything in it. Then my Chameleon A5 in Aqua Blue was my stay at home Filo, where I would detail my day and think more long term.
With the move and then a new job beginning, it became more and more difficult to sync both my 'stay home' A5 and my 'always with me/wallet' pocket. Also, I needed something much bigger for work. Not necessarily because I've lots of work that I want organized, but because I need a place to vent and something to use that will make me feel better and a little excited about my job. But more on that later!

So I decided to transform my stay home A5 into my one and only Filo. My beautiful Pocket Malden is being retired for the moment, and it breaks my heart because I love it so much, with its delicate leather and wonderful smell... I miss stroking absentmindedly at the cash register. I'm glad my wallet is leather too :)
So now I'm only with my Leon. My blank pages and archives are all in my A5 Finsbury. I adapted the Getting Things Done system into this binder (a little bit), so I'll tell you more about that in a different post. In a third one, I'll tell you how exactly is the binder set up and drown you in pictures! I bet you can't wait :)

Poll -- Your Filo & a job interview -- RESULTS!

Hello everyone,

I'm back from my interview! I'll tell you in a second how it went, but first, the poll results:

Thanks a lot for you 36 people who voted!

• 63% thought it was ok to take your Filo to a job interview, to use it to take notes.
• 44% thought it was ok to bring it to look up info you have researched before.
• And 16% wouldn't bring it under any circumstances...

If the matter interests you, please also have a look in the comment section of the original post!

So I did take it to the interview. Actually, it turned out to be 2 interviews... As we discussed in the comments, I took a not so cute Filo (the Chameleon), and got all the cuteness out of it (stickers and so on), so it would look professional enough. Rest assured, it still looked handsome!
I only used the notepad at the back both times, to take notes. Neither interviewer seemed phased by it, they treated it as they would have any notebook.
During the first interview (that one went really well) the interviewer said how much they would need me to be organized. I showed my Filo, and Leon made a good impression :) During the second one, which didn't go so well, we never talked about the Filo and the interviewer didn't look at it weird or anything.
All in all I would say the Filo itself made either no impression or a good one. Now pray for me as I'm waiting for their final answer....

Re: Poll -- Your Filo & a job interview

Hello everyone,

Thanks a lot for helping me with my Filo dilemma! I got a lot of comments on the post, and votes in the poll on the right side. Thanks a lot for sharing your insights on the matter with me! Given the discussion we've had so far, I'll take the Filo with me ;) (it's this one, which has all my notes about job searching. Of course my Malden will come as well, since it's my wallet!).

I'll be gone next week, to take this interview, so I won't be able to reply. But please keep the discussion going, and don't forget to vote! Also, send me good vibes :D

I'll try to comment during the week but can't promise. I'll make a post on how the interview went and if the Filo had any effect when I come back. By then, the poll will be closed, so I'll also be able to give the results. 

Thanks again everyone, and see you next week!

Poll -- Your Filo & a job interview

Hello,

As you may know, I am currently looking for a job. It is lonely and sort of depressing, and I often find myself getting very absorbed in small details.
The question on my mind these days is: should I bring my Filo to interviews? As you may have seen in my A5 tour, I have a whole section dedicated to job search, which could be really useful during an interview. But I am concerned with the impression I would give to the interviewer.
What are your thoughts? You'll see a poll on the side of the blog, please participate, but also feel free to discuss in more details here in the comments! The poll will be open for 2 weeks.

Thanks for your help!

Leon, my Stay-at-home Filo

Hey there,

So here we go for my first set-up post/walk-through. I'm excited! Get ready for a lot of pictures, because picture-heavy posts are my favorites when it comes to Filofaxes :) I'm sorry these are a bit blurry!

In my first post, I explained that this A5 Chameleon was the second Filo I bought. I had been using the pocket size for almost 6 months by then, and I was starting to feel limited by the size. I love that the Pocket is so portable, but sometimes I would feel frustrated, especially when I was trying to write up my day in the evening. I tend to use my Filo as a planner, for future events, as an organizational tool, when my time is a little tight and I need to put more thoughts in planning the day, and as a record of what happened, gluing bits and bobs in it. So, I decided to get an A5 Filo that I would mainly keep at home. If my job were to change, I would then think about taking it with me to work, but that wasn't an issue at the moment (and still isn't). I will do a separate post where I describe my Pocket 'on-the-go' Filo.
I received this A5 Chameleon just as I was quitting my job and going to spend the summer at my parents' house, so I have some difficulties setting it up. Because, you know, I'm not in my 'real life' right now, if that makes any sense?? Anyway, except an update of this set-up when September arrives :)

On the left hand side of the cover, we have 8 credit cards slots, one bigger slot, 2 slip length pockets and one zipped length pocket. I don't keep a lot here. I have a few stickers in the slip pockets, some post it flags and Tracy's paperclip. In the credit card slots, I keep personal pictures that I printed on Moo to the right format. I don't use the pen loop because, as the binder stays at home, I have access to ALL my pens :) When I do need to take it with me, I usually take a pencil and a ballpoint pen with me.

The very first page you see, behind the transparent fly leaf, is the registration number. I'm paranoid I might lose my Filo (which stays home...) After that, there's the personal information page (well, really, only my name and email address), and then the Filofax informational pages I decided I needed (EU Members, Religious Festivals, Notable Dates). That's the end of the 'introduction' part of my Filo.

Then we go into my 'objectives'. First I have a mind map of my main goals for 2012 (roughly). I made it cute with different colors and stickers, and put it in a homemade protective sheet (just an A4 plastic sheet cut in half and repunched. The washi tape is here to help punch trough plastic).

Then we have my first divider, on which I put one of the tabs Tracy sent me, and behind which I have my monthly goals. I've created a template for those that I adapted from Ray's monthly planner. I've been using them to set up goals every month and review them at the end since February, and love it so far. It's been very helpful, in improving myself.

My next section after that is 'sport'. I tried to keep it pretty vague. In it you'll find a Couch to 5k training plan (with the pink tab) that I printed off the internet, and that gets checked off every time I achieve a step, a Workout Log that I drew on some squared paper (4 columns: date, type of workout with room for comments, duration, distance if applicable), and a few interesting articles on fitness I punched and put here. I just put some washi tape on the tab of the divider, wrote the title on it and added some Winnie the Pooh stickers. As I said I'm fairly certain my set-up will change when I'll go back to the real world, so I tried to do tabs that I could easily modify.

The following section is my diary. I put one of Tracy's cute stickers on the divider (the character seems to be scratching his head in a sort of 'duh?' attitude; too cute. Sorry the picture is so blurry!).

I start with the year overview that came with the Filo. It's far from perfect, I very much prefer the horizontal calendar where each month gets a column, but I haven't yet found a way to print it out on my own. I know, I'm pathetic.

But then you can see the month on one page I did, adapted for Steve and Ray's template. I think I only changed the look, and added a Notes column. Oh and there of course you can one of Tracy's goodies, again :)

Then we go into the diary. I use Week on 2 Pages, column, because it came with the binder, but it's actually my favorite format, so that was nice. I usually first write down the appointments in front of the time, then the to do list of the day where there's room left, and then write about the day where I can!

The three next sections are dedicated to current projects. The first one is about the things that need to get done where I am now and during this summer. The second one is about planning after September. The third one has everything I need about my current job search.

After that, we get into a 'References' section, where I keep important information, a list of things I like, a list of Zen habits, a summary of Christmas gifts exchanged, and a page about my Filofaxes' structures. Then I have the alphabetical tabs behind which are my contacts (addresses, not email addresses or phone numbers, which are in the computer or the phone).

At the back I have blank paper, which I use to sketch, the business card holders (in which I keep mainly contacts needed in my job search). In the last pocket I have the Filofax notepad, which I use a lot, and I use the space left behind it to stash any letter or paper I need to take care of.

There, you have it, my Leon! I hope you enjoyed this post, as much as I enjoy reading about your set-ups! What do you think of him?

Look what the Postman brought!

Hey there,

I have a funny story for you today. See, I was reading Tracy's blog one day, and she was having a contest. We had to tell her what we would buy from JetPens if we had $25 to spare, for her and us to share. This is a very fun contest idea I think. First, because, well, it's JetPens. Like it's difficult to build a wish-list from that store. Anyway. It's also real fun because you chose things you would like Tracy to discover too! I had a lot of fun building my list, which amounted exactly to $25. And guess what, for the first time ever, I won something!! Exciting! Except... I didn't know I had won. You need to understand, I really like Tracy's blog, I read it everyday, I follow her on Twitter, and her blog is in my RSS feed... how could I miss the numerous posts she did about the winners, especially the ones not giving her their addresses (oops) ?! Anyway, I did miss them... I only realized I had won when Tracy understood who I was from chatting on Twitter ('You're HM??'). Now I don't know if you know, but Tracy is a very nice person. Of course I don't really know her, but from reading her blog, her interactions with people on Twitter, and exchanging myself some emails with her, I can tell you, she's super nice. You're still not convinced? Well guess what. Even though the day to mail out the contest gifts to the winners was long passed, Tracy asked for my address and send it to me. When I received it this morning, I was over the moon (is that the right expression?). AND, to top it all, she included surprises!! Now you're convinced, right?

Here are the pics, in situation, in my Leon (because of course, I use my gift in my Filo!):

Here it is! My beautiful elephant tape holder!! And look at that tape: one roll with animals and one with cars! You can find it here

And here are all the extra surprises I got! Some blue Martha Stewart notes, some purple Post It flags, some cute removable tabs, on which I put a golden sticker, a very pretty pink flower, a little sticker, some '!' flags, another cute little sticker, and a little hot dog!

Thank you sooo much Tracy for this package!