Planner Setup 2016

Over the past few years I have tried out multiple planning systems trying to find something that works for me. I have not been happy with the size, or the insert, or the way I organize my information in my planner. For a while I considered giving up on paper planning, and just making a to do list on my iPhone. Before I actually went through with this I decided to give my standard size dark chocolate heirloom from Ray Blake... Well I have fallen in LOVE!!

I always thought this size would be too big, but it turns out I was wrong! It is exactly what I needed. I started using this planner with the same type of system I have always used and wasn't completely satisfied, but after looking at blogs, IG, and YouTube I got some inspiration and I now have a planner that is working for me! 

So lets jump into my setup! 

My traveler's notebook has four interior elastics (you can find my blog post about it here). I have four inserts, and a zipper pouch. 

On the front cover of my TN I have a gold binder clip that holds my year long monthly calendar. This sounds confusing but basically it is my interpretation of the calendex that I have been reading about a lot lately (for more information on the calendex you can check out boho berry's blog here). I don't need to be able to reference specific page numbers so I did not need that part of the calendex system. I ended up creating this chart to help me  reference important dates, without taking up a ton of space. 

Monthly calendar that covers all of 2016 and replaced my insert

Next, I have an insert for monthly tracking and monthly planning for my blog. Basically I made this insert out of graph paper and will just draw out my monthly tracker as I need them. 

Next are my two weekly inserts. The first one runs from January to April and the second one from May to August. Here I write in all my to dos, appointments, etc. I will do a more in depth post about my bullet system for this section, and my colour code, etc. 

Finally I have my notes insert. I use this insert to keep different bits of information that I may want to reference any time. This notebook will probably remain in here until it is full and I need a blank one. As of now it has notes on things such as, yoga routines, books I want to read/ have read, etc. 

Then there is my zipper pouch. In this I just keep sticky notes, stickers, my stencil, and some photos. 

My system has simplified and is much more organized now. I think I may have found the elusive "planner peace"! 

Hope you enjoyed this post and found some ideas for your own planner! If you enjoy my blog please follow and share with a friend! Also you can check out my IG account that is dedicated to my traveler's notebook, planning, and journaling. My username is Stephanie.Emmiline. 

Thanks so much for reading and have a wonderful day!! 

Happy Planning!! 

Heirloom Edition Traveler's Notebook

Hey TN Lovers!

Today I am going to give you an overview of my standard size heirloom travelers notebook from Ray Blake. I choose the dark chocolate colour, which is even more stunning in person than it is in photos! I decided on 4 interior elastics and asked for all the elastics to be black. Here is a photo of the outside cover and the interior (without inserts).

Front Cover (BTW that is a coffee cup charm)

Inside (W/O inserts)

Outside laying Flat

The person I ordered from as I said is Ray Blake from the blog my life all in one place (www.mylifeallinoneplace.com). You order by emailing him and he is wonderful to work with. This edition is the special heirloom edition which comes in four different colours: café au lait, dark chocolate, maroon, and mustard. The leather of this travelers notebook is extremely smooth and beautiful. While it holds its shape well, it is very pliable! Great for those who don't like really stiff leather, but also do not want a TN that flops open when they are holding it. I should also mention that this TN lays flat with very little to no training.

 This particular TN is slightly more expensive than the others, costing £35. However one of the really great things about buying from Ray is that he does not charge shipping!

I am absolutely in love with this Travelers Notebook! So much that I decided to use it as my EDC! I never thought I would use a standard size TN as my planner and EDC but I can't help myself because it is just that amazing :)

Also super excited because a family member has decided to purchase another standard size TN (from Ray) for me to use as my journal!! Of course as soon as that arrives and is set up in May I will be posting about it!!

If you enjoy my blog please follow and share with a friend! If you are interested in seeing more of my TN's and planner stuff add me on IG! My username is Stephanie.Emmiline. I post photos of my planner pages, my TN's, my journal pages, and my dogs! Would love to follow your TN IG's back!

Talk to you in my next post!

Xo, Stephanie Emmiline ✒︎

My Traveller's Notebook Collection

Hey Everyone!

I'm back to show you all my collection of Traveler's Notebooks. When I say collection I am referring to four TN's... which is not a lot in comparison to some people, but I am a poor student so that's all I can afford at the moment! :)

I will show you all four and tell you where they are from and how much they cost. I will do separate reviews on each one individually, so if you are interested in that keep an eye out for those! So lets begin:

My first travellers notebook is a standard size from Ray Blake. It cost about $70 CAD or £35 GBP. I use this one as my journal, and currently also have a recipe book in it as well.

My second TN is another from Ray Blake. It is a field notes size and cost about $43 CAD or £21 GBP. I use this one to track my health issues, keep notes, and I'm still trying to decide what else should go in here. This one use to be my planner and is well used! I like that this one scratches easily!

Next is my Field notes size ButeoBunker (found on etsy). This one cost approximately $59 CAD. I am using this one for tracking information such as online orders, books to read, etc. I am at some point add in bill tracking, or a food journal to this one, but I haven't decided yet.

Finally I have my baby. My personal size ButeoBunker. This is the TN I use as my everyday carry. It contains my planner (MO2P and WO1P w/notes), routine tracker, and "common place" book and a folder.

Hope you enjoyed this post. My next post will be a review of one of my travellers notebooks. So if you want updates when new content comes out please follow. If you like what you read please share with a friend! Feel free to leave any questions in the comments below. Thanks so much for reading!

Stephanie xo

Blog Update!

Hey everyone! 

So a little update for you all. I am guessing at this point you have noticed the name change and are thinking what's up with this? I didn't follow this blog. I change the name from the Filofax lifestyle to The Traveler's Notebook Lifestyle because I have found a new love! I have traded out my Filofaxes for Traveler's Notebooks and I have truly found my planner peace! 

The set up and content for this blog will basically be the same, just using TN's instead of Filofaxes. Hopefully some of you will stick around because a lot of the items and methods I use in my TN's will work just fine in a Filofax, and who knows maybe I'll convert some people!! :)

Anyway if you are new to my blog welcome and if not thanks for sticking around! As always thanks for reading. Follow for updates and if you like what you see share with a friend! 

P.S. New post will be up shortly! 

Stephanie xo

How I Use: DIYFish Weekly Chart

DIYFish has many different versions and styles of planner inserts and not all look the same. I personally use the personal size version 3 style 1.

Personal size V3S1 includes:

• A monthly chart
• A monthly calendar
• Week on 2 pages
• A weekly chart 

The weekly chart included in these inserts is much smaller than the one that comes with other versions. I really like the size of this one. It is incorporated into the weekly page but there is still tons of room to write things. 

Personally, I use the weekly chart for things that I want to specifically focus on that week. For me it is not meant to track things for future reference. I use this chart to make sure I am getting specific things completed in the week without having to assign them a date. For example, sticking to my cleaning zones for the house, this is not something I necessarily care to look back at months from now to see if I was consistent, but it is something that needs to get done during the week that does not have an assigned time to be completed. 

As always thank you so much for reading. If you liked this post please follow and share with a friend! 

Stephanie xo

How I Use: DIYFish Monthly Chart

DIYFish inserts are some of the most unique inserts I have come across while using Filofax. When I first purchased them I was unsure of how I would make use of the monthly chart that came with the set. From January to March I barely used that section except to track sick days from school. 

Now I have figured out what works for me and I use this section for two reasons:

1. To track tasks I want to do monthly 
2. To see how often I do certain things or to see patterns in what I do 

As you can see below I colour code this section to match the rest of my planner and because I am slightly obsessive about how my pages look I try to group the colours together because each colour represents something (Ex: Pink is for my dog).  

Not everything on this list is a daily task. For example, Plan week is a task I want to do on Sundays so I use this chart to see how consistent I am with planning my weeks. 

Some things I like to track on my monthly chart include: 

• Exercise (one to four times a week)
• Tracking my diet
• When I weigh myself (once a week)
• Wearing my retainer
• Planning the following week (once a week)
• Grooming my dog (once a month sometimes twice)
• Brushing my dogs teeth (few times a week) 

As always, thanks so much for reading. If you liked this post please follow and share with a friend! 

Stephanie xo

How I Use: DIYFish WO2P

I have been searching for planner peace since I bought my first Filofax in May of 2013. I have tried many different inserts and many different methods of planning. However, I think I have finally found something that just works!

After almost giving up on ever finding the perfect inserts, I stumbled across DIYFish on Etsy. I figured I would download the 3-month trial version and see what I thought. I mean what could be the worst that could happen? ... I wouldn't like them?

After a week of using the V3S1 inserts I fell in love! If you want a full review of these inserts check out my previous blog post here.

I have decided to break up this post up into four parts:

1. Part 1: WO2P
2. Part 2: Monthly Chart
3. Part 3: Weekly Chart
4. Part 4: Life Mapping System/Colour Code

I use the monthly fold out calendar (note this is different from the monthly chart) to write important dates and appointments. My colour coding is used across all sections of these inserts, but I will discuss that in a later post. Also on my monthly calendar I track birthdays and anniversaries by colouring a small triangle in the bottom corner. 

Next to my monthly calendar is a blank column, which I use to write birthdays and anniversaries. I write them there instead of on my monthly calendar because they don't take up valuable space in the small boxes. 

Next to my birthdays/Anniversaries column there is a to do list column. Here I write out all of the items I can complete from my monthly calendar. This includes items such as, appointments, tests, assignments, events, etc. I do not write important dates here (ex: no school) because they are not tasks or errands I can complete. This may seem redundant but it allows me to see what I have accomplished that month in one location. 

The following page is just blank grid paper. For a while I did not have a use for this; however I have decided that for my spring semester at University I am going to use this page to make a master list of all the school related tasks I have to complete that month such as, reading, papers, assignments, exams, forum posts (for online courses), etc. 

After this we get into the week on two pages. Here I write out my to do lists in detail for each day. I will break tasks down into steps if necessary, I list appointments, exams, reading, errands, and even notes on these pages. For school I will take items off the previous master to do list and assign them a date when they need to be completed. I do not keep a separate to do list, everything goes on my weekly pages. 

As always, thank you so much for reading. If you liked this post please follow and share with a friend! 

Stephanie xo