Manual Labor

It's that time of year again: the time to sit back, page through my planner from last year & decide if I want the same sort again for next year.

in 2010, I used an at-a-glance my father gave me for Christmas. The size of a beach novel, it had the date at the top of the page with lots of lines underneath for writing whatever I wanted. I liked it because it wasn't trying to control what I was doing with the space: I was free to write the details of assignments, to-do lists, & my schedule for the day in whatever order I pleased.

However, I stopped using it soon after graduation. Since I no longer carried my backpack, I didn't have the space in my purse to devote to a glorified list-keeper, & it became an item I would use to plan out my day when I wouldn't be leaving the house.

Which makes me wonder if I have a planner problem, or a purse problem. At any given moment, I am trying to carry my
-planner
-sketchbook
-NYC Moleskine
-Novel to read
...in addition to my wallet/phone/headshots/detritus that I "need" to live my city-centric life.

I have been considering converting to a filofax, since it's essentially a glorified binder. I can keep my lists, some drawing paper, & my pages of addresses/things to visit all in one place if I just buy the hole punch.

The problem I see with the Filofax is... that it's a glorified binder. Why should I pay $55 for some cardboard wrapped in fake leather when I'm not going to use ANY of the papers they provide?

Which leaves me with the new mantra I've decided to live by in the coming year: "I can do it with what I already have." I can organize myself, I can put together an outfit, I can make somebody a card with all of the crap I have already accumulated.