One of the first purchases I ever bought to start my adult life was my Filofax. I loved that I could keep my day organised in one place in a beautiful leather diary. (There is a magic in the smell of leather that always intoxicates me.) For years I faithfully used a Filofax to organise my day. Then I started writing full-time and the Filofax remained unused in the bottom of my desk drawer. I just didn’t think that a Filofax fitted my working-at-home creative lifestyle any more. I wasn’t attending meetings and keeping up to date with business appointments. So why did I need an appointment diary? I simply didn’t.
But there is something both actionable and relaxing to writing down a day’s plan. As of late last year I started becoming more interested in tracking my writing. I needed something to track my writing to-do’s and tracking how much writing I was getting done. So I started the hunt for finding the perfect app, tool, method. I tried out a number of iPad apps and zoned in on a few favourites…But something was still missing. I realised I missed writing things down with tangible pen and paper. As a self-confessed irredeemable stationery addict, I have beautiful notebooks all over the place. But I wanted something more structured than a notebook.
I needed a Filofax style planner again. I got out my old Filofaxes but they just weren’t zinging for me. They reminded me of sales targets, left over memories from my past in sales. They were also all in a personal size (A6) which was the perfect size to throw into my handbag while out and about but didn’t suit my at-desk lifestyle now. No, I knew I needed a fresh new style of planner: one that didn’t look so business-like. I knew I loved the leather ring binder style but wanted something more feminine, more creative and less business-like.
I found the perfect planner. The lilac and gold KikkiK large (A5) planner. When the planner arrived (about a month ago) I knew this was my perfect planner.
The leather is beautiful: soft to the touch and with a delicious squishiness to it that my Filofax never had. The colour is just amazing. My three favourite colours have always been red, mint green and all shades of purple. There was a mint colour available in this planner but since I already had a mint Filofax I wanted a colour I didn’t already have. So this purple with the accent of tiny gold diamonds is perfect. I also love that KikkiK refreshes their colours every season which means that once each colour sells out, there is a new colour. I love limited editions of anything.
When I was on the KikkiK website ordering my planner, I couldn’t resist getting some gorgeous new stickie notes. Because you can never have enough stickie notes.
Getting Personal
Wow, what a difference it is to have a planner now compared to some years ago. I used to always just stick with the standard Filofax insert refills because really they were the only option. But now there is a gold mine of DIY templates online to personalise and customise your planner.
I loved the KikkiK notes, to-do (the fact that the to-do is tearable is fantastic), monthly and weekly inserts that came included with my planner but I wanted a daily planner insert as well. So I started hunting around for the perfect one. After many fun trial and errors of downloading a few different designs and even designing one myself, I still wasn’t happy.
Until….
Design Your Day with Day Designer
I stumbled across a beautiful planner, designed by Whitney English, that hit the nail on the head for how I needed a daily planner to look. The only problem was that it came in a large A4 coil format. But to my joy, there was a downloadable undated template that I could print out and then insert into my beautiful KikkiK planner.
- I love that this template is undated. This way I don’t have blank days scattered throughout that hound me with guilt.
- I love the times that have been put there. From 5 – 9 (no definite am/pm: perfect for a night owl). Also although this section is traditionally used for appointments/meetings I use it mainly to time-block my day. So I schedule in my exercise and my writing as blocked out times. I can still use this for appointments as well.
- I love the top 3 priority to-dos. This way I know that I must get at least these 3 to-dos done for the day.
- I love the “quote” section. For a quotes junkie I love theming my day with a quote so this little addition is wonderful to a daily planner.
- Likewise I love the “download” section as a Brain-dump.
- I love that there is a section for a daily gratitude too.
Overall I am thrilled with my new planner. It is the first thing I go to on my desk in the morning and there is a supreme feeling of ticking off what I have achieved at the end of the day. I am thrilled to be back to paper&pen daily planning. I still love my many productivity apps as well but there is something special about a tangible paper&pen planner that lives on your desk/in your handbag. Now the test will be to see if I don’t succumb to more KikkiK planners in other colours. For now I am supremely satisfied with this one.
Tell me how you plan out your day?
Are you all digital/paper&pen/hybrid?
Tell me about your favourite planner/organiser?
Kim Koning 