Getting From There To Here

Although I have been writing professionally for most of my adult life, I have just been reminded by the last blog published by date that it has been a solid minute since I have formally submitted a blog post. One pandemic, two surgeries and three moves later, I am very happy to know we have settled into a lovely adobe-style compound in Las Vegas, Nevada, complete with desert rabbits, pipe organ cacti and a persistent thirst for hydration. I call it a compound because it is. I quite like it that way too. Most people can’t even find the entrance. I’m good with that. 

Most of my unprofessional writing has been in the form of social media posts, written for somewhat rapid consumption on Facebook at Plannerology and now also on Minds at Plannerology. Somehow, Instagram still feels like a quiet place for me, and I managed to showcase the nicer points of the past few years with ambient imagery. However, every time I sat myself down to write-write, I had some inevitable emotional fire that needed squelching. My book chapters faded into the jet stream of good ideas and I began to despise “having to” maintain a sense of pulled togetherness which normally occurred naturally, and now, evaded in the midst of a health, family, emotional and world crisis- becoming a well-blended, silky smoothie of WTF-ness from 2018-2021. 

None of my planning systems seemed to be working. I couldn’t keep up with what needed to happen from one event to the next. I got the basic fundamentals of planning and I knew what was needed to be done but I couldn’t follow through because I was just too busy hurting myself in the fires of life. I don’t like overarching themes when they point out my deficiencies. I do like them when I have outgrown my deficiencies and can use them as stepping stones to keep growing. However, in that moment of pain and sorrow, I despise being able to see my own faults and worse yet, calling myself out on them-‘cause it’s not like I can’t see them. 

Now, things are different. I’ve committed to a Whole Foods Plant-Based diet, I’ve had my spinal fusion surgery, which has made being mobile an absolute joy and I am diving headfirst down the minimalist path of being able to let things go because they no longer serve me here. They served me when I was there. But they no longer serve me here. “There” is where my breakdowns lived. “There” is where I was. I am no longer there but I am here. “Here” is where there is no need to have or use the things I once used when I was there. I did use them there. But it didn’t work out for me there. So, I moved from there to here. Things were bad there. Things were bad when I moved here. But once I moved here, things got better, slowly. Now that I am here I can take my well-deserved breath of hot desert air and create an oasis of mindful, slow living. I can sit in shaded path of morning and evening routines while sipping on the mojito of simple actions and decision making. 

I found a general sense of myself hidden in the spaces between my objects. I didn’t need to look very far. Push a few things to the right and suddenly I recognized myself in the created space. Remove the items altogether and the visual space created welcomed me. The visual noise ate up the visual space, so my commitment was to remove the noise; The side effect was creating space. Peter Gabriel has a song called “Signal To Noise” where he points out the ratio of turning up the signal, while turning down the noise, radio terminology used to indicate the clarity of the desired sound coming through versus the undesired background noise, aka Signal To Noise Ratio; SNR. 

So the formula is simple really, but you have to be in a position where you can eliminate the noise. When I was there, the noise is all I heard and that’s because I was meant to deal with eliminating the noise. How can you eliminate something you can’t hear, see, feel, taste, or smell? The only way through is through. If you sidestep it, it’s still there and now you’ve cheated yourself on time having to start going through again. If you are in it, up to your eyeballs, keep going through, you are almost out. 

Keeping a notebook of things you want once you get here is a great way to keep you motivated and solidify in your mind’s eye what you actually want. You may kind of, sort of know what you want but do you really know what you want? The only way it actually happens is if you write it down. You can put it on some digital list but if you don’t access that list daily, it doesn’t do it’s job of reminding you what you want, does it? Writing it down on paper, printing it, setting it up as your dashboard, tacking it to your mirror, and generally putting it in a place where it is access by your eyeballs at least 3 times a day is where the RAS starts getting activated. You remember the Reticular Activating System, right? The RAS? It’s what makes things happen when you think about making things happen. It works for good and bad so please be mindful of what you are thinking about. The RAS works when you don’t. Set up enough thoughts that are written down and your RAS will take it from there to here (see what I did there?).

How do you determine if there is too much noise versus signal? Easy. Are you able to do what you want, when you want and how you want? If yes, then your signal is coming in loud and clear. If not, you’ve got interference. The noise is getting in the way. Leave. It. Out. 

November Doldrums And Why Planner Fail Is Often Scheduled Now

You know it. That age-old dilemma of wanting the space of an A5 but needing the footprint of a Personal. There is no greater wringer of hands than this conundrum. Worse yet if you use larger sizes like I do. B5. Oh dear, B5 you are so grand. Large enough to make A5 blush and small enough to feel puny next to Letter or A4.

Court is now in session and the Queen of Planner fail for November is presiding over this divergent topic. My current disaster includes a delicious Filofax York Deskfax with mostly Filofax inserts. A series of luxurious Gillio A5s cast aside like yesterday's newspaper and the neat and tidy argument of a gaggle of Gillio medium sized planners in varying models Mia Cara, Amica, and the rarely photographed Trifoldasaurus.

There has to be a point where a line can be drawn and defeat or victory can be declared. 

Deskfax/B5 <---Something Gillio REALLY needs to consider when looking at the plethora of women like me who work for a living and need to function out of a larger display for professional application. Same argument for people who need a larger smartphone display.
This item is meant to be stored on a desk as the name indicates. I do a lot of my thinking and brain-dumping in B5 format (double the size of A5-just put two A5 sheets horizontally one above the other and you will get an idea of the wonders of B5.

I don't want to carry my Deskfax with me. It is rather cumbersome to write in on the go and doesn't create a propensity for writing on the fly. What gets written on the fly? Why is everyone so concerned with writing "on the go."? Are we attempting to lob golf balls into their respective holes as we attempt to make a shopping list? Are we having trouble holding the motorcycle handlebars while simultaneously color coding next week's appointments?

Not that kind of "on the go." When I am out meeting with clients or heading to a meeting, I want to have my world with me so I can mange anything that comes my way. What if I need to handle an emergency for the house? Do I have all the house emergency details with me? Do I need them all with me?
Those contrasting questions are at the heart of planner fail.

Remember: It's never the planners fault.

I have come to the conclusion our planner fails are really a failure on our own parts to delegate what kind of inserts we need and how to use them purposefully. True, the wrong planner can really get annoying quickly and you will find yourself moving out before you have ever fully moved in. It's visceral hurling of one set of standards while embracing a completely different set. Gillio has ruined me forever. I can never go back to a nylon stitched Franklin Covey or Filofax. The old Filofax models still make my heart beat faster though. Have I gone off course? Yes? Okay. Inserts.

PLANNEROLOGY LAW NUMBER 4: Our circumstances dictate the environment in which our planners will be used. 

What?! Take a seat and wonder upon the trueness of this statement. If you are an active sort of person, with gym memberships, children running amok and something to be picked up at the cleaners on a weekly basis then your circumstances of playing chauffeur to your self and loved ones creates the circumstances for you to want a quick-access, tell me what I need to know right now because I can't think too far down the line kind of planner. Deskfax is not for you in this circumstance. 

HOWEVER, even you warrior breeds like to have a bit of down time and reevaluate personal goals, to-dos, and pantry levels. If you do these things on the go, then carry on with the smaller sizes. If you do these things in the quiet stolen moments at home or work then perhaps it's time to think about a larger footprint for corralling these thoughts into workable bits of data. 

I always want to have my world with me in my planner, but my world changes with every activity I participate in. So the only out from this Dante-esque level of hell is to maintain only 1 calendar (as I have consistently done and professed) and attach or supplement said calendar with a satellite TRACKER. 

What gets tracked? Anything you feel would bring a sense of control to your life if you weren't home or at your command center of life. 

So then, where's the out? It comes when you come to terms with the ever changing circumstances of your own life. Our lives are not stagnant. Why then, do we assume that our planner choices must be stagnant? Is it possible to have only one planner and move on with life. Yes. Be prepared to track who you are becoming as you step into December. Here he comes. 

The Delights of Ostrichy Cows Or How I Learned To Love Non-Flying Cows

The Delights of Ostrichy Cows

Or

How I Learned to Love Non-Flying Cows

Planner courtesy of Gillio Firenze

Review courtesy of Plannerology

As planner aficionados, we all can agree that a great planner really sets the space for our planning needs. Many times I have found myself unable, YES, unable to write a single word down in a planner simply because the outer shell was not in agreement with what I wanted to experience. Everything is energy. In this particular review, the energy Gillio sent me came in the shape of a Medium Mia Cara wrapped in, never naturally occurring, purple ostrich, which in fact was also never naturally occurring, purple cow’s leather embossed with an ostrich-like pattern.

Behold! The Non-Flying Cow hailing from the island of Purpletopia (aka Florence, Italy). Can there be anything lovelier? I think not.

I had been enjoying the non-flying capability of the purple ostrich Appunto on A5 so I was familiar with the genus and species. Knowing I had a penchant for Medium Mia Cara models, the good folks at Gillio managed to make a non-flying ostrichy cow FLY across the pond to my home in Williamsburg, Virginia. I was shocked customs didn't’ think we were engaging in exotic animal trade. Pleased as punch, I engrossed myself in the usage of this planner to offer a very specific review on capabilities and limitations.

The following are my thoughts and my photos except for the two Mella Pieper shared with me. I have indicated her photos as her own.

First Thoughts: Resilient and hearty leather! For anyone that has already experienced the non-flying cow leather, I am sure you will agree with me the leather is robust and gives the use full confidence in considering participating in “Planner Throwing” events in Olympics. Not that I would want to throw this planner. I am simply saying the quality one experiences at first touch gives a resounding reflection of heft and sturdiness I have not encountered in any other leather save for Scotchgrain; weatherproofed leather! There is an essence of Saffiano leather which comes through slightly but doesn’t go all the way down that path. I love the texture and find myself gliding my fingers over the copious “dots” along the grain. Planners were made to be used-chucked in handbags, plopped on tables and demonstratively handed over to assistants glaringly whilst saying “I don’t have all the answers, I am the talent. Find the answer in here.”

Suggestion of Design No.1: Although seemingly wonderful, the pen holder on the Mia Cara was designed during an era when pens were an afterthought. I have never been able to properly use the pen slot designed for the Mia Cara models because either my pen will slip out as I tip my planner or it will mar the leather with various angles from the clip. I HIGHLY recommend an elasticated pen loop (or two while you are at it-one larger, one smaller).

Secondary Observations: As with all things Gillio, a lot of care has gone into the overall feel and function of this planner. One doesn’t even need to pick it up to notice the penchant for quality design. In keeping with the Mia Cara standards, all seven card slots accommodate various credit cards or Identification cards. I have never worried about these slipping out and this model continues to reassure me of this feature. Overall, the non-flying cow leather gives the planner a slightly “spongier” feel to it which is not altogether unpleasant. I quite like the rather haptic feedback my planner gives me when I am bit stressed out and I start to squeeze it. It doesn’t feel odd or awkward. It feels pleasant and welcoming.

Depending on the angle the light hits the non-flying cow leather, the color changes. Note the variations within my own photos which were taken indoors, with natural light, close to 12:00 PM with a bright blue sky. I have not added or edited the photos except for adding a black border around them.

The Dots! Dotting the landscape (get it?), the user finds elevated bumps intended to mimic the pores of the non-flying ostrich! Although slightly exaggerated in shape and color, they give a wonderful ton-sur-ton color combination, in effect allowing one to have a bi-color planner all within the same color hue.

The Dark Side of Dots: Lo and behold, the dots on my A5 Appunto have started to wear down and out revealing white marks underneath the darker purple hue. I was rather dismayed when I shared this finding with Mella.

And then she revealed to me something extraordinary. Pay attention, oh ye of little faith. Someone had come in to the shop with an old ostrich planner, showing where the years of usage had worn down the ‘bumps’ down to their nubs. What a thing of beauty! I’m not saying this is for everyone and certainly this planner needs some conditioner (in the name of everything holy, please condition this planner!!!) But my goodness, doesn’t this look lovely?!

These photos convinced me to learn to appreciate the non-flying cow leather in a different way than I was used to. You can’t listen to classical music and then say you can’t dance to it. It wasn't made for dancing. Similarly, you can’t look at ostrichy leather and say why doesn’t it stay the same way I bought it? Because this is how it patinas.

Suggestion of Design No. 2: Dear Gillio, dual poppers. That is all.

Firstly is the Medium Mia Cara and secondly is my used A5 Appunto. You can see the wear in the bumps on the right. Also, the Appunto has slightly raised bumps whilst the Mia Cara has flatter bumps. I think overall, that will affect the patina for each planner.

Medium Mia Cara

A5 Appunto

Handmade items will always wear out and will do so recording the history of their timeline as well as they user’s thoughts. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on one of these models, I highly recommend embracing the variations. I am not saying this because I was given review sample. I am saying this because I fundamentally believe in the classic yet modern beauty these planners represent.

As a fanatic of design, I can appreciate the distinction of a typical models created by hand versus cookie-cutter models created by machines. As a self-professed snob of consistency and standardization how can I then appreciate something with so much variation? the answer for me is simple: We can consistently create beautiful designs, unique in their own right, while maintaining high standards of quality. I create resumes for my clients. Each one is different, yet each one is standardized to maintain consistency in various aspects. Make sure when you pick up your planner, you maintain your expectation of standards to the same aspects. That is, if you are about high-quality leathers, stitching and design, continue to evaluate your planner based on those quantifiers.

I am pleased Gillio have picked Plannerology to provide honest feedback for their latest model, the Medium Mia Cara in purple Ostrich print. I welcome you all to join me in further discussing how making first-class lifestyle choices, like picking handmade over machine made, impacts every aspect of our lives and creates the calm or stress we have.

You can find discussions at www.facebook.com/groups/plannerology or via photo at Instagram @KarineTovmassian. You can also find me next year in San Francisco, California at the first annual PlannerCon speaking about the first-class lifestyle and analogue planners in a post-digital 21st century. You can also hear me telling Steve Morton to “shut-it” at our podcast, The HitchHiker’s Guide To The Plannnerverse, available at iTunes and on philofaxy.com

These new colours will be released at 14:00 CET on Tuesday 27th September on the Gillio Website.There will be an introduction discount offer on each of the new colours, see the Gillio website for full details.

Each organiser will come with 2017 inserts and a free pen in a colour of your choice, make your selection at the check out.

Should you want a colour that is out of stock, you are advised to register your email address for each colour you are interested in as Gillio do take notice of the number of email addresses registered to determine which colours to have made next.

As soon as a colour is restocked then the list is cleared down. So if you miss out on a particular colour, please register your email address again.

Rise of The Geeks Is Now Live At PaperPlanning.com

RISE OF THE GEEKS