Quick! One more post before February is over!
My YT algorithm started feeding me a lot of videos about journals and planners a little while back. I kept a daily “journal” for years, not to write about my thoughts and feelings but as a sort of to-do/have-done list. That used to be a big part of my morning routine, but I’ve never been able to consistently find a place for it since having kids.
But I’m very easily persuaded by YT content, so I started thinking about what kind of notebook or journal would be right for me. I had a journal back in college that I made with binder ring clips, and I’ve always liked how eclectic and creative that was, but the thought of making something from scratch was daunting now that I’m… *flops feebly*
But apparently Filofax planners are all the rage these days? (On my narrow slice of the internet, anyway.) It’s all Filofax this and analog that! As many folks have pointed out, the analog “trend” smells a lot like overconsumption, with people buying special bags and supplies to distract themselves from their phones. (One knitter said in a video that the rest of the world has suddenly discovered project bags — yes!) Anyway, I didn’t want to buy a fancy planner because 1) SIGH and 2) will I even stick with it? Enter good thrift vibes:
It’s not Filofax but a Dayrunner Looney Tunes planner from the mid-90s. But basically the exact same thing and less than a buck. A crow sticker nicely covered the Tweety Bird on the front cover. I took out the remaining planner pages and made my own tabbed dividers, cut paper to size (I like plain graph paper best), and printed out some calendars. Clearly my personal aesthetic for this sort of thing settled on “cute” at some point and won’t budge.
I realized I really liked the ring-binder system because it’s so easy to add or lose things or start all over, if I want to. Kid 2 is a little jealous and looking to start her own. My “setup” (as it’s called in the Filofax-girlie world) is not particularly interesting, but if you need to lose one to seven days looking at interesting, stationery-related things, Pinterest can help you out with a little “Filofax setup” search. Then hit the thrift stores!
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