Organiser review 2014:

It's that beautiful, joyful time of year again, folks: new academic planner time.  Most universities have just begun their new terms, and crazy people like me have been drooling in front of 'back to school' stationery displays all across the country.

Last year I posted a back to uni stationery haul, and also a guide to my favourite academic planners.  After finishing university this summer (hopefully for the last time...) I decided to become a real grown up lady and purchase my very first Filofax style organiser which should last me for the foreseeable future.  Although I wasn't completely against buying a proper Filofax, the organiser I eventually fell in love with was from Paperchase.  I've never seen anything like it anywhere else!

My new baby is a wood effect, teal coloured A5 size organiser, with plenty of room for all of the business cards, inserts and customisations anyone could ever want or need.  It also cost £22 which (as long as I use it for at least a few years) is pretty good value, and cheaper than the Filofax brand.

Devastatingly, I can't find this exact organiser on the Paperchase website any more, but I bought mine in store here in Edinburgh, so there might still be a few lurking in shops if this particular planner tickles your fancy.  The website still has different designs in the same size, like this purple, floral pattern (£22), or alternatively a pocket organiser in the wood effect teal (£12).

Along with the organiser, I also bought a pack of A5 'To Do List' refills (£2.25) - because I'm a to do list obsessive! - and two A5 plastic zip wallets (£2.25) which I've been using in the front of my planner to store pens and post it notes.  The organiser came with an all important 18 month week per page diary insert (usually £5) included in the £22 price, making it even better value.

Although I might like to personalise my organiser a little more in the future (possibly with customised dividers or inserts for added functionality) at the moment I'm quite happy with the system I've developed over the last month or so.  I had a day to day style planner last year, but found that I never really used up the space on each page.  Going back to a week to week set up has been absolutely fine, and I love the flexibility of using inserts.

As you can see from the snapshot below I have a vague colour coding system on the go (blue for work, red for important dates, black for everything else).  I've also started using small post it notes to plan out my blog posts.  This means I can plan well in advance, but also easily move the order around if I want to change things, or if I simply don't have time to publish a post on that day.  Once I've written the post in question, I write it in my organiser, tick it off (because who doesn't love the satisfaction of ticking off a task once it's completed?) and throw away the post it note.  

I keep my every day to do lists on a larger post it note, stuck on the opposite page, and then another to do list over the page on one of the Paperchase refills, with more longterm tasks.

Do you have a stationery and planner obsession like me?  Thanks to Instagram, I know I'm not the only one!  Please feel free to share your own planner and organisational set up with me, I'm always on the lookout for inspiration!

Academic planner guide 2013/2014:

As some of you already know, in September I'm delving back into the world of further education and starting a year long postgraduate degree at Edinburgh Napier Unversity.  As well as giving me the opportunity to better myself as a human being, my postgrad comes with the need for purchasing new stationery and (joy of all joys) a brand new academic planner.

I should stress that my last statement wasn't sarcastic whatsoever.  I genuinely love buying stationery, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.  I've been obsessive about keeping a planner since the days of homework diaries in high school.  I'm a queen of procrastination, but having all of the tasks I'm avoiding laid out neatly in my diary makes me feel a lot better, for some reason.  I'm kind of a connoisseur of academic planners (even if I do say so myself) so if you're in the market for a new one, let me present you with the crème de la crème.

Source: here

The Moleskine large soft cover weekly academic planner in black (what a mouthful!) was probably my favourite university planner.  I'm a list maker, especially when I get stressed, and the lined page next to every week is perfect for writing to do lists, or jotting down notes relevant to that week's tasks.  The Moleskine is slimline, hardwearing on the outside and has an elastic closure to keep the pages clean and neat when not in use.  It also has a ribbon to keep your place in the correct week, which is a must for me.  My current (non-academic) diary doesn't have one, and it drives me mad!

My only issue with the Moleskine planner is the lack of space given for each day (particularly weekends), but bigger days would mean losing the ruled page that I found so useful.  It's also quite pricey (around £10 online, and up to £20 in shops) but the quality is good.  Unfortunately, you are mostly paying for an established brand name who can get away with charging so much because of their popularity!

Source: here

The Dodo Acad-Pad is a much more whimsical and lighthearted weekly planner than the serious and sombre Moleskine.  It has coloured pages, little drawings and (normally made up) facts to read and keep you amused whilst pretending to study.  Somewhat unusually, the Acad-Pad has five columns for each day, which you can use however you please to plan your academic year.  Being quite unoriginal, I used the columns as they suggested in the sample page  of the planner (below), splitting my days into a 'To do' column, then 'Morning', 'Afternoon', 'Evening' and 'Dates & deadlines'.  This set up worked quite well, but again I just didn't feel I had enough space to fit everything in, especially on days when there was a lot to accomplish!  Still, being able to split my day up into morning, afternoon and evening was more helpful for planning my time.  

Source: here

The Dodo Acad-Pad comes in more formats than I could ever have imagined (large desk diary, small pocket diary, wall calendar, loose leaf, the list goes on!) and retails for around £9 to £15, depending on where you buy it and which one you choose.

Source: here

It's safe to assume that an individual with a fondness for stationery also loves Paperchase.  The place is a treasure trove of cuteness that could make anyone want to live at their desk, and it's a great place to pick up a cheap and cheerful weekly academic planner.  They tend to be a little bit smaller in size, but if you're not into to do lists and just need a place to note down deadlines then this is the planner for you.  The Paperchase diaries average at around £7 each, and you can choose from loads of cute designs!

So which of my recommended academic planners have I bought this year?  The answer is none of them!  This time around, I've decided to go for my very first day to day view planner, which will give me much more space to plan out each day (and for my beloved lists!).  

I discovered the striped diary in the photo above from Asda (£4), and it's perfect!  Obviously with more pages it's a little chunkier than my previous week to week planners, but this bargain find just goes to show that you don't have to spend a fortune to find your perfect planner.  There's even room to fill in my brand new timetable when I get it.  Exciting!  I love the stripes and colour scheme, it reminds me of a deckchair!

Are you heading back to school or uni soon (and have a disturbing love for stationery products like me)?  If so, pop back soon for a big stationery haul post!  Undeniably the best part of going back to school.