You're looking at it: a $14 wire-bound notebook from Staples. And thank heaven, my 2009 edition just arrived today. (It's my fault for procrastinating. I've limped along the past 13 days with free calendar pages I printed from the interwebs.)
I used to use the Franklin system, on which you could spend hundreds for a binder and another $40 for new pages each year. And although I still like to go to the mall store and fondle the buttery leather binders, I just couldn't justify the expense anymore. Probably nobody else can, either, because they have been seriously dropping their prices.
This cheap-o planner works just fine for me. I write my occasional appointments on the left side of the page and my to-do list on the right side. I use the "notes" lines at the bottom to record the hours I can charge against book projects, and then later I enter them into our Bookmaster system, where the costs are amortized over three years. (Don't get me started on what a painful transition it continues to be from our old publishing-management system to this one.)
Now, the elephant in this particular room is why am I not using some sort of electronic system to manage my time? I think the answer is pure stubbornness. I like being able to pick up a pen and check off tasks as I do them. My little book is portable and doesn't need batteries or wi-fi. It's kind of the same argument we use when we say traditional books aren't going away. It's a tactile experience that I am loathe to give up just yet. Besides, if I don't keep using a pen occasionally, I will forget how!
What time-management system do you use? Why do you like it?
4 comments:
Ha, ha! I'm as low-tech as you are, Lori. I use a very similar planner. The only things I track electronically are editing projects, income, and expenses. But even there, I'm behind the times: I use Microsoft Excel instead of spreadsheet and accounting software. Drives my accountant buggy.
Makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one. I do track my freelance invoicing and income in a simple Excel spreadhseet. For expenses (which are pretty minimal for me), I just throw receipts in a file folder and add them up at the end of the year. Most years I don't end up having to pay quarterly taxes.
How do you feel about bookmaster? We made the switch from our old system to Acumen in 2007--what an ordeal! We're still working some kinks out. Mostly, the sales department likes the new system and the accounting department hates it.
Hi Bookish Cook!
I'll be frank: Not a fan of Bookmaster. I can't get sales reports as easily as I could with Cispub (and the accuracy of the ones I get is suspect), and there's just a lot more work involved with using it. Part of the problem might be in the implementation of it, but I have not seen one thing work correctly yet and it's been almost a year now. To be fair, I met the Bookmaster people at the London Book Fair last year and they were so nice and offered me champagne. But I am not loving working with the system.
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