Planners – Page 2 – Writer's Bloc Blog

September 23, 2014December 8, 2015

Sizing Up Quo Vadis Weekly Appointment Books

When it comes to keeping track of your schedule in a paper weekly appointment book one size definitely does not fit all. Some of you want a planner that fits in your pocket or purse, while others want a large work-horse capable of keeping track of a very detailed schedule. Quo Vadis comes to the rescue with a full line of planners with a classic week on 2 pages scheduling format. The size and features, such the amount of room for notes, vary from planner to planner. Typically, the larger planners have more features than the smaller planners but they all have the same basic page format.

Generally, these weekly appointment books include:

Boxes on the right side of the right page to jot down information such as phone numbers, email addresses, expenses and other notes.
Weekdays usually have a schedule from 8am to 9pm in half hour increments.
Weekdays each have a box at the top of the day to list priorities
Sunday is the least prominent day of the schedule.
Monthly calendar(s) in the top right corner of the right page
A notation to tell you which week of the year & day of the year it is
Section for addresses
A yearly calendar
Most can be purchased with a refillable cover or as just a refill
Acid-free, pH neutral paper
Planners with 90g paper are fountain pen friendly
Sewn binding
Tear off page corners

Here’s our list of Quo Vadis planners with a similar weekly appointment schedule format, from smallest to largest, mentioning a few of the features that make them special:

Business

4 x 6″ compact pocket size
Calendar year
64g white paper

University Academic (same page format as Business, shown above)

4 x 6″ compact pocket size
Academic school year
64g white paper

Executive

6.25 x 6.25″ square shape
Calendar year
90g white paper

Minister

6.25 x 9.38″
Calendar year
90g white paper

Minister Academic

6.25 x 9.38″
Academic school year
90g white paper

Trinote

7 x 9.38″
Calendar year
90g white paper
Space for notes at the bottom of each day’s plans

Septanote Academic

7 x 9.38″
Academic school year
90g white paper
Space for notes at the bottom of each day’s plans

President

8.25 x 10.5″
Calendar year
90g white paper

Prenote

8.25 x 11.63″
Calendar year
90g white paper
Space for notes at the bottom of each day’s plans

Quarter

9.5 x 11.75″
Calendar year
90g white paper
Spiral bound with a polypro cover
15 minute intervals for appointments
7am to 8:45pm schedule
Largest Quo Vadis Weekly Appointment Book

Do you use a Quo Vadis planner? What are your paper planner’s favorite features?

November 20, 2013January 5, 2016

A Shopping Guide for Choosing the Perfect Appointment Book or Planner

There are currently so many styles of appointment books, diaries and planners to choose from. If you don’t already have a favorite how can you find a format that is just right for you? Here is a shopping guide that groups a bunch of our favorite planners into categories that will help you get just what you need. In each category the planners are listed from the smallest (at the top) to the largest in size.

DAILY PLANNERS

For Detailed Schedules

Exacompta Journal 21

For General Plans

Alice’s Diary – 7321 Design (undated)
Quo Vadis Notor
Exacompta Forum Journal (undated)

With Room For Notes

Alice’s Diary – 7321 Design (undated)
Quo Vadis Notor
Exacompta Forum Journal (undated)
Exacompta Journal 21

WEEKLY PLANNERS

For Detailed Schedules

Exacompta Visual
Quo Vadis Minister
Bob’s Your Uncle 8-Days-A-Week Planner Journal (undated)
Quo Vadis Trinote
Quo Vadis Prenote

For General Plans

Quo Vadis Miniweek
Bob’s Your Uncle 8-Days-A-Week Mini Planner (undated)
Quo Vadis Business
Rhodia Webplanner
Exacompta Space 17
Quo Vadis Biweek
Quo Vadis Executive
Leuchtturm 1917 Weekly Planner & Notebook
Quo Vadis Hebdo
Exacompta Space 24
Quo Vadis IB Traveler Pocket Planner

With Room For Notes

Rhodia Webplanner
Exacompta Space 17
Leuchtturm 1917 Weekly Planner & Notebook
Exacompta Space 24
Quo Vadis IB Traveler Pocket Planner

MONTHLY PLANNERS

For General Plans

Quo Vadis Visoplan
Quo Vadis Monthly 4

With Room For Notes

Quo Vadis Monthly 4

SPECIAL NEEDS

If it is important that your appointment book contains fountain pen friendly paper take a look at this list of suggestions: Fountain Pen Friendly Planners

If you’re looking for a planner that covers a school year (starting the year in July or August) check out this blog post: What is an Academic Planner?

If you would like to know if an “undated” planner is suitable for you can read more about them here: Undated Planners featuring Choo Choo Diary Season V.

What is your favorite planner format?

June 5, 2013July 5, 2016

Quo Vadis Scholar #55 Academic Planner Review

Quo Vadis Scholar #55 Academic Planner is a weekly, desk-sized agenda designed for both teachers and students alike. It has an open format that makes it easy to track when your assignments and papers are due, and keeps test dates and other activities organized. It is an academic planner which means it starts with the month of August and ends with the month of July of the following year. It’s a welcome addition to Writer’s Bloc this season. What features make it a useful organizing tool?

The Quo Vadis Scholar begins with a page for personal information including such details as name, address, email and important medical information. Across from this page is one ruled page for notes. Then comes a 2-page Monday through Saturday Time Schedule with half hour increments starting at 8:00am and ending at 9:00pm (it assumes that you are taking Sundays off). It seems that it would be a good idea to fill this in with pencil since schedules tend to change over time. The lines from Noon to 2:00pm are printed with grey to help you keep track of when your lunch break might occur in relation to the rest of the day.

There are two annual planning pages that cover one school year – starting with July of one year to the end of June in the following year. Each month has one column with a box for priorities on the top, and small spaces beneath for each day of the month. These pages allow you to see a general outline of your yearly plans at a glance.

The Scholar has an “open format.” In other words, each day of the weekly plan is not broken down into hourly increments, rather, each day has a space with several lines for freestyle planning in whatever format you want. It has one week on two pages: the top of the left page starts with Monday and the bottom of the right page ends with Sunday. Underneath each weekday date is a small area for noting daily priorities. Other details included in the weekly plan are the month number, the week of the year number, the day of the year number, lunar cycles and holidays.

A set of world maps in grey tones follows the end of the weekly plans. Map pages include: North America, Canada, USA, South America, Australia & New Zealand, Europe, Asia and Africa.

The Scholar includes a small address book section.

If you like to write with fountain pens the Scholar is a good choice since most versions of this planner contain 90g white Clairefontaine paper (except for the Basic and Equology covers which contain 89g recycled paper). Besides being super-smooth to write on, this paper reduces ink feathering and bleed through, is acid-free, pH neutral and is PEFC certified. For a list of other fountain pen friendly planners you can take a look at our list under the blog post “Fountain Pen Friendly Planners.”

The binding is sewn to keep pages from falling out and the lower corner of each page has a tear-off perforation you can use to help you find your place. The page size of this planner is approximately 6 1/4” x 9 3/8”. The Quo Vadis Scholar academic agenda can be purchased with a refillable cover that’s available in different colors and materials such as Texas Vinyl, Club, Soho and Equology. If you don’t want a refillable cover you can get the Scholar with a Python or Noir Spiral cover. (The equivalent Quo Vadis calendar year planner beginning with January and ending with December is the Hebdo #56.)

What’s your favorite academic planning diary and academic planner format?

July 4, 2012July 8, 2014

New! Texas Covers for Quo Vadis Planners

New affordable and refillable Texas covers from Quo Vadis and Exacompta Prestige are available for both 2012/2013 academic planners and 2013 appointment books. These covers are available for at least 30 different planner formats, so we were excited to finally see them in person.

Texas covers are made from an incredibly soft, velvety suede-like material. They have a matte finish and are available in 5 lightly-marbled colors this year: vibrant shades of blue, red or bamboo green, muted violet purple and classic charcoal grey. The front of these covers has a matching decorative area that I would suspect is designed to mimic the appearance of a strap closure on a leather journal. The Texas cover is very flexible, compact and light-weight. Since it is refillable, inside both the front and back cover there are pockets that the cover of your planner refill can slide into.

Notably, Quo Vadis assures us that the vinyl material ‘does not contain PVC – making them one of the few manufacturers to be fully in accord with California’s Proposition 65 environmental regulations.’

The edges of the Texas covers are not saddle stitched like Quo Vadis’ Club and Soho covers. Rather, the edges of the Texas cover are embossed to look as if there is stitching. Since these covers are new this year, their durability has yet to be seen. We would guess that the Club and Soho covers are made to last longer, but those covers are also more expensive. With our present struggling economy, the Texas cover is a colorful new option that can save you a few dollars.

Do you like to use Quo Vadis or Exacompta date books with refillable covers? What’s your favorite cover and planner format?

November 30, 2011August 1, 2016

Exacompta Journal 21 Daily Calendar Review

Journal 21 by Exacompta Paris is a refillable daily planner made with delightfully smooth Clairefontaine paper. The format of Journal 21 is ideal for both advance planning or as a diary recording each day’s thoughts one day at a time. Each day has twenty-seven 6mm narrow ruled lines with time increments listed on the far left. The Clairefontaine paper inside Journal 21 is 72g and it is tinted a very soft green color with blue and grey/black print.

Journal 21 measures about 5 1/4” x 8 1/4” – similar in size to the large Rhodia Webnotebook but it’s thicker and a the pages are about 1/4” less wide. It has a stitched binding to keep it from falling apart and to help it to open flat. The bottom corner of each page is perforated and can be torn off after each day is completed so that you can easily find your place. If you buy Journal 21 with a Club or Soho cover an elastic Quo Vadis bookmark can be purchased as an accessory that comes in handy to mark your place and keep your planner securely closed. An additional feature to help you navigate this planner is that the names of the months are printed in blue boxes that are visible on the page edges and they are staggered from top to bottom like tabs would be.

(Journal 21 with a blue Club cover)

Journal 21 comes with a few different durable and refillable cover options. Current cover options can be viewed at Writer’s Bloc. There is the stitched, grained leatherette Club cover that comes in several different colors.

(Journal 21 with black Soya cover)

The Soya cover – now replaced by the Soho cover – has different color choices and it is also saddle stitched, but this leather-like material has a smooth finish.

There is a Texas vinyl cover that comes in several colors and it has a soft faux-suede finish. Of course, you can always make your own cover or just use the Journal 21 refill as it is with its plain, white cardboard cover.

Journal 21 begins with a title page followed by a page that records useful personal information including emergency contact info and where the planner can be returned to if it happens to get lost. There is a list of dates for US holidays during the current planner year and the following year, as well as major world holidays of the current year (covers 11 countries: Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland). There’s a page with a whole bunch of international telephone access codes and another page showing a map of the US with time zones.

Following all of that there is a semi-annual planner that spans 6 pages and covers a year and a half of plans – for the 2012 planner it includes July 2011 through December 2012.

Next comes a monthly plan that covers 16 months – for 2012 it covers November 2011 all the way through February of 2013. Each month shows the previous month and following month on the bottom of the page. Saturdays and Sundays are combined into one column on the right to save space.

The daily calendar has one day per page and covers 8am to 9pm plans broken down into half hour increments. The page on the left shows the current month with the current week in a bold font, and the right page displays the following month. Each day also shows which day number it is out of 365, and which week number of the year it is. The very top of the page lists the current date and day of the week.

The back of Journal 21 includes a yearly planner for the following year, in this case it is for 2013.

Lastly, there is a fourteen page alphabetical address, phone number and email section.

The paper performed pretty well with all types of pens including fountain pens (minus the Sharpie pen ink bleed-through). In order to prevent this diary from being too thick and heavy, the paper weight is 72g which does allow some of the ink to show through to the back side of the page, although I personally did not feel that it was overly bad. Journal 21’s soft green paper has the beautifully smooth finish that most Clairefontaine paper has which means that fountain pen ink does take a little while to dry. Take a look at the writing test and see what you think:

(Writing test – front)

(Writing test – back)

Journal 21 has a lot of great features to help you plan a successful year. Do you use Exacompta Journal 21? What’s your favorite daily planner?