Flexible week and notes layout for Large Cahier size Traveler's Notebooks

I recently made a flexible weekly and notes layout for the full size Midori. Today I am releasing the same layout in Moleskine Large Cahier size.

I have two versions of the inner pages. You can choose between the 'righty' and the 'lefty':

Although anyone can use either, I suspect that the 'righty' will work better for the right-handed writer and the 'lefty' for the left-hander. That is because diary entries tend to be short - a word or a phrase, say, whereas notes tend to require longer writing sessions, so the note section is on the relevant preferred facing page.

On the notes page, I've added action checkboxes on each line. Because these are unobtrusive, you can use the page either for tasks that you check off or just for general notes, ignoring the boxes. Or you can divide the page as you see fit and do both.

So, as I say, I think this will prove a flexible insert. You can download and print it for free. Links to the various versions are below.

 Lefty A4 PDF file
 Lefty Letter PDF file

 Righty A4 PDF file
 Righty Letter PDF file

What you'll download is a file that is ready to print straight away, without any need to use booklet format on your printer. Just print this straight to A4 or Letter paper, with duplex set to flip on the short edge (I'd recommend you print just one or two pages first to make sure your printer deals with this correctly and make adjustments as necessary.)

Once you've printed out the pages, you can bind them into a booklet and cut to size using these instructions:

Remember to trim these booklets to a width of 130mm rather than 110mm.

Here is a post I would never have believed I'd be writing

I'm going a little off topic today to share a project that's kept me busy for the last six months. To be honest, it's a bit of a vanity post, so you absolutely don't have to read to the end,

In July I turned 47. On a bit of a whim I spent some birthday money on a pair of running shoes and downloaded the 'Couch to 5k Plan' running app for my phone. I spent August following the plan. At first I was running for just 60 seconds at a time, my muscles, unused for decades, complaining at every step, my heart almost whirring in its acceleration and my lungs labouring to fuel the whole enterprise with what suddenly seemed like very thin air indeed.

Over the weeks, my runs lengthened until at the end of August this happened:

The Couch to 5k Plan promises to get you to 5k or 30 minutes. Because of my relatively slow running speed, I reached 30 minutes before I got to 5k. But the thought of running 5k continued to inspire me, so two days later...

That was the day I felt able to call myself a runner. In truth I became a little emotional when the voice in my ear announced, "Completed: five kilometres."

Just ten days later and it was saying, "Completed: ten kilometres."

Even now I can hardly believe that ten days after my first 5k I ran my first 10k. It seems ridiculous.

Around this time, I joined Parkrun and started running timed 5k distances. This was my first experience of running with a group, which added a dimension. Until you run with other people it is possible to believe this is a private pursuit. Parkrun forced me (in a good way) to acknowledge and embrace the community aspect of running. 

I kept going. I ran three times a week, concentrating on 5k runs with the odd 10k now and again. Before Christmas I booked my place on the Watford Half Marathon, which I ran yesterday.

Here we all are ready to get going:

I was never going to set any records, but I hoped first that I would finish the race and that if I did that I could do it within two and a half hours, although I would happily have settled for three. In training I had never run farther than 17k, so I was making the assumption that I could maintain that pace for an additional 5k on the day.

Here is what happened:

This also happened:

I can't really explain what this all means to me without getting a bit blubby, but I'll try. I've never been fit, Even at school I used any excuse to get out of games, I think that if I showed my medal to any younger version of me they would be incredulous. Indeed, I find it hard to believe myself.

And if I thought it was all down to me I would leave it there. But it took a team of people. There are my wife and children who have supported me in a thousand ways and were there yesterday at the finishing line. There are the marshals on the Watford route who didn't have to be so enthusiastic, so encouraging, but unfailingly were. There are the Watford residents who came out of their houses and clapped and called to us all as we ran past. There are the friends who sponsored me, who asked how it was going, who egged me on daily. There are the Parkrun volunteers and runners who made 'coming out' so easy. There were also the people walking by the canal last August who must have thought the sweaty, panting man running past them who stopped every minute was ridiculous but never gave any indication.  I owe all these people a very great deal.

New Midori insert - Week on a page - full size

When somebody recently asked me for a week on a page insert for the Midori, I was surprised to find that I had never made one. A few different weeks on two pages layouts, certainly, but never a week on a page.

So, if you've been waiting for such a layout, this one is for you.

You can download and print it for free. Links to the prepared sets for 2016 are below.

    2016 A4 version                         2016 Letter version

What you'll download is a file that is ready to print straight away, without any need to use booklet format on your printer. Just print this straight to A4 or Letter paper, with duplex set to flip on the short edge (I'd recommend you print just one or two pages first to make sure your printer deals with this correctly and make adjustments as necessary.)

Once you've printed out the pages, you can bind them into a booklet and cut to size using these instructions:

Daily Log Book in Field Notes size for free download

The Field Notes size notebook is portable and convenient and it's easy to carry 2 or 3 together, either in a cover or loose. The format is awkward for diaries, though, because a booklet that will cover the whole year is too thick. My week on two pages layout needs two booklets to cover the year.

I had shied away from making a week per page Field Notes size layout, because the space for each day would be too small to serve as a functional appointments diary. But I was thinking about this the wrong way entirely. As soon as I had created the layout - pictured below - I realised how I would use it.

Rather than a full appointments diary, this is a log book. There's plenty of space in each day to track information as your progress towards a goal or monitor some variable metric or other - say, weight, step count, run distance and time, cycling or whatever. Or you could make a tally mark whenever you do a particular thing to reinforce a habit - each time you give someone a compliment, for instance, or each time you decide not to make an impulse purchase.

I'm carrying mine to track my running and cycling next year. You can download and print your own Daily Log Book for 2016.

    Download A4 version

    Download Letter version

You can get more guidance on booklet making in this video. Remember that for this size you are cutting to 90mm wide rather than 110mm and you are cutting top and bottom to leave a booklet 140mm tall:

Maybe you prefer not to print your own. For a limited time I will print and bind a book for you at a cost of £5, including postage to anywhere in the world. It will have a printed card cover that looks like this:

If you want to take advantage of this offer, email me and we can make arrangements.

My end of year music party

Something different today. Music has always been a constant passion for me. For no better reason than it's the end of the year, I'm sharing some of my current favourite music. I hope you'll find something you like.

OK. Let's start with a couple of US bands. First, MoeTar. This is a breathtaking song (try to sing along and you'll see what I mean). As well as the vocal, the musicianship is superb and the song nicely describes the modern approach to popular commercial music.

 
The second of the two is District 97, whose new album is on repeat on my PC most days. Over the course of three studio albums they've developed an ever more sophisticated musical range without ever diluting their rock instincts.

Next, something very, very English: a cover version of one of Pink Floyd's most revered epic works, Echoes, by Crippled Black Phoenix, featuring archive clips of Pink Floyd members talking in the studio. I can't quite explain how happy this makes me.

And while on the subject of Pink Floyd, they released an album this year which was - well - underwhelming. Dave Kerzner, on the other hand, released an album which was pure Pink Floyd in spirit. See if you can detect the influence here.

OK, enough prog for now. I'm a big fan of the Earls of Mars and their new EP contains this little gem.

Like Earls of Mars, A Formal Horse are from England's South coast, released an EP this year and are very exciting indeed.

Staying in England, I have no idea at all why Sweet Billy Pilgrim are not absolutely massive. Their new album is a masterpiece. As evidence I offer this.

For my birthday, my wife bought me two CDs. The first was the new album by Nordic Giants.

And the second CD was by Hasse Froberg & Musical Companion, full of inventive and diverse musicanship and catchy as anything.

We've strayed back to prog, I know, but that's where I spend my time. Prog legend Steve Hackett had a new album out this year, including this cracking song with a truly dreadful video. I apologise in advance, but it's a great song.

Back to the US and Izz released the third of a trilogy of albums which opened with this belter.

I can't put it off any longer. This year's Steven Wilson moment is upon us. Just when you think the man can't possibly produce anything better, along comes something like this to scale new heights. If you click on no other video today, please go with this one. Watch, listen, possibly cry. I did. More than once.

I'm going to end with another Steven Wilson moment, but it's a little different. Gavin Harrison drummed in Steven Wilson's former band, Porcupine Tree, and released an album this year of Porcupine Tree cover versions - jazz band arrangements, in fact. This is my favourite one.

New Giramondo sizes from Gillio

Last year, Gillio released the Giramondo notebook cover. I reviewed it here. I was impressed. Today, Gillio are releasing three new sizes to fill out the range.

In the picture above, the regular Girmondo (now called the 'Large') is second from the left. That's a similar size to the full size Midori, holding standard 210mm x 100mm booklets.

To its right, meet the two new smaller Giramondos. The Small (S) takes Field Notes and similarly-sized booklets, while the Extra Small (XS) holds passport-sized booklets.

The biggest cover in the shot is the Extra Large (XL). This is designed to hold a Moleskine Large Cahier booklet, which measures 210mm x 130mm. 

All three new covers feature the same luxury leather and  internal detailing:

Extra Small, internal view

Small, internal view

Extra Large, internal view

Prices for the new sizes are as follows:  

   XS = €130 (ex VAT = 107.44)
   S = €155 (ex VAT = 128.10)
   XL = €195 (ex VAT = 161.16)

Gillio have given me three new covers - one in each of the new sizes - which I will be giving away shortly. Look out for a post in the coming days to see how you can win one of these beauties.

Print your own free 2016 diary or calendar

You might be thinking about getting properly organised for next year. A key to this is having a good diary or calendar in which you can plan and track your activities and commitments.

You can spend a lot of money, or you can print your own at home for free. I have a range of different layouts that you can download from this site and print on the paper of your choice. I have sets in most popular organiser sizes and styles. If you already own a Filofax, Traveller's Notebook or similar system, you can incorporate my layouts in your existing system straight away. Of you can build a system around your new diary pages.

To see what's available, follow the links at the top of the page to 'Free diary pages' and 'Midori TN inserts'.