Levenger Circa Agenda?

[Josh]

I've given up on electronic tools for organizing my life, and have been slowly migrating to an all-paper-based system for keeping myself together. I love it so far--it's somehow psychologically better for me to have my organizational stuff separate from my computer stuff.

Here's my question: has anyone used any of the Levenger Circa agenda products? They look great, but are pretty pricey. I'd like to get a _nice_ agenda, simply because I'm a sucker for nice things, and Circa looks great, but before taking the plunge on a whole system from Levenger I'd like some feedback from people who are using it or have tried it. Alternatively, if anyone is currently using a paper agenda that they love, I'd like to hear about it too. Here's the Levenger Circa agenda layout:

http://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/PRODUCT/addtionalImage.asp?pageID=2387

A little bit about my GTD system: right now I use index cards and coin envelopes to manage my projects, as seen here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jazzmasterson/sets/48077/

and I carry a Levenger Int'l Pocket Briefcase as my wallet, which is kind of like the DavidCo notetaker wallet. I write stuff on the index cards and toss them in the inbox; I also keep NA and context lists on the cards. On my desk I have a big index card file into which I can put cards with permanent info; and then I have a moleskine notebook that I keep persistent notes / journal entries / article ideas in. So basically my system is great, from an analog perspective, except that there's no agenda or calendar, which I'm trying to add.

 

[altruologist]

Levenger

Josh, I too have given up on trying to use my PDA as a tool for planning. I used a Franklin Covey/Daytimer system for years and it honestly worked so well by keeping my notes and journalling all in the one place. I have tried to us the PDA to capture ideas and notes but with no luck and I am losing the quick capture that a paper tool offers. Before Christmas I found a great binder (A-5 size) and bought Filofax refills for it. I live in Australia and you can get Filofax at retail outlets. The system is working well and my Outlook is now relegated as an email tool which has simplified things incredibly.

 

[Arduinna]

Josh, your image hosting service has admirable priorities. I clicked on the link for pix of your system, and got a page that said

Flickr is having a massage.

I wonder if the Russian spambot girls are involved. :wink:

 

[PDAJunky]

I use Time/System's Business-sized binder and system. It works great for me and is designed for GTD. In fact, David used to teach for them, I believe. I use a Palm T5 to keep my address book (900+) and all my documents I need to carry around with me.

The combination of paper and digital is a welcome relief from all the extra time it tasks to tinker with a handheld-only solution. I have the best of both worlds and can recommend it to anyone!

www.timedesign.com

 

[pmikulak]

I too have looked into employing the Circa but I have FranklinCovey tools readily available to me and I can easily justify the price. I also keep a Palm around for document and phone number referral, etc. and I enter items into Palm onlyif I determine it redundant to digitize it later. As an IT guy people look at me strange when they discover that I am mostly paper based but it is what works for me. Do what works for you and spend as much money as you feel. As long as you GTD, who cares how much it costs.

 

[mochant]

Whatever works

As an IT guy people look at me strange when they discover that I am mostly paper based but it is what works for me.

For what it's worth - one of the hats I wear is a board member for a statewide IT and software industry trade association. Today, we had a full board meeting with about 16 people in attendance. Only two brought laptops and one had a Blackberry. Everyone else was using a planner of some sort or a plain old legal pad (I had my Moleskine).

These are some of the most productive people I know in the business world and they have all chosen to use paper. Whatever works.

BTW, I had my Clie in my coat pocket but never needed to look up a phone number or check my calendar so that's where it stayed.

 

[Andrea Bonner]

I was on the verge of buying a Circa planner, then read a rave review on this site of the Planner Pad, and that's what I bought instead. I too am a fan of nice looking accessories, but there's something very old school about Planner Pad that makes it look cool, IMO. And, the guts of it are perfect for GTD. If you'd like to check it out, the website is www.plannerpads.com

I'm using it in combination with a Palm m505, which holds my address book and lists. I tried to use a Palm alone, and it just didn't work for me. I need to have a page to write on/look at to be effective in planning.

 

[lauray]

Circa by Levenger

I have used the Circa by Levenger for several years and over the last couple of years have adapted it to GTD combined with Outlook. I used to use a PDA but have found the paper method to be faster & easier to scan. By utilizing the punch tool I can customize the agenda to confirm to GTD lists and I do not have to use the Circa provided paper. I really like the Circa products, and feel after the initial investment, it really is not that expensive.

FYI, in the past I have used DayTimers & Franklin Covey, Circa is the best based upon my experience.