Random Snowflakes: The Journal That Will Actually Change My Life

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Journal That Will Actually Change My Life

...or so it claims.

And you know what? I think I'm going to believe it. Haha!

FreeSpeech Publications has created the said journal, and they asked bloggers to review it, good points and bad points alike. And not just review it, but to compare it to the Starbucks planner. Wow. They're challenging the planner that nearly everyone has been clawing for every year for the past three years.

In return for siging up to do so, they're giving the bloggers a free copy. I signed up some time last month, and received my copy today.

I'm liking it so far... Let's try comparing it to my other planners. Since "This Journal Will Actually Change Your Life!!! 2009" is such a long name, let us call it The Journal.

Size

Not too big, not too small, either. I tried putting it up on my bookshelf along with my college notebooks -- yes, I still have some of them -- and the planner fits in perfectly.

It's more or less one inch thick. Again, it's just right. Not as thin as the 2008 Starbucks planner, but not as thick as the very bulky 2007 Starbucks planner.

Oh, and it's hard-bound. I like it, sorta, but I also loved the flexible leather cover of the 2008 Starbucks planner. And the pen-holder in the Starbucks planners is also convenient. The Journal doesn't have one. :(

Paper

Nice. Smooth but not glossy. Reminds me of the UP 2008 planner. But a tad bit better. I like it that way, actually. See, when I get notebooks that have gorgeous paper, I feel unworthy to write on it. Haha! The exact thing happened to me with the 2007 Starbucks planner. The paper on The Journal is of good quality, and my pen writes on it nicely, but I don't feel bad writing on it at all. So... I won't be surprised if my planner will be half-filled with schedules, and half-filled with doodles. Haha!

Content

Okay. Here we go with the meat. Like all other planners, it has that "This Journal Belongs to" page. I have to say that the Starbucks counterparts for this page is way funkier, but, hey, it's just the information page.

At the start of each month you get the usual "month at a glance" page. Now this one, I like! I love how they put holidays of different countries there. It's so interesting! (Oh, but look, there's a typo right there. "Who King?" Was that on purpose?)

And then at the end of each week, you get a mood chart, anything-goes blank section for "Stuff", and yet more space for "strategy notes".

And then at the end of the month there's an expense chart. I LOVE IT!!!

Wait, there's more.

At the end of each quarter, there's a Quarterly Check-up. You can do a soul check-up: How are your relationships? How's your stress level? Who's on your Love List? Who's on your Hate List? I think the questions change every quarter. And then there's also a medical check-up form where you can keep track of your blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.

Hm. I don't think Starbucks has any of those. Neither does UP. But, hey, it's not in their motif, yeah? They made a coffee-based and a university-based planner, yeah? Not a "let's change your life!!!" planner, yeah? Yeah.

Moving on. The space for actual daily journalling. The space for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday occupies half a page, much like how it is in the Starbucks planners. But the next four days (Thursday to Sunday) are all crammed into one page. Maybe it's because people are generally busiest on Monday to Wednesday? I dunno. But what about me? My busiest days in work are Thursday and Friday, and I've got the most appointments on weekends! Oh well. I'm a special case, I guess. But I wish they distributed the space equally.

Whereas Starbucks planners have random art and stuff peppered throughout their planner, The Journal has tips and stuff all over it. Haha! Nice. Here are a couple of samples.

Nice! Some are trivia, some are tips for everyday life, some are slight nudges to make you help the world. I love how they're attention getting, but at the same time, they aren't distractions.

Oh, and at the back, there's also a flag index, a conversion table, and a couple of pages for your friends' addresses and contact info.

I think that's about it, for now. I've only skimmed The Journal That Will Actually Change My Life... I'm pretty sure I'm going to discover more things as I flip through it during the year.

I totally recommend you to buy The Journal -- and I'm not saying this because there's a contest. It's a nice one, and I'm ready to bet it's not as expensive as the Starbucks one.

Let us be clear, though, that I'm not saying that The Journal is better than the Starbucks planner. I think each has its own purpose. If you want the Starbucks planner to display how much you like coffee, then, by all means get that one. But if you want to get tips, trivia, and all the other goodies that The Journal has, then I say try it out! To be honest, I would've bought The Journal in the market if FreeSpeech Publications hasn't already give me one.

What about you? Are you ready for The Journal That Will Actually Change Your Life?

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This Journal Will Actually Change Your Life is available for purchase at 850.0 PhP in all Powerbooks and all Fully Booked branches.

Labels: journal, reviews

| Sa Tollgate - Ely Buendia »

I think I saw the journal sold at Powerbooks. I don't like much the cover though. So it's literally plastered on it. LOL. But I'll just have to wait for mine to be delivered before I could comment further on its other aspects. Maybe if I get fond with the pages, I'll just cover it up with something else. hehehe. For me, the Starbucks soft leather cover is still the best.

Posted by Prudence

hehe.. kumusta naman? hmm... medyo nainggit ako ah! di naman ako mapili sa journal eh. at di ko alam itsura ng starbucks planner kaya i didn't dare join nor compare. hehehe... commenting to help out, oh diba?

gluck sa contest na'to! basta ako, kahit anong papel, notebook na unique or magandang klaseng material.. special.. appealing and all that! okay na okay na yan sakin. :D

Posted by andianka

I like the idea of the expense chart. :) Very practical. It looks like there's only space for monthly totals though. Hard to itemize stuff. Maybe there should be expense charts for each week, with the monthly ones being a summing-up.

I agree that the cover is off-putting. Don't like the way that the blackletter and grunge fonts (and, inside, the sans serif font) are jumbled together in the name. ;p Not having an illustration or photograph does make the cover design more universal, but there are better ways to work with text-only covers. ;)

Posted by Luis K.

Some more points. :)

I feel the same way you do about writing on paper, so your description of the Journal's paper stock is a plus. ;)

The Quarterly Check-up is a good idea, but again, I think it needs more space. Then again, space might be an issue throughout the Journal: my favorite planners give me half a page per date at least. ;p (NOTE TO PUBLISHER: You don't need those mini-calendars running along the top of every journal page!)

Checked out their website. The fact that part of the proceeds from each Journal will go to building schools and planting trees is a definite plus, but in these cynical times, I wonder just how much of a percentage that is, and whether we'll ever read anything about how that money was actually, concretely put to use.

Overall, it seems like a good enough planner, but it's not half as fun/imaginative as the This Diary Will Change Your Life series from Benrik from which it seems to have drawn some inspiration. (My sister has the 2008 edition.)

Admittedly, the Benrik books, as well-designed as they are, seem to be more for amusement than actual life-changing. So what I would really like, I think, is something like a cross between this Journal and 43 Folders, or Lifehacker. ;)

Posted by Luis K.

Final comment! Got carried away, hahaha. ;p

I like that Starbucks soft cover too. :)

Posted by Luis K.

@luis k: Very good points, Kuya Luis! I expected nothing less from a writer like you hehe. You could have joined this contest, too! ^_^

@prudence: Yeah, I feel the same way about the cover. The whole fonts thing is just...weird. Starbucks leather cover for the win!!!

@andianka: Buti ka pa hindi mapili sa journal. Haha! As long as you get the job done with it, yeah? :)

Posted by sarah

Interesting. Why didn't I know about this sign up thing so I could see it for myself? Haha. I agree, I'm very particular with the paper of my notebooks as well.

I like the tips though. I do the same thing with my planner too -- I cut out tips and verses and whatnot and put it on random pages. :D

Oh, and on Starbucks. I didn't like the 2007 and 2008 planners -- to bulky. 2006 was the best IMHO, which kind of looks like this journal. However...I think I will still stick to Moleskine this year. Unless Starbucks manages to wow me. :D

Posted by Tina

wow! i like this planner. I think I'm going to buy one...Powerbooks?

Posted by Riz

I want one too! Hindi na ba pwede mag-sign-up. I went to their site... wala namang price. How do you get one?

Posted by melody maker

wow, parang gusto ko na rin bumili..hehe

Posted by Kim Al

I just snuck into your room to check the Journal out hehehe. Don't worry, I didn't eat your E-Aji. I won't mince words, the cover design is ugly! I prefer the Starbucks planner's leather cover, but even a hardbound cover like this would've been ok with a good choice of fonts. The paper stock is gorgeous though! I'm a nut about paper. I like it that layout is simple and uncluttered, and I love all the blank space. I agree with Luis, I'd appreciate a weekly expense chart. The mood chart looks fun, but it could be smaller and just give the Stuff section more space. It looks like a planner I would actually use, which in itself would be a life-change ;-)

Posted by JB

hmmm... nah! sorry but i dont like the cover. haha! im a cover freak. ok lang yung loob. uhm... maybe i just love the simplicity of moleskine too much. and yeah im not getting myself a starbucks planner as well.

Posted by yanangski

Nice Journal. Wish I could get one like that. Moleskin? heheheh

Posted by Kim

was able to received my planner too.. but failed to make a review like this.. ewan ko lang kung pababayaran sa akin yun.. sumabay kasi ng Finals namin kaya ayun.. hindi na ako nakagawa ng review.. tsk tsk.. kaya eto.. pacomment comment na lang..

http://fjordz-hiraya.blogspot.com

Posted by Fjordan Allego

:) I like the inside but not the cover...

Posted by Vanj

there's a "World Literary Day"?? didn't know that...haha..interesting journal

Posted by jem

That journal looks really interesting. Too bad about the cover though

Posted by ravenlord