- May
- 26th
- Giveaway #40: D-Ring My Bell
Number 5, James, won Giveaway #39, our A5 Traditional Recession Refillable Journal. Please send us your address so we may send your gift!
The D-ring is one reliable piece of hardware. Good for fastening clothes, luggage, tow-ropes, theater scenery, scuba diver’s breathing sets, horses’ bit rings and saddles…It’s also one of our most popular closures, though not a closure you’ll see at Renaissance Art every day. But today, it’s the closure of our new giveaway.
For our 40th giveaway, we’ve got a Classic Size Leather Cover with flap and D-ring snap closure for your Rollabind or Circa brand notebook with 1-inch rings. The Rustic Brown cover features three interior slash pockets and a pen loop. Makes me want to get organized, how about you? Check out the personalization: B.G.C. = BeGone Clutter.
What is your best advice on how to get/stay organized? Tell us in your comment for a chance to win: click HERE to read the rules of this Free Giveaway but DO NOT comment on that link to enter. You enter by commenting on THIS post.
Good luck!
Remember that the winners need to contact us with their address and phone number in order to get their gift.
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Tags: Circa brand, Classic Size Leather Cover, Giveaway, Hardware, Organization, Recession Refillable, Rollabind, Rustic Brown
May 27th, 2010 at 4:02 am
My favorite question for organization…”Do I REALLY need to keep this?” If not, toss it.
May 27th, 2010 at 4:31 am
I like to buy stuff. If I look at the space I have in my bookshelves and living area before I go shopping, it helps me not get more stuff than will fit.
May 27th, 2010 at 4:34 am
Biggest thing I can think of to get organized is to start trying. Stop looking at all of the tools and begin using one of them. Of course this will just add to my organization not detract at all.
May 27th, 2010 at 5:06 am
My best advice is to at least a small bit every day. stick with it - get it to the point of being a habit like flossing your teeth or locking up the house for the night ^^
May 27th, 2010 at 5:40 am
I hate decluttering, so I set a timer for 5 minutes. and know that at the end of that time, I can move on to something else. I do this a couple of times a day if necessary. It works for organizing, too.
May 27th, 2010 at 5:52 am
I really like this one, it invites moleskine to spoon and my pen to inspire words to appear on the pages…
May 27th, 2010 at 6:16 am
That would look nice in my book bag!
May 27th, 2010 at 6:21 am
Use a planner that you can take anywhere and are not afraid of getting dirty.
May 27th, 2010 at 6:28 am
I dump everything into a big bin. If I haven’t looked for anything in the box after six months - burn it!
Now the trick is to actually do that!
May 27th, 2010 at 6:51 am
I set up organizational habits and stick to them. Wash, rinse, repeat. iCal, Things, iPhone & a paper notepad.
May 27th, 2010 at 7:22 am
This looks really nice.
May 27th, 2010 at 7:52 am
Find a system that works and stick with it. Sometimes it will take trial and error to find the right system, but once you find it, keep doing it until it’s a habit.
May 27th, 2010 at 8:31 am
Getting organized? I swear by the book “Get Things Done” and the attitude of capturing everything in an “inbox” that gets processed regularly: acted on, filed, or tossed. And I do use Rollabind/Circa for my own A5-sized planner. Coincidence? I don’t think so — lay this cover on me and I’ll organize in style!
May 27th, 2010 at 8:42 am
I need all the help I can get to stay organized! I think a beautiful journal like this would motivate me to stick with it! (I am a professional procrastinator!!!!!)
May 27th, 2010 at 9:55 am
I travel a lot (70%+). I try to write detailed reports and fill out the proper shipping forms ect ect ect. But, the one thing I have been doing since my Navy days is keep a notebook. Some days I do better then others but any note is a good note and it needs no batteries and I can draw diagrams quickly while walking….
I was asked a few days ago, “Do you have the serial number to that unit we shipped last week?” I opened my note book, browsed back and found the information and a comment on why they shipped it to me. The boss was very impressed and when I saw him last week he had a nice new note book with him.
May 27th, 2010 at 11:03 am
My best tip is not to hang onto things “just in case” - that just leads to piles and boxes of stuff, IME. Also, try to act on mail right away, or invest/make an organizer for bills and other date-due items.
May 27th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
For everything a place, and everything in its place!
May 27th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Love the cover! My current ‘organization project’ is a small notebook I carry around with me to write down all those nagging, reoccurring thoughts about things I should be doing/thinking about/fixing/changing/working on. I am hoping that having it all on paper instead in my head will help me relax and feel more in control of my life. Next step will be to prioritize and tackle this list! Could use a new notebook to organize that…
May 27th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Sometimes it’s challenging to find an organizational method and stick with it, so I look for organizational tools that “inspire” me to use them… notebooks with great paper, pens that write smoothly, nice leather covers, etc.
May 27th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
I love the smell of leather in the morning…
or any time really!
It makes me relax. It makes me want to write.
I love the smell of leather.
May 27th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
I think one of the best organizational tips I’ve ever heard is to have organizational items where you happen to “drop” things. If you throw your keys on the coffee table, put a little basket there just for them. If you regularly throw your coat near the door, put a coat hanger up there. If clothes tend to pile up in a corner in your bathroom or the bedroom, put your hamper in that spot or close by. Little things like that go a long way to keeping your entire home organized.
May 28th, 2010 at 4:05 am
Decide on a place for everything. Make sure you put things back in their designated places.
May 28th, 2010 at 4:25 am
My best advice to stay organized is to ALWAYS carry a notebook, note EVERYTHING and then sort my notes according to the GTD system.
May 28th, 2010 at 4:33 am
So many organizers are highly utilitarian. They get the job done. But I find that with my own systems the more creative, ie interesting, my system is to look at the more likely I am to look at, and use it. I am working on simplifying my system for ease of use.
May 28th, 2010 at 4:58 am
I just started with Circa and this would make a nice addition to my system. i’ve especially begun to use index cards for tracking tasks….and the circa pages that hold them…very helpful!
May 28th, 2010 at 6:35 am
Try different systems and find which one fits you or you can create your own system according to your needs. I find effective decentralization of the stuff more satisfying to the mind than “do it or leave it!” attitude. And I believe keeping a notebook is always useful in any system of organizing one can think of.
May 28th, 2010 at 7:10 am
A superb piece of craftsmanship.
I want it, please.
May 28th, 2010 at 7:16 am
How to get organized ?
Look at how other folks do it. When you see an idea that “clicks” for you, try it.
In my experience, planners are like diets: there is no single answer that works for everyone. You have to build your own method from the bits of multiple ideas. Once you have a setup you find comfortable, it is easy to maintain.
May 28th, 2010 at 9:03 am
On how to stay organized? With every new item I buy and bring into my house, an old one has to go.
May 28th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
When something new hits the ‘desk’, be brutal and firm. A very simple system for managing:
(1) Do I need this/is it important to me?
If not, toss it immediately.
If yes, then:
(2) Can I handle it now? If yes, then handle it then either file or toss.
If not able to be handled right away, put in a ‘To handle’ folder or drawer that gets checked regularly, then go back to step 1
May 28th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
My advice is to not take on too much too soon. Make little, comfortable changes, and give each enough time to become ingrained before making the next change.
May 28th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Got the rings…got the paper…got a lot o’ Circa…need some cover.
May 29th, 2010 at 8:46 am
The best way to organize stuff is to keep everything twenty minutes or less from being ready for company. It doesn’t have to be perfect all the time, but close enough that you can get ready for mom/boss/potential client/date in twenty minutes.
Organizing ideas is a different story. Let stuff happen without organization, live with the ideas, write stuff down and sketch it out, then come back to it later to impose some organization to it. More creativity, more interconnection that way.
May 29th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Count me in! I’d love this o
May 29th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.
Then simplify some more.
It’s through that process, you become organized.
May 29th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Print my personal and business calendar every week color coded, punch with my Circa punch and insert into binder. Everything else works from there.
May 29th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
For me the most biggest part of being organized is for everything to have a place. Random bits of information live in my Circa notebook. That way I don’t have to waste time searching for things.
Thanks for the contest!
May 29th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
I wouldn’t mind having one of these…
May 29th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Since I work at a university as a system administrator, I always have a small break between semesters to reorganize what was disorganized throughout the semester. It also seems to recharge my batteries. I set my goals for the summer break, where I get a lot of work done on the servers and labs. Having a classic size cover for my classic DIY circa notebook would be sweet.
May 29th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Beautiful! Sign me up!
May 29th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Organization is an ongoing issue in my house. I am extremely organized, but not the only one here. Lovely cover. Would be put to great use!
May 30th, 2010 at 12:49 am
Best tip:
Stop clutter before it starts.
My person fave:
As soon as you buy a new box of trashbags/wastecan liners, etc., take one and stash it wherever you keep your list of things you “need to buy.” (This way you’ll be able to add “trash bags” to the list as you grab your last one!) Drop the rest of the roll into the bottom of the trashcan and voila! no storage space needed, and the next bag is always right there as you empty the can.
May 30th, 2010 at 1:03 am
Whether it’s my house, or physical folders, or computer folders, I have about the same goal: if I couldn’t, given a piece of paper and an hour or two, remember the contents and structure of it, then it’s either:
- full of stuff I don’t really need (it’s obviously not so important if I can’t remember it)
- or the organizational structure, however good an idea it was at a time, isn’t best for how i think about it.
Exceptions abound (old but important paperwork, the fire extinguisher, pants), and it’s an ideal to work towards rather than a hard and fast rule.
I had considered the 100 things challenge (when I up and moved to another country recently I wasn’t much above that) but that’s just an arbitrary number, a clever idea to blog about rather than a way to live.
I like better the challenge: everything you own should be important enough that you could name it.
May 30th, 2010 at 6:44 am
I used a layered, color code Google calendar for personal organization. And it’s synced to my phone. I would be lost without it! I need to find the same kind of solution for my home….
May 30th, 2010 at 8:41 am
A lways
B e
C losing with a
D ring
May 30th, 2010 at 9:14 am
Put *everything* into a big cardboard box, bring it out if you need it. After one year put box in garage, after 2 years throw it away. Ongoing repeat process, so you have two boxes on-the-go at any one time.
NB this only works with with developing fields where old knowledge is less useful, not your taxes!
May 30th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Keep only one calendar/daily planner and don’t write on any loose or floating paper, including post-its. This reduces any risk of any confusion or inconsistent recording.
May 31st, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Looks really nice! I have to have an organizer to keep me on track!
June 1st, 2010 at 6:14 am
Hope I win this ! It’s really beautiful !
June 1st, 2010 at 7:09 am
My best advice is to keep a small wastebasket by the door and toss the junkmail in it right then and there. Load it up into your paper recycling on your way out for trash day. That way the only paper that come into your home are the ones you need. This really makes a big start on reducing the clutter on your desk.
June 1st, 2010 at 8:56 am
I have a Post Office Box. I collect my mail each Saturday. Junk goes in the trash can at the P.O. Bills and correspondence go home with me and I handle it all on Monday. Recycle envelopes, shred personal information, pay bills. Voila!
June 1st, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Organize things when you get them, whether it is baby food jars, clothes or important papers, put them in their place as soon as possible. Waiting only creates more clutter. Now, to follow my own advice! Love this cover, it is gorgeous!
June 1st, 2010 at 8:58 pm
I organize by having things in boxes. Labelling also helps and I try to keep knick knacks out of sight to make area look neat. Mental space is physical space.
June 2nd, 2010 at 6:21 am
LOTS of lists! I write tons of them…it is very satisfying to toss the ones I’ve completed at the end of the day, or cross out items I have done.
Also, those plastic dish bins are great to organize toys or books for child friendly organization.
June 2nd, 2010 at 6:59 am
I love this cover! I’m a teacher and organization is a top priority!
June 2nd, 2010 at 8:47 am
Best tip on getting and staying organized….Persistence
When you get discouraged with your apparent lack of progress, when you become dissatisfied with your “system”, when you despair at the never-ending tide of incoming “stuff”….stay persistent.
Recognize that it’s all about the journey, not the mythical destination of “always organized”.
June 2nd, 2010 at 9:27 am
My best way to be organized is to keep all notes and papers about a topic in a Circa notebook with a label on the outside. When I go to class, I need just grab that notebook and I am assured that the lesson plan and all notes are in one place. I take my iTouch and keep To-Dos and Notes on it, I use it to take attendance, too. I teach in several buildings-none of whichI is where i have an office. I HAVE to be very organized. I also synch calendars and contacts through mobileme.
June 2nd, 2010 at 6:07 pm
To get and stay organized, I’ve found that nothing works better than being really, really strict with myself about buying stuff.
I love shopping and I love couponing and (worse) I live near a Target, a Macy’s, and a JC Penney, all of whom constantly bombard me with advertising.
I plan times where I allow myself to shop, and stick to a 1-in-1-out rule.
I ask myself (1) Do I need this? and (2) Where will I put it? before buying anything.
June 2nd, 2010 at 7:42 pm
I’m horrible at being organized… Though when I want to I can be. I treat it very clinically. I get a small fold up table and I have a trash can, and a quarantine area. I move thru a room item by item, everything that can go on the table goes up there. Moving each item thru my hands forces me to ‘deal’ with it. Things that I might not have noticed any other way I realize are just taking up space or are scattered about haphazardly.
Being broke helps cut down on acquiring things as well.
June 2nd, 2010 at 11:45 pm
I had instructions on how to get organized. They’re here somewhere…
June 3rd, 2010 at 12:03 am
not recommended for daily use! But constantly moving house is what keeps me organized (by necessity, not by choice).
I moved to another country for work in 2007. Moved back in 2009 for a professional degree. Just moved for an internship. Moving again after the internship. Potentially moving again after the degree is complete.
It forces you to keep your belongings to what you actually *need*, since packing at 3am has that way of making all your sentimental clutter seem… less necessary.
June 3rd, 2010 at 4:21 am
Have just one inbox for everything and process from there. If you must have more than one e.g. one for work, one for home then stick to that many and no more otherwise things just get ‘lost’. Alphabetical filing system for reference materials and a diary. Depending on your job you may be able to use your diary as an inbox. I love to geek out and use electronics but it just doesn’t work for me. After ten years of trying various systems paper is the only reliable capture system (YMMV).
June 3rd, 2010 at 4:27 am
How to get organized, If it is after a two week vacation ,only a trash can will do. Otherwise Piles of paper steadly reduced to others inboxes will do the trick one time. You have to try more devious methods next vacation.
June 3rd, 2010 at 8:14 am
A nice leather cover like this is just what the doctor ordered for Circa notebooks.
June 3rd, 2010 at 8:18 am
This leather cover is just what the doctor ordered for Circa notebooks. My idea is that I have dozens of recipes printed off of the Internet on 8×11 paper. I’m using a Circa to keep and organize these recipes.
June 3rd, 2010 at 1:10 pm
I love Circa and use it for both home and work organizing. I sure could use a sweet leather cover like this!
June 3rd, 2010 at 8:11 pm
This will be a great place to keep my to do list… now, where did I put it?!?
June 4th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Best way to get/stay organized? Hire a personal assistant — any reliance upon self is doomed to immediate failure. Like the cover.
June 4th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
My favorite boss was also the most organized. Three desk drawers held 2Bdone’s prioritized from the top down, only the current project on desktop. When top drawer became full, contents moved to middle drawer and middle drawer to the bottom drawer after emptying the bottom drawer into the rubbish basket, along with junk mail. The reverse sides of junk letters were his scratch paper.
June 4th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Organization: a place for everything, and everything in its place. Even clutter in its place. And a landing strip.
June 5th, 2010 at 12:23 am
Write down everything. When my thoughts are organized, everything else tends to follow suit.
June 5th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
The way I stay somewhat organized is every morning I review what I didn’t complete yesterday and what I have for that day. I also make sure to have a notebook and pen on me at all times so that I can jot down any important information without having to rely on memory.
K
June 5th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
I make lists. Lots of them. In my notebooks, in a notepad file, on sticky notes, or even on my (computer) desktop. I post so many lists that my Livejournal friends are used to it!
June 5th, 2010 at 11:18 pm
Write it down. And don’t use anything that takes batteries to keep track of what you need to do.
June 7th, 2010 at 10:09 am
For me, it’s all about reality. There’s nothing wrong with moving want-to’s into a someday book. Keeping all those things that you really don’t have the time/money/resources to do in the near future just clutters up the picture of the things that you can and should do now.
June 8th, 2010 at 10:52 am
My best tip for getting and staying organized is realize it is an on-going process, not something you conquer once and forget about. Organizing your home, your business, or your planner, is an evolving process, one that you refine over time, one that changes as you change and grow. You actually have to schedule regular time - a few minutes daily, an hour or two once a week, and whole weekend planning sessions 2 to 4 times a year, to stay up on your organizing and planning.
June 8th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
I love the feeling of an organized home and office. And beautiful tools help!
For home, I have a staging area (a small desk in the kitchen). Everything that comes into the house starts there and then makes its way to its proper place (filing, recycling, etc.)
For the office, I keep a notepad on my desk wherein I add all of my meeting notes and daily tasks. At the end of the day, I add all of my notes into my master to-do list and calendar.
June 8th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
I take pictures of things I want to remember (fliers, advertisements, notes scribbled on napkins…) with my cell phone, so they’re handy whenever. And if your laptop happens to have bluetooth (macbooks, etc.) you can send the pictures to your laptop’s desktop later, in ten seconds flat.
June 8th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
This giveaway is officially over. Number 4, Sara, is our winner. Please send us an email with your contact information so that we may send your prize.
Here are your random numbers:
4
Timestamp: 2010-06-09 04:25:23 UTC
June 8th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
[...] 4, Sara, won Giveaway #40, our Classic Size Leather Cover with flap and D-ring snap closure for your Rollabind or Circa [...]
June 10th, 2010 at 11:50 am
Two rules to staying organized
Rule #1: Be on top of things - i.e., timely. Which I haven’t been in responding to this giveaway, and which brings us to…
Rule #2: Do as I say, not as I do.
June 11th, 2010 at 9:08 am
Have you ever made a jewelry organizer from scratch?
June 16th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Prioritise the work of the day (or next few hours)
Motor through what you can.
Clear the rest from your mind until the next day. Ruminating over what you haven’t done will make you less effective the next day.
June 18th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
The best advice I can offer is to make sure your information is easily retrievable. You don’t want to have someone standing over you waiting for something while you fumble around looking for it.
June 18th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
I would love this
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:20 am
Allen’s GTD and Franklin Planner’s task management methods. Both will be you going and organized!
July 1st, 2010 at 10:13 am
My best advice is to sell your children to Barbary Pirates, since children, short of nuclear weapons, are the universe’s most avid agents of entropy. If you can’t part with them, then your next best bet is to create a space where each person’s belongings go (bins of some sort), and build a routine where those people clean out their bins regularly. Lastly, create space early in your day where you collect your thoughts and obligations and create a picture of how the day will go- then stick to it.
July 4th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
For me, the biggest thing is not “biting off more than you can chew”.
If I try to get organized and attempt to take on everything simultaneously,
it takes mere hours to give up in frustration. But, one thing at a time, go
at it piece by piece — and, eventually, it will be amazing what you’ve
accomplished.
July 10th, 2010 at 10:18 am
Step 1 - Write down the ToDo list
Step 2 - Review it regularly
We all do one or the other, the trick is to do both!
July 12th, 2010 at 8:09 am
Hi,
I just wanted to let you know that I have been reading for a few days and I would like to sign up for the rss feed. Regrettably, I am not to computer smart so I’ll give it a try but I will need some assistance. This is a good find and I would hate to lose contact, and maybe never discover it again.
Anyway, thanks again and I look forward to posting again sometime!
July 18th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
Organization gets exponentially more difficult the less often you do it. The amount of effort it takes to stay organized every hour of the day is much less than the mental anguish you go through keeping all the thoughts and tasks alive in your brain.
July 19th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Getting and more importantly STAYING ORGANIZED
1. Eliminate clutter that we currently have in our lives (amazing effect on freeing up our minds)
2. Apply the 80/20 principle ruthlessly for everything that comes our way. Everything we take on has a COST attached (time/energy)
3. MOST HELPFUL TO ME: Develop some structure around the day (one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening to regroup / plan / weed out bad commitments etc
4. Realize that our lives are like a well tended and pruned garden: organizing doesn’t STOP - its 75% maintenance and 25% setting up. Habits are the key to maintenance as I have found from my own experience. Good Luck
(The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step - Zen Quote by Lao Tzu)