I think we can all agree that this is one of the strangest “back-to-school” seasons in recent memory, and I for one was convinced that we would all be “back to work” as well. Right now, I’m convinced I will be operating remotely for the remainder of 2020, and possibly beyond as my employer decides whether it makes sense to retain the type of office space they once did. In light of what looks like a fundamental shift, I’ve been re-evaluating my own home office setup and routines.

When I talk about setup, I’m not referring to technology like printer, computer, and scanner, or even office furniture. I’ve always maintained a home office, and the “infrastructure” is there. I personally needed to focus on how I managed tasks and structured my time and environment in a way that ensured (1) I wasn’t working around the clock because I’m now living “at the office”; and (2) I wasn’t perpetually distracted and could maintain focus long enough to accomplish meaningful work.

Step One: Actually Using My Planner

No pointless in-person meetings on the schedule? No draining business travel sapping away at your time at home? Sounds great, in theory, until you realize that having large blocks of unstructured time is a double-edged sword. Sure, it can provide the flexibility you need to get caught up on a backlog of neglected projects or tasks, but if you’re like me, you can also find yourself spinning in circles, uncertain where to focus your energy, or even where to get started.

The Jibun Techo’s weekly layout packs a lot of information into a small format - perfect for commuting or travel but perhaps now an unnecessary compromise?

Lately, I’ve made more of an effort to add some structure to each day by planning out what I want to accomplish, sitting down each morning with my planner (currently a Kokuyo Jibun Techo) and loosely mapping out what I want to get done and how I want to allocate my time. I don’t plan down to the minute - in my line of work things tend to come up - but it’s helpful to pick two “key tasks” that will be the focus of my attention during the 9-12 and 1-6 time blocks, respectively. Of course, as I mentioned, myriad little things inevitably arise, such as phone calls, e-mail responses, and questions from colleagues, but as long as I complete or make meaningful progress on these two key items I consider the day a success.

It may be time for me to upgrade into a more spacious landscape format.

In light of how I’m working, I may shift to a different planner format. While I love the Jibun Techo, primarily because it packs a ton of information into a very compact format that’s helpful if you commute or travel a lot, in my current work situation I feel a bit constrained. Part of this is because I no longer track time on paper. My office moved to an app-based timekeeping and billing system, which is not only more convenient and efficient, but eliminated my need for a traditional dated, hours-based paper planner. Now that I use the Jibun Techo to plan tasks and projects, I find myself wishing that I had more space to make notes and break projects and tasks down into sub-parts. I’m strongly considering moving to a larger format such as the Write Notepads Weekly Planner Notebook, which actually has a somewhat similar layout to the Jibun Techo but is undated and offers a larger week-to-two-pages landscape format. Because I can’t bear to abandon a planner in the middle of the year, I’ll likely finish 2020 with the Jibun Techo and switch over for 2021.

With this sitting on my desk, it gives new meaning to paralysis-by-choice.

Eliminating Distraction (As Much As I Can)

While working from home can be convenient, it can also be endlessly distracting. In addition to partners, kids, and pets all (mostly) wanting you to be available, you have to contend with being surrounded by your own unfinished books, video games, and home improvement projects, all of which are probably going to look a lot more interesting than whatever business you’re working on at the moment. Personally, I find myself trying to practice law while sitting in the middle of the world’s most disorganized stationery store, constantly tempted to switch pens or ink or paper or otherwise “just try something new.” This week I decided to challenge myself by picking one writing instrument in the morning- whether that be a fountain pen, ballpoint, or pencil - and committing to use that one thing for the entire workday. No changes. Honestly, this simple change has made a huge difference in my focus and productivity, which in turn ends up giving me more time with my hobbies after hours. If you don’t work on paper like me, you can substitute “writing instrument” for “writing app,” “keyboard,” or whatever tends to distract you during the day.

Today’s choice: Lamy 2000 Bauhaus 100th Anniversary edition.

Though I’m far from a hardcore productivity geek, I love tinkering with analogue tools, note-taking setups, and, yes, even technology. Though this may be a dangerous question to ask, I’m interested in hearing from you, readers. What changes have you made if you’ve had to start working from home? What worked? What didn’t? Feel free to post in the comments or contact me directly (through the site or via joe@gentlemanstationer.com). I'm also planning on opening up a discussion via Instagram.

Disclaimer: I purchased all products featured in this review with my own funds. I am an authorized retailer of Write Notepads products via the T.G.S. Curated Shop.

I’m going to go ahead and call this a “journal review” to dispel any illusion about what I feel is a common misconception about this product: that it’s a “daily planner” intended to be carried around as a calendar replacement. No, the Trigg “Life Mapper” is what the company describes as a “productivity and mindfulness diary that transforms your goals into success,” by bringing “planning, habits, and mindfulness to a full journal format.” In other words, it’s a journal designed to guide your periodic (yearly, monthly, weekly, daily) reflection on your personal and professional goals, not to track your schedule. The Life Mapper has generally been favorably received, winning awards including “Best Diary” at the 2018 UK Calendar awards (which may have contributed towards some misconceptions about the product), and “Best New Product” at the 2017 London Stationery Show.

Sure, there’s an annual calendar at the front, but as you can see it’s for big-picture stuff only (unless you write really small).

So Who Is The Targeted Audience for the Trigg and How Does This Thing Work?

The Life Mapper has been around for a few years, and was originally a Kickstarter project designed, and since tweaked, with input from the internet productivity community. If you follow productivity blogs and podcasts (which I’ll admit to dabbling in), you will recognize many of the goal-setting and “life mapping” concepts from books like Getting Things Done, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, The One Thing, and others. (By the way, another excellent online resource organized around of many of these same ideas is Shawn Blanc’s “The Focus Course,” especially if you’re looking for a more open-ended tool than the fairly rigid, condensed Life Mapper.)

The front section of the Life Mapper has a section to set annual, big-picture goals in each of four broad categories: self, work, passion, and relationships.

The Life Mapper uses the following process, summarized at a very high level:

Annual Forecast. At the beginning of each year, you do an “annual forecast” or planning session and set “big picture” goals for what you want to accomplish.
Goal-Setting and Progress-Tracking. Using the Life Mapper, you put these goals into four categories, which Trigg labels “Self,” “Work,” “Passion,” and “Relationships.” You set annual and weekly sub-goals, using the weekly and daily planning pages to make progress towards the “big picture.”
Regular Reviews. Periodically take stock of your progress. The Life Mapper includes sections for six-month and year-end self-assessments, though you can do this as often as you want.

The daily layout in the Trigg Life Mapper, which includes an inspirational quote or productivity tip, a space to organize tasks and goals in order of urgency, a section for “appointments,” and a blank space for open-ended writing/reflection/notes.

I’ve obviously not had time to work my way through the “process” set out in the 2019 Life Mapper, but I’ve used similar productivity techniques in the past and found that they do tend to work for me. The year that this blog really took off was actually the year that I was pretty strict in terms of setting goals and benchmarks for my writing and regularly tracking my progress. If you juggle multiple side hustles, or work in a job where you have to track multiple projects and/or develop new business and manage relationships with multiple long-term clients, you might find the techniques reflected here helpful. Even if you don’t adhere to the somewhat rigid structure set out in the Trigg, any sort of process that forces you to distill and refocus on those tasks and goals that are truly important (as opposed to a lot of the busywork that fills our days) can be quite useful, and even powerful.

In the middle and at the end of each year, the Trigg Life Mapper contains a section where you can assess your progress in the various categories.

So enough about productivity. How does the Trigg Life Mapper work as a stationery product? For starters, the 90 gsm paper is great. I tested a few fountain pens in the blank pages at the back, including one very wet stub nib, and while the paper is absorbent there was no bleed-through or feathering. The binding also appears durable, and I can see this sturdy book easily lasting a year, even if you lug it around with you day-to-day.

A few additional observations, both pros and cons:

Each daily page features a productivity tip or motivational quote, something I really enjoyed from my time with the Hobonichi Planner.
While I like the embossed design on the front, I do wish there were additional color schemes other than the turquoise/yellow.
While you can interpret the four categories however you want, based on your own personal goals and objective, I would have liked a couple of open categories to add a bit more flexibility, though this is likely impractical given that it would add bulk to an already thick journal.
The “Appointments” section on the daily page seems a bit incongruous. The Life Mapper clearly isn’t a calendar, and if an appointment is important enough to write down here, I would think that it would fall within the urgent/non-urgent task boxes. The extra space could have been used for more open “journaling” space (though of course you can just ignore the “appointments” section and do this anyway).

The Trigg Life Mapper is one thick notebook: check it out compared against a Baron Fig Confidant in leather cover!

Takeaways and Where to Buy

I’m the target audience for the Trigg Life Mapper, so I like the product. I may even use it this year, since it dovetails with the type of planning and goal-setting I do already. That said, it’s not for everyone, and if you’re considering making a purchase you should be aware that it’s a very structured product, unlike something like the Hobonichi Techo.

You can purchase the 2019 Trigg Life Mapper directly from Trigg. They have an Etsy Store as well, and The Gentleman Stationer is an Etsy affiliate, so if you’d like to help support the blog one easy way to do it is to purchase via my affiliate links, with no added cost to you. Either way, the price looks to be around $40 US shipped. I would get your order in soon to ensure delivery by January 1, especially if you are outside the UK, where Trigg is located.

Disclaimer: Trigg provided me with the journal featured here for review purposes, free of charge. This post contains affiliate links.