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Chronodex Weekly Planner Jan - Jun 2023 Released

Oh man, thanks for all the waiting; it's been a crazy 2022, especially the 2nd half. Finally, I got to work on the 11th-year Chronodex, and without further ado, here it is for immediate download.

A lot of beautiful things happened in 2022, despite all the COVID measures and nonsense. I seem to be able to get more exercise, particularly with my Brompton bike (oh yeah I sold my Strida at a great price and finally able to afford a Bromie 2 years ago). I am also transitioning to a new role at work kind of smoothly, not without everyday challenges though. Sadly this new role also left me with a lot less time for my personal life, and WTF there's no need to travel too, I need to connect to the rest of the world man, something has to change in 2023 otherwise I will have to be brave to move on. So much unspoken thoughts and feelings, hope I can handle 2023 gracefully and wish you all good luck to do the same too! HGJN.

Scription Chronodex Weekly Planner Jan-Jun 2018 Released

Stepping into the sixth year of public release, wow!  Let me just say thanks to all Chronodex supporters, I believe it does change lives, especially for us visual thinkers.  Everyday since I created it, I enjoy moments of tranquility by just slowing down and reflecting on my agendas and thoughts through using it.  Sometimes the happenings around the core are calligraphic, sometimes scribbles and many times something in between, but most importantly the space the Chronodex core freed up for creative association becomes a life saver, for time and space are actually the very same thing, if you have learned enough in life how to deal with limited resources, you know space as in blank space on paper or in time-out for thoughts is often being traded off by task specific time demand from others.  It pains us isn't it? When do we get our own time?  The answer is clear to me, we steal time, we demand/redeem time in the form of space, after all 95% of task specific time demand from others are trivial, unimportant for your life goal.  Well, the percentage varies person to person but you get my point.

Having said that, I recall a wise director from the company I work for once said, "I am going to be conscious of the energy I spend instead of the time I spend on work", you simply have to find a way to be conscious, still responsive, not just reacting from circumstances, just be conscious while you are being busy, you will see the difference.

A final note about being conscious and self-discovery.  If you can write down your thoughts, they can be materialised, the path will be cleared.

Here's the Chronodex January -June 2018 version formatted for Traveler's Notebook for you to download. The assemble instruction is always at the Chronodex main page.

The assembly instruction is here for you to print correctly:

Again, for a very crowded day, the page is not enough to record schedules and tasks altogether, you can consider to use the Chronodex Daily Scheduler with GTD to-do List.

So happy journaling and may the force be with you in 2018 and onward!

Scription Chronodex Weekly Planner Jan-Jun 2016 Released

Here you go, Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year for Chronodex fans!

This implementation is featuring weekly inspiration quotes on every Monday to give you a fresh start for each week.  Topics included are art, motivation, life, inspiration, love, work, etc.  I’m sure you will enjoy the little thoughtful addition for your weekly Chronodexing :) DOWNLOAD HERE.

In addition, don't forget my other very useful tool Chronodex Daily Scheduler with GTD To-Do List, which is in A4 size, when printed double sided you can 3-fold into a very slim format (Traveler's Notebook size) tackling all your tasks in stressless manner.  Combining the dated Chronodex and this GTD version, you can practice "relaxed focus" as proposed by David Allen.

(use it flat as individual pages) 

(Or you can fold it two times, insert it into the front or back pocket of your Traveler's Notebook, or slide it under one of the elastic bands in your notebook)

If you are new to Chronodex, the Chronodex page on this blog contains all the versions I released so far with useful notes.  Visit the Chronodex Facebook page to check out what others are doing with it.  Finally, my Instagram is where I post most of my works and thoughts on stationery... and beyond :)  Hashtag #Chronodex to spread the love! 

 

How Traveler's Factory Was Built

It was a happy coincidence last year when I visited Tokyo I met Mr. Narita who was the contractor to build both the Traveler's Factory Nakameguro store and the Narita Airport store.  I was blessed to see some of the sketches at times before the stores were built.

Courtesy from Mr. Narita on his Flickr site, you can see "the making of " photos from the former paper factory situated in Nakameguro Tokyo to the current Traveler's Factory principle store.  From stories I heard, it was built with a lot of hearts from choosing the site, material specification and sourcing, sign painting to the product selection.  It is definitely one of the classic stores in our lifetime.

Check out Mr. Narita's Flickr set of photos here.

Chronodex Daily Scheduler & GTD To-do List Released

Today is a proud release of my Chronodex scheduler with GTD to-do list function!  I had about 10 minutes of quiet time in the morning but then crazy whatsapp messages came in with lots of unfinished tasks, which reminded me of the importance of sitting down undisturbed to plan a good day.

It was first developed in November 2013 for my personal use and I've been filling it up with tasks in many of the busier days.  I've modified it into a 3rd version and now ready to share with you busy bees.  I usually use my Traveler's Notebook with two refills: A dated Chronodex Weekly Planner and a blank notebook for tasks, notes, drawings etc.  However in busier days when tasks overflow or when I travel for business, a daily version is necessary.  I've made it suitable to print on A4 paper, so that when you fold it two times evenly (a z-fold), you get a Traveler's Notebook sized task killer, simply slide it into the notebook and pull out quickly when in need.

There is not enough time for me to explain in details how to use it here, perhaps I can cover it later.  But simply, one fold is a Chronodex daily scheduler with "TODAY'S FOCUS" and "GRATITUDE NOTE" sections to help you run your day with clear objectives and highlight the more beautiful things you find from your day.  It also has small icons for you to track how many cups of water you have drank and weather icons to log your day.

The 2nd fold is the major GTD "Next Action" tab, where you want to lay your tasks in priority and kill them one by one.  The 3rd fold is the usual GTD "Projects", "Waiting For" and "Someday/Maybe" tabs.

If you print it double sided, you can save a lot of papers because one paper can be used for 2 days.  If you would like to use it without Traveler's Notebook, simply hold your pile of A4 papers with a binder's clip, it is a great way to have a dashboard like this on your desk lying flat.

It works great for me to plan my business trip days at terminals and coffee shops, I just needed to pull out the z-folded planner and start to write freely.

I've seen a lot of creativity from people using Chronodex without me explaining how to use it, perhaps someday I will, but for this daily version, I think it works very much similarly just with a GTD touch and self-explanatory.  So, for now, that's all.  Please download and share for free, but again it is entirely for personal use and please don't sell it.  I will work hard to find time making Chronodex products into reality someday.

PDF Download: Chronodex Daily Schedule & GTD To-Do List

 

 

Beautiful TN Icons by Thomas Huang

Thanks to my great friend Mr. Thomas Huang who generously shared these beautiful Mac icons to the world.  I couldn't help but to post them immediately.  2 weeks ago Thomas was being invited to our culture club LOG-ON Togather to share his "10 Reasons to Love TN" to our members.  During his presentation, he promised to share some of his beautifully created icons and he did just now.  Enjoy!  Download here.

這是Thomas在聚會中答應大家的Mac icon。以下是他在Traveler's Notebook Hong Kong User Group面書群組的post:

各位TNHKUG的朋友新年快樂！今年第一件事，就是為大家獻上在LOG-ON答應大家要製作的叮叮車icon組（Mac only），請大家自由下載！
有任何使用上的問題，歡迎留言喔！Windows版本請再等等，謝謝！
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https://app.box.com/s/e8w5lhdevgtm0bs53229

Unstoppable 2015

Phew! So many things happened so quickly in 2014.  I still haven't been able to review 2014 yet this new creature called 2015 has arrived already.  Been rushing a lot of things, been trying my best, been rewarding.... You can tell how cramped things are when you see my scarce update on Scription and the super delay on Chronodex's 2015 release.

I'm very happy ditching the "back to school" name finally, with a lot of helps from many colleagues, the fair from now on will be called ¬ [DESKBOUND] (the negation of being deskbound). With more people falling in love with Chronodex, I'm happy my company did make it a feature in its online magazine here. We made a lot of improvements in store and fixture designs which resulted in 2 new beautiful stores (City Plaza LOG-ON and Fashion Walk LOG-ON). Finally we could arrange a good enough cultural space for exhibition/workshop/gathering in the busiest streets of Causeway Bay in one of the new store.  There we had an amazing release of Traveler's Notebook Hong Kong Tramways edition, gatheirng with TN users, exhibiting 4 professional users' work, etc.  I hope to share with you more later. Oh these are just the surface, I had so much to talk and so much to feel thankful, so much more to come.

So, I need to get some quiet time to gather my thoughts.  Everything was so packed.  If you are in situation like me, things are too noisy around you introverts, do try reading Susan Cain's book "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking". May I please get some significant quality alone time please Mr. 2015?

One of the most rewarding thing in 2014 was meeting with TN users in Korea and Hong Kong, being able to share my thoughts in meet-ups and presentations made me happy too.  Oh gee, I need to get back to the habit of writing more coz I find it hard to get the words out from my mind lately.

Chronodex Weekly Planner Jan-Jun 2015 Released!

Thank you for your patience! The Jan-Jun 2015 weekly planner in the format of Traveler's Notebook is finally released. Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long, it has been a busy year for me especially when there are multiple projects and countries to take care of in my day job.

I've been waiting for this release anxiously too coz I use it everyday, so I do understand your frustrations for this late release. Hope this is something worth waiting for and you will have a super bright 2015 ahead!

Please download the Chronodex Weekly Planner Jan-Jun 2015 here: http://goo.gl/F43vWc

Bigger Than Plus and It Bends Too

Sorry! Can't help Mr. Ive!

Yes that's my hand. TN can't hold a thousand songs, but it holds thousands of thoughts and I can archive and pick up the past and write my future, without worrying power outage, version upgrades both hardware and software and many more reasons why I still use paper for scheduling and creative works.

Still a Newton fan, still a Mac fanatic, but I know which tools are for which purposes.

Psion, no.  Palm Pilot, no. Blackberry, no.  My TN and iPhone go hand in hand all the time.

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Does Your Pen Speak Your Mind?

We human beings all search for what speaks our mind through all sorts of medium isn't it? Be it an art installation, a photograph, a painting, an article or even a simple desk arrangement; our bodily tools are so limiting simple language, gestures and facial expressions just don't seem to convey enough essence and importance of what our minds have been going through (alright poor English here, maybe it is suffice to say "don't seem to do the justice").  We need the medium viewer to go through similar torture or spend the similar amount of energy, to convey just a bit more, which is fantastic, immensely more liberating and interesting than just hearing the shorten form "I'm sad", BECAUSE there is always beauty springing off from these attempts.

(Faber-Castell Ondoro Smoke Oat fountain pen weighs 42 grams. Beautiful contrast of wood and chrome materials. The only thing I am uneasy of this pen is the "hollow" feeling when it is in use, perhaps due to wood's lower density, every stroke to me generates an echo.  Oh "Echo", I may like a pen which echos me indeed, I do)

The tools creating these medium, your hands for an art installation, your camera to create an image, your brush to create those strokes, your pen to flow ideas into an article, we too search for those perfect object-mates, but are we ever sure we have found the perfect match?  Same goes, the beauty lies in the attempts.  Through attempts you discover yourselves, through attempts you discover what's not, and through attempts you find …. beauty!

(My postman says Kaweco SketchUp 5.6 weighs 45 grams. Just the right weight to spill my idea/graphite onto paper, fingers act as lever to amplify my slight pressure increase from the wrist to produce just enough darkness and width.  There is even a sharpener at the back cap.  I will probably not be able to finish the graphite until another cool and better one comes along though)

So do lust for your perfect pen or camera, coz it is a noble attempt, but when you are able to find one true love, all the properties don't matter anymore.

(I bought a vegie bag while I was in Tokyo two weeks ago, perfect to host my Traveler's Notebook and Leica M240 inside with great accessibility.  Yes I'm afraid my treasures are accesible to theives too.  Yes the straps are not for human men.  Yes camera and paper are susceptible to rain drops.  No, I could not refuse the urge to pull them out every single moment when I experience something new in the trip)

(I had fun to disassemble an iStick, which is great for transferring files between computers and iPhone/iPad, vice versa.  Reason to disassemble: I hate the plastic cover and found a way to enclose it into leather.  During the attempt, I found a robot cuteness from its core and had some fun attaching my Lego C3PO parts onto it, yup miniature coffee and Traveler's Notebook included)