Edit: You can now download the final version of this calendar from E-junkie
Stephen at HDBizblog has developed a weekly calendar and overview on one page. One of the things I have found most interesting is the layout design because it follows the concepts of the F pattern as used in web design. The F pattern suggests when you look at a webpage your eyes tend to register more information on the left hand side than the rest of the page, therefore in the left hand column Stephen has positioned a column to capture big rocks to ensure they receive maximum attention during the week.
Here are my thoughts (and pictures of my usage) having trialled the template for a week (you can also read Stephen’s thoughts).
Initial impressions
My organiser is A5 size so I downloaded the picture and printed it to fit one A5 sheet. Unfortunately something went wrong and I managed to crop off the top of the form, but I’m not sure I would have used the weekly labelling anyway.
I am very attached to my yellow highlighter pen and use it to cross out completed tasks on both my task list and day planner. However due to the high proportion of yellow on this calendar I had to try an alternative colour, blue. However perhaps this is a healthy move for me!
Big rocks
I think this is a great idea because it really highlights those key tasks to be completed that week. As I haven’t yet identified my goals, I used this space for the tasks that had deadlines that week with work tasks listed at the top and home tasks at the bottom.
I think this section would work really effectively by linking this table to my goals such as allocating several slots to goals, acting as a reminder to have at least one task each week for each goal (perhaps by adding pale text in the background e.g. goal 1).
Appointments
@ projects and weekly review
Conclusion
I think it is a great idea to summarise the week on one page because it easily provides an overview (and uses less paper). However I found I was continuing to use my day planner during the week so obviously there are components I like that are missing from this calendar. Although I would not use the calendar as it stands in my organisation system there are several ideas I really like and which I am planning to incorporate into my system. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Edit: You can now download the final version of this calendar from E-junkie

Excellent points! I appreciate all of the work you did to explore this system. I will take your recommendations to the drawing board, because I don’t use the @Projects section either!
[…] Review of HDBizblog’s Calendar Page Project […]
@Stephen,
Isn’t it funny how you develop something which you think will be really useful, but then you never use it.
I have started developing a new page for my organiser which is a cross between your calendar page and my day planner. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Thanks for the review. I esp. liked hearing that there are fellow highlight-completed-items fan out there! I wrote about it in:
Four Planner Hacks for Paper-Based Productivity | D*I*Y Planner
http://www.diyplanner.com/node/332
Some thoughts from attending Time/Design’s trainer certification
http://ideamatt.blogspot.com/2007/04/some-thoughts-from-attending.html
Cheers!
Hello Matthew,
Thank you for the comment. I used to cross out my tasks and then use highlighter to make the ones I hadn’t completed yet stand out, however the obvious problem is you can’t then un-highlight them once you’ve done the task; so I tried the reverse and love it.
Thanks for the link to diyplanner. I have previously read it and forgotten where it was located. I have incorporated the use of a check circle for my repeating tasks. Although I have to admit that I tend to use it as a symbolic sign rather than as an actual check box.
[…] at Blogging to Discovery has written a complete […]
[…] at Blogging to Discovery has written a complete […]