Appointments, Deadlines ... Manifestations?

This article by Guardian regular Lucy Mangan struck a chord. 

Lucy went shopping for a diary to record, as you do, her appointments and what have you. But what does she find? 

"Every diary (bar the tremendously formal, proper-office stuff that I don’t want because it gives me flashbacks to my ill-advised years as a trainee lawyer) now has space for your Goals. Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, life – all sorts of Goals. And frequently space for dreams, affirmations, manifestations and I don’t know what all else because I’d set fire to them by then.

My only Goal – or Dream – is to manifest a diary that allows me to record appointments and deadlines without being interrupted by drivel. Could someone affirm that this is still possible in 2023?"

I don't know, Lucy. I suspect there is one, but I have hit this phenomenon also. The "Let's Get it Done" diary (not by Letts, as it happens) contains  a calendar and lists of 'Achievements' and 'Goals' at the end of each month. Which adds pages and weight and also, months aren't really a Thing. Time doesn't stop at 23:59 on September 30, say, and resume after a reset at 00:00. It's just a convenience.

Even the smaller A6 diary by the same company has quarterly note pages and a pocket (for what? I don't know). All that and this year they can't even give it a robust cover (quality is definitely down). For the last six years I have owned one of these each year, because they have the layout I like - days on the left-hand page, note page on the right - and get on with it. This year I was all set to return mine when I finally had it in my hand but kept it anyway.

There is, of course, also the long-form diary in which you write down longer detailed notes, but that's another matter and more properly called a journal maybe.

The tall narrow diary is a thing of yesterday because we no longer slip a diary into our jacket pocket, you have a phone for that and it's somehow incredibly nerdy to carry a source of notes and information around with you (apart from your phone. As Lauren Elkin found out on the Paris bus, writing notes longhand in public makes you look sinister, but tapping away on your phone is fine).

Apparently there's now a thing called "Manifestation Diaries" which sounds like something Harry Price, ghost-hunter, would have used. "Tuesday May 2nd. Borley Rectory. Several manifestations of a green glow, a black figure thumping across the hallway, and the same black figure later. Turned out to be Willy Catterall from the village trying to hide the bottles of grog he'd pinched. I said I wouldn't tell if he gave me one. He did and I won't."

But yes, I would like clear design, legible dates, and no flow-interrupting faff with Goals and Achievements.

You need to know where to look though. Waterstones, delightful though it is, tends towards the novelty diary. Trains, birds, poetry, all those lovely things you don't really want if you need to jot down your appointments. Yes, these companies giving you space for your affirmations and the rest of it have 'reinvented' the diary, but sometimes all you need is space for your appointments and deadlines. 

 

Image: "Dear Diary" by Helen Haden

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