ARC from right to left

Original right handed version of my ARC

Right-handed version of the tabs

I have two to-do lists and one is rather large, and I actually call it the brain dump.  The reason for that is because there are so many little things that I would like to do that I have been trying to keep everything in my head, and that just doesn't work.  The other to-do list is smaller and something that I have with me all the time.

My main to-do list is now in a large ARC system, and I love it, or at least now I really love it.  I have been using the system for over a year now and this large binder was set up earlier this year when I figured it was time to capture everything on paper and actually get it out of my head, and it has been working.  I am now able to focus a lot better on tasks, and I am getting things done, and I don't feel as stressed as I was before.

About a week ago, I discovered that I was getting extremely frustrated when trying to write in my ARC system, and it was for a very simple reason.  The rings were getting in my way, and it was making it difficult to get my thoughts and ideas down quickly.  Now, the reason the rings were getting in my way is that I am a lefty and was writing on the right-hand page.  This is a problem that a lot of lefty's deal with, but with the ARC system there is an easy solution once you think of it.  I am not taking credit for figuring out my issue because it was my husband that suggested making my ARC a lefty version when I was sitting and complaining that it was difficult to write in the book.

Now the process I had to do did take some time, but I am happy with the outcome because now I have a book that works for me and yes confuses a lot of people.  One of the advantages of being a lefty and being proud of it is showing off the end result and getting the odd looks from people when they see that my book opens the opposite way than their book does.

Punching the new holes

So the steps that I had to do were pretty easy, but they meant taking the entire book apart and putting it all back together with some changes.

Step 1: Take all the pages and dividers out of the system.

Step 2: Punch new holes in the opposite side of each of the pages so that the pages would work easily for me, and then I could write on the left page all the time. In my planner, I only write on one side of a page so that I can see the tasks a little easier.

Cutting off the old holes

Step 3: Cut the original holes off all the pages so they wouldn't get caught on each other and make it difficult to work with the planner.

Step 4: Move all the tabs that I had set up around so that I could see them easily when I opened the book.  I am really glad that I used a version of post-it tabs because it made this task very easy.

Step 5: Start putting all the pages and dividers back into the system, making sure that it was going to work and actually be in the correct order like it was before.  This is where all the time was spent because sure you can easily take a book apart and punch holes in the paper, but it is getting it back in order that takes the time.

Finished ARC - lefty version

Yes, I have to admit that the version from the right-handed version of the ARC to the left-handed version of the ARC did take some time.  I am extremely happy with the outcome of this project and have to say that it works well. 

After doing this big version of my ARC to-do, I then decided it was time to also change the little version of my ARC to-do into a left-handed version.  Now that version went a lot quicker, and it is probably because I had figured out most of the issues with the bigger version.

Finished ARC - tabs have been moved

Sure, I have discovered a few little issues with the left-handed version and the biggest thing was that my calendar doesn't work well in my lefty version, so that is something that I will have to figure out for next year.

Now if you know someone who is a lefty and gets frustrated with planners and even notebooks like I have for years maybe you should let them know about the ARC (M by Staples) as it is something that can be customized to work for a lefty.  The ARC system is also available at Michaels as a Happy Planner, but the ARC system is either a half page or a whole page system while the Happy Planner is a size in between, so it is a little harder to make your own pages for it. 

I have invested in a number of the rings for my ARC system as well as covers because it means that I can set up a lot of different books for the various projects, and they will work for me and if a right-handed person has a problem with my book that's ok because it is for me to work with and not for them.