26 February 2013

Free For All Tuesday No 108

Tuesdays are your chance to ask any Filofax related questions you might have.

So fire away and we will collectively try to answer your questions or offer opinions.

29 comments:

  1. Out of curiosity, how many new binder styles does Filofax release in a typical year?

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  2. I love your site! Thanks so much for all the hard work you put in! I am what you would call relatively new to Filofax, buying myself a crimson malden personal 2 years ago as a 40th birthday present to myself! I previously had a wall calender with everyone's schedules and then outlook and my phone, too many places, too many updates! Now I try to fit my life into the personal malden and it seems to be working well. Although, I would like some hints as to how to keep looking into the filofax? Know it sounds weird but with the phone or outlook, reminders pop up about this and that and you get a trigger. Interested to hear how do you work through what you have to do? Do you have a big list at the front that you look at 1st thing in the morning/end of day? Do you take a look through each section every day to check what needs doing or remind yourself of goals etc? Love to know your "routine" with your filofax so I can maybe get some hints to make mine work better for me. Cheers all! Nicole from Canberra

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    1. I worketh thusly,
      My days start at the previous evening. I sit down at my desk and take a blank sheet (A5 as is my planner) and draw a line at the very center of it. It is my "to do"- list. At the left side I write down everything that needs to be done in order for the world not to collide. I jot down everything from preparing meals to medicating my son, scheduled appointments etc. On the right side column I write down what I want ( left is for need, right is for want) to be done. Cleaning the fridge, posting letters, shopping for groceries, stocking up copying paper etc.) From my left list I start to transfer those actions to the daily schedule, on their hourly places. I then can visually see very clearly where I have the time to do this and that from the right side of list. During the day I have the planner open on my desk and I check it constantly. If I´m on the go, I already have a plan mapped out and in need of doubt, I´ll just flip that page open and check as I go. With this method I´ve managed to wiggle insane days and I just luuuurve the fact that I can claim, with a hand on my heart, you will never catch me frantic. As long as there is a plan, chaos has no room. Then there are rare days when I actually have open slots with no action plan. They don´t come often but they are just as welcome when they do. I had that yesterday and I wrote "remember to have fun". I felt so good about it that I spruced a cupboard and a huge credenza. I´ve been wanting to go at them for ever but the left side of lists have lately been dominant.
      I guess you´ll just have to find your own way, own method to dance through planning. I know that I´ve polished mine to the nines but that took years of royally screwing up. Also, you will come acquainted with the philosophy of " a closed planner is a useless planner" here. So true, those words.

      Also, welcome to the dark side ( we have chocolate! )

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    2. What a great and simple way to do things. I <3 it.

      Do you have coffee?

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    3. I make a list every evening on my personal 2 pages per day. Then I mark the items that MUST be done so I can work on those first. I make the list based on my schedule, my needs and my master to do list. Then I keep my planner open and visible at all times. If you have a smart phone, you can use it in conjunction with your planner. You can set reminders to remind you to check your planner or even to do certain tasks. But everything needs to flow out of your planner so that your phone is an extra - not the main thing.

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    4. Sirpa-Kaarina, there´s always a pot of good black joe!

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    5. My routine for my A5 planner is both weekly and throughout the day. I have a Smartphone with recurring events on the calendar and will often add special events as I'm out and about. On Sunday, I set up my FF, wall calendar that has the whole family's week on a dry erase board, and my phone. The weekly dry erase board serves primarily as a conversation starter with my husband and children so that we can plan to handle any overlaps or schedule help with our kids, etc. Also, our sitter knows where we are at a glance or if there were changes to the regular routine. The kids (8 and 13) can schedule playdates, etc. by ruling out times that are already packed.

      However, the FF is my daily companion. Each night I review what was accomplished and transfer unfinished business. I generate a weekly task list on Sunday because my work requires me to do several different kinds of tasks, but my schedule has some flexibility. In the evening, I review the tasks ahead, check off what was done, and add any new items that came up during the day. By reviewing and previewing a bit, I can mentally let go of items that would otherwise nag at me. In the morning, I wake up and transfer my to dos to the calendar (A5 PPD business).

      Since I love to check things off my list, I'm in my planner all the time, even for the easy tasks, so-called "low-hanging fruit." By doing this, I'm feeling good about getting something done, but it also forces me to go back in my planner and see events. Honestly, my schedule is so irregular, I'm constantly in my FF. If you have events you're concerned about missing, I second the comment that my Smartphone complements the work of my FF.

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  3. Thanks weird!! That makes total sense to me. I like the needs and wants so logical! Then slotting them in to the schedule takes care of them and they are in 2 places no excuses!! Thanks again and also planting the seed for chocolate tonight in my head...

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    1. Also the slotting thing allows flimsy. When I manage to finish something from my planned list, I can then, time permitted, to pick something from the want- list and get that done. I also jot down surreal things on the want list. Likes like... I´d really like to get an inspiration to figure out a perfect floor-plan to library and I want people to do it for me. Easily, pleasantly and joyously. As it should happen, it took two days to arrive. My son´s occupational therapist sent me a message that she´s forced to reschedule his appointment and it happened to be at the same time I had his nurse/nanny come by. The night before I got this AWESOME revelation how the furniture should be arranged and as it should happen... before that day was done I was armed with a whole new library with great flow and space for extra shelving. This also gave seed to a perfect MB- arrangement that got sorted the next day. This day I met with next- door neighbor with insane biceps (PT )who offered to carry some hefty box- spring for me. Needless to say, I had also written down how I´d like to to the MB- floorplan & new bed sorted, on the right hand side column. It just seems to... happen. I no longer have goals- section because my wants seem to sort of unravel themselves and it almost seems that a goal- section might slow down the flow of awesomeness.

      I heart the cakes.

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  4. I have a similar system to wierd although mine incorporates an uncalendar for the daily lists and my filofax as command control. However the key is to KEEP IT OPEN. Both my UC and FF are open on my desk all day and I refer to them constantly. I write all messages/notes etc in the UC so that I know I can refer back to them months or even years later. Everything is all in once place.

    Chocolate is essential and should be on the list every day :)

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  5. I use an A5 with Steve and Ray's TM diary. Perfect for me. The must be done tasks are slotted right next to my diary appointments and because there are a maximum of 5 tasks per day, I never get overwhelmed with to dos. When I have the odd frantic schedule I then use a day per page schedule, so I can see the woods for the trees and plan the day hour by hour. The thing is to keep your Filofax open, use it and don't beat yourself up if not every to do is not done.Some are essential and these go on my TM pages. The others I list on a goals sheet produced by Lime Tree Fruits. A bright and happy design. So I suppose I too have must dos and would like to dos too. I also choose a non cost or low cost reward for myself if all the to dos are done.... like read a magazine, have a cup of tea and a favourite biccy,or chocolate even, read web finds on Philofaxy etc etc.

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  6. Thanks friends I feel inspired and tomorrow my filofax will be OPEN ALL DAY and I will do some tweaking. Thanks for the ideas. PS just had some chocolate with my cup of tea - can mark that off my to do list ! That was a need AND a want.

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  7. Hi,

    I guess a sillu question. But what does UC mean?

    Gr. Rianne

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    1. I may be wrong but think it's UnCalendar or something like that!!

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    2. Yes it's uncalendar. The uncalendar is my daily notebook. It houses my daily to do lists. Notes from meetings, phone messages, notes to myself. You have to see it really, I can't describe it! http://www.uncalendar.com/index.jsp I don't use it to plan but I couldn't be without it for day to day survival.

      I use my Personal Osterley for diary, year planner, the ongoing master to do list and various specific notes sections which I need on the go. I have a plannerisms planner that I transfer over monthly and weekly goals I have set up using Best Year Yet (www.bestyearyet.com) which I refer to each morning and evening but otherwise lives at home. I also use the week to a view section to mark off weekly goals so I can see at a glance what is falling behind.

      Finally. I have an A5 Finsbury which is my journal and houses ideas for books,agent details, competition entries, anything to do with writing.

      Each morning I update the daily goal checklist and note what I need to focus on today. Then I check the weekly goals and add any specific things from there to the daily to do list in the UC. Finally I look at the master to do list and pick out jobs from there. The latter is colour coded so if my day looks as if it going to be desk bound I pick out the jobs on the to do list that are desk jobs. If I am going to be out and about I pick out the errands etc. If it is pouring with rain (or more recently snow) I avoid the garden jobs!

      THEN I LEAVE THE UC OPEN ALL DAY! The Osterley lives next to it but doesn't need to be open as all of my plans for today are now in the UC. The Finsbury and Plannerisms are likewise.

      At the end of the day I check the diary section of the Osterley again to remind myself of what's happening tomorrow and over the rest of the week and issue instructions to children and husband as appropriate if they have to do anything/be anywhere tomorrow as they are not quite as organised as I am ;-)

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  8. My system is chaotic right now just like my life, i'm trying my best to work out a system that works for me and have been since last March when I re-discovered the Filofax. I'm doing trial and error. I work better from to-do sheets which I was using until yesterday where I tried to create my own and failed, so for today it's back to the drawing board and my to-do sheet is back in use!!

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  9. Hello, happy Tuesday! I love Philofaxy but hardly ever comment. Now however I find myself facing a bit of a dilemma. I have a gorgeous compact Regency and I've just realised that perhaps personal size is better after all. I've found some excellent reviews and comparisons but I just can't make up my mind. First world problems hey? What do you reckon?

    I tend to overload my personal with crap I don't need but I like carrying it around with me, and I need dividers in my life. Plus, the open pockets in the personal Regency must be a bit deeper than in the compact as the rings are wider? Decisions. 18 mm ring size for a compact would be ideal. Or an A5 Regency with its 20 mm rings and cotton cream stationery, shame they don't make it for A5 sizes.

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    1. I think they have A5 regency, I'm sure it's available from Filofax France. Not that I'm enabling :-)

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    2. Oh my. I've just browsed around Filofax international sites and the A5 Regency is gorgeous. I doubt my bank account will allow me to buy it though! So my dilemma remains... I think I may have to swap it for a personal. Compact is adorable but 15 mm are still a tad too small.

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    3. I moved to a compact from the personal for the same reason: I was carrying things I don't need just to fill it up. But I've gotten the compact to work for me and love it. I don't know that I'll ever switch back unless I absolutely need more room. I have six tabbed sections, only a few sheets of paper behind each; a full year of monthlies; and and entire month of two pages per day plus one week in the prior month and one week in the future month. Every week, I rotate out the oldest week and add the newest week. This works because I keep all of the future and past inserts in a personal binder. Plus, I keep a household binder with all of the things I want to keep track of but that I don't need with me all of the time. So as a rotating diary, the compact works very well for me. I would say it really depends on what type of diary insert you're using and how many sheets (diary and otherwise) you need with you at any given moment.

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    4. Thanks for your reply, most useful. I have a yearly planner that is smaller than the standard cotton cream yearly and came as part of the diary from Filofax France and I don't use monthly inserts. My main diary is a CC week on 2 pages of which I carry the irst 6 months of the year.

      Then on my notes section I have a 'me' section with reading lists, books I've already read this year, films I want to watch etc. I like having it with me at all times so that I can add to it if I spot a title I want to read at some point but don't necessarily want to buy it right now.

      After that I have some to do lists, a projects tab with some work-related quick ideas sketched throughout the day that will eventually migrate to one of my A5 Classics. Next tab is maps (Paris, France routiere, world) and travel/holiday ideas. And then another tab with financial information.

      At the end I have a hole-punched postal envelope (it only just about fits in a personal, wouldn't fit in a compact) and a plastic envelope. These are both for receipts.

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  10. For those Frixion pen users thinking of switching to Franklin Covey inserts, you may need to try erasing on the inserts first. I used to use the Blooms inserts and the Frixions did not erase well at all -- lots of smearing. Not sure if due to the ink or paper (the smearing seems to be from the printed lines). I think the same happened with the basic green and white inserts. Just an FYI.

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    1. I also had this issue when erasing on some monthly Day Runner inserts. Not as bad on the Day Timer inserts. But works best on my Filofax inserts for some reason!

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  11. Hello all! I got a FC last month (classic size) while I plot and plan my way to a Malden. I have discovered, though, that I love carrying the planner around with me. I am now thinking a personal size would suite. I would love to hold a personal Malden before a purchase and make sure there is enough room. As I have thought too much about it, I saw the Filofax clearance and took the plunge to buy the Apex. That seemed to have better inserts than the other clearance items and for the price seems a good way to try out the size. With that long intro... I want to still use the FC (and have some ideas) but do you think it get too confusing to have more than one binder? How are some ways you utilize multiples? Thanks! Hope your day is wonderful!

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  12. Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows in which sizes the Filofax Ranger was sold? I know of Pocket and Personal and colours brown and black....Have there been more sizes or colours?? Thanks a lot, Sue

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  13. I don't know anything different from the sizes/colors you noted above; I have a brown Personal Ranger--but I would love it if they reintroduced this model in a rich buttery flexible leather in black, British tan, and a couple deep jewel tones (maybe teal, purple or crimson). The design is perfect for a planner/wallet combo (much better than the current offerings imho) - it has adequate credit card slots, a nice slip pocket on the back (perfect for paper money or receipts) and that accordian style flap in the front is perfect for paper money, coins, receipts as well. The non leather rugged nature of the Ranger is fine for its intended purpose but would really like to see a 'less rugged' leather version; it would be my perfect planner!

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  14. I ordered the personal Aston in black this afternoon on the USA website for a birthday present, and now it is not there. I hope I actually get it. They did this once before with an orange Domino for my son. They didn't tell me for over a week that the Orange one was out of stock. I certainly hope they don't do this to me again. What do you think my chances are of actually getting the Aston now??? Bummed out now.

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    1. Hi Steph,

      Hopefully, it's because you got the last one!... ;-)

      I suggest you email filofax USA and ask or call....I've done that in the past and they are usually quite responsive...at least that's my experience...

      Hope that helps...

      Mark

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    2. Thanks Mark. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Maybe an email wouldn't hurt.

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