I have decided to separate my Filofax blogging from my notebook blogging
So check out my new blog – Notes in a Filofax.
Category Archives: filofax
Stickers on the cover of your Filofax?
Yes or no?
I complained last year when my mother “defaced” my Filofax by sticking a big apple sticker on the front of it (to match the iPad). 8 months later I have gotten used to it and couldn’t be without that “little bit of personalisation” on my Filofax.
My new Malden however – is NOT for customisation. I wouldn’t dream about defacing such a beautiful product (not that my metropol is not beautiful in its own right).
Do you customise your cover? Or just the interior?
My new Malden #filofax
My new malden has arrived … and it is beautiful.
The best thing about the mini Malden, is the smell when you first open it up. I love that. It came with both 2012 and 2013 diary inserts. Fantastic – I no longer need my “2013 important dates list” at the end of my diary. I can write them straight in.
Yes it is a little tight with half of 2012 and all of 2013 squished in, but if I don’t put all of 2013 in it will inevitably get lost in the house move next month (even though I will keep all my notebooks together).
Since I am downsizing from a personal sized Filofax, the diary will literally be my diary, agenda style. This will cover: what I am doing, what is on locally etc. my to-do lists, financials, meal planners etc, will remain in the personal.
I have decided to colour code as well:
There is unfortunately a bit of fade through with my stabilo fine liners – but I can live with that – they are so colourful.
I still need to find an appropriate page marker – suggestions anyone?
And decide whether to also double the mini Malden up as a wallet/purse? Has anyone done this successfully?
It is official… I need a new Filofax
I am struggling to put pages into my Filofax. It is simply not possible to go on holiday (and prepare to go on holiday I will add) without having space in my filofax.
My weekend plan to squeeze in:
And no… I am not making excuses 
I am thinking I will have to use the pink pen more often, I like how it matches.
Pinch, Punch, First of the Month
Welcome to August.
I have taken the opportunity this lunch break to review my July to do list. Surprisingly – it all got done.
The monthly to-do is for those slightly larger to do’s that are not allocated to any particular day. In July I decided to tidy up my finances. To dos included getting a credit card, organising my savings, and arranging my mortgage.
I am now pondering my to do list for August.
With a couple of getaways booked in I anticipate that the month of August will be less productive in my free time, so I’ve decided to tackle another area of my life where I have a few key goals. My Career.
Regular readers (and readers of my other blog) will know I am a trainee solicitor. As part of the training we are required to work in different departments for a 6 month period. This month I have to decide what department I want to go to next, and review my progress in my current department before preparing to move on.
So I have now drawn up another list to clip into my Filofax:
Have you drawn up you monthly to-do list yet? What area of your life have you picked “to do”?
to do lists (and drawing tick boxes) #filofax #icad
Firstly, apologies to those of you who have been looking for notebook content and not index card mania. Bad news… ICAD is continuing until the end of July. Good news there are some notebook related posts in the pipeline.
Lately, I have been a big fan of the Tick box (aka checkbox) when writing my to do list. It is neater than scribbling or crossing out methods that I normally use. why? Because I don’t want to mess up the look of my Filofax, which is where my to do list seems to have migrated of late.
How many to do lists do you have in your Filofax?
(Or if you don’t have a Filofax, how many to-do lists do you maintain?)
I have tried numerous methods when it comes to managing my to-do lists but I always like to try new things. So I swap and change… a lot! Currently my Filofax manages my to-do lists for outside of work and my outlook calendar manages my work related to do list. As you can tell both are calendar based.
My Filofax to-do lists
In answer to the question above I have 4 separate regular to-do lists:
I put my “random-thoughts-which-need-organising” to do list on the inside of the front cover for easy access. I use this when I get a flash of inspiration whether it is something I want to read, research, write about or simply even google.
I keep a “things to do in “insert month here” list” which I write on a little square piece of paper that moves with my today marker each week until they are all checked off. Next month (July) I am getting my finances in order and hopefully getting ready to jump onto the property ladder.
Where I either need or want to do an item on a particular day I write this into the main diary area. This is usually phone calls that I need to make, emails I need to send etc.
This goes at the back of the diary for important things you don’t want to forget. More useful towards the end of the year but I have a few items on there already… Such as renew passport.
misc
I will also produce and insert my own separate to-do lists if they relate to a particular event or topic/category such as my #icad entry for today is my July writing schedule:
The card will then get punched and added into the Filofax, either in a particular week (if event related) or in a category in my a-z tabs if topic/category related such as my reading list, writing list and things to do on my blog etc.
There are endless choices. How do you manage to do lists in your Filofax? Or do they not have a place?
Yay! Stickies!!
My latest purchases:
Would you believe I have never bought Filofax branded inserts for my Filofax? (other than those that came with it of course). Every thing I use is homemade, but I saw these stickies and was tempted. Many Filofax users on the web have beautifully organised and decorated filofaxes that include stickies… So I though why not enjoy
#icad Challenge Calendar (on an index card)
There is nothing I love more than mini checklist/tables etc slotted into my Filofax to help keep me organised. Since I am taking part in the ICAD (index card a day) challenge I decided to keep an icad calendar and slot it into my Filofax.
As the challenge only runs for 2 months, the dates only cover June and July which I must add fits in perfectly to the index card (just the right number of lines) so why not make your own if you are taking part.
How to track your habits! App, Notebook or Filofax?
How do you force yourself to stick to your daily routine, or develop a habit? As a general rule of thumb if you keep doing something often enough it will become second nature. But how do you remind yourself and track your progress?
A couple of years ago I started out using one of my Cath Kidston notebooks as a habit and goals journal. I carried it in my bag during my daily commute. However the problem was – checking off the habit diary needed to be built into part of my morning routine as well and it wasn’t yet – so quite frequently I forgot.
While the notebook was perfect for this use, I kept forgetting about the notebook – so it didn’t really help me develop the habits. The only habit I successfully managed during this period was giving up my Starbucks in the morning. And that had nothing to do with the notebook.
Next was the filofax:
This time I used it for my blogging habits, tucked securely into the “blogging” section of my Filofax. Again I had to remember to look at it, but since looking at my Filofax was already part of the morning routine it was one step closer. I also took the opportunity to sketch out a nice little chart for recording my habits. The downside, I don’t always check my Filofax first thing on a weekend if at all, so on the weekend, things just weren’t getting done.
Last week I decided to try the habit streak app (free version) on my phone – so far it is working well:
It is really simple to use: you type in habits you want to achieve (a really simple initial set up and set a reminder for it to ask you whether this has been done). I have set my reminder for 8am (the is about the time I will have arrived in the office and just made my first cuppa). So each morning I get a simple notification on my phone asking me if I did the items the previous day and I just tick them off.
The app is advertised as recording you streaks (how long you kept it up for) rather than reminding you to do the daily task. But I find that it is a reminder, a reminder to keep yourself in check and record whether you are completing the task (and the streak count allows you to see how well you are doing it).
Downside: I hate cluttering up my phone with apps, I much prefer that my clutter is filed and organised within the cover of my Filofax, however, until the habits form, I might just have to settle for the electronic solution.
Squared notes – my Filofax mini lists
A couple of years ago I went on a shopping binge in the states one of the items I bought was a rainbow spiral notepad of square post-it sized paper. I had 5 minutes before the shop closed and bought it thinking they were sticky notes. No such luck.
Nevertheless they proved a great addition to my desk and handy for writing quick notes down on in the office (and also quite funny watching people steal them thinking they were sticky notes and try to stick them).
One great thing is they are perfect for slotting into my personal Filofax. I tend to use them for the additional mini Iists that I need, whether it is my todo list for the week (to make me look at it) or a list to things to pack like in the one pictured.
Bright, vibrant and eye catching. I do keep a running to do list towards the back of my Filofax, but it is nice to put the immediate or important todos right at the front where I will see them – after all the thing I use the Filofax for most is checking my diary.
