07 June 2013

Free For All Friday No. 238

There is a saying that goes something like..
'It is not what you have got, it is how you use it that matters' 
I was thinking cameras I'm sure when I first heard it, but it also applies to Filofax personal organisers.

You can have the best laid out planner/diary insert going, but if you aren't using it to its maximum potential then you will not be getting the benefits of using it.

I discovered a little adjustment to how I was using my own planner this week and within a couple of days I noticed I was suddenly getting more things done each day.  Small changes one at a time can hone the use of your Filofax organiser to perfection.

How about you? Any small changes you have made recently that have improved things?

But as always it is Friday so please feel free to discuss anything Filofax related.

45 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Not me. I am still struggling with the big changes. A5 vs Personal vs Compact. So (it seems) like I am changing my whole layout every week. I'd like to pick one and live with it long enough to be able to tweak it with small changes.

    Does anyone know if there is a chart or list somewhere that shows ring size by FF model (Malden, Osterley, etc)? Thanks, Chicabooda

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    1. Go to the top of the blog page and click on Files. There should be a hyperlink to a file that lists different filofaxes including ring sizes. :)

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    2. Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you

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  3. What was the adjustment you made Steve?

    After being a One and Only Planner person for the last year, I have this week decided to split into two planners and not just that, but different sizes, so no possibility of constantly playing about with what goes where by moving paper from one to the other.

    I,ve now got work in an A5 and not-work in a personal.

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    1. Just something very simple, instead of having a long list of tasks to do in the week (I still have a few) I've assigned specific tasks to specific days of the week.

      It helps me plan the week better and not over look things

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    2. Sorry, been away for a few days and just now catching up... I am MUCH more productive when I assign tasks to particular days as opposed to just having a weekly list. It is such a remarkable difference. I think part of it is procrastination and part of it is, at any moment, being unable to decide which of the items on the long list to do.

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  4. Sorry, iPad wouldn't let me continue!

    The difference is quite marked. I have installed "capture" pages in the personal, GTD style, which I have always resisted before, feeling it is untidy. So all the small tasks which seemed frivolous in the work A5 are now being noted down; ring garage, water greenhouse, charge camera battery. And they are all getting done.
    The emptying your head thing works.

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  5. Just an off topic question. Would a smartphone fit in the outside pocket of a zipped Malden Pocket?

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    1. You can fit one in the inside back pocket, the one with the horizontal opening.

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  6. I use my a5 Metropol for work and rarely use one of the sections. Starting a new role this week gave me the opportunity to give it a clear out and tidy up and it been a great way to help organise myself in the first week.

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  7. I made major changes - new diary layout and new binder size (compact). It's working a treat so far, almost a month in, and for my set-ups that's (alarmingly) rather a long time!

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  9. I'm sure this has been asked many times before, so apologies, but has anyone got any advice on training the Cuban binder to lie flat? I bought my Cuban 3-4 weeks ago, and I just *cannot* get it to behave. I've tried laying it out flat with a couple of boxes on the covers overnight, and when I remove them it continues to lie flat. When I close it, then open it again it still lies flat, but when I leave it closed for a period, it soon reverts to not lying flat at all. I can't think of a way to get rid of the 'memory' it seems to have, other than sitting down and continuously flexing it for a few hours (hardly practical), but I really want to have it 'in service'.

    Any ideas?.....

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    1. Hi David
      Same issue with a Cuban Zip Personal. Take a look at this video.

      http://youtu.be/w13qVqO1kiI

      Same issue when you close it, it goes back to as it was!

      Steve

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    2. Thanks for confirming my suspicions Steve.....looks as if I'll have to put up with it, in the hope that it will eventually flex up a bit as the leather wears in. it's a beautiful binder though....I'm definitely going to try to stick with it.

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    3. David I think it suffers from the same thing I do---a short memory!!

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    4. Crofter......you and I both!

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  10. A public 'thank you' to Alison Reeves for passing on her Danish Personal DPP and Wo2P diaries for 2013 - these have made my life so much better! They are beautifully designed, and on cream paper of good quality (FF UK please note). I'll definitely be ordering 2014 in due course.....still trying to decide which format works best for me. Interestingly, the Wo2P has daily appointments from 8 until 4 (plus one line for evenings).....presumably the Danes start and finish early :) That suits my work pattern perfectly.....I rarely work after 4, and I like to start early......

    Thanks again Alison!

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    1. My pleasure David - I had intended to use them, but as I moved back to A5 size, they were languishing unused! I'd rather they were used.

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    2. They're certainly getting used now! I've even learned some basic Danish!

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    3. Being a Dane myself, I can only agree with the need for learning some besic Danish, David :-)

      I can recommend the Norwegian brand Greig very highly. They make cream-colored A5-diary inserts in a very fountain-pen-friendly paper quality!

      Regards,
      Thomas

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    4. Ah Thomas....if only I weren't an ex A5 user! Thanks anyway :)

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  11. The biggest change I've made recently has been the switch to an A5 size planner from a personal size. Huge difference. The larger format just works better for me. Plus, I feel like I can keep everything I need in one place for work and home.

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  12. I will be in Paris in about a week for the Paris Air Show. As the Filofax store in Paris has closed, can anyone advise the best place(s) to check out Filofax and Filofax compatible items? I assume the big department stores (Galeries Lafayette, au Printemps), but are there any other places to look. Stationery stores? Bon Marche? I am also hoping to get a few Oxford Intrnational notebooks. Anything else I should seek out? Are there any French equivalents of Paperchase or similar? Thanks in advance for gour help.

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    1. oops...the typos bothered me. =)

      PROBLEM:
      I typically get my mind set on a certain style/look and then the moment I don't maintain it, I give up on all the positive habits that I've just created.
      SOLUTION:
      I've started to honor the fact that I'm extreme, eclectic and somewhat impressionable. So now, instead of committing to one way of doing things, every week, according to my mood, I pick and choose a different printable that I want to use. As chaotic as it looks, I do understand what I was trying to do, and amazingly I get stuff done. Basically, I let me be me. The day my planner looks uniform and remarkably organized, be afraid...be very afraid.

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    2. I love this thinking! Good for you!

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  14. I have been using Kent from Oz's fantabulous chronodex mutation: the spiraldex ... for the last few weeks ... a-ma-zing! One of these days I'll do a little vid to show it off in all its glory ... seriously fabtastic.

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  15. My next Malden is going to be either a personal purple or crimson (assuming I can find one). Does the purple vary in hue the way the gray does? I haven't seen that in the crimson, but I might be wrong. Any advice? Thanks

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  16. I'm thinking about another personal Malden either in purple or crimson. Can anyone tell me if the purple varies in hue like the gray does? I don't think the crimson does that, but I'm not sure.
    P.S. I could swear that I posted this question earlier, but it disappeared. If it has popped up in the wrong place, I do beg your pardon!

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  17. I'm in the process of making major changes, even trying out Franklin Covey and Day Timer for a change :-)

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  18. If I could just get off Philofaxy and the Facebook Filofax forum I'd get a lot more done!

    What with blogs to read and video's to watch it's surprising I get anything done at all.....oh right, I don't, I've not even had my tea yet!!!

    EVERYTHING about filofax is addictive!

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  19. I use my planner with my Getting things done system.

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  20. I use my planner with my Getting things done system.

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  21. New organiser like the Jack Vintage called Woodlands on the UK site. No press release for this?

    http://www.filofax.co.uk/store/organiserdetails.asp?sizeId=2&rangeId=224&dsizeId=2

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  22. Is there a downloadable foldout year planner for a pocket size ? I found the personal...I get to searching on this site and get side tracked from all the other goodies available lol

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    1. We haven't done one specifically for Pocket, but you could try scaling down the Personal size one to suit or adapt it and fold it up and then fold it in, that way you keep the box size for each day a reasonable size.

      I will print one out and try it myself

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    2. Right I've tried the personal size at full size, decent size boxes but it ends up having to be folded 4 times to make it fit Pocket so it becomes quite bulky.... Prototype 1!!!

      Then I tried scaling Personal size to Pocket size... Personal 170 mm high, Pocket is 120 mm high so it's 70.5% of Personal..

      Download the Word version. Open it in Word in File, Page Setup, change it from 100% scaling to 70% scaling and then print it out

      Your printed page will then be 120 high and once cut out only needs two folds, one at 80mm from the edge and another 70mm further on.

      Small boxes but not as bulky.

      Steve

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    3. it worked =) thanks alot!!! I am switching from my Holborn baby (pocket) to my Holborn personal and needed a smaller calendar to use in my pocket so I can still carry it with me as a wallet..

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  23. OK I shall try that ! Thank u...when it comes to figuring out printer sizes I'm lost lol

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