How is your autumn going? Do you have any long weekends planned? Are the leaves changing color? Are you in the middle of a busy academic year or, like me, in the middle of a busy holiday business season?
Over on this side of the world Spring has sprung and things are getting warmer and the storms are getting stronger. There is the feel of fun and light and happiness in the air at the approach of summer. I have a long weekend this weekend with my son and he has a student free day at school this monday. This will be the last day off before the Christmas holidays, when we have six weeks. (Most of our long weekends are in the first half of the year.)The school year here is coming to an end and things are hinting at getting busy with Christmas parties and end of year get togethers just around the corner. I only work part time so I am not too busy, but I think I have been bitten by the spring cleaning bug and will be busy planning and actioning lots of culling activities! In the spirit of spring cleaning and because I have just brought a new Filo, I have been spring cleaning my pages and tweaking my system. It feels good!!!
I am at the start of a very busy time and am trying to "revamp" my Filofax to handle a number of projects. I am changing my to-do lists from context-based to project-based, and making myself review project status every day. Otherwise I react to the day's pressures instead of determining how I should best spend my time.
So each day I'll look at projects, decide what I want to get done, and then put those tasks on the day's calendar. Hopefully that will keep me a) realistic and b) keep me moving ahead on the projects that matter the most.
the season seems to be very busy for me! last night was the first time I really HAD to look up my to do's for today! I also decided that the personal size is a little small for me, so I ordered a Finsbury A5 (my first Filofax) which is on its way... I'm very excited! Ans Inky, your posts are a true inspiration! thank you!
Fall is my favorite time of year! All the color, the cool crisp air, the memories of school and hunkering down with notebooks and pencils. I haven't changed much in my Filo recently, but I am thinking about taking some continuing education classes for my profession come January, so I'm thinking about how my Filo will need to change a bit when that comes along - I'll use it more than ever! The questions remains to be seen, however, if a personal size can accommodate all the work.
I also would like to ask how people use their Filos for work - do you use one for work and one for personal or does one serve both purposes? Currently, my Filo is only for personal use, with appointments for work written in. But I don't list my work projects and to-dos there. My job isn't one that requires professional planning, per se - I don't have a lot of meetings (a couple a month), I am not a supervisor (hopefully, yet) and while I have projects that are my own, they aren't the kind that require a lot of planning steps and actions and whatnot. Currently, everyone I work with uses (if they use a calendar at all) the basic monthly format that is purchased for us by the organization - DayMinder or At-a-Glance (we're a non-profit, so you can see where money is at a minimum) - no one uses a Filo-type planner for work. But I'm finding that the monthly isn't cutting it for all I have to do (what I do do ranges quite a bit from one area to another, so I have a lot of different type tasks). I've been thinking about what would work best for me - the monthly planner plus a to-do list notebook, or a different type planner altogether (which I would have to purchase on my own). I'd like to keep it as simple as possible, so using two different types of planning systems is a bit hefty...
Here in New England, the leaves are at peak color right now. Gorgeous!
As the year winds down, I have been contemplating shifting from a Finchley A5 to Personal, and so the requisite online shopping for binders ensues.
Kanalt, I use my Filo for both work and personal. My Finchley has 2 pen holders and I use different ink colors for work and home to keep things straight. I use daily on 1 page for appointments and have a To Do section tabbed in the back for work and another one for home. I use a lot of stickey notes for both places which comes in handy because I can move them around as I need to.
This time of year traditionally slows down for me at work but picks up at home with the holidays approaching, so I have never had too much of a conflict fitting "both lives" into one book.
Veneita, you will LOVE your A5 Finchley! What color did you get?
This weekend we did a run to the Kinokuniya book store in LA and I found my personal size blank paper!!!! Woo hoo!!! I was soooo excited-- it was 111 sheets for $3.50 and I got two sets, so I'm set for a while.
Kanalt, I use my Finchley Personal for both personal and work. I put my work tasks at the top of the to do list and my personal tasks at the bottom. I also keep track of when various team members are out of the office and write little notes at the very bottom of the page. I find it very helpful to keep it all corralled together.
I was in New Hampshire on the 11th and the colors were brilliant and uniquely beautiful. My region of the world is amazing this time of year!
I placed my A5 on the shelf in October as I found that I needed a place to record my daily activities and the one page per day format didn't give me enough room to keep record of all those activities (phone calls, appointments,meeting notes, important emails, etc.). I moved, instead, to a Franklin-Covey classic format to help me.
Anyone else ever had to move from a one page per day in order to have enough room to record your activities? Or, how do you use your Filo and keep track of your daily record?
y mills: I ordered the pink one! the colour is so yummy I couldn't resist!
kanalt: I use a pocket size planner for work. Since I'm a teacher I only write down the hours I've worked and the given homework. For personal use I have a personal size planner, which will be upgraded to a A5 next week.
Some of our leaves are turning, and the weather has been just gorgeous. Warm enough to play outside in short sleeves, which is great to be able to do so late in the year. We have several long weekends this fall, but so far no big plans. After such a tumultuous summer, we are happy to just enjoy some relaxation time!
In Filo news, I am still trying to get my week + notes to work for me. I now use a ruler to make boxes on my notes page to have designated lists like to email, to call, Home to do, expenditures, etc. This is working pretty well for me. Before, everything was such a jumble with information all over the page, so I couldn't even see what was going on. Now with this structure it's much easier for me to see what needs to be done as well as record things. I have to have my to dos visible alongside my schedule, otherwise they are "out of sight, out of mind!"
I am debating whether or not to stick with Filofax. If I do, I'm going to need to buy A5 paper, a Filofax hole punch, and a calendar, and that will be about $70. Or I can buy a Moleskine planner for about $20. I've used the Moleskine before, and it was fine, I switched to Filofax because it had more room. But for some reason spending this extra money is grating on me. I've heard the hole punches are not that great (someone please tell me if that's wrong). I think the costs of refills is just bothering me right now. Sorry if I sound like a grump!
Hi, Anonymous-- It sounds like you don't really want to give up the flexibility of the Filofax.
I hear you on the cost issue. But if you already have the binder there are work-arounds. You could get two inexpensive three-hole punches --just make sure the dies are moveable, and combine the dies on one punch. That would be less than half the cost of a Filo hole punch.
Have you explored DIY Planner? There are lots of calendar templates there, and lots of ideas for customising them.
For me the binder is the big expense. I don't have an A5 Filofax binder and don't really want to get one and start having to punch six holes in my pages. Three holes work fine for me. I wish Filofax inserts came with 7 holes so they could be used with any binder. But I guess they really make their money on the binder sales.
GG: Thanks for the suggestions, I will think about them. I'm not a very DIY type when it comes to this stuff; I just want it to work. (smiling). I had not thought about jury-rigging another hole punch, I'll think about that. I do like my A5 but the cost of the refills has me down. I still have a couple of packs of ToDo lists and paper to work through and I guess I'll do that before I decide to change. I don't mean to be down on Filofax, it's a fantastic product. But I think the refills could be cheaper. Seriously.
With regard to punching holes in pages for any size filo, I just use a two hole punch, and having marked the position of the holes with an original page, I just punch away, one hole at a time. This is a tedious way of doing it, but it is a solution. And with regard to the paper, it is possible to but just an ordinary notepa, with lines the width that suit you, and agian using an existing page mark it up and cut it out. It is also a bit time consuming but it works and looks good.
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteOver on this side of the world Spring has sprung and things are getting warmer and the storms are getting stronger. There is the feel of fun and light and happiness in the air at the approach of summer. I have a long weekend this weekend with my son and he has a student free day at school this monday. This will be the last day off before the Christmas holidays, when we have six weeks. (Most of our long weekends are in the first half of the year.)The school year here is coming to an end and things are hinting at getting busy with Christmas parties and end of year get togethers just around the corner. I only work part time so I am not too busy, but I think I have been bitten by the spring cleaning bug and will be busy planning and actioning lots of culling activities! In the spirit of spring cleaning and because I have just brought a new Filo, I have been spring cleaning my pages and tweaking my system. It feels good!!!
I am at the start of a very busy time and am trying to "revamp" my Filofax to handle a number of projects. I am changing my to-do lists from context-based to project-based, and making myself review project status every day. Otherwise I react to the day's pressures instead of determining how I should best spend my time.
ReplyDeleteSo each day I'll look at projects, decide what I want to get done, and then put those tasks on the day's calendar. Hopefully that will keep me a) realistic and b) keep me moving ahead on the projects that matter the most.
the season seems to be very busy for me! last night was the first time I really HAD to look up my to do's for today!
ReplyDeleteI also decided that the personal size is a little small for me, so I ordered a Finsbury A5 (my first Filofax) which is on its way... I'm very excited!
Ans Inky, your posts are a true inspiration! thank you!
Fall is my favorite time of year! All the color, the cool crisp air, the memories of school and hunkering down with notebooks and pencils. I haven't changed much in my Filo recently, but I am thinking about taking some continuing education classes for my profession come January, so I'm thinking about how my Filo will need to change a bit when that comes along - I'll use it more than ever! The questions remains to be seen, however, if a personal size can accommodate all the work.
ReplyDeleteI also would like to ask how people use their Filos for work - do you use one for work and one for personal or does one serve both purposes? Currently, my Filo is only for personal use, with appointments for work written in. But I don't list my work projects and to-dos there. My job isn't one that requires professional planning, per se - I don't have a lot of meetings (a couple a month), I am not a supervisor (hopefully, yet) and while I have projects that are my own, they aren't the kind that require a lot of planning steps and actions and whatnot. Currently, everyone I work with uses (if they use a calendar at all) the basic monthly format that is purchased for us by the organization - DayMinder or At-a-Glance (we're a non-profit, so you can see where money is at a minimum) - no one uses a Filo-type planner for work. But I'm finding that the monthly isn't cutting it for all I have to do (what I do do ranges quite a bit from one area to another, so I have a lot of different type tasks). I've been thinking about what would work best for me - the monthly planner plus a to-do list notebook, or a different type planner altogether (which I would have to purchase on my own). I'd like to keep it as simple as possible, so using two different types of planning systems is a bit hefty...
Here in New England, the leaves are at peak color right now. Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteAs the year winds down, I have been contemplating shifting from a Finchley A5 to Personal, and so the requisite online shopping for binders ensues.
Kanalt, I use my Filo for both work and personal. My Finchley has 2 pen holders and I use different ink colors for work and home to keep things straight. I use daily on 1 page for appointments and have a To Do section tabbed in the back for work and another one for home. I use a lot of stickey notes for both places which comes in handy because I can move them around as I need to.
This time of year traditionally slows down for me at work but picks up at home with the holidays approaching, so I have never had too much of a conflict fitting "both lives" into one book.
Veneita, you will LOVE your A5 Finchley! What color did you get?
This weekend we did a run to the Kinokuniya book store in LA and I found my personal size blank paper!!!! Woo hoo!!! I was soooo excited-- it was 111 sheets for $3.50 and I got two sets, so I'm set for a while.
ReplyDeleteKanalt, I use my Finchley Personal for both personal and work. I put my work tasks at the top of the to do list and my personal tasks at the bottom. I also keep track of when various team members are out of the office and write little notes at the very bottom of the page. I find it very helpful to keep it all corralled together.
I was in New Hampshire on the 11th and the colors were brilliant and uniquely beautiful. My region of the world is amazing this time of year!
ReplyDeleteI placed my A5 on the shelf in October as I found that I needed a place to record my daily activities and the one page per day format didn't give me enough room to keep record of all those activities (phone calls, appointments,meeting notes, important emails, etc.). I moved, instead, to a Franklin-Covey classic format to help me.
Anyone else ever had to move from a one page per day in order to have enough room to record your activities? Or, how do you use your Filo and keep track of your daily record?
y mills: I ordered the pink one! the colour is so yummy I couldn't resist!
ReplyDeletekanalt: I use a pocket size planner for work. Since I'm a teacher I only write down the hours I've worked and the given homework. For personal use I have a personal size planner, which will be upgraded to a A5 next week.
Some of our leaves are turning, and the weather has been just gorgeous. Warm enough to play outside in short sleeves, which is great to be able to do so late in the year. We have several long weekends this fall, but so far no big plans. After such a tumultuous summer, we are happy to just enjoy some relaxation time!
ReplyDeleteIn Filo news, I am still trying to get my week + notes to work for me. I now use a ruler to make boxes on my notes page to have designated lists like to email, to call, Home to do, expenditures, etc. This is working pretty well for me. Before, everything was such a jumble with information all over the page, so I couldn't even see what was going on. Now with this structure it's much easier for me to see what needs to be done as well as record things. I have to have my to dos visible alongside my schedule, otherwise they are "out of sight, out of mind!"
I am debating whether or not to stick with Filofax. If I do, I'm going to need to buy A5 paper, a Filofax hole punch, and a calendar, and that will be about $70. Or I can buy a Moleskine planner for about $20. I've used the Moleskine before, and it was fine, I switched to Filofax because it had more room. But for some reason spending this extra money is grating on me. I've heard the hole punches are not that great (someone please tell me if that's wrong). I think the costs of refills is just bothering me right now. Sorry if I sound like a grump!
ReplyDeleteHi, Anonymous--
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you don't really want to give up the flexibility of the Filofax.
I hear you on the cost issue. But if you already have the binder there are work-arounds. You could get two inexpensive three-hole punches --just make sure the dies are moveable, and combine the dies on one punch. That would be less than half the cost of a Filo hole punch.
Have you explored DIY Planner? There are lots of calendar templates there, and lots of ideas for customising them.
For me the binder is the big expense. I don't have an A5 Filofax binder and don't really want to get one and start having to punch six holes in my pages. Three holes work fine for me. I wish Filofax inserts came with 7 holes so they could be used with any binder. But I guess they really make their money on the binder sales.
--GG
GG: Thanks for the suggestions, I will think about them. I'm not a very DIY type when it comes to this stuff; I just want it to work. (smiling). I had not thought about jury-rigging another hole punch, I'll think about that. I do like my A5 but the cost of the refills has me down. I still have a couple of packs of ToDo lists and paper to work through and I guess I'll do that before I decide to change. I don't mean to be down on Filofax, it's a fantastic product. But I think the refills could be cheaper. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to punching holes in pages for any size filo, I just use a two hole punch, and having marked the position of the holes with an original page, I just punch away, one hole at a time. This is a tedious way of doing it, but it is a solution. And with regard to the paper, it is possible to but just an ordinary notepa, with lines the width that suit you, and agian using an existing page mark it up and cut it out. It is also a bit time consuming but it works and looks good.
ReplyDelete