22 February 2011

Free For All Tuesday No. 3

Once again thanks for your great response to the various questions last week. So once again you can ask any Filofax question you like and let's see if we can answer your questions. Don't worry how minor your question might be, or if it's been answered before, things do change and we might have some more recent information.

So the floor is yours...

Enjoy

20 comments:

  1. Do Filofax make paper with a margin? Most paper or notebooks I see don't have a margin printed on them, so I haev to draw one in.

    Does anyone else find the lack of margin annoying?

    Have a good day!

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  2. Any ideas how I can buy the print to size software on the US site without oohing them, which is what they told me to do. I think it's stupid that we can't buy internationally , especially a download. Help gratefully received.
    Kate

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  3. I don't think there is any paper with a margin. At least I have never seen it in a store or online. It doesn't bother me since I hate margins. They make me feel that I waste paper.

    I have a question of my own: does anyone know of a diary refill in horizontal week on two pages format that has times printed on it? I have been trying out the space24 planner, and I really like the day space layout they have. If filofax has it, I might try to go back to my filo.

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  4. I haven't seen any commercially available pages with margins, but there are templates for pages with margins on DIY planner I think, if you print your own. I certainly find pages with margins useful for some meetings as I can put action points or similar in the margin as the meeting progresses. Perhaps bizarrely, I like the margin on the RHS for that!

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  5. Yes, girlinmaths - I would also like a week on two pages - portrait with either some lines or times printed on each day.

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  6. @girlinmaths: like the French? Go to filofax.fr and enter 6843811.

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  7. @nelie not enough room for margins. what would you use them for?

    @kate no idea but good question

    @girlinmaths here you go http://www.filofaxusa.com/store/diaryrefillsdetails.asp?productId=2372

    i only received one answer last week so i will ask again, those of you that pick up filofax items at tjmaxx, what section do you find them in?

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  8. also i read on some blog this week that the worst thing you can do for your productivity is not look at your planner when you start your day. how many of you sort of coast on what you remember and then occasionally pick up your filo for back up? or do all of you start the morning with coffee/tea, cereal, and your filo?

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  9. @colie
    At work, every morning, without fail (polishes halo...), I check my filofax for what I have ahead. I'm usually in early to get that first cuppa and filofax check all to myself.

    At home... hmmm. I work part-time and sometimes 'home days' are 'work days' in disguise (either relating to my job (boo!) or my writing or charity stuff) and then I'm pretty good at checking my schedule (even though home days are invariably empty!). It's more a checking of to do lists tbh.

    'Home days' that have no work in them... not quite such a shiny halo! :-) They generally go to H in a handbasket regarding productivity!

    Re: margins - I use margins to pop notes in during meetings. Usually who has become responsible for something, but also to indicate who was speaking or which agenda topic we're on, without breaking the flow of the meeting notes. I actually find them really useful and use an adapted note page which has a block of space at the top (for filing reference) and a margin on the RHS for adding these minor notes to.
    For general 'landing pad' notes I don't use margins. What do you want to use them for Nellie? And what size FF are you using?

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  10. okay i've been waiting for this since I missed FFAF...my plea for help below:

    I can't figure out why my Filo isn't working for me :( I have a personal Domino and I love it...but it gets very little use. Actually I think I do know why I don't use it. It might be too small for me. So the next size up is A5 which will be too big for daily carrying (or so I imagine)...so what do i do? I feel i would use it a lot more if it were bigger plus I could make my own custom pages as well.

    I had a moleskine weekly before and it was okay. The filo is where i want to be but I just need help making it work for me. I love the flexibility that I have with it, which is why i wasn't crazy about my Mole...but now I am thinking on going back but I don't want to!

    Help!!

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  11. @Kels

    Are you asking one Filo to do too much? Or not enough? To explain, for me I have benefitted from the helpful Philofaxy users sharing wonderful ideas on the nontraditional use of the Filo.

    One reader recommended the what/where approach to discern if the info should be in your personal Domino (what color? Just curious!) or in another Filo. If writing space is the issue, perhaps you could use less pre-printed inserts and use plain paper instead. Or print A5 inserts and Z-fold them (thank you, Steve)into your planner. This was in a previous posting as well.

    My A5 classic is a wonderful size for writing but too much to tote all over. Maybe you need to park the A5 at work for work only and use the personal as your appointment book and other reminder functions?

    Sorry to go on--I wasn't using my Classic A5 well due to it's size. (I know, blasphemy!) It's now a family resources binder that stays parked at home. I now have a pocket Urban as my diary and reminder pages for shopping and what not and to track on the go to-dos. I am getting a personal Fins this week to create a nterests/growth binder (thank you, Kanalt). My personal Malden is on order--that will usurp the pocket as my diary when it arrives. It will also include a doctorate tab to help me continue to make progress in that area.

    Who knew my life would necessitate 4 Filos? I know many readers have, and need, many more...hope this is helpful to you.

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  12. Interesting that so many people don't use margins. I use them for a few things. I tend to number stuff, so the number of an item in a list goes in the margin. I also mark things in the marking with stars to show important things... but most of all, how do you keep a straight edge without a margin?! My writing would be all over the place! You can see my margin use in the book-o-fax post from a while ago.

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  13. @kels, it took me a while to work out how to use my filo so it worked for me.

    Reading some of the posts on here gave me ideas for how to use my filo differently, and eventually I came to something that worked.

    What are your trying to do with your filo? Is it for taking notes? Storing important info? Diary and task management? All of these things will influence how you set things up.

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  14. @Kels - I had a similar problem. I have ended up with a work A5 filo and a pocket one for my diary and general notes on the go. I have another A5 as a household binder which words well and also includes favourite recipes.

    I feel a mini one coming on to use as a wallet when on holiday when I need different currency.

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  15. Kels, what you are experiencing is common among Filofax users, and is what I call the "big book/ small page problem." I too have struggled for a long time to work with the small page size of the Personal, but the A5 is just too big and heavy to carry around everywhere.

    Check out Jotje's post below (if you haven't already) for some great ideas on making a Personal size Filofax work for you:

    http://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2010/12/guest-post-task-and-time-management.html

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  16. You guys are the best!

    @skhen: My Domino is Lavender :) My work life isn't that busy so I won't need a separate Filo for that right now. (thanks for all your advice!)

    I also have a Red Finsbury that I'm using for coupons because the rings rusted for some strange reason! it never got wet, was stored away from humidity, etc and still looked HORRIBLE! I cleaned it with some CLR but it's nothing like it used to be. Didn't want to waste it so I used it for something that is very important to me.

    I've already made plans to make a 'home' binder so that will be separated out of my Filo. The lists for the home can come with me so I can always know what I want if I happen to catch something on sale.

    @Nellie, I want to use my Domino to track my day! I want to track the important things that happen and keep up with what's coming up. I want to have my shopping lists on hand. I want to be able to take quick notes and to dos, but sometimes I think a notebook will work better for me and just have the filo for my diary?

    @ Alison & Laurie: Thank you both! I will do some planning for my planner! I really am trying to get on the ball this year...I'm working hard at my NY Resolution.

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  17. Girlinmaths -- if you're using personal size, DayTimer has several nice week on two page inserts that fit (it's their portable size). The Flavia, Garden Path, and Coastlines series all has times printed down the middle of each day, while the Serenity has the times printed down the left side. All are lined as well. The tabs come with a one-page monthly calendar too.

    Colie, I didn't know which country you were asking about, but in my U.S. TJMaxx's I've found Filos in the stationery department and also in the display stands close to the checkout registers. But here they must be a seasonal item -- I haven't seen any since early January :-(

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  18. @Kels,

    The way you want to use your filofax sounds very similar to the way I use my pocket Deco.

    What I find really helpful is having the little selection of post-its and coloured tabs. I also recommend buying some blank indexes rather than trying to use the pre-labelled ones because then you can be much more flexible about what you use each section for, without feeling constrained by the ones filofax have chosen for you.

    I have my diary first, and use the 'today' ruler to mark the current week (as do most people, I expect). I don't really get along too well with the 'To Do' pages, but instead I use one of the little post-its to keep track of things I need to do, and stick it somewhere on the current week.

    I then have a 'notes' section and this is for everything - random scribblings, shopping lists etc.

    THEN I have an 'events' section. This is for holidays/big events I'm planning. I just have the ruled notepaper in there, but I use the coloured sticky tab to separate each event. Currently I've got a section for a Hen Party I'm planning, a section for a music festival I'm going to, and a section for my summer holiday. I use them to keep track of various things e.g. people who owe me money for tickets I've bought, stuff I need to buy, and anything else I need to remember to do.

    Then I have my 'financial' section - I just use that to keep track of what I need to spend this month, so I can keep an eye on saving money for all the above events!

    Finally I have a 'To do' section which has some long-term stuff in it - like furniture I want to buy for my flat at some point but which I can't afford right now.

    I have addresses right at the back, organised using the alphabetical tabs. I decided I didn't need to waste one of the main index tabs on 'addresses' since they're all behind their own letters anyway.

    I also have a tube map and a couple of transparent envelopes which I use for coupons/vouchers I get.

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  19. skhen - Thanks for the mention!

    I also have an A5 with family/household information that stays home at all times. I used to keep most personal items in a personal binder for stay-at-home use and use the slimline as an on-the-go planner, but that failed for me. It was too confusing to know what was where. So I moved everything back into my personal Malden and just accepted that I'd have to carry a full planner with me. I still use the Slimline for trips - I'll take only what I need in it and leave the rest at home. Then of course, there's my happiness binder that I'm currently working on.

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  20. @Alex, that is amazing that you can accompany so many things in a Pocket sized Filofax!!!

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