Diary Inserts for 2012 - Part 1 of many!

What diary insert should I use next year? 

Yes, one the most popular topics of discussion on Philofaxy... every year I would say. Whilst I'm 80% certain about what I'm going to be using next year. I know some people are as yet undecided. So to help everyone, I thought I would try to sum up all of the potential options for use in your Filofax organiser with signposts to some of our previous posts on this well trodden topic!

Some of you might want to change size or style of your diary insert because you haven't found your current set up is working, or you have a change in job situation or what ever, but finding something that is going to work for you is difficult I know.

So I hope this series of posts will help you decide which diary insert to buy for next year. When I started researching the options I and I don't think you will realise just how many different ones there are out there. So I have split this series up in to several parts to make them more manageable.

So who else makes diary inserts that will fit a Filofax organiser? I'm only going to show you a few examples of each brand, but please check their websites for their full ranges So read on and discover.

Day Runner is a US company that make planners in 3.5" by 6.75" which is more or less Filofax personal size.

One of readers Kanalt has written several blog posts about this brand if you are considering using this make. Well worth a read of all her posts before you order them.

See the full range on the Day Runner website. 

Day Timer: This brand is widely available in the US, Canada in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.  Their Portable size is the same as Filofax Personal size. Their Desk size is similar to A5, but the ring spacing is not the same as Filofax A5

Dodo Pad: Dodo Pad is a UK company who make some 'fun' diary inserts that fit A5 and Personal size Filofax organisers.

You will find the full details on the Dodo Pad website, there is also an academic year inserts available as well, again the Dodo Pad website has full details and also check out the Dodo Pad blog written by our very own Laurie!

They have also appeared in Philofaxy several times before as well. Here are Philofaxy posts about the A5 insert and the Personal size inserts

Franklin Covey: Franklin Covey Compact size is similar in size to Filofax Personal size but the pages are wider, so can stick out slightly in Filofax organisers. Their classic size is similar to A5, but the ring spacing is not the same as Filofax.

Please check the Franklin Covey website for full details of their range

Once again Kanalt has several posts on the subject of Franklin Covey and she also sign posts other posts and Flickr sets that will help you see these inserts in action

Zoe is also another user of FC inserts in her Filofax organisers, so also check out her blog too. 

Maudie Made: This company is based in UK and offers inserts in Personal and Pocket size and had mentioned the possibility of producing personal size diary inserts.

Here is the pocket size insert for 2011:

2012 pocket and mini diaries up in the on line shop - the personal ones are taking a while longer as Maudie has never done them before - hope you like all the nice colours!!

http://www.maudiemade.com/

For full details of the range and prices etc please see the Maudie Made website

Poco Profile: Poco are an Australian company based in a suburb of Sydney. We featured them last year. They produce Pocket and Personal size organisers and refills that will also fit Filofax organisers.

This is the layout of their personal size week on two pages insert. 

You can see their full range on line on their website here.

Quo Vadis: I bought some refills from this French brand last year, they are sold in my local newsagent in fact. They come in Pocket (Timer 14), Personal (Timer 17) and A5 (Timer 21) Filofax sizes. The Timer 14 (Pocket) and Timer 17 (Personal) fit Filofax organisers perfectly. However, the Timer 21 (A5) size needs the pages re-punching with a Filofax A5 punch to get them to fit.

The layout of layout of the Timer 21 Planning insert is shown below, It has Mon - Sat as vertical columns, with notes and task areas at the bottom and on the right hand side. Sadly, they tuck Sunday down in the bottom right hand corner. This was the one thing I didn't like about using this layout, but it might work for some people ok.

This is the Timer 17 Prestige insert, a slight variation on the Timer 21 insert, but you will note that Saturday and Sunday now share a column, with the notes area taking up all of the right hand side column. The paper of the Prestige range is in cotton cream, but both the white and cotton cream paper is of excellent quality. This particular insert is also in English and French.

It is also important to note that the Timer 17 series are 10 x17cm in size, same height as Filofax, but 5 mm wider, or the same overall width as a Filofax tabbed section divider. If you keep your diary at the front or in the middle, then this shouldn't be too big an issue, it will still be clear of the pen loop.

This next layout is their Timer 14 insert, a fairly conventional layout, with appointment time slots for each day except Sunday.

The Timer 14 series is 12.5 x 8 cm, which means it's 5mm taller than Filofax pocket and about 1 mm narrower than Filofax Pocket. I've not noticed any issues with mixing this size with other Filofax pages/section tabs.

They also do a Day per Page layout, although I can't confirm what they do with weekends in this insert. It is available in Timer 17 (Personal) size.

The corners of their inserts are perforated so you can tear them off easily to indicate where you are in the year.

There is also an A4 size insert known as the Timer 29, It uses the same hole spacing, as Filofax, which is 8cm between holes centres.

To see the full range of layouts and sizes visit the Quo Vadis EU site

Quo Vadis inserts are available on line (En ligne) from various outlets in France, but also from UK as well.

WH Smiths: WH Smiths, this is a store that you will find in most high streets and shopping centres in UK, they stock a wide range of Filofax organisers and inserts, but they also stock their own brand of inserts. They tend to be cheaper than the equivalent Filofax insert, in my experience the paper quality isn't brilliant, but in some circumstances that might not matter. It will depend on what pen you are using I guess.

In the next part of this series we will be looking at more inserts from other countries. Thank you for reading.