27 January 2012

Free For All Friday - No. 167

So what changes have you made to your set up that you are finding that are working well for you? One of my success stories is moving my Blog Calendar to A5 size, it's a Google Calendar Month to a Page format printed on to A5 paper and punched.

It works great, it's tucked in to the end of my planner section and I flip to it when I'm planing and dating future posts. It originally started life on A4 size sheets but I downsized it to A5 and it's still working well. 

But as it's Friday feel free to discuss anything Filofax related.

21 comments:

  1. why does filofax make some covers with pen loops that lie towards the pages instead of away from the pages?! I wanted the osterley so bad but I had to pass on it because of the way the pen loops were constructed! I don't suppose it's possible to train the pen loops to lie the other way, is it ?

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  2. I was just thinking about this the other day as I have made two major changes to my setup this year both of which are working really well.

    First I moved from 2 personal size filos to a gorgeous A5 imperial purple whih is working really well for me. I also decided to use the time management week to view inserts which I'm also loving (and wouldn't have found without philofaxy!). It suits me to have all my reminders, to-dos and calendar entries all in one place.

    So two successful changes for me so far this year!

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  3. Do the diary refill inserts come with personal information and Registration pages as they do in brand new Filofaxes? What other inserts do I need when I buy a used, empty binder?

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  4. @ Nicole yes, all calendar inserts (MPP, WO2P,DPP, 2DPP, 2days per page etc) all come with the Personal Info sheet and the other information pages.

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  5. Has anyone ever hacked a Moleskine pocket daily into the pocket Filofax? I am considering doing this, slicing the pages out and replacing my diary insert. then I can have functional DPP sheets (I hate the Filo DPP) and still carry my lovely pocket Filo around with me.

    --- interestingly my word verification is 'angsta' - which minus the last 'a' is Angst which means anxiety/fear in German... how fitting.

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  6. @SSA yes I did this, but unfortunately the holes go over the times down the page on the right page :(

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  7. After I thought my system was finalized, I added a top opening envelope for coupons, and a small, top tabbed section for work notes.

    I hate having to carry work notes in my Filo (I use general legal pads at work for meetings, etc.) but I'm finding it helpful to have one page for notes/to-dos for each project I'm working on. That way, any action items can be transferred to my daily to do list on the appropriate day.

    Seems to be working so far!

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  8. Hello everyone! I need an A5 filo, maybe a zipped one, that will take a lot of abuse in my backpack etc, and I'd like your opinion on the Graphic Zip. Does anyone have one and can tell me how it holds up? Thanks! Have a lovely weekend!

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  9. @SSA - brilliant! I have a 2012 pocket daily Mole and a beautiful black pocket Malden with no purpose ... hmmmm.

    @Nancy - You'd think you could train them - if they're leather, maybe with diligent work you could coax them to lie the other way.

    As for any major changes, well, I just yesterday got an A5 Holborn Zip for my work, replacing the A5 Cuban (non-zip). I'd fleetingly thought of swapping my personal Cuban Zip for the A5 Cuban for "non-work" use. Hmmmm. I'll have to ponder that more over the weekend.

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  10. @Nancy - one thing to consider is that the osterley has elastic-leather loops (at least it does on the compact) as opposed to all leather like the amazona (incidentally - caved and got a black one since they're being discontinued. hopefully will be here tomorrow)

    um, you should just get the oesterley and see whether it suits your need or not. if it doesnt, you could always sell it...if it's a plum one, i'll surely buy it off of you!!!

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  11. @ terri knits - I will be playing with power tools tomorrow (I am going to drill the holes through the entire book and then slice out the pages) Will report back with results. I know TPS is right that some numbers in the hours column will go with the holes. But I need DPP pages that are nicer than the crappy Filo ones and I LOVE my malden so much I cant bear not to use him. ...

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  12. @Nicole, the inserts that you need will depend on what you are using it for or how you want to use your organizer. You may just want notes and to-dos together with you calendar. Or like me try to squeeze everything in like class notes, class calendar, daily tasks, journaling pages, business card holders,etc,etc

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  13. My set-up is so not finalized yet! Not even my organizer size! :/
    _____

    Would someone have a suggestion of a "flat" smooth A5 style? I have a pocket Belmot and I love it so much because of how smooth it is - not bulky at all! But I can't find it anywhere.
    I also had a chance to touch a Finsbury A5 and it was so bulky and "puffy" although I loved the color. Would someone know between Malden A5 and Osterley A5 which one would be smoother/flat and not bulky? There is no filofax store in my city so i can't go touch them - just browse and drool over the computer screen! :)) Any help will be much appreciated!

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  14. @LimeTree, my Cuban A5 (non zip) is really flat and sleek and has 1" rings. My personal Malden is pretty smooth and flat. Steve has a small village of Maldens; he can probably tell you how the A5s feel/look.

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  15. @SNARLing Thanks for the enabling! I finally received my order from PensAndLeather today - a mini, a pocket, and a compact!! - so I got my fix. I won't be jonesing for that Osterley for at least a LITTLE while, but I will keep you in mind!

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  16. Thanks terriknit! I thought the Cuban was one of the "puffy" ones, good to know it is not!

    I guess as Friday is not over yet (where I live at least) I have one more question:
    I read here and there that filofax doesn't offer A5 diary refills in cotton-cream paper. On their site also i couldn't find any. On the Osterley A5 description thou it says that the organizer comes with cotton-cream week to view. Is it really a cc paper or was it a publishing mistake of the website?

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  17. can I squeeze one more FFAF ? I've seen the odd comment about the DYI Planner site's Dynamic Templates http://www.diyplanner.com/node/6210 Has anyone used this with success? is it pretty user-friendly/intuitive? I just haven't had time to devote to exploring it and am curious if it's worth the time or would it frustrate me?

    @Lime Tree - I wouldn't say the Cuban is puffy, it feels very smooth and sleek to me. I, too, would be curious about the cotton cream insert availability for A5.

    Also, speaking of A5, is there a Month-on-Two-Pages TABBED calendar like there is for personal?

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  18. I've used the DIY planner tools and they're pretty good. It's a fiddle to print on personal pages (from the POV of my printer I mean) but A5 is easy and it has lots of layouts to choose from. You can just generate a week or a month and print it and try. You don't have to print a whole year in one go.

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  19. Thanks for the clarification - I couldn't find the personal information page in people's photos. Anyway, I just scored a new Pocket Chameleon on eBay so I don't need to buy the diary and inserts separately now!

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  20. There's nothing wrong with my setup, as it's working beautifully. However, that hasn't stopped me from buying Franklin Covey inserts to try in my compact Regency. I will be blogging about the specifics of this soon - stay tuned!

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  21. @TPS. I bought a graphic A5 folder and was very disappointed in how it wore. The leather looking part on the spine started to peel quickly at the top and the fabric part stained pretty esily with use. Was not terribly enamoured with all that. I've kept one of the two I had, the zipped one, to keep spare inserts in. The other went to Oxfam, as the spine had worn. Frankly, for me a waste of money. Now have a FINSBURY a5, which touch wood is perfect. xx

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