28 February 2012

Free For All Tuesday No. 56

The last Tuesday spot of February 2012, I hope you have got some good questions lined up for us to have a crack at.... Fire away!

35 comments:

  1. Good morning all,

    Philofaxy posts on time and task management usually attract a lot of interest and comment. Is anyone making their own Personal sized forms based on GTD or similar systems which they're willing to share?

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  2. Not a question, just another example of Filofaxes getting everywhere. I was rejigging my health file last and listening to 'Old Harry's Game' and was amused by the scene where Gary the demon uses a Filofax to keep on top of his to do list!

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  3. Morning :)
    @ Gerard - my system is based on GTD's paper planner set up. I've 'fallen off the wagon' (as David Allen calls it) & all sorts of things are out of date. I will revise some parts of the book & will write a post on how I plan to get back in control!

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    1. I read this and thought of you, myself, and other GTD wanna be users. :) Time to jump back on the wagon!

      http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/upgrade-your-gtd-calendar-and-keep-up-with-the-times.html

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    2. I have never used and am so curious on how to use it. Please post it! ;)

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    3. Hi Anita - A post on your setup would be great: equal parts experience and reforming zeal, eh? :)

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  4. I have decided to try the new A5 Amended TM week to view, made by Steve and Ray. I have downloaded and printed the diary in a bolder print format- which I amended myself- and I am writing in everything today. I loved the DPP I had been using, but it was way too big for my Filofax really. So planner fail. I have stopped using Frixions, as I found on 1 page of my birthday lists some had self rubbed out. Appointments in the diary are too important to loose through rubbing out through use!! So Frixions are now for shopping lists.... or anything else which has a short life and is thrown out within the week. A shame as I love Frixions colour ranges. I bought some beautifully coloured Staedler pens thin line..... to colour code my diary. But the bleed through was horrid..... so back to my black 'CROSS' make of pen. Any good non bleed through coloured pens folks use????

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    1. I have a set of Staedtler Triplus fineliner (fibretip) pens that don't bleed at all, much to my surprise.

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    2. I only recently started to use Sakura Pigma - they come in lovely colours, write fantastically and absolutely without bleed through, even though I tried real hard, heh! Plus the pen looks special, maybe you should give it a try...

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    3. Thanks Vanjilla, I will put those onto my Christmas list with daddy Santa, and maybe next year's diary will look better!! In the meantime I have bought some WH Smith neon gel pens... which don't bleed through. Gerard, your pens are exactly the same as mine and yet how odd yours don't bleed through at all and mine do. Maybe the quality of the paper counts too??? I have a suspicion that your paper may be better quality. I have used Staples A5,to print off my own A5 TM WTV... Steve and Ray style, so maybe it is that paper with those pens,ie the combination of the 2 which doesn't work. A shame, as I love these pens to bits!!!!

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  5. I have used Google Calendar for years, so I print copies of each month for my Filofaxes. I print a full month on each side of a sheet of paper for the Mini that I carry as a wallet/organizer in my purse. Printing both sides means less bulk in the Mini. I resize the printout to fit. For the Personal, which is Mission Control at home,I resize the printout to a larger size and print one month on each sheet of paper. I make all changes online in Google and make changes in pen in the Filos. Eventually I print new pages when I have significant or numerous changes. Doing it this way eliminates my messy handwriting and gives me a copy of my calendar online from anywhere if I need it.

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  6. Hi Everyone
    You might have noticed a change in the way comments are structured on the blog. You can either add a new comment by clicking 'Add Comment' or you can 'reply' to individual comments and your comment will be 'threaded' in with the comment you are replying to.

    It took a little finding to enable this option but I got there in the end!

    Steve

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    1. And just to show what happens if you hit reply... here's a reply...

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    2. I love this idea Steve for responding to individual comments or requests! Thank you.

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    3. Yes this is going to work well on Fridays and Tuesdays especially.

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    4. Oooh, can you email me with the instructions on how to do this??? I'm loving it!

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    5. Details here: http://support.google.com/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1725597

      You need to set the post and comments feeds to Full, then it just works when you have your comments set to embedded.

      Steve

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  7. OK, this is a long shot. I really want to get hold of some Deskfax (or B5) dividers - I have the A-Z ones, but wanted some that were either blank or just numbered. I don't have a suitable hole punch else I'd make some, and the hole punches are really expensive. Filofax UK don't sell them anymore, so does anyone have any dividers (or a hole punch for that matter!) they would be willing to part with? Happy to pay a reasonable cost for these. I can get some from FR or IT but thought I would try here first in an effort to avoid the expensive postage costs. A friend gave me the binder and it's a really good size - I'm still using A5 for work etc, but want to use this one for another purpose.

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    1. Alison,
      The Deskfax can use a normal Personal hole punch just use it twice with the middle three holes being the common ones from each end, it's 'standard' 3/4" with 2" between the three ring groups.

      Steve

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    2. Thanks Steve - I'll give that a try.

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    3. alison i have a deskfax punch you can have for free if you want, its the heavy metal punch

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    4. HI Christa - I would love it please - do you want to email me on ali at alisonreeves dot co dot uk and we can organise. I can send you the postage via paypal if you like, or just send you the money another way of you prefer. Thank you so much!

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  8. OK - I have another question. When you set up your todo or task lists in your Filofax, do you break them down or just have one long list? For example, do you have a list for work, one for home, one for developing your business or a hobby? Are you careful to separate out true todos vs projects?

    I have loads of things I want to review and do across a wide spectrum (for example tasks for customers, business development stuff like updating my website and getting to grips with my social media strategy, and personal stuff like tidying up the patio and decluttering the spare room).

    I guess if you practise GTD you have a lot of lists, but I'm not sure I'd cope with all these - if I have overwhelm I'm more likely to not look at them at all!

    Just thought it would be interesting and hopefully useful to find out how others deal with this.

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    1. @ Missus Aka (Christa) - If Alison doesn't want the Deskfax hole punch please can I have it? I will send you postage costs.

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    2. Alison, I use a computer list called Wunderlist. It can be googled, and is free. It is just FABBY!! It can be set up as a GTD style projects list, or how you wish really. I look at my GTD style Wunderlist at the weekend when I am doing my weekly review, and then add this week's to dos to my Filofax scheduled tasks. That way, I keep my huge projects lists separate from my to dos. It is such a simple and wonderful programme to use and has won so many computer awards, that I highly recommend Wunderlist to anyone. It keeps your broader GTD map separate from your day to day map, so that you have a list of what needs doing, which is captured down on PC Wunderlist. My GTD does not overwhelm me any more, as it is separate from the day to day, until reviewed weekly. Bonus is also that if you wish to print say a project list for your Filofax, then you can.

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  9. I was wondering if anyone else was a little curious by the lack of pictures of the new Temperley ff. I wanted to see the inside to get a real feel for it before I decided if I liked it or not.

    On Saturday a friend and I went to London and just happened to be walking up Regent Street so decided to stop at the Conduit Street Filofax shop. The new Temperley ff were in a display cabinet in the window and a second set in another cabinet on the right as you walked in... I was gutted because I wanted to have a really good look without the sales staff standing over your shoulder watching your every move. With the rejection of not being able to have a look I soon brightened my mood with the beautiful array of ff in the store... its simply stunning to see and be able to have a good nosey! My friend (thankfully very understanding) had subsequently reviewed the whole store and I was barely half way down the collection of ff... heaven indeed!!

    Once I was finished with the ff it was time to review the inserts... nothing new to report there. But... on the way back from the inserts section... at the back of the shop... yes... you guessed it were both Temperley ff out in the open... free from glass cabinets. I was thrilled to finally get my hands on them and have a good look.

    "The Affair" was my preferred ff. The concept is quite interesting a combination of a Filofax binder and the flex. There is an A5 thick lined note book on the inside of the left cover, while useful it made the ff look bulky and heavy. The right hand side had the traditional rings, but due to the size of the flex note book these were tiny. Also the rings are personal size in an A5 ff? Had the smaller size note book been in the left side and A5 rings with a larger diameter been on the right it would be much more functional. The cover of the ff has been beautifully designed and is very elegant. The clasp is not delicate compared to the lace design, I know there is the whole contrast thing to consider. My overall impression is the ff was trying to be too may things.

    The second ff "The Guinea" has a 'full grain, soft hair calfskin leather' cover. On picking up this ff I immediately did not like the feel of the cover and almost didn't look inside because I disliked it so much! On the inside left cover there are functional pockets for your phone and cards but these were bulky. Its great if you want to be able to put everything you need in the ff and securely Zip it up for a day or night out to have a functional "designer" clutch. The ff is the personal size and the inserts are personal size. The rings are very small (and bright gold) to leave room to fill the pockets on the left inside cover and to keep the overall size of the ff thinner.

    The zip is large and clunky and the 'gold bars' do not improve its look and make the transition from the cover to the zip stick out and remind my of my Nan's old purse with the mental twist clasp that opens the coin compartment, something quite out of place in 2012. The inside is bulky but I can see how it has been designed for the "girl about town" function.

    The inserts for both ff are all cotton cream. There are special pages which are interesting because they are different, but not necessarily functional. There are little touches like the birthstones on the birthday pages, something you may consider once in a while but probably are not interested in on a daily business basis. The gold lettering on the dividers, ruler etc stand out. I got the impression that lots of design concepts are all jumping out at you at the same time. The designs are not subtle and therefore you lose the grace and elegance of the ff.

    So you have guessed it... I did not like either Temperley ff. Even taking the price completely out of the situation I would never buy either ff. I really hope Filofax consider their customer base on the back of the Temperley ff... all they need to do is read Philofaxy and they would have loads of feedback and ideas!

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    1. I have some pictures which I will be sharing with everyone on Thursday... internal and external ones of both models. Imy was told off for taking photos of the range, which seems silly to me, given that the launch has been and happened and there are plenty of press pictures circulating around on the net.

      Steve

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    2. I can't help wondering if these binders are 'all form and no substance' if you want a genuine planner. The rings don't seem large enough to hold a proper planner diary and notes. However if you want something pretty, somewhere to note down a few appointments and notes then it would do the job - especially if the look is important to you. I just couldn't justify the cost and I really enjoy a much larger planner to play with.

      However - they have only produced 500 of each so only have to sell that many! Although they may not appeal to us, there may be people who will love them. I just wish they had done a proper A5 version with proper sized rings.

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    3. I agree Steve!! Being 'Telt aff' for taking pics of the new Temperley range, or indeed any Filofax range, within a shop, does seem a bit ott and precious. I saw some Japanese tourists taking snaps of their British fish and chip lunch the other day, obviously a typically British dish.Shame they hadn't tried the mushy peas though I thought!!! Maybe instead of the Temperley Guinea fowl Filofax, we could have "Temperley, for the love of mushy peas....." just musing away here!!

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  10. Recently I want to perchase a filofax A5 snake organizer and I look all around the ebay, amazon, or other website and I find nowhere except for German Filofax. Thus, could anyone tell me where I can buy a snake A5, I mean from UK.

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    1. HI Lulu - They are no longer available in the UK, so my guess is that you will have to try and get one second hand. That probably means keeping an eye out on ebay and waiting for one to come up. Also check out Adspot here on Philofaxy (link at the top of the page) as member of Philofaxy often advertise binders they have for sale there.

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    2. Filofax DE will deliver to UK http://www.filofax.de/delivery/

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  11. Just made my first filofax online purchase. I can't wait to get the stuff. I am getting the A5 domino in red, which I think is a wonderful colour. I am not sure what I will be using it for. I sorta keep and A5 and a personal basically the same. I love the size of the personal, but absolutely adore the wpp and tm pages that Steve and Ray made, which is why I use an A5. So torn....any advice? Also do you think it is a good idea to use my pocket domino for a notebook? Sorry for the rambly questions, I have medicine head...I dislike cold season.

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    1. Get well soon Steph!I am just giving the amended Philofaxy TM A5 week to view pages a go.... I think it is trial and error to find the diary system which suits you and your way of working and thinking. But it is worth the effort. Make a list maybe of what you need, or think you will need and use. Then start the setting up process..... the fun bit!!
      Look after yourself and get well soon. xx

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