06 February 2026

Free For All Friday - No. 900 by Steve

Every day of the year there is some event or other going on somewhere in the world to raise your awareness of a cause or health issue.

Today Friday 6 February is 'Go Red for Women' day, to raise awareness of heart disease.

It is also National Chopsticks day implements I have never really got to grips with!

What ever you are celebrating today, you can of course discuss anything Filofax related.

05 February 2026

Guest post series - 'Filohax' No. 26 - Paul

Thanks very much again to Paul for this next instalment of his wonderful guest post series. This one is about Commonplace books and how Filofax can enhance the practice.
You can find all of the 'Filohax' posts here.

Zibaldone zone

Before I started Commonplacing (look it up - there are a million YouTube videos!), I didn't have a place for the random facts / quotes / passions and interests I've collected over the years.

My scrapbooks / bookshelves were bursting with disparate 'stuff' (I'm a bit of a hoarder). Then one day the algorithm got me - and I was hooked. Here was a reason to use my Filofax collection everyday - a Commonplace book I started simply, I used a Gloucester personal I had spare, chosen due to its lack of a strap closure - I figured that my commonplace book would be a reference book and not for carrying around. Next, I decided to look through my existing collection of information and to create a series of categories to help with the retrieval process later on.

"But if this is about Commonplace books; what is a Zibaldone?" I hear you thinking. Well, Zibaldone is an associated word which I think comes from the Italian for 'a mix of things' (the commonplace police will shoot me for this!). So when I started, as you'll see from the first few photos of my inserts I titled them 'Compendium' (yet another word, I wanted to do it my way😏). However, I use the Filofax A-Z dividers and my 'C' section was already very full - pushing my core content away from the sweet spot middle of the binder. My simple solution was to rebrand as 'Zibaldone' - my 'Z' tab being redundant at that point!

I've recently started on my second Zibaldone Filofax (another black Gloucester) and this got me wondering how to differentiate between the different books. I'm not getting into on shelf numbering systems yet (that day will come), but for now I've created a page turner which will contain the short form title 'ZIB' but with the graphic twist of using a number one instead of the letter 'i'... the plan being that once this graphic device is established in the first Zibaldone the second will be 'Z2B', Z3B, etc (I already use the same device in my index binder😏).

Anyway, on to my inserts system. As you will see from the first few pages, I incorporated quite a wide column for 'categories'. You'll also see that this lasted all of three pages before I opted for a colour coding system - I was wasting too much real estate that a personal insert doesn't have to spare. I made my commonplace for myself - my logic being that as I get older I'm starting to think about downsizing, and a Commonplace is a kind of condensed library - if there was ever a fire I want to reach for a a few commonplace books, not my whole library! The other audience I had in mind are my two sons. Historically commonplace books were handed down through families, and I like the idea of carrying on this tradition - especially as we accelerate into the Artificial intelligence era - I want them to have something personally curated by myself, for them to have an insight into the old man's interests.

As the initial pages I created progress you can see that the contents are very text based, but one day I was re reading a very old and beloved book of Ornithology - AA book of British Birds, and the beautiful illustrations by artist Raymond Harris Ching inspired me to cherry pick my favourite birds/illustrations and photo copy them, reducing to fit the smaller personal insert format. This got me wondering, why don't I use my Zibaldone to not only house quotations and text based information but art and illustrative inspiration too?

The benefits of Commonplacing are well documented, but what I don't think many are aware of is how using a ring binder can allow you to juxtapose content ad infinitum, creating new relationships between content that may never have been considered before (I'm almost starting to get 'Zettelkasten' vibes.. another story!).

In the coming weeks I aim to share a spread with the group every so often and would love to inspire others to have a go themselves - and maybe share their own Commonplacing?

03 February 2026

Video Web Finds - Wednesday 4 February 2026

I hope you have had a good weekend.

Now it is time to enjoy a great collection of videos from around the internet.

Here are a selection of the latest Filofax videos for your enjoyment.

Fit a Personal Insert in an A5 Binder - Flatability
January Planner Reflections - dr_alvaplans
2026: The year you choose yourself - Franklin Planner
Personal Rings January Flip & February Setup - Earthy Sam
Filofax 6CL - ASMR - Flatability
My Current Planner Setup | What’s Working & What’s Not - Dia Meraz
Episode 9: A Journey of Intention - Character Development - Franklin Planner
My Plotter Second Brain Setup – Realistic & Simple (You Asked For This!) - Aligned Plans
February 2026 Monthly Setup || Plan With Me || Franklin Classic || Tyler Binder - Sandra Dahl
Friday Flip| January 2026 Planner Setup| Moterm Personal Rings w/DIYFish Inserts - Antonisha-A.P. Peoples | Christian Romance Author
Franklin Planner Podcast Episode 9: A Journey of Intention - Franklin Planner
Why You Haven’t Found Planner Peace (Yet) - Alexis aka MissTrenchcoat
Setting up my planner for February and reflecting on January - Buy Sell Plan Inc.
Plan With Me || Franklin Classic || Feb.2-8, 2026 || Tyler Binder - Sandra Dahl
One Page per Task: A Simple Planner Experiment - Flatability
How I Ended Up with a Ring Planner | My Meeplus Slimline Binder Journey - Dija Vlogs Games
The Filofax Mini-How to do Creative Pages - The Planner Pincher
My 2026 Filofax Agenda Setup | Simple, Chic & Functional for Busy Moms - meg.antinucci
Cozy Desk Chat// Updated Personal Filofax Flip through AND Pocket Rings - nadiaaplans
What I write in my diary and how it helps my mental health ❞ Filofax - ТІНІ КНИЖОК
The Filofax Mini-How I Use The Filofax Mini - The Planner Pincher
2026 filofax personal planner tour - Jazz
I Made My Own Filofax Calendar - DR. ZHIVAGO
Winter Wonderland | Week 3 in Filofax | dekoriat - dekoRIAt
plan next week in my filofax personal rings! - ezpaperplans
2026 Filofax Setup | Flipping 2025 Planners + Custom Inserts - Saif Ali
coffee & pages | ep. 1 ✸ how i use my filofax (A5) - Holy Notes Co.
What I Used in January - Journal & Planner Check-In - Dory Journals
planner lineup 2026 Hobonichi Moleskine and filofax - kti. plans
Personal Rings Update | FCC Inserts | Combination Binder ~ Filofax Malden - Life with Lisa Ann
February Set Up | Pocket Rings | Filofax - Journal Mojo
Your YouTube video could appear here. If you have a YT channel that features Filofax organisers or similar, please let us know. (steve at philofaxy dot com) Alternatively ensure your video contains 'Filofax' or 'Rings' in the title or description.

Please leave a comment on any of the videos you enjoyed and mention you saw a link on Philofaxy.
For tips on how to improve your videos, please see this post. Also this video too Webfinds
Your Filofax/Organiser Videos could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list.
Consider joining our Facebook group - Filofax for Philofaxy fans
Don't forget to take a look at Travellers Notebook Times for other blog posts and videos for non-ring bound planners.
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Enjoy

Free For All Tuesday - No. 783

What questions or discussion points have you got for us today?

It doesn't matter if you are a beginner or a more experienced user of organisers, we want to hear your thoughts, questions, opinions etc.

We are here to answer your questions.

Make today the one day you post a comment or post a question. If you are commenting as 'Anonymous', please include your name in the text of your comment.

It is Tuesday after all, so fire away with any questions and comments.

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02 February 2026

Highlights for January 2026

Happy New Year

Here are the highlights for last month.

We published the following posts.

General Posts:

Free For All Tuesday and Friday Posts:

Sunday Posts:

Web Finds Posts:

If you have any ideas for future posts we look forward to hearing your suggestions, please comment below.

If you are on Facebook don't forget to join the Filofax for Philofaxy Fans group.

If you have a guest post idea, please contact steve at philofaxy dot com or if there is a topic you would like to see us cover or revisit also please contact Steve.

I hope you find this post useful, please let us know in the comments and we will do our best to do a highlights post each month.

Wishing you all the best for this month.

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