We're getting deeper into a season that includes more holidays, charitable events, school obligations, and (in the U.S.) elections. A wonderful and busy time of year!
The holiday season is still very far off for me. The first one will be on december 5, almost two months away.
I do have two other questions for you all: Do you think the month on two pages calendar is really useful? I have a hard time finding one, only online and there they are twelve euros with shipping. Is that worth it? And do you know of any good pens that also fit into the loop? My favourite pens don't fit.
I am using my vertical year planners (link to image: http://www.filofax.co.uk/images/products/refills/line/68402x.jpg ) like crazy. We have a lot of travel coming up later this year and early next year. I am using these pull-out calendars to visualize when we will be gone, and which holidays that coincides with (since my H has off work some US holidays and some local holidays, so it's not easy to keep track of what days are off and which are work). My week and month calendars are filling up quickly with multiple US and local holidays in October and November, Halloween and Thanksgiving, etc. We will be traveling over Christmas, so planning for that requires lists, reservations, flights, and car rental, info for which I keep in my Filo. I really don’t know how people function without some kind of planner system!
I get a lot of use out of my month on 2 pages calendar. It really helps me to visualize the month and do mid-range planning. For me it's a must-have. But, some people don't find they need it.
www.agendaland.com is a online webshop in dutch where you can buy Filofax.
I haven't orderd something yet. but i will when the busy period is over.
I am using my filo for our finances. Our couch will be deliverd in a week, our microwave oven is broken. (i've seen something nice!!!!!) I will be 25 soon. and also my son will be 2 years soon and christmas is coming up and "Sinterklaas"a typical dutch holiday for children on the 5th of december. I think i'm going to buy my new microwave oven in January.
Do you save your refills from Prvious years? and how do you save them?
I save my pages from past years (calendar pages as well as most of my other pages too) in ring binders. I don't like the post binders from Filofax, I prefer easy-to-open rings. Now that I use an A5, I just buy A5 binders and use a hole punch to punch the holes for the pages to fit in. When I used the Personal size Filofax, I bought 6 ring binders in that size at office supply stores. Several years ago these became really hard to find, so when I finally found them I bought several. I have never found these again. Does anyone know where these can be found now?
I too keep previous year's pages. I guess I'm low tech, because I just secure the contents of last year's Filo with a large rubber band, put a stickie note on the top with the year and keep them in a rubbermaid bin under my bed.
Right now I use one Filo (A5) for both work and home, so literally everything I do is in it. I tend to write office things in black ink and home gets blue.
Inky, your post on the pocket fitness Filo is inspiring me to branch out and get more binders!!!
Paulien, have you looked at the calendars on DIY Planner? I remember someone named Paulien who posted some comments there, not sure it was you. There are templates you can customise and a dynamic template that you download and can set to print out the range of dates you want. It's a pretty good solution for free calendars. You can set them to print the week starting on Monday or Sunday.
You could at least print the calendars off and use them for a while to see if they're useful to you.
Pauw13 - I use a monthly view as well as a weekly view. It really helps to see what I have scheduled for the month so that I don't over schedule myself. I can see how many weekends I have free (if any). I only use it as an at-a-glance view, with the details written in the weekly view. I can't live without both views. As for pens - my favorite ones don't fit in the pen loop either, but Zebra makes a pen (it's ballpoint) that retracts to become compact and expands for easier writing. It's small enough to put in the pen loop of my Mini filo as well as my personal filo. Here is the link for the pen: http://www.zebrapen.com/ball-f301compact.html Don't know if they're sold outside of the US though. I don't love this pen as a daily use pen (I prefer gel) but when I'm out and about it does come in handy.
Lovely-Rose - I do keep my past year's pages (but only the previous year's worth - I hate clutter). I do have the Filofax storage binders, which I use for the past year's since I don't refer to them often. But, for additional notes pages and upcoming pages (for 2009, let's say) I keep them in any other Filo that I'm not currently using. This is when having more than one binder comes in handy. =)
Since you use your A5 for both work and personal, I'm curious what type of diary pages you use. Do you use a week or day to view? Would you care to describe a little bit how you keep track of so much in one book? Thanks!
Hi all, I think I will just have to get over it and order the monthly refill online. I did not have it this year, but I would like to try it. I went to two other shops today, but they only had week on two pages and page per day layouts. So Rose, not only do you live in the same country as me, but we are almost the same age. I am 25 now, and will be 26 soon. Not married yet, but my boyfriend proposed to me last summer so that will take less than a year now. Another big event to plan for next year! I am also going to buy one of those four year planners. I am doing my Phd now, and this might be helpful in planning out the whole process, not just the next paper or presentation. About archiving: I keep the pages per year. I collect all notes, todo's an diary pages together and just thread a piece of string through the holes. Then I have a neat package to keep with my bank statements per year and such. Have a nice weekend all.
I like the ideas for the simple corralling of past pages! Right now I use the Franklin Covey binders I bought a few years ago and keep the past five years of Filo pages. The rubber band idea is great and much less elaborate!
I find I refer to old pages less and less. When I remove pages from my Finchley, I go through them to capture any contact information or other details I want to keep handy. It is handy to keep a history, though. Just recently my manager asked me about a date a meeting took place months ago and I was able to provide the date and time from my Filofax.
Oh, I forgot to mention, in response to Paulien, that I find the month on two pages format VERY helpful in big picture planning and well worth the investment. So I have both the monthly calendar and the daily pages.
I use the Day-Timer month on two pages calendar-- it has space for notes and the month's goals. (http://day-planner.daytimer.com/accessories/pages/Portable/2-Page-Per-Month-Recycled-Tabbed-Calendar-PORTABLE-SIZE/591F9675780A4CC2A28B574624D3C815/False/16027)
It is interesting to read everyone's comments. I was wondering about the use of next years planner pages and if it is ok to open them now and start usng them now, as opposed to waiting til late december to get them organized. I am not an overly busy person, so there is no rush or not a lot of info to move around. I thought that i was kind of taboo to use a new calendar early... is this true? What does everyone else think/do?
I keep at least 6-8 months ahead in my weekly pages and also a few months past, for reference. I also have all of 2009's month view pages in already (and have removed 2008 except for Aug-Dec). I also have vertical fold-out calendars for 2008, 2009 and 2010 in my Filo. I do a lot of planning-ahead, and I need to have my calendars in place and organized well in advance.
Another Filo thing I do: I travel during the holidays, so I keep certain recipes with me in my Filofax to make for holiday dinners, cakes, etc. When I take out a recipe page to use it, I pop the page into a quart size Ziplock bag to keep the page clean while I'm using it to make my recipe. An A5 page fits into a quart size Ziplock, and even though you can't zip the bag the page is still entirely covered. A Personal size page fits in there very well. This way I can use the same recipe page over and over without getting it messy, and can just pop it back into my Filo when I'm done!
The holiday season is still very far off for me. The first one will be on december 5, almost two months away.
ReplyDeleteI do have two other questions for you all:
Do you think the month on two pages calendar is really useful? I have a hard time finding one, only online and there they are twelve euros with shipping. Is that worth it?
And do you know of any good pens that also fit into the loop? My favourite pens don't fit.
thanks. Paulien
I am using my vertical year planners (link to image: http://www.filofax.co.uk/images/products/refills/line/68402x.jpg ) like crazy. We have a lot of travel coming up later this year and early next year. I am using these pull-out calendars to visualize when we will be gone, and which holidays that coincides with (since my H has off work some US holidays and some local holidays, so it's not easy to keep track of what days are off and which are work). My week and month calendars are filling up quickly with multiple US and local holidays in October and November, Halloween and Thanksgiving, etc. We will be traveling over Christmas, so planning for that requires lists, reservations, flights, and car rental, info for which I keep in my Filo. I really don’t know how people function without some kind of planner system!
ReplyDeleteHi pauw13,
ReplyDeleteI get a lot of use out of my month on 2 pages calendar. It really helps me to visualize the month and do mid-range planning. For me it's a must-have. But, some people don't find they need it.
Hey Paulien,
ReplyDeletewww.agendaland.com is a online webshop in dutch where you can buy Filofax.
I haven't orderd something yet. but i will when the busy period is over.
I am using my filo for our finances. Our couch will be deliverd in a week, our microwave oven is broken. (i've seen something nice!!!!!) I will be 25 soon. and also my son will be 2 years soon and christmas is coming up and "Sinterklaas"a typical dutch holiday for children on the 5th of december. I think i'm going to buy my new microwave oven in January.
Do you save your refills from Prvious years? and how do you save them?
Love Rose
I save my pages from past years (calendar pages as well as most of my other pages too) in ring binders. I don't like the post binders from Filofax, I prefer easy-to-open rings. Now that I use an A5, I just buy A5 binders and use a hole punch to punch the holes for the pages to fit in. When I used the Personal size Filofax, I bought 6 ring binders in that size at office supply stores. Several years ago these became really hard to find, so when I finally found them I bought several. I have never found these again. Does anyone know where these can be found now?
ReplyDeleteI too keep previous year's pages. I guess I'm low tech, because I just secure the contents of last year's Filo with a large rubber band, put a stickie note on the top with the year and keep them in a rubbermaid bin under my bed.
ReplyDeleteRight now I use one Filo (A5) for both work and home, so literally everything I do is in it. I tend to write office things in black ink and home gets blue.
Inky, your post on the pocket fitness Filo is inspiring me to branch out and get more binders!!!
Paulien, have you looked at the calendars on DIY Planner? I remember someone named Paulien who posted some comments there, not sure it was you. There are templates you can customise and a dynamic template that you download and can set to print out the range of dates you want. It's a pretty good solution for free calendars. You can set them to print the week starting on Monday or Sunday.
ReplyDeleteYou could at least print the calendars off and use them for a while to see if they're useful to you.
Pauw13 - I use a monthly view as well as a weekly view. It really helps to see what I have scheduled for the month so that I don't over schedule myself. I can see how many weekends I have free (if any). I only use it as an at-a-glance view, with the details written in the weekly view. I can't live without both views. As for pens - my favorite ones don't fit in the pen loop either, but Zebra makes a pen (it's ballpoint) that retracts to become compact and expands for easier writing. It's small enough to put in the pen loop of my Mini filo as well as my personal filo. Here is the link for the pen: http://www.zebrapen.com/ball-f301compact.html
ReplyDeleteDon't know if they're sold outside of the US though. I don't love this pen as a daily use pen (I prefer gel) but when I'm out and about it does come in handy.
Lovely-Rose - I do keep my past year's pages (but only the previous year's worth - I hate clutter). I do have the Filofax storage binders, which I use for the past year's since I don't refer to them often. But, for additional notes pages and upcoming pages (for 2009, let's say) I keep them in any other Filo that I'm not currently using. This is when having more than one binder comes in handy. =)
Hi y mills,
ReplyDeleteSince you use your A5 for both work and personal, I'm curious what type of diary pages you use. Do you use a week or day to view? Would you care to describe a little bit how you keep track of so much in one book? Thanks!
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteI think I will just have to get over it and order the monthly refill online. I did not have it this year, but I would like to try it. I went to two other shops today, but they only had week on two pages and page per day layouts.
So Rose, not only do you live in the same country as me, but we are almost the same age. I am 25 now, and will be 26 soon. Not married yet, but my boyfriend proposed to me last summer so that will take less than a year now. Another big event to plan for next year!
I am also going to buy one of those four year planners. I am doing my Phd now, and this might be helpful in planning out the whole process, not just the next paper or presentation.
About archiving: I keep the pages per year. I collect all notes, todo's an diary pages together and just thread a piece of string through the holes. Then I have a neat package to keep with my bank statements per year and such.
Have a nice weekend all.
I like the ideas for the simple corralling of past pages! Right now I use the Franklin Covey binders I bought a few years ago and keep the past five years of Filo pages. The rubber band idea is great and much less elaborate!
ReplyDeleteI find I refer to old pages less and less. When I remove pages from my Finchley, I go through them to capture any contact information or other details I want to keep handy. It is handy to keep a history, though. Just recently my manager asked me about a date a meeting took place months ago and I was able to provide the date and time from my Filofax.
Oh, I forgot to mention, in response to Paulien, that I find the month on two pages format VERY helpful in big picture planning and well worth the investment. So I have both the monthly calendar and the daily pages.
ReplyDeleteI use the Day-Timer month on two pages calendar-- it has space for notes and the month's goals. (http://day-planner.daytimer.com/accessories/pages/Portable/2-Page-Per-Month-Recycled-Tabbed-Calendar-PORTABLE-SIZE/591F9675780A4CC2A28B574624D3C815/False/16027)
Hi All,
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to read everyone's comments. I was wondering about the use of next years planner pages and if it is ok to open them now and start usng them now, as opposed to waiting til late december to get them organized. I am not an overly busy person, so there is no rush or not a lot of info to move around. I thought that i was kind of taboo to use a new calendar early... is this true? What does everyone else think/do?
I keep at least 6-8 months ahead in my weekly pages and also a few months past, for reference. I also have all of 2009's month view pages in already (and have removed 2008 except for Aug-Dec). I also have vertical fold-out calendars for 2008, 2009 and 2010 in my Filo. I do a lot of planning-ahead, and I need to have my calendars in place and organized well in advance.
ReplyDeleteAnother Filo thing I do: I travel during the holidays, so I keep certain recipes with me in my Filofax to make for holiday dinners, cakes, etc. When I take out a recipe page to use it, I pop the page into a quart size Ziplock bag to keep the page clean while I'm using it to make my recipe. An A5 page fits into a quart size Ziplock, and even though you can't zip the bag the page is still entirely covered. A Personal size page fits in there very well. This way I can use the same recipe page over and over without getting it messy, and can just pop it back into my Filo when I'm done!
ReplyDelete