Franklin Covey planner inserts in Personal Filofax

My much-anticipated Franklin Covey planner inserts arrived a couple of days ago! I got the Compact size pages to fit into my Personal size Deco Filofax.

I bought the Cornerstone weekly layout, with the days as columns. I can't seem to function without days as columns, and on the Filofax US and UK websites this format is not available in the Personal size. This weekly format includes monthly tabs with the month calendar's days as blocks to write in.

Another reason I bought the FC pages in particular is that the back sides of the weekly pages are lined for notes, unlike the Filofax pages on which the diary is printed back to back. Having the lined space on the backsides of the weekly pages allows me to keep my weekly to-do lists with the corresponding week, instead of separately elsewhere in my diary (or in the middle of the week obstructing my view). Another advantage is that monthly tabs can go between the weeks.

As has been detailed on Philofaxy, the FC Compact size pages are wider than the Filofax Personal size pages, but still fit in the Personal size Filofax binders. Because the diary is not printed back to back, an entire year of the FC diary insert is about twice as thick as the Filofax diary year.

The Franklin Covey system is very structured, and the weekly task lists have columns to designate Priority (ABC) and Action (with symbols given to indicate Completed, Delegated, In Process etc.). There is also a page of Planner Hints and Helps with ideas to help you use your planner more effectively. Another page that I really like is a list of holidays and significant dates for the next 6 years! Very useful.

So for those of us who love the portability of the Personal size binder, but want the days-as-columns format with space for notes on the backs of the pages, this is an excellent option.

Free For All Friday No. 71

Well it's almost Easter, time for a break and for us to enjoy Spring or Autumn, depending where you are of course...

So do you ever look back in your diary/journal from last year or further back to see what you were doing this time last year/that year?

This time last year Easter had happened, but I was still in France on holiday. We have a house over there and by the time you get to read this I will be there again.. so this is being written before we depart! I shall be busy doing odd jobs, tidying up the garden.

My Filofax travels with me of course, it is essential in helping me on my trips to France. I use it to note things to order or take back to UK with me. As well as for making notes for updates to the three websites I maintain over there.

So let's hear from what you are up to and as always thank you all for your comments and suggestions, the volume of them has been fantastic of late, keep up the excellent contributions.  Thanks also for all your votes, very encouraging.

A beintôt

Steve
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Two new polls for you to take part in.

Please vote in the two polls in the side bar. I will publish the results at the close of the polls in a couple of weeks time.

I've thought of another poll to be run in a few weeks time 'How long have you been a Filofax user' but I don't want to overload you with lots of polls at the same time. 

Thank you for taking part. 
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Filofax and iPods

Could this be the ultimate combination... a Filofax that has an iPod built in or has a 'holder' for an iPod.

I use my iPod virtually every day about as much as I use my Filofax I suppose, I don't use my iPod for contacts and calendars although I know it has that capability. But I wonder is there a 'holder' that can take say an iPod nano or iPod Touch that could clip in to a Filofax organiser?

This idea was prompted by this article on Cnet from 2006:

Why has Apple turned the iPod into a Filofax?

So do you use both?

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Weekly To Do List

As I'm off for a few days in France later this week, I was sitting with my coffee trying to work out what I needed to do before we go, an idea came to me that I didn't just need a To Do list, but a To Do list for each day almost.

So I created one... I also used it to learn how to use Pages on my Mac.

The file should print ok in landscape A4 which you can 'z fold' for A5 or resize it to suit.

Hopefully it will help me get away on time and not forget anything!

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Do men carry Filofax organisers any more?

GregoryM added an interesting comment in this weeks FFAF comments, I thought it worth expanding the question in to a post so it can be discussed more widely..

GregoryM said:

I have a question? How many men carry a Filofax? If you go to the Filo USA website, what's the first advertisment you see? Two women, right? 

The cartoon like picture is of two women walking together. Does that mean Filo is more geared toward women than men? Is that why more women than men lean toward Filo and FC sells to more men. I looking for answers from my friends please.

You raise some interesting questions! It won't have escaped you that I'm in the minority when it comes to the contributors! Not that it bothers me.... and I suspect it doesn't concern Nan and Laurie either.

I think it's recognised that the Filofax was a very male product back in the 1980's, then we got all these electronic PDA's that came along, and I suspect most men went over to those... me included. 

Another well know statistic that 'generally' women do not like IT as much as men do... so I suspect they stuck with their Filofax paper organisers and they have been quietly going about their business using paper..

Someone at Filofax HQ noticed the demographics of their sales figures and decided to change their product focus and they have shifted it/targeted it more at the female market... May be we should ask Filofax UK or US ourselves.

Naturally I've made some very sweeping and generalised statements and I'm potentially tiptoeing through a minefield here!

It would be an interesting topic for a Philofaxy Poll, we could keep it simple are you male or female, or do you think we should be more specific?



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Free For All Friday No. 70

Tomorrow is the vernal equinox, when day and night are each 12 hours long. Spring is well on the way here, what about where you are?

And as always, feel free to talk about anything and everything Filofax!

20% off Filofax Organisers at Filofax USA

A special promotion announced this afternoon by Filofax USA get 20% off select organisers if you order before 28th March 2010, by using the Promo code MARCH at the check out.

This might be the final chance to buy certain models/colours before the new selection of organisers are launched.

Don't wait... order today... at Filofax USA

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Free For All Friday No. 69

Friday is here again... thanks for all your comments last week and during this week.  So a starter topic for this week's FFAF...

'Have you discovered a new use for a Filofax that you have previously taken out of service?'

I ask this question because I've recently put my pocket Filofax back in to use as my photography notebook. I have a single page per week diary and I use that to note down locations I've been taking photos at with other background notes, names of buildings etc.

This has proved useful when I get around to putting the photos on line weeks later trying to remember the name of a town or village.  The pocket size is ideal for slotting in to my camera bag outer pocket, it was almost made for a pocket Filofax.

But as always the floor is yours to discuss anything Filofax related.
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Filofax 2010 Catalog now online!!

Now you can look at all the fantastic colors and styles of Filofaxes coming out this year! Click on this link to see the new catalog!

I'm pleased to see lots of pretty pinks and purples in the lineup. And it's not all geared toward the ladies, there are some very handsome new Filo styles for men too.

I'm very sad to see that my gorgeous Ivory Deco is no longer in the lineup!! Although I have been assured that it will still be available for awhile. There are some other colors of binders that have been replaced too. So if you've had your eye on a particular Filofax, you might want to hurry up and get it before your color or style of choice is no longer available!

What do you think of the new selections?

A5 Slimlines...

Spotted on Facebook from Filofax UK this afternoon:

Ok... with everyone chatting about A5 slimlines I feel the need to reveal that there WILL be an A5 slimline in the range thanks to your requests (see, we do listen!!) ... it will come in two colours, scarlet and black and I will hopefully be revealing the pics on here VERY soon.... how does that sound?

Seems they have been listening.... thank you Filofax...


Steve

Filofax Amethyst Deco!!

Here is a pic (from the Filofax Facebook page) of the new Filofax Deco in Amethyst coming out later this year!! Wow it's gorgeous!

Please allow me to apologize for cross-posting the same thing on Philofaxy and Plannerisms, but this is something I wanted everyone to see! As you might imagine, I am very excited about it!

Check out some of the other new Filofax products coming out in the background of Filofax_UK on Twitter. (Slimline Deco! Songbirds organizers! Awesome new bags!)

Great new Filofax products coming out!

And don't forget, you still have time to submit your idea for your Perfect Filofax on the Filofax Facebook wall for a chance to win a Filofax!

Free For All Friday No. 68

Well what a week it has been, some great publicity here and there for us. More and more visitors, but this evening I took some time out to reflect on what I've been using my Filofax organisers for recently.

I recently undertook to rewrite one of my websites completely from the ground upwards. Some of the pages were over 10 years old! I used my A5 Filofax to plan the rewrite, using some squared paper to sketch layout ideas and the positioning of elements of the pages and note paper to keep track of the names of files. To-Do lists came in handy for jogging my memory and as a final check-list before the site went live.

I've been writing web pages since about 1994 and I'm still stuck in that era in some ways. I do things in quite an old fashioned way, but the sites work and they continue to attract people to them. You can see the result of my efforts at www.pembury.org It is the village I live in here in Kent. My son has been telling me that I should be learning CSS when I retire... he tells me it's a lot better... I'm sure it is.

What projects have you been planning in your Filofax recently? But as always on Fridays, the floor is yours to discuss anything Filofax related.

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Question re: Filofax and Franklin Covey compatibility

Hi everybody, I received a question on Twitter as to whether Franklin Covey inserts fit into Filofax binders. The asker didn't specify sizes. Since I have no experience with FC, I replied that I would ask here because somebody is sure to know!

As far as the Personal size inserts go, I think I've read here and other places that the FC inserts are slightly wider than the Filofax Personal size pages, but otherwise fit in the binder fine. Does anyone know about other sizes?

Thanks for any info!

The solution to the small Filofax calendar pages??

A recurring issue we Filofax users have is the page size/ book size ratio. In order to have calendar/ diary pages large enough to write everything we need, the resulting book can be big and sometimes unwieldy. So we try to strike a balance between a small enough book/ big enough page. But often the daily spaces in the weekly planners are still just too small to write everything we need to each day.

But today I read an interesting article that could possibly be the solution. I subscribe to Travisthetrout's blog (http://travisthetrout.wordpress.com/) and yesterday's post has a list of interesting links from this week. One of those articles is "Calendar Or To-Do List? Two Task Management Tools Compared."

Now listen. I've been reading a lot lately about to-do lists. Let me say, some people write about lists like they invented the list. I mean, come on. List-writing is probably the earliest form of human organization in the world. People were using sticks to write inventory lists in cuneiform on mud tablets thousands of years ago. So don't pretend you're being revolutionary about a list.

But this article really is, wow. Especially toward the end of the article, something clicked. Basic premise is, don't schedule your tasks. Huh? Leave white space on your calendar. Um... what?

"Calendar or To Do List?" is about keeping white space on your calendar to effectively gauge your availability for completing your tasks. You write your tasks someplace else OTHER than your calendar. I've been doing the opposite: artificially scheduling tasks in order to have them in front of me at all times.

Andre Kibbe, author of the above-mentioned article, says that's all well and good for those tasks that actually have to be accomplished at that time on that particular day. But for general tasks not tied to a time or day, keep them OFF your calendar, for crying out loud!

I have to admit while I was reading this article and got to the heading When to Use Calendars, I had to roll my eyes. Oh man. Doesn't everybody know when to use a calendar? Actually, no. I didn't.

His message really started to hit home when he mentioned all those little tasks that tend to fill up my day "will be greater in number than what can be crammed into a typical calendar blank." No WONDER my daily spaces are so packed, yet I still feel scattered!

I won't re-write the article here, but go read it if you have time because it could be very useful for those of us struggling with Filofax's small daily spaces.

There's also a link to another article of his about context lists, which is particularly useful for Filofaxers too because we can have as many context lists as we want in our Lists section (or wherever you like to put your lists).

So, thank you to Travisthetrout for pointing it out, and especially to Andre Kibbe for writing this article that really got me thinking in the opposite direction!

Could this be the answer to the age-old Filofax dilemma? Is this the solution to the too-small daily spaces? What do you think?