I got an email today from Laura, who recently received her very first Filofax: an A5 Raspberry Finsbury!! Lucky lady!!
She asked me:
"I was wondering if yourself and your readers would have any tips for a real first time user, what to do first, categories, how to start… etc. Any helpful or personal ideas that have made all you filofax users love every minute of it."
I directed her to the links in the post below, to get some ideas on different ways to set up and use a Filofax, but I did tell her that there are as many ways to use a Filofax as there are people who use them, and that she will figure out what works best for her.
So, what is your advice to a first-time Filofax user?
Laura, welcome as a Filo user!
ReplyDeleteMy advice for an A5 newcomer: Buy a 6-hole punch so you can file A5 and A4 papers in your binder.
I hope this is helpful for you
Bernhard
Hello Bernard,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your tip. And thanks to Steve's post - want to use bigger pages in your A5... it's possible -I've managed to make some good attempts at this already by the art of folding.
Forget my initial trepidation as I mentioned in my email to Laurie, I've not put it down since I plucked up the courage to first touch it!
Some photos of it can be found here on my flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52233833@N03/
I am in love with my new Filofax!
Keep the tips coming, us newbies can learn a lot here!
Laura.
Read Philofaxy from end to end... a year a day... including the comments. There's loads and loads of tips contained in the Archives...
ReplyDeleteYou will never get bored!
Steve...slightly biased I know
Great photos Laura! If you don't mind, it would be great if you could add them to Flickr's Philofaxy group!
ReplyDeleteGlad you've decided to dive right in! :)
I also have an A5 raspberry Finsbury which I LOVE! Playing around with categories but what I have now is:- Diary and vertical year planner; then dividers (blog, house - (to do lists and house references), me - inspirational quotes, fitness workouts), money, work, reference -( including world map, underground map); then spare paper and then the see-through envelope slips. love configuring the layout to work just for me...
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading other ideas/suggestions.
Obviously, it all depends on what you want to use it for ;-)
ReplyDeleteIf I may give an advice, that'll be: KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid (no offense).
Start using the Filo for what you need, be it calendar, todo, whatever. Don't worry too much about tabs or categories or anything.
Take everything out and add only what you really need/use. That'll come with time: you'll know what to add or... to remove ;-)
I know it may seems deceptive: no templates, no nothing but good paper, a good pen and a puncher.
As far as I am concerned, it really helps me to keep control on the Filofax, and to keep on using it instead of tweaking it forever (I have been there).
I just bought an A5 Finsbury (raspberry) yesterday! I have a personal Finsbury, but need a little more room. I was wondering, does anyone know which kind of calendar comes with it? It says 2010 week on two pages. But I would like to know is it the blank weeks or the lined with appointment times? Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteI've just joined in with the A5 craze. I love my Scanda personal which I purchased only 4 months ago, but I need more room. I have tried using A5 in the past, but with Time/Design zipper binders which are just too huge (extra 1" wide and 1.5" high). Now I will try with a nice black Finchley :) It looks to have the smallest H/W dimensions in the A5 range. I would like to know what format calendar the Finchley ships with - though I may end up using my T/D inserts.
ReplyDeleteMy A5 Finsbury came with the column format weekly pages (3 and 4 days per page), with times and lines. Looked very nice! I have some pics on Flickr (before I replaced them with my 2pages/day Timesystem pages ... ;-)).
ReplyDeleteI know I'm a little late with this... I don't have an A5, but as a general tip you can start with the categories your binder came with. Once you start to use it, you'll notice the kinds of things you put into your Filo and you can tweak it from there. A bunch of blank tabs and a label maker (or some other form of labeling) will be helpful for when you come up with your own sections.
ReplyDeleteHave fun!