Guest Post: Task and Time Management with Filofax - Jotje

Thank you to Jotje for sending me this article about how she uses her Filofax for Task and Time Management, several of you requested the details in the comments recently.

Okay, since some of you asked, I’ll finally detail my current Time management system for my personal Filofax.

I’ve been using an A5 Filofax solely for work and a Mini for private. However, I discovered that this didn’t work as well as it should be. While I was rereading Julie Morgensterns books, one sentence really hit home: you only have ONE life, hence you only should use ONE planner. It does make sense!

Then I met this beauty

My decision to downgrade to Personal size was made that very instant! I could go on and on about the wonderful leather quality and it’s smart setup (I love that little zipper pocket on the lefthand side), but there’s been enough praise of the Malden already and no one is waiting for my repetition.

Back to the TM setup.

Step 1: 

I first defined which life categories I have and want to spend my time on. In my case that is:

1)     Business I share with DH (green)

2)     My own translation business (blue)

3)     Family (orange)

4)     Relationship (pink)

5)     Home (yellow)

6)     Me (purple)

I‘ve added the corresponding colour, more about that later.

Step 2: 

What big-picture goals do I have for each of these categories? To keep a general overview I kept it at no more than 3 goals. I have written the goals each on a sheet of note paper in the corresponding colour. They are all after tab 6 of my Filofax.

Step 3: 

What activities will help me to achieve my set goals?

I wrote those on the backside of the coloured note paper.

Step 4: 

Then I made  a time map. I have used a blank time map in A5 format, that I had left-over from my Time/System days. After completing it, I shrunk it on the copy machine and punched it to fit into my Malden. There’s plenty of Time Map Templates on the internet btw! The important feature is that it has printed hours and weekdays.

I first defined the fixed time slots, like “waking up”, “getting kids ready to school”, “lunch hour”, “cooking and dinner”, “fetching kids from school”, clubs you may attend etc. (Advice: Do it in pencil so you don’t feel inhibited to just jump at it. If you change your mind, you can easily change the sheet.)I find it vital to create time blocks and make them visual. So if I  lunch at 12.00 h and it takes me an hour, I block out the timeslot from 12.00 to 13.00 h.

For the remaining time blocks I decide on which life category I want (or have) to spend it on. I write the category down, and specify according to the activities list I made in Step 2. For example for the green section (shared business with DH), I have hours blocked for administrative work, acquisition and meetings.

After I finished my time map, I highlighted the time blocks in the corresponding colour of my life categories. I’ve done that with coloured highlighters. My timemap is sitting behind Tab 2 in my Filofax, in front of the 2PPW refill.

Step 5: 

I note down appointments on my weekly pages. I’m using a week in columns format with appointment times (behind Tab 2) so that I can block out the appropriate times of an appointment. Before I agree to an appointment I quickly check my Time Map to see if I am really available on that specific time. Nothing is as misleading as empty and blank weekly pages, because you easily get the impression that there’s seas of time! While in fact, I had already committed that time to my home or family in my time map! Obviously there’s situations when you have an overlap, but then you get to “swap” those dedicated time slots against each other (e.g. if you meet with a customer during the time you reserved for weekly errands, you’ll do the errands a work-related time slot. Obviously this is possible if you are self-employed. However your boss might not like you to go shopping during office hours ;-)).

Step 6: 

Todo’s. I have my Todo sheets behind Tab 1. On the top of the sheet I note the month and then the sheets get numbered. At the end of the month the uncompleted Todo’s are transferred to the next month (even if I don’t plan to do them for several months; I find it’s important to get a constant reminder, so I’ll know that I am planning to do them at any given time). The old Todo’s are then getting archived.

Since I only have ONE planner, ALL Todo’s get noted, in no particular order. “Sending proposal”, “buy new shoes for DD” and “make plans for next years holiday” are all noted alongside. For a visual separation I highlight the Todo-line with the appropriate colour marker (again: orange for family, green/blue for work etc.). Another option might be to have one Todo-sheet (or section) for each life category, maybe even on coloured paper. I have not tried this.

When I write down my Todo, I add the date to the left. Then when I’ve done it, I check the box and at the completion date. I am doing this so that I can find back notes on any Todo. I’ll get to that in a minute.

When I note my Todo’s I also think about when I want to do it. If it has a fixed deadline, I note it in the blank area of the relevant weekly pages.

Step 7: 

Your daily plan:

Each night I draw up my daily plan. My daily pages are behind Tab 3. I check the Todo’s on my Weekly pages and decide on what specific day I need or want to do them. On the righthand side of my 2PPD-pages I note the list of Todo’s to be completed on that particular day.

On the left hand side, I first block out the fixed time slots (getting kids to school, lunch hours, fixed appointments). Then I check my time map for what time I have reserved for which category and assign a timeslot for each and every todo on the righthand side. This means you have to train your estimation skills! How long does it take you to write that proposal? Treat every Todo as an appointment! 

Now, the lefthand side of the dialy pages has 2 columns. All of the above is written in the lefthand column. For the righthand column I have found several purposes. One: I note appointments of my DH, so I’ll know if he’s out on any given moment and if I need to arrange for our babysitter during that time. I also write down which of our four kids has to go to what afterschool activity or playdate and at what time she or he needs to be picked up again. Third: if a task has been planned for 30 minutes and eventually took me much longer or shorter, I mark this on the right with a pencil line. That way I hope to improve my time estimation skills.

At the end of the day, I review my daily plan. Todo’s that didn’t get done and need to be transferred, are immediately written on next day’s Todo list.

That way I don’t need to carry months worth of daily pages with me. I usually carry only 2 to 3 weeks of daily pages.

I am currently using the Day Planner pages from Filofax to tide me over to the next year, when I will be using the FF 2PPD format. Here is a picture:

What else is in my Filofax? 

The weekly pages are divided with the monthly register tabs. Yes, it’s annoying that the weeks get “split up”, but I got used to it pretty fast.

Behind Tab 4 are my Notes pages. I date all notes and at the end of the month, I archive them together with the past weekly and daily pages.

For quick reference I have added a red sticky tab that says “Notes”.

Behind Tab 5 I have 2PPM sheets that carry the very irregular working schedule of my DH. Since I have to maintain this schedule, I find it invaluable to always have it with me. To find the current months as fast as possible, I have added a yellow sticky tab with “Maand” on it (which is Dutch for “Month”).

I use the slimline address register for the login names and passwords of frequently visited websites.

In the back of my Filofax are 2 plastic envelopes for tickets, receipts or anything I don’t dare to loose.

In the front I carry some paracetamol in the zipper pocket, so I’m prepared should a serious headache come up. Behind this zipper I’ve managed to stuff a small ink eraser pen. Since I write with a fountain pen, I like to be able to change things neatly. My Lamy is tucked in the rings, because the pen loop is occupied with my BIC pencil.

 

And here’s a side view of my fat and invaluable life companion!

Other Time Management Tools I use: 

A large monthly planner in the office, that’s a copy of his working schedule. It’s actually a Printout of the monthly Outlook pages in a common A4 sized ring binder.

A Weekly Family Planner, with a column for each family member. It also has a plastic overlay sheet to note down the recurrent events (like after school activities of the kids, classes my DH or I attend etc.). It  hangs on a prominent place in the kitchen and functions as a control center. I update this planner every Sunday night.

The Organised Mum Life book, a 2 Pages-Per-Week ringbound planner that has my cleaning and household schedule in it. It lays open on the counter and I refer to it during the time slots that are marked as “Family” or “Home” time. It also has the weekly menu plan. Menu's are written noted with a red Stabilo pen, so it stands out.

Well, that’s about it! Hope you enjoyed reading this, please feel free to comment!