15 May 2012

Free For All Tuesday No. 67

I'm pleased that more and more of you are taking part in these weekly discussions.

Let's hear from more of you. No invitation or introduction required... just join in we are all Filofax friends around here. 

58 comments:

  1. My new Filofax (Cuban Zip A5) arrived today. I am looking forward to setting it up.

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  2. Hello all! I've recently decided that I'm going to attempt to trace my family tree. I've never done anything like this before and I don't really know where to start, but I'm sure there'll be lots of information online about that.

    Obviously, this got me thinking about the most important thing: how to go about undertaking the project in terms of STATIONERY. There will be lots of notes to make and information to compile and I was thinking that I could use a Filofax. Have any of you used a Filofax for this kind of project before? If so, how did you use it? Do you have any tips? Or do you reckon I should use another kind of system - perhaps an A4/5 ring binder or the ARC system?

    Any advice would be appreciated, thank you!

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    1. Look on the files page, there are some forms/templates there already for gathering information on people in your family tree, I think but I will check these are formatted for A4/A5 size.

      Steve

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    2. Thanks Steve! I'll have a look. If I use my Filofax, it will be a personal one because I don't have an A4/5, but I do have A4/5 ring binders so they would come in handy anyway!

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    3. I've done quite a lot of my family tree - 1,041 individual entries to be precise (over mine and my husband's trees) going back to the 11th Century so far.

      First and foremost I would suggest getting a software programme of some sort. I used Family Tree Maker when I was a PC user, and now use Mac Family Tree for the mac. Both are good and help keep track of the "tree". There are free tools you can use as well, for instance the Ancestry websites where you can upload and create a tree and check other people's trees for common links.

      Initially I think a personal filofax would be fine for working notes - at least in the beginning. I would suggest 1 page per person, organised alphabetically by surname / maiden surname. Then you can keep track of what documents you have (e.g. birth / marriage / death certificates, christening records, etc) with a simple check list, plus a notes section for next steps to follow up, or notes if you reach a dead end. You could also use flags to mark pages where you have next steps needing following up so that you can find them easily.

      From my experience, Scottish records are the easiest to get as they're all online (google Scotland's People). You pay for credits and can then download birth / death / marriage certificates directly. It can be dangerous for the wallet though as it's all to easy to just keep adding funds to the pot! Irish records are the hardest as there was a big fire in the records office way back and a lot of records were lost. For the most-part you need to know the parish and church where the record was held and go directly there, which makes it a bit harder (that's where most of my tree has come to a dead end).

      For English records (and Welsh, probably, but I haven't got into doing the Welsh side yet!) sites like Ancestry are a good help. Try and find unusual names or unusual spellings and search for them (even using google), or if you have a large family (e.g 13 or more surviving children) try and follow that line as you'll probably find that someone somewhere is also doing that tree with so many descendants!

      Finally. Try and stick to your immediate tree. If you start getting into Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc, from the beginning it soon ends up getting into a bit of a muddle and it can be difficult to get back on track.

      It's a great hobby and I'm sure you'll enjoy it once you get going!

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    4. Wow! Thanks so much for all that information! I'm going down to my Mum's this afternoon to get started (we're doing the project together) so I'll take a copy of your post with me. I went to the library this morning and got two books out to help us get started.

      Thank you!!! X

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    5. You do have to keep your eye on places like Ancestry though. It can be a great source of information but it can also lead you astray if you don't check out things for yourself. My mum is into her family history and has come across lots of unlikely situations such as someone having a child when they were 5 years old.

      Good luck with it all

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    6. I have a small section in my A5 and Compact (mainly for notes on the go)that has the names, dob, dod, where they were born etc...I don't have any place yet to compile an actual 'tree'.

      I tried to use Ancestry and aside from a border crossing record, I couldn't find anything on any of my relatives at all. I found it a big waste for me.

      It is all great fun though. Good luck

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    7. Make sure you talk to the "oldies" in family. They are a great store of your family history that you won't find in official records.

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  3. I strayed from the path of One Life One Filo, and have tried a couple different diary inserts too and am feeling Filo Fail approaching. Lots of ideas of different uses for filos, but not getting the diary/planning bit right atm!

    Anyone use Week Per Page with Notes?

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    1. I have just changed from a compact WO2P(CC) to a pocket WPP with notes (I'll be doing a post about it soon). I only started using it yesterday so it's early days, but I like it so far! My bag feels a lot lighter and I'm finding that I actually look at my Filofax more because I have a long list of things to do and I can choose when I do most of them, rather than them being allocated to specific days. I'm using it in the same way as doris98 below: appointments on the diary page and the notes side for general reminders or to dos. I'm not using the actual WPP with notes because they are multi-lingual and waste so much space, so I just got a WPP for 50p and put a lined piece of paper in between each week.
      Check out my blog post here: http://www.allthingsstationery.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/bargain-filofaxes-filofax-diaries-what.html

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    2. I'm very drawn to it. I'm thinking if trying it out with the Olympic diary insert.

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    3. I use a week per page with notes and I love it. Im a single stay at home mum with young children so im usually really busy with stuff to do all week but I dont have many appointments just usually a long to do list with things to do around the house. Its really unusual that I have a job to do with a deadline, practically everything I have to do on my to do list has no real timescale, it just needs to be done so having a small space each day for appointments and a blank page with all my to-dos for the week means I can just have one big long list and do things as when I get the time with no specific order. I've really struggled finding a diary insert which matches a stay a home life because they're all so business orientated but this really works. I would say though the day spaces are really small so if you have a lot of appointments it might not work very well x

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    4. i have just reset up my personal with A week on two pages with notes having snapped up the Olympic Line burst at Staples for £9. I took those inserts out and added them to my Aston in which I will have also a monthly overview, as soon as the delivery comes, and also a daily section. Thanks to Steve Mortons endless helpfulness inSKYPE tutoring me that now has an ammended versioon of Steve and Ray's Day On Two Pages. I currently have about a month of daily pages in the Aston.
      basically the WO2P I find is sufficient for appointments but for too limited for all my daily tasks and notes and journal entries. So I use the W02P notes for a sort of overview of what my aims and intentions are for that week and tasks that can be done any time. The daily ones I put the detail on either ahead of time or each night as I jot my intentions for the next day.( that includes tasks but also the kind of feel I want the day to have or what my focus will be).
      The monthly view is just to give me a place to get a visual overview and make sure I dont overbook myself.

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  4. I prefer the WPP with Notes format myself and used it for years. I used the dated side for appointments/meetings, and the notes side for to-dos and whatever else.

    I didn't buy it this year and was using WO2P with a flyleaf between the 2 pages for to-dos, until I used the Dodo Pad for Filofax which is essentially the same format as WPP with Notes. I like it because it's cute and interesting, and I have tiny handwriting so it can work for me. Eagerly awaiting the revised Dodo Pad format though which promises to have bigger boxes.

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    1. I'm using the Dodo pad for meal planning atm, I love it, but can't see it working as a normal diary for me atm. I've got massive handwriting for one thing.

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  5. Hi Everyone - Have the personal size on trial right now. The same old story – A5 is too heavy to lug around. The new problem that I am facing right now is the bleed on the personal sized paper; A5 papers had no such problem. I am using the Filofax papers and Pilot vball 0.5 (not hi-tech). Where am I going wrong? ‘Cause in most of the blogs, I see the personal page entries with no bleed at all!!

    Pls help.

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    1. I don't know if it's just me, but it feels like the quality of the paper is different depending on which country you buy it from! My Swedish personal inserts (normal-come-with-the-filofax) only have minimal show-through - no bleed-through when I write with my Lamy Safari with standard black ink. The standard A5 inserts from France are both bleed-through and show-through. O_o; And the personal inserts (cotton cream) from England are slightly bleed-through, whereas the danish inserts are the same as the swedish.

      Also, the white personal filofax inserts are THE WORST. Seriously. I like the clean design, but I can't use them! I hate lined paper, but that is what I have to use. T_T

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    2. In the UK, the paper quality is absolutely (I could be rude) poor...I've gone over to cotton cream and that seems fine if you can cope with the very limited range of layouts available (I'm just about hanging on at the moment. Otherwise, some other suppliers use better quality paper....

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    3. I use W.H. Smith WO2P in my A5 Cuban. I use a fountain pen with a very broad nib (green ink) and have never had any problems whatsoever.

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  6. Just curious if I am fairly alone in decorating the exterior of my Filo? I upped from a pocket Songbird (not my trial wallet) to a person Domino and whilst in love with the deep pink cover I was craving pattern.
    So this happened:
    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/monsterbeans/Photo69.jpg
    I've seen the Union Jack mod on here, but no decorated Filos in the wild. I understand why though with fancy leather Filos wouldn't, but what about us other non-leathery people? (!)

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    1. You're not alone! :D I used to decorate my filofaxes (starting with fun-faxes when I was a kid) and right up to my "Domino and Metropol phase" (teenage years). But I stopped doing that when I recieved my personal Guildford Extra Slim when I was about 17 years old, since I thought the leather was too nice to "destroy". I still have my decorated filofaxes. Might start using them again. Or I could just give in to my sticker-cravings and actually decorate and personalize one of my leather filos.

      There are A LOT of filofaxes here at my university (Filofax and Louis Vuitton (!) seem to dominate the ring-binder calendar arena) and... well... most filofax users seem to be in the law program. XD; (I wonder why. I would have pegged the budding journalist students as more avid filofax users...) I feel quite out of place with my Luxe compact, because most of the filofaxes on campus are either Metropol or Bond... ^^;

      I wonder if the Domino and Metropol are the most decorating-friendly..? :D

      *stops rambling*

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    2. Oh! And your filofax is really cute! <3

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    3. Yu, interesting that there are lots of filofaxes at your uni. I am convinced there is a resurgence in their use.

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    4. @Lynne Dove
      I hope so! Otherwise it's the reappearance of what we call (Swedish slang) "yuppies" or maybe "pretto yuppies" or "pretto preppys" or something like that.. >.<;

      ((SORRY! THIS ISN'T STRICTLY FILOFAX-RELATED!!
      But it kind of feels ridiculous:
      Most common planner: Filofax Metropol/Bond
      Runner-up: Louis Vuitton
      Most common bag: Mulberry Bays-whatever it's called
      Runner-up: That baggy, huge Louis Vuitton
      Most common phone: Apple iPhone
      Runner-up: Samsung Galaxy S2
      Most common computer: Apple MacBook Air 2nd Gen. (or is it 3rd?)
      Runner-up: Asus Zenbook

      AND WE'RE FREAKING STUDENTS with really crappy student loans! Anyway, see what I mean? /end of the not-filofax related stuff... Sorry! ))

      One fun thing is that I just spied my seminar teacher with a personal Holborn! :D

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    5. I'm a 'huppy' - hippy with Filofax. :-D

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    6. Haha, thanks! Cute and bright is what I aim for. Possibly ill-advised as I use my Filo for two different jobs! Psh to being professional, take me as I am!

      I'm also a student (sort of) and I must say I have never seen another Filo or similar in use at my University. Its all pocket diaries or smart phones. Prior to the Filo I had no diary or organisational system whatsoever, I just scribbled down my work shifts on old payslips and hoped I remembered University deadlines

      2012 has been a very strange and busy year so far, so a planner became a necessity for me not to totally lose my marbles. I use the Dodo Pad because it makes me smile :), and have stickers en route and personalised dividers for more oomph!

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    7. @Yu how do you like your luxe compact? I am thinking of getting one myself.

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    8. So far, so good! I have the crimson Luxe and also a matching crimson Luxe A4 folder. I was afraid of scratching at first but decided to go ahead and use it "normally" anyway. (I.e. throwing it into heavy book bags etc.) It still looks brand new. I am, however, cautios with pens around it because I think that ink will be particularly difficult to clean with the lizard print. Also - get top tabs or you'll crush them.

      I do miss some sort of zip-pocket at the back. The zip-pocket inserts are a tad too bulky to use in this planner. =/ But the compact size is perfect for anyone who wishes to force themselves to get rid of bulk in their filofaxes. I do wish that the A5 Luxe's pen loops weren't so awkwardly placed: otherwise I would probably get one of those as A5 paper is better suited to university life. I also do not like the position of the card holders, but I mainly use them to hold my film index stickers, coffee shop cards and U-tab... um... tabs. ^^; So I guess it doesn't really matter in the long run.

      Oh! That's also something I want to recommend: if you want index tabs that are really (x2) durable, then you should get U-tabs and customize them together with your own home-made dividers. :) I'm not affiliated with them in any way. But I just realized the other day just how good they are when I dropped my 3.4kg heavy law book and caught it by grabbing two or three tabs. They didn't tear the paper, which is VERY thin, and held the entire weight. O_O I think that you can get blank tabs in different sizes and colors and also special order your own design. www.u-tab.se

      If you have any specific questions that aren't covered above, just ask. :)

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    9. Hi Yu,

      would love to try the U-tabs you recommended. Do you have a link for where they can be purchased. I've never heard of them before.

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    10. There's a link above. :) I think you have to contact them to buy outside of Scandinavia. "Apart from the Scandinavian countries Dorema has delivered U-TAB to several European countries." <-- but it is possible. Just click on the English flag and you'll be able to read just how to proceed.

      I had never heard of them either, until I bought this year's blue law book "Sveriges Rikes Lag" and was recommended to buy the U-tabs that are specifically designed for it. :)

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    11. Oh, sorry. -_-; Direct translation messing with my head. I mean the union flag. >.<;;;

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  7. Hi everyone! Yesterday I went to Staples to acquire one of the Olympic Filofaxes at their knock-down prices for a Philofaxy reader abroad, and at the till it was £18.50 instead of the website's £7.71, so I showed them the website and the guy thought about it. Eventually, he said he could do it for £13.80!! That's almost double!! He said it would have to include delivery and VAT, so it brought the price up A LOT!! Has anyone come across this before? I thought they just price matched automatically?

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    1. Sounds odd, adding VAT I can understand because the price on the website is excluding VAT, but delivery, you have it there in your hand!

      And this 'Philofaxy reader abroad' could be nominated in our Philofaxy awards.... all will be revealed tomorrow morning....

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    2. Online with delivery & VAT it is only £11.48, right now... still much much cheaper than full price.

      I dislike Staples' policy online of adding something called "order care" - which includes VAT - at the checkout: it allows you to return the goods unused within 12 months but there are stacks of terms and conditions on it, and adding it in such small print as a default feels like a shifty way to get customers to buy a "service" they don't want - imagine a supermarket manager sneaking round and adding little things to your basket when you're not looking, on the basis you can always take them out again?!

      I think it would make sense to add it on, say, orders over £200, but one lousy folder and from someone who's chosen the option to see prices with VAT, which usually means you're not a business who might legitimately over-purchase stationery?

      Seedy little trick. Based on that I'm less than surprised they plucked a price out of thin air for you, though of course I'm sorry it happened.

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    3. I'm fairly sure they aren't allowed to do that. It would be dishonest of to advertise cheaply online and then raise the prices in the shops - it amounts to trickery. I don't know the exact details but I think my hubby does - I'll ask him later.

      Did you see my blog post about my experience with Staples? I stood my ground and the manager backed down very quickly.

      http://www.allthingsstationery.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/bargain-filofaxes-filofax-diaries-what.html

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    4. Staples actually price match with themselves (ie they will do it for the online price) and you usually save 10% for your troubles too! I was told this by the very helpful assistant in my local one who was price matching an A4 Lyndhurst to £78 instead of £140!!!

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    5. I had a really nice surprise when I went into Staples to pick up my pink london 2012 filofax on Monday, which i'd ordered online at the bargain price and picked up in store to save on postage as it's just down the road from me, will be blogging about it in the morning!!!

      http://filo-obsessed.blogspot.co.uk/

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  8. Does anyone use a separate, non-Filofax diary (something with better paper or layout)but use the Filofax for everything else (goals, planning, reference, etc)? Wondering how complicated this would be.

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    1. I do! After many years of trying to make it work with my Filofax as my planner-and-everything book, I finally gave up and am so much happier with a separate bound planner and my Filofax as my info and reference book.

      With a bound planner I have a slimmer book and a larger page size than with my Filofax. But in my Filo I can have all my lists, reference info, addresses and other things I keep year after year, goals, etc. It works really well for me.

      Also I've found that using two smaller books (in my case a Personal Filofax and an A5 slim planner) are lighter and less cumbersome than using an A5 Filofax as my planner and reference book in one.

      Hope this helps! :)

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    2. There is the option of a Filofax compatible diary insert which uses better paper...

      Several options... Print your own... or Quo Vadis, Day Timer, etc

      All covered in the past for instance personal size:

      http://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2010/09/alternative-refills-for-your-filofax.html

      http://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2011/09/diary-inserts-for-2012-part-4-filofax.html

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    3. If you want to use your Filofax as your diary but just want better paper, you'll love the Quo Vadis paper. And of course with Steve and Ray's customized printables, you can get whatever layout you want and print it on any paper you want, win-win!

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  9. I'm still "settling into" my Temperley Affair A5... as I suspected, I do love the Flex format, but I still wish the Personal rings were A5 rings -- and what really gets me in a tizzy is the tiny, tiny ring size! I'm contemplating selling it at some point, as I am one of those people who doesn't mind at all lugging around a huge planner (I used to be a Levenger addict) and would perhaps like to switch over to a plain-out A5.

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    1. I think you were the one who just outbid me on Ebay for it, so if you do sell it, please consider selling it to me!! x

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    2. I bought the affair to and although i love the design and notepad the ring are just too small, if they were regular sized it would be perfect........

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  10. Anyone heard anything about future Temperley filofax designs? I would struggle with the small ring size as well but I do think they look beautiful, especially the Affair.

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    1. I was just about to ask the same... and it wouldn't hurt if they were (will be?) be a bit cheaper...

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  11. I have just taken delivery of a beautiful new Personal Rasberry Chameleon and i love it! I bought the Alice Temperley "affair" a few months ago and although i love it for the fact it has a notebook, the ring size is just too small to really work with on a daily basis (im a sales rep so have a lot of appoinment and make lots of notes, to-do's etc) but my Chameleon is lush and i can use it as a wallet (inspired by jotje). Love filofax!!!

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    1. I have just received my A5 Chameleon. Nowhere near as lovely as my Malden (Mmmmmm ochre Malden.....) but bit more robust for the job I have given it.

      I have reached the end of my 'uses for a filofax' list and have all but one of the filos I particularly like. There are 3 waiting for a job. 2 of them are personal size and the other is a spare in case my pocket breaks (it seemed logical when I ordered it!).

      For some reason I prefer the pocket or the A5. I think it is because I find the pocket portable and the A5 good for 'stay at home' stuff.

      However if anyone has some 'good uses for a filofax' that I can add to my list maybe I can find a use for one or both of mine which are not fulfilling their purpose in life..

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    2. Sidney, here's a list of possible Filofax uses for inspiration: travelfax, kids' journal, recipe fax, wallet, control journal a la Flylady, book reviews, gratitude journal, one sentence per day journal, home improvement (magazine cuts, detailed project list), 101 things lists book (or was it 1001 thinks?) ...
      I'd say: buy away...!

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    3. Ooooh! Home improvement- My personal Kendal would be able to feel it's ears burning if it had any. Yay! I know what I'm doing this evening....

      Thank you -and congratulations for all your nominations.

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  12. I've seen quite a few posts on blogs about using a filofax for "The Happiness Project" and i'm wondering if anyone has done this and how well has it worked, have you kept up on it or is it just one of those uses for a filofax that gets abandoned after a month or two???? Thanks in advance :)

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    1. I think it would work well. But mine got abandoned after a month or two! :D

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    2. That's what I was thinking, one of those good idea's that you don't keep up with :)

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    3. Hi Alison I use a section of my filofax for the happiness project, I like to think of it as going to the gym or sticking to healthy eating, you have to work at it everyday. Unfortunately us human beings can't maintain a positive outlook every single day! We have to have a certain degree of discipline and be motivated enough to stick to it. It is not something I have abandoned after a month as I implement it in my every day life. I used a collection of books and websites then made all the required notes, affirmations rules to stick by etc. On a day-to-day basis I write down any negative thoughts I have throughout the day and how I approached them which enables me to learn from them. Resulting in how to deal with them next time or I find I never get the same worry or anxiety as I have approached it dealt with it by writing it down and closed the thought. It's also a good idea to note down the food you eat throughout the day as this helps you form patterns of how different food makes you feel. Suprisingly very useful! Overall keeping a record of your mood takes you on a fulfilling journey of self discovery and definately helps you move forward towards a more happier positive you :) hope this helps and feel encouraged to see this through I promise you will be pleased with the outcome!

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    4. I started mine with the intention of using my WO1P with notes diary to write a few notes each day and a motivational quote for each week. This hasn't happened so far, so I decided to cut myself some slack, accept the fact that I don't have much free time on a daily basis and will be using mine to put in mementoes that I have picked up that make me smile and to put quotes that make me smile on pretty (or childish) paper which also makes me smile :o)

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  13. Does anyone know why the Panama is called so? I am originally from Panama myself and when i saw this model in the UK website i was nicely surprised. Any takers?

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