New Filofax diary layout to download - A5 Enhanced TM Week Per View with Journal

I've been using the TM Enhanced A5 layout most of 2012 and I've found it a very useful layout.

Some weeks though I have noticed I'm not using the daily tasks space on a regular basis, so I thought that this valuable page space could be used for journal notes.

So even if you keep a separate journal, you could at least jot down some notes as a reminder for your journal later in the day. Or if you only keep short notes about each day then this space might be enough on each page.

Here it is:

As you can see it's an evolution of the original layout. We have made them available in '4 line' and '5 line' format.

You can download finished versions for this year from our diary inserts page. 
They are created as A4 documents. To use them as A5 inserts, print the document in booklet mode on A4 paper, then use a guillotine to divide each sheet into two and punch the required holes, which the templates are set up with mirrored gutters to accommodate. Or, if you have A5 paper, then either the printer or the PC will scale it to size for you.

Of course, you can print these on any paper you like; coloured, patterned and fountain pen-friendly are all options, as is plain white A4 printer paper.

If you want to tinker, you can download the Word base file (4 line) or Word base file (5 line) and this Excel data file. (You will need both Word and Excel files) As long as you have some basic Word and Excel skills, you should be able to give this a go. You'll need to be able to set up a basic mail merge file link, and there are plenty of web tutorials that show you the way - Google using the search terms: Word Excel Mail Merge 20xx (where 'xx' is 02, 03, 07 or 10, depending on your version.)

Depending on what version of Word you're using, Word may put section breaks between every record, which will throw out the mirrored gutter formatting in the layout. If it does, the solution is quite simple; do a find and replace on section breaks (^b) to remove them all. You'll also need to add a single page break to the front of the merged document so that each 2-page spread has gutters in the middle for the holes.

A date for your Filofax - 6 January 2013

New York	Sao Paulo	London	Paris

We are going to run another conference round-table voice chat using Skype.

I'm sure we are gradually getting to know each other's voices, but I will make a point of going 'around the table' to get everyone to introduce themselves this time.

So...When, Where, What, Who and How?

When? - Sunday 6 January from 10am (US East Coast time), 3pm London time, 4 pm Paris time etc.  See the clocks at the top of this post to see roughly what time you should be on line.

Where? - an on-line chat using Skype.

What do I need? - just a micro-phone and some head phones(in ear phones work fine) and a free Skype account. Using headphones reduces 'echo' on the call.

Who - All of you... connect up with Philofaxy and we will attempt to get as many of us linked in to the audio conference as possible. Come and listen if you don't want to chat.

How -

1. Connect to Philofaxy by firstly searching for Philofaxy in Skype, I will then add you as a contact.
2. Then  'Start Chat',  I will then add you in to the chat room. 
3. Then if you request it, I can add you to the audio conference as well. But if you just want to chat via keyboard that's fine. That way it's slightly less hectic for me! 

Come and join in the fun, even if you only pop in to say hello...

As with previous round-tables there will also be a parallel text chat room going at the same time as the voice conference.

If you need any assistance setting up Skype, please pop a comment in this post and I will try and help you get one line. Skype is free for computer to computer calls....

Here is my post on how to improve your Skype audio with headphones or a headset.

Hope to be chatting with you on Sunday 6 January 2013. 

Web Finds - 29 December 2012

So I hope you had a good Christmas and you had a great time.

Here are the latest Filofax blog posts from around the internet:

1. Bigger is (Not Always) Better - Friday, I'm in Love
2. Pros and cons of all my binders - Paper Pens Ink
3. My Purple Pocket Malden - Behind my Purpley Life
4. The Perfect Present - Filofaximile
5. Filofax Wear :( - The Wonderful Life of Alice 
6. Filofax arrival; First peek of the Osterley A5 and the Personal Holborn - My Filo World 
7. My filofax week #36 - Paper Lovestory
8. ❤Cute Handmade Kokeshi Dolls Address Refills❤ - Filofax Love
9. All Stars guest post by Lime Tree: Filofax Swap #6... - Anita Lim
10. A parade of weekly to-do sheets - The Crazy Suburban Mom
11. Frohe Weihnachten! - Filomaniac
12. 2013 New Year with My A5 Stay at Home Planner - I'm a Filo Freak
13. Happy Filodays... - The Crazy Suburban Mom
14. Filofax Compatible? - The Wonderful Life of Alice
15. How it all began... - Chrissie's Universe
16. Current Work Set-Up - LJ's Blog of Stuff
17. Guestpost by Suus: Setup of Emma, the purple Malden We really didn't need another Filofax blog
18. Who showed up next...? - Chrissie's Universe
19. Video Review Lyndhurst - Filofax Fantasies
20. Unwrapping the present! - Filofaximile
21. Personal size... - Chrissie's Universe
22. Filofax personal foldout wine guide - Vintage Crypto
23. What planner for 2013? - Janet Carr
24. Another cute little thing... - Chrissie's Universe
25. Mulberry paper – Filofax to learn from them or vice versa? - Janet Carr
26. Change Of Mind! - I'm a Filo Freak
27. The RIGHT personal size :o) - Chrissie's Universe
28. Winterliches - Filo Manie
29. The Gestalt of Analog - The Crazy Suburban Mom
30. Make your own custom paper notepad - My Life All in One Place
31. The Maldens...Miss Piggy! - Chrissie's Universe
32. Finding your identity - Filofaximile  
33. An Impending New Year and the Desk of Shame - The Zeitgeist of Zoe
34. Out With The Old, In With The New - Homemakers Daily
35. Guest Post by Alice: Introducing Frankie’s Red Dawn - Miscellany from a Filofax Fanatic
36. Filofax award ceremony - Paper Lovestory
37. The Chosen One - Imysworld
38. Improved task page for the Filofax Pocket - My Life All in One Place
39. "I Love . . . Post-Its & Tabs" - The Storage Studio
40. Decided on 2013 planner – Filofax Malden + Smythson - Janet Carr
41. Starting the Creative Filofax - Jagged Little Thoughts
42. Olivia, The Osterley - Friday, I'm in Love

And here are this weeks Filofax videos


















Enjoy

Free For All Friday No. 215

I hope you had a lovely Christmas!
Presents unwrapped, turkey eaten and some of you may have already visited the sales.
I wrote this post in advance, just in case the world didn't end...

So, did Santa bring you any Filofaxes? I am very grateful for my gifts, but I really wouldn't want someone to buy me one without discussing it with me first ("An Apex? Really, you shouldn't have"). My Mum-in-law very kindly gave me some money towards my A5 zipped Holborn.

Here's to a wonderful 2013 for you all, and please feel free to discuss anything Filofax or ring bound organiser related.

New Filofax diary layout to download – CC inspired A5 and Personal

It's been a while since we've published a new layout, but this one was a special request. Ray and I often get requests from readers of Philofaxy and My Life All In One Place and usually we're happy to oblige, although because of the various other demands on our time it won't always be overnight.

A reader who liked the Personal CC inspired layout asked if we could produce an A5 version. Well, of course we could.

Here it is:

The CC look is clean and uncluttered and respects weekends when so many layouts seem to consider them an inconvenience.

You can download finished versions for this year from our diary inserts page. 
They are created as A4 documents. To use them as A5 inserts, print the document in booklet mode on A4 paper, then use a guillotine to divide each sheet into two and punch the required holes, which the templates are set up with mirrored gutters to accommodate. Or, if you have A5 paper, then either the printer or the PC will scale it to size for you.

Of course, you can print these on any paper you like; coloured, patterned and fountain pen-friendly are all options, as is plain white A4 printer paper.

If you want to tinker, you can download the Word base file and the Excel data file. (You will need both files) As long as you have some basic Word and Excel skills, you should be able to give this a go. You'll need to be able to set up a basic mail merge file link, and there are plenty of web tutorials that show you the way - Google using the search terms: Word Excel Mail Merge 20xx (where 'xx' is 02, 03, 07 or 10, depending on your version.)

Depending on what version of Word you're using, Word may put section breaks between every record, which will throw out the mirrored gutter formatting in the layout. If it does, the solution is quite simple; do a find and replace on section breaks (^b) to remove them all. You'll also need to add a single page break to the front of the merged document so that each 2-page spread has gutters in the middle for the holes.

Additionally we also have a Personal size version of this layout on Personal Paper available.

You can download finished versions for this year from our diary inserts page.  

To print the document on Personal Paper you might find this help guide useful.

Similarly if you wish to make your own alterations to the files you can download the Word Base file and the Excel data file (You will need both file).

As long as you have some basic Word and Excel skills, you should be able to give this a go. You'll need to be able to set up a basic mail merge file link, and there are plenty of web tutorials that show you the way - Google using the search terms: Word Excel Mail Merge 20xx (where 'xx' is 02, 03, 07 or 10, depending on your version.)

Depending on what version of Word you're using, Word may put section breaks between every record, which will throw out the mirrored gutter formatting in the layout. If it does, the solution is quite simple; do a find and replace on section breaks (^b) to remove them all. You'll also need to add a single page break to the front of the merged document so that each 2-page spread has gutters in the middle for the holes.

Welcome to Philofaxy.

Welcome to Philofaxy.

If you are new to the site or you have been here for a while, this post is a way to show you around so you get the most from the site.

As you might have seen there is a lot of information on here and you might have problems remembering where everything is, so we hope to be able to help you out with how to find things to get the most out of the site.

So looking at the Home page you are on now, below the banner you will see: Home, About, FAQ etc

Home: Takes you back to the start page from where ever you are on the site, clicking on the banner does the same.

About: How to contact us at Philofaxy and some background on the contributors.

FAQ: This is a good place to look for the simple often asked questions. We try to up date it from time to time to reflect the current topical questions.

Files: This the home for all our downloadable template files which you are welcome to customise to your own needs or just print them off as they are.

Links: Links to lots of blogs and other Filofax related sites. 

Suppliers: Looking for a Filofax or inserts or accessories, then this page is a good place to start.

Ad Spot: This is our readers advert page, you can place a wanted or for sale advert for your Filofax goods here free of charge. However, we do recommend donating to one of our favourite charities, but it's based on an honesty system, we don't check up on who has made donations and who hasn't.  This page is great because you are buying from people that do understand the Filofax range unlike some Ebay sellers...

All Stars: The Philofaxy All Stars... a group of readers who have done guest posts on each others blogs not all Filofax related, but a great read anyway.

Flickr: An overview to the Philofaxy Flickr group where you can share pictures of your Filofax and there is a small discussion group there too.

Searching Philofaxy -  With in excess of 1000 posts on Philofaxy spread over six years, finding exactly the information you want could be quite a task... however we do have some tools to help you:

• Search - Pop a key word in to the search box in the sidebar and the search tool will find all of the posts with that keyword in it.
• Labels - Further down the sidebar you will find the label cloud again this will find all the posts with those labels on the posts. We try to label all posts, although some of the earlier ones are unlabelled... another job still to be done!

Subscribing to Philofaxy

• RSS - You can add Philofaxy to your favourite RSS reader such as Google Reader.
• Email - If you want to receive each post by email, pop your email in to the subscribe by email box  and follow the instructions. This service is provided by Feedburner. They will send you a verification email which you have to click a link in to confirm your email address in the usual way.

Philofaxy on the Web

• Facebook - You will find our Facebook page here
• Twitter - We are very active on Twitter as @philofaxy and our experimental newsfeed @philofaxynews
• Google Plus, there is a new Philofaxy Community on Google Plus.
• Flickr - As mentioned above there is a Flickr group for sharing your Filofax photos and ideas
• Linking back to Philofaxy - If you would like to link back to Philofaxy from your website or blog we have a 'badge' with the exact code which you will find at the bottom of the side bar. 

You will also find a lot more links to our various activities on the web in this previous post.

Regular Posts on Philofaxy

• Free For All Tuesday - Questions and Answers on any Filofax related topic
• Free For All Friday - General discussion, open house for anything Filofax related
• Webfinds - Each weeks round up of other Filofax related posts on the web

Other Philofaxy Events

• Skype Roundtable Voice and Text Chats - once a month we have a Skype voice conference, this is open to anybody to join in. It is an open agenda and we don't only get to talk about Filofax things. People taking part can be spread around the world, so it can be quite educational as well as good fun. Look out for announcements on the blog about when the next one will be. Generally they are the first Sunday of the month, but they can move slightly if this conflicts with public holidays or Steve's travel arrangements!
  
• Meet Ups - We have held several very successful meet ups, they vary in size from as little as two or three people up to twelve people, these have been held in London, New York, France, Holland, with other ones planned for other countries around the world.
  Although meeting 'people off the internet' can sometimes seem a little odd, we all have at least one interest in common and everyone I've met at all the different meet ups have been great people to sit and chat with.  

Guest Posts on Philofaxy
We welcome people to do guest posts on Philofaxy, but they must be about ring bound planners of some type or be associated with planners, time management in some way. We do not respond to requests to post links along with guest posts about pensions, raising a family, investment opportunities in the Scilly Isles, etc. etc.... yes we get frequent offers like this in the Philofaxy in-box!  If you would like to do a genuine guest post this post will be a great help to you.  

That was a bit of a lightening tour around the site and some of our activities. Please do add a comment on to posts, we love to get feedback and we do read all the comments.

If there's something you haven't understood or there's a topic we haven't covered that is Filofax related please get in touch with us and we will do our best to respond to your email within a day or so.

12 Days of Christmas 2012

I thought we would up date our 12 Days of Christmas song from last year.....

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
A Holborn in a Personal size.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
2 Regency pockets
And a Holborn in a Personal size..

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
3 Finsbury compacts
2 Regency pockets
And a Holborn in a Personal size..

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
4 Boston pockets
3 Finsbury compacts
2 Regency pockets
And a Holborn in a Personal size..

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
5 Malden A5s
4 Boston pockets
3 Finsbury compacts
2 Regency pockets
And a Holborn in a Personal size..

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
6 Osterley Personals
5 Malden A5s
4 Boston pockets
3 Finsbury compacts
2 Regency pockets
And a Holborn in a Personal size..

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
7 Enigma Pockets
6 Osterley Personals
5 Malden A5s
4 Boston pockets
3 Finsbury compacts
2 Regency pockets
And a Holborn in a Personal size..

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
8 Classic A4's
7 Enigma Pockets
6 Osterley Personals
5 Malden A5s
4 Boston pockets
3 Finsbury compacts
2 Regency pockets
And a Holborn in a Personal size..

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
9 Holborn Pockets
8 Classic A4's
7 Enigma Pockets
6 Osterley Personals
5 Malden A5s
4 Boston pockets
3 Finsbury compacts
2 Regency pockets
And a Holborn in a Personal size..

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
10 Cuban Zips
9 Holborn Pockets
8 Classic A4's
7 Enigma Pockets
6 Osterley Personals
5 Malden A5s
4 Boston pockets
3 Finsbury compacts
2 Regency pockets
And a Holborn in a Personal size..

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
11 Aston Minis
10 Cuban Zips
9 Holborn Pockets
8 Classic A4's
7 Enigma Pockets
6 Osterley Personals
5 Malden A5s
4 Boston pockets
3 Finsbury compacts
2 Regency pockets
And a Holborn in a Personal size..

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
12 Aqua Malden Personals
11 Aston Minis
10 Cuban Zips
9 Holborn Pockets
8 Classic A4's
7 Enigma Pockets
6 Osterley Personals
5 Malden A5s
4 Boston pockets
3 Finsbury compacts
2 Regency pockets
And a Holborn in a Personal size..
And no Alice Temperley's ... sorry Alice not even Santa could afford your prices!

And that's how you can get 364 Filofax Organisers.... 1 on the first day, 3 on the second, 6 on the third day etc.

Free For All Tuesday No. 99

Happy Christmas!

How keen are you to escape from building models and repairing toys today? 

Tuesdays are your chance to ask any Filofax related questions you might have.

So fire away and we will collectively try to answer your questions or offer opinions.

There's something about A5

I've previously owned two A5 filofaxes, a vintage pink Malden and a Domino Snake. I returned the Malden and sold the Snake after deciding that A5 is just too big for me as my only binder and I didn't want to own more than one filofax. And then I found myself one night clicking on buy it now on a wine zipped Holborn on eBay for a great price, d'oh. I had planned to maybe give it to a friend, but purchased a blue A5 Finsbury instead as I realised that she would prefer a brighter colour. I had no plans to keep it at that point, but when I opened the packaging its soft leather and gorgeousness started to win me over...

  

Steve wrote a great review about his brown one here which I enjoyed reading, and I found myself absent-mindedly stroking Saz's lovely wine A5 one at the Philofaxy meet up, so I knew I already liked them. I think the soft pliable leather and contrast stitching is what I also like about the Maldens.

I've also realised that I can't fit everything into a personal sized filo and a zipped A5 is so handy for popping paperwork into, zipping it shut and it's ready to pick up to finish at a later time. I don't have a huge amount in it yet, but its main uses will be for reading and working on projects as I find personal size paper a bit small for planning and mind maps.

Laminated Getting Things Done workflow map as my flyleaf  

I've realised that I'm now comfortable with owning more than one filo, so one personal and one A5 is going to be perfect for my needs in terms of both portability and extra writing space.

My only slight concern is the gappy top two rings which have appeared as it's started lying flatter but they don't seem to have got worse and paper doesn't catch on it, so fingers crossed.

Here is my dream team :)

Reader Under the Spotlight - Linda

This week I would like to introduce you to Linda!

Hi, I’m Linda, Originally from Los Angeles, I now live in Austin, Texas, with my husband, Ira. I have worked in many cities in the US-all in some way connected with being an accountant!  Since my son is now grown and has his own place, I have plenty of time for all things Filofax. I don’t blog everyday-but when I do, my blog is on Google Blogger, under: "Mindloomer360"

1. When did you buy your first Filofax and what was it?

Bought my first Filofax in 2008 - a pink zip Finsbury. That same year I added the black zipped one. 

2. What other brands have you used or considered using?

I have a special place in my heart for calendars. They bring the promise of new chances, new projects, and new organizational Goals to be met..

I've used so many--Franklin-Covey, Coach, Day Runner, and Levenger's Circa System And I haven't even started listing all the electronic scheduling apps I have used-and there's been so many!

Right now I use my iPhone to keep my telephone numbers handy, so I have them always, when I make a call. I currently own an iPad 2, and an iPhone4s

3. Out of the organisers you own which is your current favourite (Style and Size)?

My personal Black Ostrich, tied with the personal crimson Malden. Buying the Crimson Malden was an adventure for  me; I couldn't get it here in the states, so I bought it from the Filofax online store in France!  When I really want a particular Filofax, I will come up with a way a way to find exactly what I'm looking for!

4. How many Filofax organisers do you own?

Here's where I begin to feel guilty: I own 24 (that I know of...                     

• 1 A-5 Classic
• 5 Pockets
• 17 Personal (varied types)
• 1  Compact

5. What do you use your Filofax for? 

All sorts of things--some are for journaling, for recording medical matters, for schedules of medication, schedules of upcoming classic movies and upcoming reading lists.
And the rest of them are merely for me---to pet, smell and look at.  I take excellent care of each one of them--but haven't quite started naming them, as yet. 

6. What was the feature about Filofax you like most?

The fact that customization was possible, and that there were lots of styles to choose from.

7. If you could design your own Filofax what would it feature?

I would first fix the problems some have with the plastic bubbling and bending on the classics; then refit them with a "jointed" section and ring protector, on either side of the rings.  That appears to be one way the Finchleys, Decos and others could start out flat, right out of the box. Then I would have all of the models available in the UK and Europe, also available in the US. Ones that are customer favorites could be reordered as a "special order"
       
8. How do you carry your Filofax?

My A-5 stays at home; she never goes out, since I no longer work.  The personals live on my nightstand or are carried in my purse.

9. Which Filofax in the current range do you like the most? Are you going to buy it? 

I really like the personal Ostrich and lizard, both in black, or red.  I am in love with most all of the Finchleys, especially the red one. The crimson Malden is also a favorite.

But the only one I WILL buy, if I can ever find it, is the discontinued personal, vintage pink Finchley, of course! 

10. What is the most you have ever spent on a Filofax ? Which model? 

My personal Ruby Deco--I think it cost $250
 
11. Turning to Philofaxy, what do you like the most? 

The "Spotlight" section, Webfinds,  and Adspot.  It's wonderful to visit a site that brings so many of us together, from places all around the world!

12. And what do you not like about Philofaxy? 

Nothing at all-it rocks! 

13. What was the last music album CD you bought or downloaded? 

Adele's first CD

Thank you Linda for agreeing to go under our spotlight. And if anyone else would like to take part in this series then please contact us at: philofaxy at gmail dot com Thank you.

Web Finds - 22 December 2012

Well the last one before Christmas...

Sadly I will not be posting a Web Finds on Tuesday 25th... I will be busy helping Father Christmas with his deliveries. I applied for the job of FC Assistant (Filofax Product Expert)....

The pay isn't so grand, but you do get to visit a lot of countries in 24 hours. I have received my red and white outfit so I'm ready to go....

In the mean time... here are the latest Filofax posts from around the internet:

1. Filofax Flex Conversion - It's My Life!
2. Call to arms: The hunt for a filo! - Filofaximile
3. Comparing Personal and Pocket - Imysworld
4. Christmas planner thoughts and wishes. - Just an Essex Girl
5. Filofax collection update - Filofax Fantasies
6. Filofax Adventures Part.3 - Behind my Purpley Life
7. Most stylist filofax - Improve my days
8. I'll have a pink Christmas! - Circus Life with Disturbed Mamacita 
9. Und jedem Anfang wohnt ein Zauber inne* - Filomaniac
10. Filofax ID - Cloudberry Musings
11. The greatest gift that I possess... - Filofaximile
12. All Stars guest post by Femke: Meditation and relaxation exercises - Anita Lim
13. Is Handwriting Worth Saving? - Rhodia Drive
14. Filofax Tour - This Humble House
15. Filofax for 2013 - Homemakers Daily 
16. Filofax dissapointment and planner decisions for 2013 - Filo Obssessed
17. A5 lyndhurst - Filofax Fantasies
18. In a planner pickle - Paper Pens Ink
19. Getting into the Christmas Spirit in my A5 - Filo Obsessed
20. Its not about the money money money ..... - Monica Luis 
21. My second Filofax - personal size Aston in Orchid - Haitian Girl
22. Filofax Love – My Metropol - The Studentista
23. A disappointing delivery - Filofaximile 
24. as we were - Seraphic Wing 
25. My A5 Kensington has Arrived! - The Wonderful Life of Alice
26. Using Daytimer Hotlist sheets in a Filofax - Calm and Organised
27. Attempting to review the year… - Paper Pens Ink
28. A5 Inserts! - The Wonderful Life of Alice 
29. What’s in my Personal Regency? - Coffee & Literature
30. Goal, Resolution, Project, Task: Definitions and Examples - Plannerisms
31. Vintage-Serie - Teil 6: Portland Grün - Filo Manie
32. Wine Holborn - Paper Pens Ink
33. The whole planning shebang... - The Crazy Suburban Mom
34. Getting others to do GTD – free podcast - GTD Times
35. Saving for a Filofax!! - Lady Elizabeth's Life
36. Make your own Personal To Do pages - Filofaximile 
37. Filofax Planners  - Coffee & Literature

and here are the latest Filofax videos:












Enjoy and have a great Christmas....

Free For All Friday No. 214

I would guess for a lot of people today might be their last day of work before the Christmas holiday, although I know some of you work weekends and possibly Monday Christmas Eve as well. In UK and other places 26th December is also a holiday, not here in France, it is a normal working day!

I know when I was working these last few days before the holiday break were either mad crazy busy with lots of last minute work coming in to be signed off, reports to be peer reviewed to get them 'out the door' before the end of the year......... or deadly quiet, especially between Christmas and New Year, if it was the later I used to make good use of the time to up date my Filofax and get it all prepared for the start of the New Year.

What routines do you go through with your Filofax to prepare it for the New Year?

But as always as it is a Friday you are of course free to discuss anything Filofax or Ring Bound Organisers related....

Philofaxy Meet Ups - March 2013

Christmas is just around the corner, but plans are in place for two meet ups in March 2013. These will be taking place in Manchester and London on March 9th and March 16th.

I will be in UK for a couple of weeks so I have been able to adjust our travel dates so I get two Saturdays... got to get your priorities right?!!!

So this is a 'calling notice' for people who would like to attend the either of Philofaxy Meet Ups in Manchester or London or both!.

Please read all of the post before you apply for a place on the meet ups. Places are limited in numbers.

When and Where

Manchester - 9th March 2013

The date of the meet up is Saturday 9 March 2013 and we will meet initially at 12 noon at BHS in Market Street.

However, the actual arrangements for this meet up are fairly flexible, and we will tie down the more precise arrangements in the next few weeks once we have a list of people. We need to decide on where to eat and where to shop afterwards, so anyone who is local to Manchester and knows the City Centre well, we would appreciate your input.

Thank you.

How to book a place on the meet up

To get a place on the meet up you need to email: steve[at]philofaxy[dot]com and mark your email March 2013 Manchester Meetup but not before 8am (UK time) Saturday 22 December 2012. Please only request a place if you are 99% certain that you will be able to attend on the 9th  I'm hoping this time to have full attendance.

As places are allocated you will receive an email back again confirming your place on the meet up.

Please do not book travel tickets etc until you have a confirmed place. I will attempt to confirm places within 2-3 hours of receiving your email.


View Larger Map

London - 16th March 2013

The date of the meet up is  Saturday 16 March 2013 and we will meet initially at 12 noon at Vapiano on the corner of Southwark Street and Great Guildford Street on the South Bank of the Thames, this is behind Tate Modern on Southwark Street about a 10 minute walk from either London Bridge Station or Southwark Tube Station.

We have visited this venue before.  They have a great ordering system which uses a smart card to record the items you order from the bar or food counter. When you pay the bill you will only be paying for the items you ordered and there's no additional service charge. Because of the flexibility on their ordering and payment system, you will be able to easily pay with cash or card. If you are slightly late it won't be quite so critical.

You can read all about the restaurant on their website here

During the meal there will be plenty of time for chatting and sharing Filofax organisers... There is also a large lounge area were we can sit and drink coffee or something stronger.

Then we will take a walk across the river to City Organiser who have kindly agreed to open their shop for us on the Saturday afternoon... in fact Andy will hopefully be joining us for lunch at Vapiano. 

Our meet up will finish at about 5:30pm

How to book a place on the meet up

To get a place on the meet up you need to email: steve[at]philofaxy[dot]com and mark your email March 2013 London Meetup but not before 8am (UK time) Saturday 22 December 2012. Please only request a place if you are 99% certain that you will be able to attend on the 16th  I'm hoping this time to have full attendance.

Once all twelve places are assigned additional names will be added to a reserve list, in case anyone has to drop out of the meet up.

As places are allocated you will receive an email back again confirming your place on the meet up.

Please do not book travel tickets etc until you have a confirmed place. I will attempt to confirm places within 2-3 hours of receiving your email.

Should you be unsuccessful in booking a place on this particular meet up in March there will be another meet up in spring/summer 2013 the dates are as yet to be confirmed.

Additional Information

If you aren't familiar with London or how to get to Vapiano from the station you are arriving at then use the Transport for London Journey Planner, it's generally quite good. 

Once we have our full list of people, we will exchange email addresses and if you aren't familiar with London you might be able to get someone to meet you at the station you are arriving at.

Your safety on the day and your enjoyment on the day is of paramount importance to me, so don't be afraid to ask any questions by email, I want everyone who attends to get the most from the day.

If you are staying over night there are a variety of hotels in the area, Premier Inn, Travel Lodge, Holiday Inn Express, Mercure all have hotels in the area. 

I will be staying down in Kent so I will be coming up for the day, but I'm sure if people want to meet up afterwards for a meal like the recent London Meet Up, then I can stay late in to the evening as well. 

Thank you... any questions?


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My inevitable return to Malden

I don't know what it is about Filofaxes as I'm not particularly fickle when it comes to my other belongings. Maybe it's the ol' search for the perfect planner or just downright envy... I'm not sure. I immediately loved the Ascot I purchased from Adspot, and said to myself, "Right, that's it and I am finally done, and the only reason I will replace this is if it falls apart". And then the little doubts started to creep in when I was deleting some old photos and came across ones of my first crimson personal Malden. I originally obsessed about them for a long time, but wouldn't buy one as I already had a perfectly decent binder, a cherry Classic.

And somehow I still wasn't content when Filofax kindly replaced the faulty Classic with my long sought-after crimson! My journey took me then to an A5 in vintage pink (sold the crimson one, silly me) and a personal in purple, but sadly both were faulty and were returned. I took this as a cue to investigate others rather than immediately returning to Malden, and sampled the delights of a slimline and the Ascot. However, deep down I think I knew where my loyalties still lay.

I hadn't really made my mind up, but wrote an update in the Philofaxy Facebook group which was me just thinking out aloud that my ideal solution would be a swap and the lovely Kate stepped forward! Once the decision was made we both sprung into action and posted the filos, and I had my Malden in my hands the very next day! On opening the box, I just went, "Ohhh!" and gazed at its loveliness. 

I know so many of you have them, but I couldn't resist some piccies

I am so relieved to be a member again of the Malden Appreciation Society (as the wonderful Tony put it), and I'm not going to let this one get away! I haven't really done any work on its set up other than plonking the contents of the Ascot straight in, but I already feel right at home. 

I admit to one little eBay purchase to make me smile and make it feel more mine, which I've attached to the zip pull inside. It originally had a little bell on the bottom, but my cat was much too interested and I think the noise would've got on my nerves eventually.  

So, after only a 5 month hiatsu I am back in a Malden and here to stay, phew :)

Web Finds - 18 December 2012

Here are the latest blog posts from around the internet:

1. A5 Finsbury - Zuri means beautiful
2. Meet my Finsbury! - Zuri means beautiful
3. Supplies for Brightening up my Filofax - Femme Musings 
4. Personal Holborn in wine heading my way… - Paper Pens Ink
5. Filofax Spotted on TV! - The Wonderful Life of Alice
6. Random Bits - Friday, I'm in Love 
7. Mini Mission - Filofaximile
8. Pondering Paper Samples - Filofaximile
9. my filofax week #35 - Paper Lovestory
10. Christmas gift advice. - Filofax Filosophy
11. Vintage-Serie - Teil 5: Portland - Filo-Manie 
12. Accidental (self) Enabling - Filofaximile
13. Week 1: Filofax Update - Thoughts of a Filofly
14. New Pocket Finsbury and Colourful Monthyly Calendar :) - Filofax Love
15. My Filofax set-up, fall 2012 - Bluebonnet Reads 
16. Filofax + Clairefontaine = Love - The Crazy Suburban Mom
17. Green Wing-ing you a filofax sighting! - Filofaximile
18. New Mulberry – 1 week on - Paper Pens Ink
19. Pocket or Personal - the decision continues.. - Imysworld 
20. Weeks worth of to-do sheets - The Crazy Suburban Mom
21. New personal size binder… - Bluebonnet Reads
22. Upcoming arrival; Filofax Personal Holborn and Filofax Osterley A5 - My Filo World
23. Spending check - Cloudberry Musings
24. Filofax Frenzy - From down the well 
25. December 21, 2012 - Quo Vadis Blog

And here is the latest Filofax videos from around the internet:

This is the link mentioned in the video









Enjoy

Update on the co-operation between Filofax and Philofaxy

1.    In the few weeks since the meeting held in November, Filofax and myself have been able to establish good lines of communication between the Marketing Department and Philofaxy with additional input in to the New Product Development Team as well. 

However, it is very early days yet as we have been discovering more and more about each other beyond the very quick overviews we gave at the meeting. Since then we have been looking in detail about the various aspects of the blog and all the other places we both exist in.

Additionally we are waiting for the new PR company to come on stream and I’m told they are looking forward to working with us at Philofaxy on product sampling/reviews and blog outreach.  I believe too that we will be added to the media press release list so will automatically receive announcements at the same time as the media.  I think this is very encouraging.

2.    I have given some small hints and tips to help Filofax with their presence on Facebook, so they can now respond to readers and Filofax users in a more corporate manner and hopefully this will improve relations with our readers as well I’m sure.

3.    One of the requests presented to Filofax at the meeting was for the tabbed monthly inserts to be changed so that the months were not printed back to back. As you will know if you have used these inserts, with them printed back-to-back you are unable to separate the months to be able to archive them or to interleave them with weekly or daily inserts.

I have sent Filofax some mocked up prototype inserts in a design that would solve this issue and allow people to separate the months in their organisers. These prototypes have helped the team at Filofax to better understand the issues with the current inserts and how the proposed changes improve on the use of this particular set of inserts.

Filofax are now putting these new inserts through their formal product assessment process to see if they could become part of the range or not. The change to the inserts has an obvious increase in production costs, so like any other change it has to go through a process to validate the impact on costs and the retail price of the product. 

4.    As a direct result of Philofaxy posts and comments, Filofax have also commenced an internal review of paper quality. As part of this they are looking at other paper on the market for consumers.  I have been informed this is an internal business process review and not a study that will be made public.  It is encouraging that they have heard the comparisons being made and are investigating.

5.    I have been told that the 2014 diary inserts are already in production, many already printed.  Filofax is a global business, producing diaries for 40 plus markets around the world and as such they work with considerably long production lead times. So any new paper will not be incorporated widely for some time. However, the Filofax Enthusiasts range that will be launched in 2013, which was spoken about at the meeting, could be printed on different paper stock, hopefully paper of higher quality.  We will be told about this new range in the New Year.

The production of all of their products and the distribution of them is spread through out the year so there isn’t a huge peak in the demand on their distribution channels at the beginning of each year.

6.    Whilst Filofax acknowledged the problems with the existing website at the meeting. We were told about a new improved website that will be launched in 2013. From discussions between Filofax and myself, I have put forward a couple of ideas to improve the descriptions of the organiser products on the website and these suggestions have been very well received by the team.

I’m hoping to meet up with the team at Burgess Hill when I’m over in UK in March, but a date has yet to be arranged/confirmed.

I hope you are happy with this update, I can’t promise to have updates on a very frequent basis, but I will try to up date you when there is something of significance to report.  What I would also like to add is that I am very grateful for the time and effort that Filofax have put in to be able to respond to my calls and emails in the last few weeks – all of which have been responded to same day.

Any questions?

Steve
18 December 2012

Free For All Tuesday No. 98

Tuesdays are your chance to ask any Filofax related questions you might have.

So fire away and we will collectively try to answer your questions or offer opinions.

Pens Poll - Result

Thank you to everyone that took part in our 'Pen' poll, as you can see from the results the ballpoint pen remains a popular writing instrument for most people. Not far behind is the fountain pen.

Obviously the ballpoint will write on any paper without any bleed-through issues, they are very portable, the refills last months sometimes longer.

The fountain pen is a little more tricky, I've certainly had them leak in the past. But of more concern to Filofax users is their performance with the currently available paper.

At the weekend I tried out a couple of fountain pens on some of the different paper I have here:

• Filofax 'white' 70 gsm - As we know there was some bleed-through, not major but potentially annoying
• Filofax 'coloured' 70 gsm - No bleed through, it performed even better than the white paper and I was quite surprised at this, but I will come back to this paper in a moment.
• Filofax Cotton Cream - Excellent with my sample fountain pens, although the ink did take longer to dry on this paper. 
• Rohdia 80 gsm jotter pad - no bleed-through and it takes the ink well no feathering
• Datacopy 80 gsm copier paper - No bleed-through issues, but the ink did feather a little.
• 'Bristol' paper, although this is in excess of 100 gsm, no bleed through and no feathering, it even performs well with solvent heavy CD marker pen without bleeding through! But you won't get many pages of this weight in to a Filofax. 

So only a small sample, but then I remembered back to the meeting in November with Filofax, the coloured Filofax paper isn't dyed, but printed, so the colouring might be acting as a further barrier to the wet fountain pen ink?

I jotted this down then promptly forgot about it until I saw a You Tube video at the weekend and the person on the video made a similar comment that the coloured paper performs better than the thin white Filofax paper, it jogged my memory. 

The realm of 'Fountain Pen Friendly' paper is quite a difficult problem to solve. The paper has to not absorb the ink too much, yet it has to be receptive to it so that the ink dries quickly on the paper, this is particularly important for left handed users if they are going to avoid smudging what they have just written with their own hand.

My tests weren't exactly scientifically performed or conclusive but having seen others make similar observations I don't think they are too far wrong. The performance of the thin paper might vary with the type of ink used? But the coloured Filofax paper was the surprise of this test. 

Have you tried different ink on different papers to see if it makes a difference?

Philofaxy Meet Up - SW England

Please see the message below from Kate about a Meet Up in the New Year. 

 

"Hi guys!

I am starting to plan a meet-up in the South-West of the UK for early 2013. It is in the very early stages of planning, but so far I am thinking of it taking place in Exeter (Devon) city centre at some point in January!

If you are interested in coming, or have any suggestions for places to visit, please email me (Kate B a.k.a. TPS) on bernasconiray at hotmail dot com!

Thanks, looking forward to seeing you! The more the merrier!"

Reader Under the Spotlight - Patty

Today I would like to introduce you to Patty.

Hi, I'm Patty. I'm from the Midwest United States and I love planners!  I'm a full-time homemaker - sort of.  I babysit my 3- and 2-year-old grandkids every chance I get; I do the books for my husband's construction business; and I run a blog Homemakers Daily

I've been married 31 years to my husband, David, and we have two grown married children.  My son and his wife have the grandkids and they live across the street - yeah for me!

David and I like to buy old, disgusting houses and turn them into something beautiful.  No house is to awful for us.  One of the houses we bought was filled with mice - we caught 24 in the first two weeks.  Our current home had snakes!  We had 3 in the family room and 7 in the laundry room in the basement.  I wasn't thrilled about that - it almost made me want to hang up my remodeler hat!

1. When did you buy your first Filofax and what was it?

I bought my first Filofax in August of this year.  It was a Personal Vintage Pink Malden.

2. What other brands have you used or considered using?

I've used Franklin Covey since 1993.  I've dabbled with Day Timer and Planner Pad but I've always ended up back with Franklin Covey.  After all those years with Franklin Covey, I'm ready for a change so I'm trying Filofax.

3. Out of the organisers you own which is your current favourite (Style and Size)?

I really like the Personal Malden.  The leather is so soft and beautiful.

4. How many Filofax organisers do you own?

I just got a Personal Holborn in brown.

5. What do you use your Filofax for?

I use it for my daily planning, journaling (on the daily page) and keeping track of information.  I also use it for my blog although I'm tentatively planning to have all my blog information in the Holborn and the rest of my life in the Malden.  I've never used two planners before so I'll have to see how it goes.  I'm really a one planner kind of girl.

6. What was the feature about Filofax you like most?

Most.  Well, I'm not sure I can narrow it down to "most".  I like the binder selection.  There are SO many that I like.  With Franklin Covey, it always took a lot of waiting to find one that suited me but there are a bunch of Filofaxes that I like.  I like the plain planning pages.  I'm easily distracted so less is better.  I always bought the plainest of the Franklin Covey pages.  I also like that on the 2ppd there are 10 boxes for to-do's.  Sometimes I get overwhelmed making a to do list so I limit my list to just 10 items.  It helps me prioritize better and think about what really needs done.  When I saw that the 2ppd had 10 boxes, it seemed meant to be.
  
7. If you could design your own Filofax what would it feature?

It would have 2 pen loops and they would be big enough to hold any pen (that's my only complaint about the Malden - my pen won't fit in the loop).  It would also have slightly bigger rings.

8. How do you carry your Filofax?

It sits on my desk or kitchen countertop at home.  When I'm out, it's in my purse.

9. Which Filofax in the current range do you like the most? Are you going to buy it?

I'd kind of like to have a Metropol.  I'm a bit of a binder snob in that I really only love leather.  But I like the fact that the Metropol has two pen loops and some of the colors are gorgeous!  It just looks fun. I'm trying not to buy it but I may succumb.

10. What is the most you have ever spent on a Filofax? Which model?

The Personal Malden was $70.  Ouch!

11. Turning to Philofaxy, what do you like the most?

I love being around like-minded people. Most of my friends and family don't really care about planners. I was really excited when I discovered that there were a whole bunch of people out there who loved planners, too.

12. And what do you not like about Philofaxy?

Nothing.

13. What was the last music album CD you bought or downloaded?

You know, I don't listen to music much.  I have ADHD and music is a distraction.  So I don't listen.  I like silence!  However, I am going to get some children's music for my grandkids.  They love music and I don't have any for them to listen to.  I'll probably get some Veggie Tales as soon as I figure out how to do it.

Thank you Patty. And if anyone else would like to feature as a 'Reader Under the Spotlight' please contact us at  philofaxy at gmail dot com

Web Finds - 15 December 2012

Christmas.... everything is slowing down! I might go back to one Webfinds a week if next week is as low in numbers as this week.... but we will see....

However, here are the latest Filofax Blog posts from around the internet:

1. FREE Weekly/ Daily Calendar!!!! - Lime Tree
2. Vintage-Serie - Teil 3: Dundee - Filo-Manie
3. Flexin’! - Katie Louise Halsall
4. Circa Take II – Yet Another Levenger Box Arrived Today - The Zeitgeist of Zoe
5. An Early Visit From Santa - Friday, I'm in Love 
6. Time to move away from Filofax? - Just an Essex girl
7. On-The-Go Companion to Your Filofax - Glossette
8. Guildford extra slim! - I love my stationery
9. Personal Portland Wrap-Up... - The Crazy Suburban Mom
10. One Diary for 2013 - The Ideas? - Imysworld
11. Blogmas Day 12: Slimline Metropol Filofax - Within Dreams We Live 
12. Filofax Love – Part 1 - The Studentista
13. Nachtrag - Konstruktive Kritik an Filofax - Chaotic Perfectionist
14. Recipes Filofax - The Storage Studio
15. Filofax update; Back in my Filofax Regency again! (For now ;) - My Filo World 
16. I finally got a Baroque - Heather Holistics
17. Solving The Insert Question - Daily Thoughts and Random Ideas 
18. Shiny red Mulberry has arrived - Paper Pens Ink
19. Vintage-Serie - Teil 4: Balmoral - Filo-Manie

And here are the latest Filofax videos:











Enjoy

Free for All Friday, No. 213

No matter what the weather or which holiday traditions you follow, this time of year brings a particular focus on...food! Do you use your Filofax to store your recipe collection, list dishes you want to try cooking someday, or jot down wine tasting notes? I'm guilty of the last two especially, much to the amusement of my tablemates.

Personal Size Organiser Comparisons

Personal size Filofax organisers come in four different size variations. I thought it would be interesting to compare them together.

• Slimline
• Compact
• Personal 
• Zipped Personal

Slimlines are availabe in 11 or 13mm ring size.

Compacts are all in 15mm ring size with either clasp or zipped styles

Personals are all 23 mm ring size

Zipped Personals come with either regular 23 mm or jumbo 30 mm ring sizes.

To show how they all vary I did a short video with a comparison between a selection of personal size organisers.

 
The advantage of having different sizes in the same paper size of course that you can choose the right size of organiser for the amount of paper you are carrying.

For instance during my recent trip back to UK I needed to add things like maps of London, a London Tube map, things I obviously don't normally need over here in France! So I swapped from my compact Malden in to a regular Personal Malden, I've now swapped back in to the compact.

So if you are a personal size Filofax user, which size suits you best?

Using the Plannerisms planner along with your Filofax

I've had several people tell me they are interested in my Plannerisms planners, but they are so attached to their Filofax they can't imagine leaving it for a bound planner. The good news is, you don't have to! Here are some ideas on how to use the Plannerisms planner along with your Filofax.

1. Use the Plannerisms planner as a Goals Workbook/ Journal and your Filofax as your planner/ diary. Recently on Plannerisms I wrote a long and detailed post on how to use your Plannerisms planner as your Goals Workbook/ Journal (which you can click here to see).  In that post I show you all the different types of Goals pages and give you suggestions and ideas on how to use them. I designed the Plannerisms planners with lots of pages for your Annual, Quarterly, Monthly and Daily goals. You can easily use it as a designated workbook/ journal for all your goals, separate from your actual planner if you like.  You can click here to see a video I made showing all the Goals pages and more ideas on different ways to use them.

2. Use the Plannerisms planner as your weekly planner and your Filofax as your daily planner/ diary and/ or information book (as I do).  I use 2 pages per day Franklin Covey inserts in my personal Malden Filofax to plan and record today only (click here for more details on how I use these). This gives me a thorough record of each day. I use my Plannerisms planner (currently self-drawn, switching to the new printed ones in January!) for all future planning and goal setting.

I've been using a weekly planner plus a day per page planner for nearly two years now. This system works great for me as an excellent combination of planning overviews and plenty of space for daily recording. I did a detailed post on different ways to use the Plannerisms weekly pages, which you can click here to see. 

So what's it like to carry two books? The Plannerisms planner pages are approximately A5 size, 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches but the book itself is much (much!) slimmer (at only 1/2 inch thick) and lighter than an A5 Filofax binder. When I use my Plannerisms planner along with a smaller Filofax as my information book and daily diary, the two books together are smaller and lighter than one A5 Filofax, yet I get the nice big weekly pages. Plus I like to be able to see my week in my Plannerisms planner open alongside my day in my Filofax for the daily details with the weekly overview to see what's coming up.

3. Use the Plannerisms planner as your household routines/ cleaning/ maintenance/ finances book. This is a great use for the Plannerisms planner if you want it to stay home.  Use the monthly and weekly pages for your housecleaning rountines, FlyLady Zone work, home maintenance schedules, gardening, and anything else that needs done around the house.

It's also great as a financial/ bills tracker. Use the Monthly calendars to track bills due and paid, write financial details and totals in the lined pages between each month, and tuck unpaid bills in to the back pocket so they don't get lost.

So you see, there's no need to abandon your Filofax to try out the new Plannerisms system! With Plannerisms and your Filofax you can have the best of both worlds, rings and bound.

For loads more photos of the Plannerisms planners Goals pages and other features, click here for my detailed Plannerisms planner post and click here for my video overview of the Plannerisms planners.

Click here for the Plannerisms planners ordering page!