My Filofax: The Mini Is Big Enough - Guest Post

My name is HP from central Switzerland. I’m a rather quiet Philofaxy reader since the days of the original Philofaxer. The posts I enjoy the most are when somebody let us have a look at their setup. I’m opening my Filofax for you and let you browse through it.

I’m using an Amazona Mini in brown colour. Most important is that a Filofax lays flat. The Amazona didn’t lay flat at the beginning. When it arrived from Filofax Hongkong, I found a new and shiny Filofax in the box, but it didn’t lay flat. A few minutes later it was in used condition and quite a bit battered - but from then on it lay flat.

The Mini is small and lightweight. It fits easily in a trouser pocket. But for me the Mini is big enough to be useful as a planner and a wallet combined.

The Amazona Mini has two card slots. In there I keep my bank card and my driving licence. In Switzerland a driving licence is an accepted form of identification in most cases. Unless I plan to travel abroad I don’t have ID or Passport with me. I use the secretary pocket for loose bits of paper.

First comes a plastic pocket with stamps in it. Then Personal Information. Laurie probably knows what the sticker says, it’s Indonesian.

My Filofax has four tabs: Notes, Diary, Lists and Info. The Mini is tiny and ringsize is small. To save space I write hints to important data like passwords, credit card number, PIN codes of my mobile phone and things like that on the tabs.

I glued the bar codes of loyalty cards on the first tab. No need to carry those cards in my Filofax any longer.

1st Tab - Notes
It’s a chaotic mix of everything. There isn’t much more to say about the notes section.

A brown ruler page marker let me quickly find empty room for notes.

2nd Tab - Diary
Behind this tab is the most important section. It begins with Itineraries. This journey is already over. I keep the itinerary as a memory.

Then the black ruler page marker lets me access the current week. A few months have passed since I took this picture. One has to write small and concisely to fit a busy life on a week-on-two-pages diary in Mini format.

My system is very simple. I use a colour scheme with three 0.5mm Frixion pens. Red is for office, blue is for family and green is for spiritual. To save space I sometimes use the pencil to write other things over blue, red or green information. Appointments, deadlines and tasks which have to be done on a certain day go into that day. Short term tasks not linked to a specific day are on post-it’s attached to the page marker.

There is a small space for notes after sunday. I visualise it with a bold black line. There I write down the things I want to focus on during this week.

Post-its on the back side of the ruler focus on learning. I’m in IT. For me learning is very important to be up to date on the latest technology.

After the current years week-on-two-pages diary comes a fold out calendar of the next year.

For the second and the third year ahead I use a single page.

3rd Tab - Lists
The lists section is probably the most important section in my Filofax. I use lists to record ideas, tasks, personal things I want to change. I use lists for planning things ahead, small projects and so on. During summer holidays in Indonesia I started a list of things I want to do after I return home. That’s the list shown in the picture below.

Next is a long list of personal goals and the necessary  to reach those goals. I’ve wored on these goals since a long time. The list shown is not the first version. I printed and holepunched it. I’m updating progress and adding more tasks by handwriting. After some time I’ll update the word file and print it again.

4th Tab - Info
I don’t keep addresses in my Filofax except a few. I’m so much faster writing down a new address in my Filofax than entering it into my mobile phone. The addresses are as chaotic as the notes section. There is no alphabetical order but I find things quickly.

Again, the small yellow paper is written in indonesian. It says which “Angkot” bus to take and where to stop. It’s of no use in Switzerland. I keep it in my Filofax as a memory of my summer holidays.
On the tab is more usernames and password hints for websites. It’s amazing how much Information one Mini page can hold if you write small.

For some reason I love the conversion tables, clothing sizes and all those things that come with a Filofax diary. I actually don’t need these information, but I keep it in my Filofax even when ringsize is very limiting in a Mini. And I’d love to have more maps in my Filofax. Unfortunately there is no European and no Swiss map for any size of Filofax binder.

Wallet
The Amazona has a full double with pocket behind the cover. As I use my Mini as a planner and a wallet this pocket is stuffed with car sharing card, railway card/tickets and with some money. The zip pocket is just too difficult to access. This is mainly because of the pen loop which comes into way. Coins go into the trouser pocket instead. The zip pocket could be useful to carry memory cards or foreign SIM cards.

The true advantage of the Mini size is that this Filofax is always with you. It’s with you even when you don’t want to carry a bag and don’t want to wear a jacket.

Thank you HP for an excellent insight in to your Mini Filofax organiser. I'm tempted to revisit Pocket size in a similar way!