30 June 2020

Free For All Tuesday - No. 491

So what questions or discussion points have you got for us today?

It doesn't matter if you are a beginner or a more experienced user of organisers, we want to hear your thoughts, questions, opinions etc.

We are here to answer your questions.

Make today the one day you post a comment or a question.

It is Tuesday after all so fire away with any questions and comments.


29 June 2020

A Date For Your Diary - Sunday 5 July 2020

Given the success and the number of people that took part in the last  'Virtual Meet Up' we are going to run another one.

When? - Sunday 5 July at the following time:
  • Los Angeles 8:00 am, 
  • Denver 9:00 am
  • Dallas 10:00 am, 
  • New York 11:00am, 
  • London 4:00 pm 
  • Paris 5:00 pm etc.  
Do not worry if you aren't available at the start of one of our sessions each one lasts 1-2 hours so pop up when you are available and say hello.

Where? - an on-line chat using Skype. with voice and video (if you wish)

Join the chat here: https://join.skype.com/A85fEyS7HPUP

What do I need? - just a micro-phone and some head phones(in ear phones work fine) and a free Skype account. Using headphones or earphone reduces 'echo' on the call. Video is optional, but a few of us will be on video as well.

Who - All of you... Join the chat here: https://join.skype.com/A85fEyS7HPUP  Come and listen if you don't want to chat.  What do we talk about? Filofax stuff... but anything else as well. It's like long lost friends meeting up for coffee and a catch up.. but don't worry if you have never joined in before... you are an old friend too!

If you have any questions you want to ask then please let us know in the group or before we start.

Come and join in the fun, even if you only pop in to say hello... but don't be afraid to join in the discussion.

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 5 July 2020.

27 June 2020

Using your Filofax to focus on self care

Apologies to those of you expecting to read your Saturday dose of Web Finds, as Steve is currently out of action, but thankfully is doing better. We all wish him a speedy recovery to full health and hope that he gets home soon. 

Following on from Laurie's post about keeping medical details in your Filofax, I thought that I'd write a little about tracking self care. It's not something that I've done much of in the past, but the last couple of years have been challenging, so I thought that it would be useful to have some reminders about this in my organiser.

The last section in my Kensington is my A to Z and I just keep a list under T called TLC. As I think of something, I'll add an idea and remind myself to look at it and pick one later.
Some examples:
  • Have a bath
  • Book a shiatsu massage (pre-lockdown)
  • Read my book
  • Do some jigsaw
  • Go for a coffee alone (our household is still currently shielding, so currently I make coffee in my reusable cup and take my book and Filofax out onto the green outside our garden)
  • Yoga Friday a.m.
  • Play Diablo 3 (game on my Mac)
  • Eat ice cream
  • Skype with Meerkat (nickname for my best friend).
As you can see, it tends to be quite simple and normally free activities that I enjoy and are good for me (as long as there isn't to much ice cream!). Sometimes when life is busy or stressful, it can be easy for me to forget that I have these kind of things that are easy to do and really helpful for my mental health and overall well-being. As mentioned in my previous post about working from home, I'm very grateful to still have a job, but it's much busier than normal, so I have been making greater use of my TLC list. 

For those of you that might prefer more structure, these free downloads (voluntary contribution) from Blurt might be of interest:
Blurt is 'a social enterprise dedicated to helping those affected by depression' and you can read more about them here.

I don't have any links with them, but am just a satisfied customer as I treated myself to one of their lovely Buddyboxes when I was going through a particularly stressful time.

26 June 2020

Free For All Friday No 607 by Laurie

As the lockdown continues where I live, there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding what the rest of this year will look like. I'm grateful for the flexibility of my Filofax yet again. At the moment, I'm planning the rest of the year in less detail than I normally would, for maximum flexibility. So far there's not a lot to plan. The school calendar for next year has been released, but all dates are tentative. Events that normally would take place this summer have been cancelled.

In the absence of plans, I have been using my planner to focus on self-care and personal growth. I've been tracking and recording exercise, mental health, reading, learning, family activities, etc. It helps to have things to fill in my pages, and to reflect on how I'm spending my time.

How have you been using your Filofax recently?

And as always on Fridays, feel free to ask/ discuss anything ring-bound organizer related!

25 June 2020

Medical Filofax? - by Laurie

In light of Steve's medical emergency and the fact that we're in the middle of a global pandemic, I thought it would be a good time to talk about having medical information pages in your Filofax. It might be an uncomfortable or scary topic, but good to think about just in case.

Several years ago when my family and I moved frequently and my kids were little, I had pages in my Filofax with medical information, recent illnesses and treatments, medications, etc. Now that we have been living in the same place with the same doctor for several years now, I don't keep that information anymore. Where we live, if we had to go to the doctor or hospital, they would have access to our medical data on their computer, so I don't feel like I need to carry it with me everywhere. But it's probably a good idea for me to have some information like our blood types in case of emergency. I do have a page with all of our insurance numbers, our doctor contact details, etc.

For anyone with chronic medical conditions or medications it's always a good idea to keep emergency medical information on you either in the form of an alert bracelet, information pages, etc.

Do you keep medical information in your Filofax for you and/ or your family members?

24 June 2020

Sorry!!

Sorry folks, no video web finds today. I got rushed into hospital yesterday which was totally unexpected!!

I am feeling much better today and I hope to be home within the next few days and back on the blog too.

May be a new post ‘Planning for an unexpected hospital visit!’

Take care

Steve

23 June 2020

Free For All Tuesday - No. 490

So what questions or discussion points have you got for us today?

It doesn't matter if you are a beginner or a more experienced user of organisers, we want to hear your thoughts, questions, opinions etc.

We are here to answer your questions.

Make today the one day you post a comment or a question.

It is Tuesday after all so fire away with any questions and comments.


22 June 2020

Guest Post - Pimping my organisers – adding backpacks - Paul

Thank you to Paul for sending in this post. 

As well as using Filofaxes as intended (Mini Kendal as a wallet, Personal Cuban as a daily planner, etc.) I’ve also picked up some cheapie non- Filofax organisers for specific projects. I don’t need pockets and card slots for these but did want extra carrying space for pens, markers and other stationery.

There is, of course, the Bookaroo Notebook Tidy, but I wanted a closed pouch rather than the open webbing, something with two straps rather than one, and thought I could make something better for a bit less dosh.

I’ve been using a generic military pouch belt for my mobile (on the chunky size), and that was just about the right size. Also had an old army magazine pouch leftover from when I was trying to work out the best way to carry a tin whistle. It was too big for a personal sized organiser but worked on an A5 binder.

The pouches cost about £5 or so on eBay, available in a limited range of drab colours. The ex-army one is of higher quality, but this isn’t necessarily an advantage – the Velcro flaps can be a bit over-enthusiastic in the clinginess department, and it won’t open without putting up a bit of a struggle.


There are a couple of belt staps to unpick (or cut on the army ones), look like they may be useful for straps or pull-tabs so added to my stock of oddments. This leaves two sets of horizontal webbing bands ready to feed straps through.


The two Velcro straps above were fitted to test the concept and would be handy if you wanted to swap a pouch between differently sized organisers. I’ve replaced them with elasticated webbing which cost £7 for 6 meters @ 25mm wide. Plenty left over for making up new pen loops, other projects and perhaps refurbishing sagging undies.


I allowed a generous overlap on the A5 webbing before cutting the strips, so there was about 10cm of tape joined by using mega sticky VHB acrylic gel tape, with a couple of 12mm pieces in parallel. For the Personal sized ones, I cut the webbing flush before being stretched; this worked out at a 6cm joint to provide the desired tension. Once stuck, the joint is fed round out of sight, tucked behind the webbing. Was going to sew along the joint as well, but the gel tape seems to be strong enough on its own. Plan B if things go ping.

The picture below may seem a bit confusing at first, on the left is a pouch with the elastic in place, waiting to have the plastic strips on top peeled away before the other end of the webbing is stuck down. The pouch, on the left, is on top of an open ‘Bind’ organiser (Personal sized paper and rings in a larger body), the two straps on the right are from the pouch fitted to that one.


And here’s how they look when finished – shuffle until happy with the placement.




And the A5 Timberland with the ‘Osprey Molle MTP Single Mag Ammo Pouch SA80 Genuine Surplus’. The straps have been splayed out slightly to keep the fit fairly solid.


Thank you Paul for an interesting addition

21 June 2020

20 June 2020

Web Finds - Saturday 20 June 2020

So I hope you have had a good week

So now it is time to enjoy a few blog posts from around the internet,  so grab a drink and make yourself comfortable for our weekly round-up.

Here are some Philofaxy posts you might have missed this week:
  1. Web Finds - Saturday 13 June 2020
  2. Silent Sunday
  3. The Morning Routine
  4. Free For All Tuesday - No. 489
  5. Video Web Finds - Wednesday 17 June 2020
  6. Other Brands of Organisers, Planners and Notebooks.
  7. Free For All Friday - No. 606 by Anita
So here are the latest Filofax and other brand blog posts from around the Internet. Don't forget to leave a comment on the posts you enjoyed reading, all bloggers enjoy getting comments.
  1. The ‘Special Nomad’ is now available online! - Blog Vdsshop
  2. Plan Your Finances In Style - The Official Filofax Blog
  3. Throwback to 2015...Doodle Squares? - Planner Fun
  4. Duck Egg Filofax Malden with Franklin Covey Compact Inserts - Sharondippity
  5. Which Planner Is Right For You? - Day Designer
  6. Notepaper Tuesday = [Coffee Edition} - Planner Fun
  7. 12 Social-Distancing-Friendly Summer Bucket List Ideas + Free Download - FranklinPlanner Talk
  8. Happy Birthday to ME! For You? LimeTreeFruits Planners 50% OFF ! - Lime Tree Fruits
  9. Seriously, will this ever end? I've been creating and upd... - The Filofaxist
  10. How I Achieved Planner Peace - Planner Fun
  11. Making booklets from old planner pages - Sharondippity
  12. Pocket Compagna XL restock - Blog | Gillio
  13. Current Planner Setup for June 15 - 21 - Planner Fun
  14. Desk Organizing Solutions When You’re Short on Space - I'm an Organizing Junkie
  15. My Digital Planner Flip-Through & How to Navigate - Wendaful Planning
  16. Friday Felicities for June 19 - Planner Fun
  17. Being on top of ALL your tasks — will it EVER? - Lime Tree Fruits
  • We monitor over 400 blogs and sites, your Filofax/Organiser blog posts could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list. 
  • We can not guarantee people will read your posts, but we know there is a higher chance of people reading your posts and returning to read other posts if you make them interesting with pictures and good hints and tips. Do not forget to give your posts a title... 
  • Your Filofax/Organiser posts could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list. 
  • For some general tips on Filofax Blogging, please see this post
  • Consider joining our Facebook group - Filofax for Philofaxy fans

Enjoy




19 June 2020

Free For All Friday - No. 606 by Anita

I have a confession... I almost purchased another Filofax the other day.

I've been feeling very content in my Kensington, so I'm not quite sure why, but I browsed in Facebook Marketplace and found a wine A5 Holborn zip for £35! The seller confirmed that they would be happy to post and would get a quote for me the next day. However, after my initial excitement and sleeping on it, I started to wonder why I actually wanted it and realised that it was just the cheap price. Since working from home, I have considered upgrading to A5, but so far really don't feel the need.

Therefore, I let the seller know and instead felt relieved when it was sold to someone else. If I'm honest, I think it was also a little bit of lockdown retail therapy creeping in and I don't want to buy a bunch of stuff that is going to sit in a drawer. I would have bought the Holborn is I knew that I was going to use it, but instead I treated myself to some secondhand Harry Potter DVDs as I realised that I haven't seen all the films, despite reading the books many times, and my Mum can enjoy them too with me.

Have you been indulging in some Filofax retail therapy since the lockdown started?

And as always, please feel free to discuss anything ringbound organiser related.
Have a great weekend.

18 June 2020

Other Brands of Organisers, Planners and Notebooks.

Thanks to Ian for supplying this huge list. It is quite an undertaking to create such a list and keep it up to date! So hats off to Ian for this brilliant piece of work. 

If you have any updates to the list please email Ian with the details. 

You can download the full list as a PDF here. 

This is my most up to date list of ring bound organisers, planners, and notebooks that I have found.

There so many more brands out there than I could have imagined, I thought that this market would be shrinking in modern times, not expanding! Wherever possible I have added a hyperlink to the exact page that contains the organisers, if none are currently listed, I have linked to the main webpage or parent company. 

In some instances, I could not find a website for the manufacturer, so I have linked it to a google images search instead. On some rarer occasions, I have added a link to either an eBay or Amazon listing instead. 

This is by no means the final list and I welcome any suggestions or input you may have, also please let me know if you see any broken links. Email me- filofaxist (at) gmail dot com.

Guide:

Text is in blue; this means it is hyperlinked to a webpage.

Text is in red; no images or information could be found online that was credible, but it has been seen on eBay. Alternatively, it may have been a branded organiser issued to staff within that company, and again will have been seen on eBay.

Text is in black; no link has been added yet.

Ring bound:

Branded Filofax:
  • ​Barclays bank
  • BBC Combi
  • Capital Radio
  • Heineken
  • HSBC
  • Jaguar
  • Office Angels
  • Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme
  • Virgin

Disc bound:

Wire bound:
  • ​Ajasto
  • Ampersand
  • ​Amy Knapp
  • Blue Sky:
  • -Dabney Lee
  • -Day Designer
  • ​​Collins
  • Amelia Lane
  • American Crafts Planner
  • Ampad
  • Bloom Teacher Planner
  • Cathian
  • Collins Debden
  • Corie Clark ​
  • Cross
  • Da Milano
  • Dabco
  • DataDay
  • Eccolo
  • Esposti
  • Filofax
  • Filofax
  • First edition blanks
  • Letter Love Designs
  • Lorna Leigh Lane
  • Memory minder
  • Mi Goals
  • Mossery
  • Mulberry Pop
  • Noted
  • Paper Elephant Press
  • Peacock Paper
  • PlanAhead
  • Sarah Pinto
  • TF Planning
  • Typo
  • Uncalender
  • Whistle & Birch

Folios/Padfolio:
  • Cescahide
  • Cocoa Paper
  • Franklin Covey
  • Get To Work Book
  • Goldenrod
  • Graphic Image
  • Harber
  • Heidi swapp
  • It’s That Kinda Day
  • Katie Leamon
  • Lake & Loft
  • Letts
  • Limelife
  • Lorna Leigh Lane
  • Mead
  • Miracle Bind
  • Moms manager
  • Moonster
  • Nomad
  • Nu Elite
  • Otto Goals (Officeworks)
  • Padfolio
  • Peacock Paper
  • Penny Paperoni
  • Plum Paper
  • Practical Paper Co
  • Raika
  • Recollections
  • Ruitertassen
  • Silvine
  • Simplified planner
  • Sugar and Type
  • This is ground
  • Unique Planners
  • Zilia Leather

Notepads, or notepad holders & Travelers Notebooks:
  • ​​Alohha
  • ​Earthworks
  • Arwey
  • Aveley designs
  • Bellroy
  • Bevdori
  • Chelsea paper company
  • Chic Sparrow
  • CIAK
  • Eternal Leather Goods
  • Filofax
  • Foxy fix
  • Galen leather
  • Gallery Leather
  • Gatura
  • Goal Getter
  • Hobonichi
  • Horween
  • JP Leather Works
  • Kokuyo Jibun
  • Little Mountain Bindery
  • Love from Poppy
  • May Designs
  • Meadowgate Leather
  • Midori
  • Millican
  • Milligram Family Planner
  • Naked Cow
  • One Star
  • Orvis
  • Orvis Battenkill
  • Paper Republic
  • Pineider
  • Pinetti
  • Prima
  • Quotus
  • Red Pen Travelers
  • Rifle Paper Co
  • R-Kive
  • Rugen
  • Scriver Creek
  • Stamford Notebooks
  • Start Bay
  • The Explorer Journal
  • Trayvax
  • Uglydori
  • Wenger Swissgear
  • When In Greece
  • ZLYC

Premium bound notebooks:

End of File!

Thank you Ian. 

17 June 2020

Video Web Finds - Wednesday 17 June 2020

So I hope you have had a good weekend.

So now it is time to enjoy a great collection of videos from around the internet.

Here are a selection of the latest Filofax videos for your enjoyment.
  1. Tips For Creating A Successful To Do List - Vienna Ortiz
  2. Filofax Personal Unboxing for OneBookJuly 2020 - Amy Graham
  3. Bound Systems Vs Ring Bound Systems || Functional Planning - Life With MJB
  4. Filofax Personal Peek at the Week | FlyLady Zone Cleaning Update | June 2020 - PlansMeetPaper
  5. 10 Minimal Planner Inserts You Need + How to Use Them | MadyPlans - MadyPlans
  6. 2020 Franklin Planner Setup and Flip Through - Tonya Plans
  7. My 2020 And 2019 Planner Collection || Personal, Pocket, A5, A4 Notebooks - Life With MJB
  8. Hot Mess Plan with Me: B6 Slim Stalogy, Moterm Personal & A6 Rings - Monique Smith
  9. Plan With Me || June 15 2020 || Flip Of Last Week - Life With MJB
  10. Новый планер Franklin Covey Zip | Обзор ежедневника | Unboxing Franklin Covey Compact - Planner and Life
  11. Japanese Franklin Covey Compact Planner Insert Day on 2 - Universal Tomoe River Paper - Quasi Thoughts
  12. Franklin Covey Planner Japanese Original Classic Inserts - Weekly & Daily - Quasi Thoughts
  13. Using Franklin Covey Planner Daily Pages for Work - Compact, Classic, & B6 - Quasi Thoughts
  14. June Flip Through Gillio Medium Compagna - Clare Plans
  15. A Week In My Planner - With A Difference // Pink Planner Girl - Nicola PinkPlannerGirl
  16. How I Use Two Planners - Filofax Pocket & Personal Rings Malden - Roselyn Angelica
  17. Planner Setup & Flip Through | Foxy Fix A6 Rings | Everyday Carry - Perpetual Mommy
  18. Filofax Finsbury Setup Pocket size - Mari Budko
  19. A5 Filofax Malden: Plan With Me - Monique Smith
  20. Meet the new Maldens! Orchid and Duck Egg join the family, including mini! - Filofax
  21. Filofax Clipbook & Original Folio! - Sam Kelley
  22. Flip Through | Das Erste Halbjahr 2020 im Filofax - dekoRIAt
  • For tips on how to improve your videos, please see this post.  Also this video too Webfinds 
  • Your Filofax/Organiser Videos could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list. 
You might also be interested in Planner Spread Love on Facebook. 

Enjoy




16 June 2020

Free For All Tuesday - No. 489

So what questions or discussion points have you got for us today?

It doesn't matter if you are a beginner or a more experienced user of organisers, we want to hear your thoughts, questions, opinions etc.

We are here to answer your questions.

Make today the one day you post a comment or a question.

It is Tuesday after all so fire away with any questions and comments.


15 June 2020

The Morning Routine

I'm sure I'm not the only person that runs on 'auto-pilot' first thing in the morning when you wake up. The number of actions we go through in our early morning routine is quite complex if you sit down and study all the things you do.

Do you always do things in the same order? Or do you try to vary your routine, what do you do to ensure you don't forget to do something?

Something prompted me to think about my own morning routine the other week and I found that I wasn't doing things as efficiently as I could. I'm still doing the same things in the morning, nothing more or nothing less. I've just reordered them, it has speeded things up a little because I'm not walking between different parts of our house so much wearing out the carpet!

I'm now looking at my planner earlier in my morning routine, this helps me focus on the things to do that day and in the next few days if there are any things I need to buy or order. I use my time in the bathroom as thinking time whilst I'm having a shave or in the shower.

I now try to avoid digital devices until after breakfast is done and my 'work' day gets started. I've started reading a magazine article over coffee. A paper magazine that is, not a digital one!

I'm capturing things in my journal during the day rather than the following day, my poor memory will often overlook things if I leave it until the following day.

How do you start your day?

13 June 2020

Web Finds - Saturday 13 June 2020

So I hope you have had a good week

So now it is time to enjoy a few blog posts from around the internet,  so grab a drink and make yourself comfortable for our weekly round-up.

Here are some Philofaxy posts you might have missed this week:
  1. Web Finds - Saturday 6 June 2020
  2. Silent Sunday
  3. Working from home - by Anita
  4. Free For All Tuesday - No. 488
  5. Video Web Finds - Wednesday 10 June 2020
  6. Personal Kensington flip through - by Anita
  7. Free For All Friday - No. 605 by Steve
So here are the latest Filofax and other brand blog posts from around the Internet. Don't forget to leave a comment on the posts you enjoyed reading, all bloggers enjoy getting comments.
  1. Announcement - Filofax Love
  2. 4 DIY Blog Hacks I Frequently Use - Planner Fun
  3. I'm back...with a new Filofax! - All Things Stationery
  4. Habit 4: Think Win-Win - FranklinPlanner Talk
  5. SOAP Study Inserts - Planner Fun
  6. The Swedish Holiday Flowchart - This Bug's Life
  7. Meet the new Maldens - The Official Filofax Blog
  8. How I Use My Current Daily Pages - Planner Fun
  9. Tips For Starting an Ink Journal - Goulet Pens Blog
  10. Episode #89: David Allen on How to Stop Procrastinating on Your Taxes…and Everything Else - Getting Things Done
  11. Current Planner setup for June 8 - 14, 2020 - Planner Fun 
  12. Undyed medium Compagna & restock Mia Cara - Blog | Gillio
  13. How to Clean a Fountain Pen: Cartridge/Converter - Goulet Pens Blog
  14. Free Custom Planner Insert Giveaway!! Every Month!! - Planner Fun 
  15. Web Finds – 10 June 2020 - Travellers Notebook Times
  16. Top Ten Most Influential Stationery Products of the Last Ten Years - The Well-Appointed Desk
  17. Reader Suggested Insert: Checkbook Register - Planner Fun 
  18. Re-using an Unused Calendar - iHanna's Blog
  19. Analogue or digital? - Pam Alison Knits
  20. Customer review: medium Mia Cara - Blog | Gillio
  • We monitor over 400 blogs and sites, your Filofax/Organiser blog posts could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list. 
  • We can not guarantee people will read your posts, but we know there is a higher chance of people reading your posts and returning to read other posts if you make them interesting with pictures and good hints and tips. Do not forget to give your posts a title... 
  • Your Filofax/Organiser posts could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list. 
  • For some general tips on Filofax Blogging, please see this post
  • Consider joining our Facebook group - Filofax for Philofaxy fans

Enjoy




12 June 2020

Free For All Friday - No. 605 by Steve

This week, it is ten years since I officially stopped working or rather working for a salary, I have carried on doing a lot of voluntary work since then.

Since stopping work I think I've used my organiser more than at any other time. That might seem odd to some people, but when I was in regular employment, most weeks were the same as any other. This is certainly not the case in retirement!

Each week seems to fly by, I use my organiser every day to keep control over what I am doing and need to get done.

I also journal or try to journal what I've been doing each day. This helps me remember all the things I've done and when I did them.

At what time in your life have you used your organiser the most?

As it is Friday of course you can discuss anything organiser related. Have a good weekend. Stay safe.

11 June 2020

Personal Kensington flip through - by Anita

Thanks to Stephen K. from the Facebook group for requesting this post.

I've been in my Kensington since January and am feeling very content. Whilst I've owned more glamorous binders, the internal layout is perfect and the leather has aged to a wonderful squashy softness.



I discovered quite some time ago that charms annoy me as they get in the way and bang on my desk, but instead I have a piece of string from a bunch of wild flowers given to me by my best friend. My TWSBI Eco fountain pen sits inside the rings as it's too large for the Kensington pen loop. I often have temporary items at the front, like these book token cards to remind me to post them to some friends. My dashboard is from a hand painted Valentine's card from my talented husband. 

Currently I also have a quote by Albert Camus - 'Au milieu de l'hiver, j'apprenais enfin qu'il y avait en moi un été invincible'. (In the depths of winter, I finally learned that there lay within me an invincible summer) 

Behind my dashboard, I have some quotes that I currently quite like and these will get changed from time to time.


My first section doesn't have a marker or divider as it's just the first part that I come to. This is my Inbox and also holds spare paper. The contents can vary greatly, depending on what I'm up to - 
a) At its most tidy, it will only consist of blank sheets, as everything else has been processed 
b) Currently it's fairly full of random inserts as I've been having a bit of a declutter and tidy, so inserts have been dumped there for me to look at
c) Often it will only hold a couple of brain dumps and spare paper.  

As you can see from this photo, everything gets re-used and the previous quotes page is an old Dodo Pad insert being used upside down. I love looking at some people's beautifully decorated and well designed pages, but I'm just a scribbler really and nothing gets wasted!


My next section is for next actions.
(Page markers purchased from AtelierDays on Etsy)

I am still using up the Muji notepad sheets (printed on one side only) and add tick boxes on the back using my Hobonichi stencil.


My next section is for projects.


Over the years, the way that I plan projects has definitely been simplified. Once upon a time, I always used the project planning method from David Allen's book Getting Things Done - (1) Defining purpose and principles 2) Outcome visioning 3) Brainstorming 4) Organising 5) Identifying next actions).


However, nowadays I've realised that most of the time, all I need is a section for notes and a separate space for actions. For example, here is my most recent planning for getting my email back under control.


On the other side, I have my actions.


My final section is my A to Z dividers. 


From Stephen - 'I, like you, use a modified GTD. Where I struggle following your process, and perhaps you could add some insight, using A-Z tabs: what types of info goes in the, how long does it stay there, does if get file away?'

Thanks for your question and it's actually helped my better understand how I use my Filofax. 
When I purchased my first one back in 2009, I was actually looking for something to hold my GTD based system and wasn't looking to use it as a diary. Apart from a short period where I used a purple mini Finsbury as a combined wallet/diary, I've rarely kept a calendar in my personal sized binder, so have more space for keeping more project notes and reference information. I use Google calendar, which syncs with my husband's iCal.

Some examples of info currently in my A to Z tabs:
AB - notes on aikido techniques (the martial art that my husband and I practise).
CD - a picture of the Dalai Lama (I went to one of his talks and this photo came from the brochure) and some notes on decluttering.  



EF - a Zen Habits post about clearing out email and behind that exercises for my foot (for plantar fasciitis).

GH - Some random bits and hospital numbers for my Mum's appointments.

M - the largest section is for my Mum as I'm her carer. It's mostly notes from oncology appointments or about medication, with an actions sheet at the end.


R - I also keep more temporary lists here and there. For example, I purchased an audio course by the teacher and author Ram Dass, so this is currently under R.

 Y - 30 days of yoga completed (this now needs removing).


As always, the final item is my trusty Getting Things Done workflow diagram, which acts as a page lifter and handy guide to help me out, if I'm feeling a bit stuck with anything.


So, to fully answer Stephen's questions:
1) My A to Z holds all sorts of info - from essential reference details to temporary projects that I'd like to keep track of.
2) How long it will stay will depend on what is is, some items are always there like Mum's notes, notes from some books etc. Whereas others will be removed once they're completed, like my yoga sessions.
3) None of the information removed is filed anywhere else currently as I am quite discerning about what is a permanent resident in the A to Z. Currently this is working well, but if I find at a later date that it is becoming too large, then I may set up a second binder as an overflow. However, I'm loath to do that as the main reason for keeping an A to Z is for quick and easy access in one place. In the past, I had planned to remove some of my Mum's notes, but have actually reminded her consultant of something at an appointment! Currently I own the Kensington and my custom Van der Spek, so having a second as a potential back up reference book could work well, if needed.

Thanks again to Stephen for his suggestion for the post and his questions.