What questions or discussion points have you got for us today?
It is time to enjoy a few blog posts from around the internet, grab a drink and make yourself comfortable for our weekly round-up.
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This weekend sees the clocks in Europe returning to conventional 'Winter' time or non-day-light saving time. This is a week before the USA changes back an hour.
In theory, we get an extra hour 'in bed' or sleep. But there will be lots of clocks to change! Most things in our house that are connected to the internet will automatically change. But that still leaves a lot of things to still get changed (cameras, old style timers...... and the cooker!)
I use the opportunity to reset the time on various things.
I have listed the clocks to change on a 'To-Do' sheet in my Filofax to make sure I don't forget one!
It is of course Friday, so feel free to discuss anything Filofax related.... start planning how to spend that extra hour, this weekend of the following weekend!
I know some people are more passionate than others, may be. We see various levels of 'planner passion' in our community.
'The sharers' the people that share their planning moments on various social media platforms, there are some that seem to be putting out videos every day/week. You might wonder how they find the time to do anything on their many lists even.
I particularly love the people that share their thoughts on different set ups/sizes how they are using their planners and organisers to keep their heads above water in their mega-busy lives, juggling jobs and families and their own lives.
We all come in to the planner world not quite sure about what will work for us. I've said it before, one size/type does not fit everyones needs, but there is a solution out there for most peoples needs.
When I first started using a Filofax in 1986/87 there was no magic guide on how to use it. When I look back at my inserts from 1987 I was using it more as a journal than as a planner, my year planner from back then looks more like a planner for future events/meetings.
There are a lot of us that don't share our set ups/page spreads/flip throughs etc we just use our organisers. They also might answer questions on Philofaxy or on Social Media, giving back their experience and knowledge built up over the years. They are as appreciated as everyone else.
I occasionally come across people that are Filofax users, have been for many years, but they wouldn't think to look at Philofaxy, or to join a Facebook Group or similar. To them it's just a planning tool, one that they have been using in their own way for years, sometimes decades. It is interesting to talk to these people because they often come up with bits of information about their system or their organiser you might not have realised before or known about. They are in a way a closed book of information that is wanting to be explored.
There are of course businesses, naturally planners is their source of income, so they are naturally going to be passionate about their products. Mixing these people in with the community of planner users leads to some very interesting conversations and discoveries. They discover how people are using their products and how small changes could improve the products.
Over time I've spread myself over most of these examples to one extent or another, but I've never stopped enjoying mixing with all people in the planner/Filofax community.
I hope you have had a good weekend.|
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What questions or discussion points have you got for us today?That is one of the various questions I've been asked in the many years I've mainly used the A5 format.
What are the advantages of using A5?
It is time to enjoy a few blog posts from around the internet, grab a drink and make yourself comfortable for our weekly round-up.|
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To keep or not to keep...
Do you keep organizers and pages you're not using, in case you might go back to them someday? For example, if you decide to graduate to A5 size, do you sell your Personal organizers and recycle your unused paper?
I've learned that it's best for me to keep almost everything. Otherwise, I invariable end up rebuying the same things again!
As always on Friday, feel free to discuss anything related to ring-bound organizers.
If I have an event or a trip coming up in a few months time, I love the planning phase, almost as much as the event it self!
Yes I will put my hand up if anyone accuses me of 'over-planning' !!
If I'm driving there I look at the EV charging points en route or near to the destination and alternatives and make a note of those in my organiser.
I end up with a few pages of information, some on pre-printed inserts that I've created/used for several years, but also using simple lined coloured paper, these pages are inserted close to the date of the event and they 'stand-out' in the stack of pages. I will also insert a 'Today' marker at that week as well so I can quickly turn to that week.
On my computer I will create a list of sites that I bookmark within Protopage, so they are easy to find again. These might be links to the hotel, shops nearby, transport sites etc.
If I'm going by train or by air, I print off my tickets and my hotel reservation details. Yes, I know there are e-tickets, but I still like to have a paper copy, even if I don't use them on the journey! They are there 'just in case'
You would be correct in thinking that I don't like 'last minute' or 'being rushed'
I use my Filofax Travel Wallet to carry tickets and documents etc.
I've started to use a 'On return' list, so nothing gets forgotten when I get back home to France.
Do you enjoy planning for events? With Christmas approaching, there is no harm in getting ahead of the last minute rush, use a dedicated section of your organiser or a separate organiser, a slimline or compact may be.
I hope you have had a good weekend.|
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What questions or discussion points have you got for us today?
For many years I've used Booklet Print to print my Philofaxy inserts on to A4 paper, this prints all the pages double sided as A5, four pages per sheet.
All I then had to do was cut the sheets in half and punch them. Easy..... or it was..
A couple of years ago Booklet printing vanished from the print options. The problem I had was who was responsible for this change was it:
To get around the issue I discovered that my old iMac running an older version of MacOS and therefore an older (no longer supported - in big warning messages) version of Office (Word) did have booklet printing. I was therefore able to print off my inserts using that machine, to the same printer as before. Problem solved.
Well sort of.... I did the same trick the following year as well, but this really wasn't going to be a long term solution I wanted to get to the bottom of why booklet printing was no longer available.
I discovered that the culprit was MS Office 365. They had replaced 'Booklet Printing', with 'Book Fold Layout'
This change however is not going to be a simple settings change, it will mean a redesign of the diary inserts files to be able to use it. Back to square one ! I will need to have a discussion with Ray Blake before considering this change.
I've printed this year's inserts straight on to A5 paper, printing the odd numbered pages first. Putting the paper stack on a flat surface with a stack of heavy books on top of them to take any curve out of the paper before printing all the even numbered pages. Then just punching them and curving the corners.
Printing the PDF files will do the trick:
https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/acrobat/using/ways-print-pdfs.html
It is time to enjoy a few blog posts from around the internet, grab a drink and make yourself comfortable for our weekly round-up.|
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This year I've had several identity-altering changes in my life. Some positive, some not so positive. And there's even more change coming for me next year when I become an empty-nester.
I realised recently I need a way to process my thoughts and emotions about these changes. I didn't want to write about it in my regular journal, which I like to keep mainly for happy memories. I needed something that could be functional and adaptable as a mental health journal.
I could have used a notebook for this purpose, but instead (and unsurprisingly) I chose the flexibility of a Filofax.
I pulled out one of my A5's I wasn't using and fired it up with tabbed sections for each month, and extra tabs for topics. I didn't want to add this to my day to day Filofax because I didn't want to struggle to fit everything onto the rings. I wanted plenty of space to expand my journaling practice as I need.
I have tabbed sections for each month, where I can add whatever I need at the time. It will be an ongoing experiment on what works and doesn't, what to add, remove, and tweak. For now I'm starting with:
Gratitude/ good things that happened every month (which I had been doing regularly until spring).
Challenges/ what was difficult, and how I dealt with them (emotionally, and actions I took). I tend not to write about these, but I think this will probably be one of the most useful sections.
Space to journal freely to process thoughts and emotions.
A worry/ anxiety log, where I write things I was worried about and whether or not they actually happened. (Almost always, they don't happen.) This technique was recommended to me as a way to help reframe my thoughts. Also I find when I get the worry down on paper it doesn't need to swirl around in my head, so I don't feel like I need to pay so much attention to it.
I like that I can record these by month, to see how things develop month to month, or if I decide later to take something out into its own section I can. For example I can have my worry log all together in one section, to notice repeating worries over time.
Something else I like about this is the impermanence. Unlike in a bound notebook, if there are pages I don't like, I can remove them (and even burn them if I want) without disrupting the rest of the journal.
I also have a couple of books on mental health I've been meaning to start reading, but in a silly way have been putting them off because I didn't know where to take my notes about them: in a notebook? Separate notebooks for each book? What if I start a notebook and don't finish it? Ugh. So now each book's notes will have their own section in this Filofax.
I will be interested to see how my use of this mental health journal Filofax changes and develops over the coming months. I hope it will help me handle these changes, and anything else that comes up in the coming year. I will be interested to see how my practice changes and develops.
Have you made any big changes in your Filofax recently?
As always on Fridays, feel free to ask and/or discuss anything ring binder organiser related!
Van der Spek recently launched their new custom leather bag range. You can find out more here.
https://vdsshop.com/shop/c/custom-made-bags/cid:244/
However, they have also introduced some new leather options, so you can request these new leathers for their custom organiser range as well as the bags!
Petra Van Der Spek has done some short videos explaining the differences between the different leathers in their range:
I hope you have had a good weekend.|
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What questions or discussion points have you got for us today?
