08 January 2024

What to do with last years inserts?


For some people part of the 'New Year' ritual is to swap over their diary inserts. Taking out last years and inserting the next years.

That said a lot of people do this on a rolling basis, archiving past weeks/months and adding in future weeks/months. They always keep 6-12 months in their organiser at any one time, with a split of say 3 months past and 9 months future, but the length of time and the split between past and future is a personal choice of course.

It will also depend on the type of inserts you are using and the size of rings or the capacity of your organiser to hold the amount of paper you need.

What ever camp you are in, what do you do with your old inserts? Some people archive them, but I have heard of people that shred them.

Personally I archive mine in an old large ring A5 Finsbury, it can hold 3-4 years worth of week on two page inserts comfortably.

A cheap and simple alternative is to use 'Treasury Tags', they come in a variety of sizes and lengths and they keep pages securely together, you simply pass them through the holes of the organiser pages and you can still turn the pages easily etc.

My archived inserts help me pin down dates in telephone records and dates to look for photographs etc. 

Whilst keeping your past inserts doesn't take up much space, you can decide how long to keep them for.

I still have my 1987, 1988, 1989 inserts from when I first started using a Filofax, they make fascinating reading! I was using my Filofax more as a journal than a planner, but I didn't really know the difference back then!

What do you do with your old inserts?

16 comments:

  1. i don't keep my old inserts. i throw them away.

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  2. Retired a couple years now, I still use my A5 OPaD as a task list of actions for that day, somewhere to record ‘grabs’ (which get transferred if necessary), record calls, msgs etc. Systematically conduct a housekeeping routine every two weeks harvesting info & data to relocate elsewhere. Then yes, I am a shredder! I have so much ‘stuff’ that I honestly have no need of, including old diaries & Filofax pages that need to be decluttered. I have last year invested in a 365 Day Journal to note those important past dates (wish I’d thought of that years ago) to pass on to grandchildren as a piece of generational history. Along with my own personal audio podcasts for them, obviously in my voice. Its such a shame when older members of the family pass, as you so often lose all those family stories & explanations of what they did & why. So the 365 Journal & the mp4 podcasts may be fun for them further down the line. Sorry I’ve drifted off the original ~ I’m a shredder and proud. HaHaHa ~ Mark

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  3. I used to use the mentioned tags but I now use loose metal bind rings. I can fill 2 full years of inserts (2 days per page with foldout monthly planner) and store the historical inserts in a box.

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  4. I'm in the shredding/incinerating camp. Mine are full of work information, mostly all inconsequential but still needs disposing of properly.

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  5. I archive my monthly planner booklets each month. I binder clip them together and they're in a photo box in my office. In 2021, I had digitized all of my old planner archive and recycled them. That may happen in a few years with the current archive. Who knows. I go through phases where I want the archive and then I don't--hence digitizing them.

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  6. Archive now, after years of disposing of them. As an older person, I really wish I had some record left of the reality of my life at different times when I was younger, the kind of thing only textured in-the-moment diary entries can deliver. Youth spends resources and closes down options with little thought to the long-term, the future is one vast golden canvas, and we don't comprehend that tomorrow-us will be the same as present-day us, only with less time ahead for new possibilities.

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  7. I archive all of my pages in plastic binders, and stick the date on the spine. I like being able to look back through previous years, and occasionally I need to look up a past event.

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    Replies
    1. Hello, Laurie. Would you share more information on the plastic binders you use to archive planner pages, especially where you purchased them? Thank you!

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    2. For my A5 pages I use Filofax Clipbook binders that have a transparent plastic cover, these purple ones: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Filofax-Clipbook-Refillable-Notebook-Purple/dp/B00OA0FZV0/ref=asc_df_B00OA0FZV0/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=484093025692&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11177954291462743725&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007385&hvtargid=pla-406164607873&mcid=1bff18cb48f934c592f88f2f464a6273&th=1

      I bought a bunch of these at half price a few years ago and to be honest I really do not like the way the rings come through the covers, because fewer pages can fit on the rings than otherwise would fit on that ring size. I think it's a cheap way for the covers to be made, because the rings are not actually fixed to the spine, they just go through it. Often I wrangle the rings out of the covers and superglue it inside the spine so it can hold more pages. The next time I need to buy A5 storage binders I think I will get a plain clear cover one, like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Retec-Waterproof-Notebook-Transparent-Refillable/dp/B094H9P8T3/ref=sr_1_6?crid=T81B0EV32G5Z&keywords=clear%2Ba5%2Bbinder&qid=1705265366&s=officeproduct&sprefix=clear%2BA5%2Bbin%2Coffice-products%2C93&sr=1-6&th=1

      Back when I used Personal size pages, I bought (in the US) a bunch of Mead memo book ring binders to use for archiving: https://www.mead.com/p/notebooks/business-notebooks/notepads/mead-loose-leaf-memo-book-narrow-ruled-6-rings-6-34-x-3-34-assorted-colors/

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    3. Thank you for the information!

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  8. I use a personal size filofax.
    So I buy a few cheap (5€ with inserts) Lidl personal organizers every year for archiving, not only the diaries but everything, notes, project logs, phone calls...
    I even switched to use their week-on-two-pages insert instead of printing my own every year... may do the same with the address pages, if I ever get the courage to copy all this over :)
    But always in my leather filofax, not the cheap faux-leather ones, they are good for archiving, but not my taste for everyday use (they aren't bad, the rings seam solid, would make a good first paper planner for testing if you like that better than digital...)

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  9. I agree with Archiver. I'm 36 and already wish I'd kept more of my old notes. I've been keeping my planners for the last 8 years, mostly pocket moleskine back then, but as I've got a spare personal filofax I'm using that to archive my filofax planners now.

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  10. I've never seen the treasury tags before! What a good idea!

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  11. I like to keep my old diaries in boxes for reference; it happens perhaps a dozen times a year that I need to go back and verify something. In order to find information quickly, my diaries are archived one year per box with an Annual Planner, Jan-Dec monthly tabs, and Monthly Planners. I keep a running list of meetings and dates where important information was noted, and this also gets archived. Since I use the A5 Time Management (2 pages per day) format, plus Meeting Planners, To Dos, and notes on yellow lined paper, I have a lot of pages to archive at the end of the year! Some years ago I found boxes from Uline that hold A5 pages nicely, just a little extra space all around and about 2.5 inches tall, with an attached lid along the wide dimension, like a little chest. I print a label with the year and store the last couple of years in my desk. The rest of the boxes are in file boxes, going back to the 1980s!

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  12. Currently using FC 2PPD in a FF A5 Original. I store the entire year’s pages in a FC storage binder. I carry all twelve monthly calendar tabs and the current month daily pages in my planner. When the 1st of the month comes I put the old month daily pages into the storage binder and the new month daily pages into my planner. I review all the daily pages of the previous month and index any notes that I may need to reference in the future. That index list is the front page of every month and stored in the storage binder along with the daily pages for that month. FC calls these my Daily Record of Events (DRE). Been doing it this way for years and it works for me.

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