I was looking back at previous years as to when I printed my inserts for the coming year and in most years I printed them sometime in September, this year I got them done much earlier, mainly because I was changing sizes for 2026.
In a way I’m glad I did because I have been surprised at how many times I’ve had to reach for my organiser to enter a new appointment or a task/reminder that will occur in 2026.
I’ve been trying to help people out on the various social media platforms when it comes to deciding on what inserts to use next year.
Have you decided yet?
Of course it is Friday so please feel free to discuss anything Filofax related.
Sometimes I feel like being part of „Groundhog Day“ (you know, the 1993 with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell ): trying again and again different diary inserts and/or the use of fountain pens (lately a Parker 180). And so I wonder if it’s just part of the the passion… and would like to ask you all: What’s your ultimate recipe for so called „planner peace“?
ReplyDeleteI have found some old bottles of Noodler's ink in the garage and have been pleasantly reminded of how good the bulletproof black is on cheap Filofax paper. There was a bottle of x -feather there as well and I am wondering if that would be even better.
DeleteThis, combined with the recent joy of ordering ridiculously cheap xf fountain pens from Ali Express, means I am in a constant cycle of ink and pen experimentation at the moment.
Thanks, Nibscratcher. Good to know that there are others out there that experiment, too. Have fun :-)
DeleteThere’s still more than 100 days of 2025 ahead and I prefer concentrating my efforts on the many goals I set at the beginning of this year and have not yet fully (or even partially!) achieved. I don’t want to be distracted by spending my time now setting up next year’s pages instead. I find a single undated calendar page is enough for writing down advance appointments for 2026. I’ll then transfer these in the last week of the year to my new pages, review successes in 2025 and set new goals for the new year at the same time. For me, the ‘quiet’ days between Christmas and the New Year always seem a great time to do all this.
ReplyDeleteHi Tim
DeleteI certainly agree about using the days between Christmas and the New Year for this - although my work demands that I have my diary sorted three month in advance, so I don't have the option of deferring that long on the appointments side of things. So I tend to have the diary side continually sorted and do the goal setting as you've described.
Having said that, my wife and I usually decide on our 'winter projects' late In August, for when the schools return from summer holidays here in the UK. So we already have those running now.
To answer the question more specifically, as some of you know I've been conducting a year-long experiment in transitioning back to Personal from A5. I'll write a guest post concerning how that has worked out, but, suffice to say for now, I will need some A5 inserts in 2026 and have recently ordered my usual TimeSystem update pack. With their variable customer service level, we'll see how that works out!
What size 2026 planner have you settled on Steve ? I've started setting up my A6 VDS xxxxxxxx
ReplyDeleteAfter many years of using A5 for 2026 I’m going to give Personal size another try. The inserts are printed and in a personal size organiser already.
DeleteSee the post here: https://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-transition-from-a5-filofax-to.html
Sorry for being late to this as I have been a bit too busy to come here for a day or so. It is timely as I am in a state for organisation flux again after 6 months of trying Discbound planner system resulted in knowing it was not for me. So back to the old faithful Filofax.
DeleteUnfortunately I need to de-bulk my work bag. So I tried personal (not thinner but smaller so stuff can pack to the side in the bag). I cannot cope with writing on the wrong side so I need A5. My Finsbury and Lyndhursts are beasts at IIRC 30mm rings. So I am looking at a £174 spend on an A5 Meeplus Slimpad.
This is not an easy choice for me, and not just for the way I am a miser when spending on myself so the price is daunting (I buy used on Vinted in the recent past). So before I go with the spend I need to know I have a working system. This is hard for me to get my head around.
So I need to ditch the Filofax business planner with day on two pages (used as a rolling 3 months originally but right now one month rolling). I need a slimmer system but also need a yearly, monthly (at least 6 months) and if at all possible a rolling 3 month in whatever the main diary insert I use. This last one is hard to get sourced, I do not like to print my own as it has never worked out well for me. So I need appointments but I need to be able to write the session titel, exact time it runs and where it is (I work on a large site and could end up being in a large number of meeting rooms). So I need to work out which insert I can use from a supplier (FF or other) that would allow me at least to know my month of planning with a very basic year / 6 month future planner inserts. Any idea of good makers or suppliers for this??
Then I cannot use my usual 4 chapter system. FYI I have 4 main chapters divided by vertical tabbed dividers turned so the tab is at the bottom (the page markers with the bottom tab cut off are used for today and first blank notes page at the top). Within these chapters I have sections with side tabs.
My chapters are important to me and are Diary, notes, Projects and information (mostly passwords, account info and work info like ISO9001 standard). I intend to reduce the diary somehow (see above comments) and the info will be dropped to just passwords and accounts. The notes will be fewer pages and the projects will be culled to the exact ones needed for each work day with the rest going into a desk A5 binder at home.
So basically I know how I can reduce 3 of those sections. If anyone can help me with a commercially available diary section with appointments that is useable to write down potentially half hour session info (title, location and exact time such as 14:05 to 14:30). That would be a yearly planner (FF would do), at least 6 monthlies (FF will probably do) and at least 1 month of dailies somehow (no idea). So anyone have any suggestions on this? I think 16mm rings mean 80 to 100 pages (stand to be corrected), not much but I need the compact depth for carrying (train and bike to work).
Hi Paul
DeleteYour problem is certainly my problem and do far the TimeSystem pack is the closest to a one stop solution I have come. Maybe try the Filofax Time Management 2PPD for your dailies, coupled with Mo2P and a yearly planner? You'll have to put up with the dreaded QR codes on the Mo2P though, I think.
Carry weight is my perennial problem too, but you might get all of that, plus your other requirements, into 25mm rings.
I may try this setup myself.........