We have a wonderful online community where people generously share tips and tricks to using a Filofax for different purposes. And sometimes, some of us have been lucky enough to meet fellow Filofax users "in the wild" and learn something new!
The very first time I encountered someone who used a Filofax-style ring binder, I was very lucky that she enthusiastically showed me everything about how she used hers, including how to adjust copy sizes on a photocopier to add maps (I just print them now of course), and how to use tabbed dividers for different sections like calendar/ address/ notes. Of all the many tips I have learned since then about how to use a Filofax, this encounter taught me the most and gave me a great start.
What are the most useful tips and advice for using a Filofax organiser that you have learned from another user?
1. Buy a paper guillotine and a 6 hole punch
ReplyDelete2. Basildon Bond writing paper in quarto and duke are almost the same height as personal refills and easy cut into fountain pen friendly inserts.
3. Airmail paper is fountain pen friendly and A5 goes straight in as fine notepaper.
4. Daytimer tabbed month inserts...
5. Refresh leather binders with coloured shoe cream.
I suppose the one that helped me the most was seeing a colleague use two different formats in theirs: a monthly and a daily. They would forward schedule everything in the monthly view and then have a month (?) worth of days ahead. Every Sunday they would refresh then next period of days. Whilst I don't do that I have found combining two formats to be more productive.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite is being able to tweak advice to suit your own circumstances and styles. As a dyslexic user of Filofax and only a year into my conversion, while still holding on for some input digitally, I feel my memory improves every time I jot down a reminder, appt or to do. It just sticks better as I know I can’t rely on my phone all the time. I hope I can find more advice and techniques along the way 😊
ReplyDeleteI'm related to two severely dyslexic people, one with visual dyslexia, the other without. For the one with visual dyslexia, the different colored pages refills have been a game-changer.
DeleteThe other finds highlighters useful.
I have seen the challenges first hand. I hope your filofax continues to prove a helpful tool.
Brilliant - what a great way to combine monthly and daily calendars. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteTo make pocket size work and to increase the page size, print the insert at 103% to 105%.
ReplyDeleteCutting slits into the insert holes to remove the page to more comfortably write on it without having to open the rings.
Washi tape can add small pops of color to pages without overwhelming the eye.
You don’t have to carry the entire year in your planner. Still struggling with this one because I like to flip back through the months if I’m looking for something specific.
Just figured out that I can add a random piece of paper with washi taped reinforced slit holes as my “expandable” (or tri-folded) notes section for weekly jottted notes. This makes the pocket week on 2 pages MUCH more useful.
Make your own dividers from laminating sheets. This is especially useful if you enlarged your inserts and the standard dividers are hidden now when your planner is closed.
When you start obsessing over finding better weekly layouts, stop to really think about what you actually need and will use on your page. Do you need a tracker with 10 lines or would half do? Do you need a space for meals on the page or would that fit in another section in your planner? Do you need to see the monthly calendar on the page or should the space be used for your top 3 weekly priorities? What’s the tipping point from just enough on the page to keep you moving forward versus the layout being too visually busy?
I’m still figuring it out and I’ve been a paper planner since the 1980s.
Coretta M.
Remembering what a FIlofax was originally for - literally a file of facts. Meaning it does not have to be used as a planner/diary, but can be a colleciton of infomration. A gardening file, an inventory of art supplies, a folio of favourite books and authors, an art journal.
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