Free For All Friday No. 927 by Eve

 

Why Empty Pages Can Feel So Intimidating

Let's talk more planner theory. Does anyone else get weirdly intimidated by a brand new, freshly opened planner? 

At first it feels exciting, right? Fresh pages, clean layouts, untouched tabs, all that possibility laid out in front of you. Your handwriting is suddenly neater. Your life feels about 12% more under control just by opening the thing!

And then somewhere in the back of your mind, this little voice starts whispering, “But what if I mess it up?”

One crossed-out task, dab of white out or mis-spelled word and suddenly the illusion is broken.

I think a lot of us do this, especially with expensive planners or particularly beautiful ones. We hesitate to write in them because we want them to stay neat, consistent and aestheticly pleasing. Thanks to social media, this has slowly become the definition of a planner “done properly.”

Which is funny when you think about it, because planners are literally designed to contain our messy human lives.

I don't know about you, but my life has scribbles, rescheduled appointments (oh so many rescheduled appointments....), half-finished lists, bad handwriting days, random notes jammed into margins, days or even weeks where everything falls apart a bit.

But somehow cracking open a new planner full of empty pages makes us feel like we’re supposed to become our ideal selves overnight. You know, that other you: the person who meal plans every Sunday, tracks 14 habits, journals daily, never misses a workout, and somehow has perfectly spaced handwriting at all times.

Meanwhile, most of us are just trying to remember whether we already bought toothpaste.

I also think there’s something about a blank planner that feels emotionally loaded. It’s a fresh start. A reset. Proof that maybe this time we’ll finally become the organized/creative/luxury lifestlye/whimsical (insert whatever adjective works for you here) person we imagine ourselves being.

But then life happens, and the planner starts looking… lived in. As I work to let go of my own perfectionism, I’m more comfortable saying out loud that that’s the whole point. 

Some of my favorite planners I’ve used over the years have looked terrible by December 31st. Bent pages, crossed-out tasks, tea stains, sticky notes hanging out everywhere, notes I can't read anymore but knew exactly what they meant when I wrote them. Those planners carried my real life. Frankly I wish more of those types of planners were shown on social media!

What about you, do you hesitate to “mess up” a new planner? Do empty pages motivate you or stress you out a little? 

When you look back at old planners, do you prefer the neat ones… or the ones that clearly got very well used every single day?

As always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything ring planner related, and have a fantastic weekend!

Free For All Friday No. 922 by Eve

 

The Hidden Cognitive Cost of Dual or Multiple Systems

Continuing with my theme of exploring planner theory, and since it is July (of "One Book July" for some of us) I got to thinking about planner systems using more than one book. And I'm talking about for planning here, not having separate books for journaling or art or whatever.

I wonder whether some folks are drawn to dual or even multi planner systems not because they are truly needed, but because they give us a perfectly reasonable excuse to use more than one planner.

And honestly, it's me. I am some folks. I completely understand the appeal! 

One planner can be the polished desk planner. Another can be the portable everyday carry. One can hold the big picture, while the other handles the daily details. On paper, it sounds incredibly sophisticated and intentional and sometimes it genuinely is helpful for those who have found a dual or multi planner system that legit works for their lives. 

On the other hand, in some cases I also think dual or multi planner systems can create a surprising amount of mental overhead behind the scenes. Not necessarily because the system itself is bad, but because your brain now has to constantly keep track of where things live.

Did I write that down in the daily planner or the weekly one? Which planner has the shopping list? Did I already transfer that task over? Do I need to carry both today?

Individually, these are tiny things. But over time they can add up and add stress.

I confess there have been times when I convinced myself I “needed” multiple planners, when really I just wanted the enjoyment of using multiple planners, or the excuse to buy more (I am a fool for a good dopamine hit after all!).

I tell myself that this is a perfectly valid hobby impulse. The trouble starts when the hobby side begins to complicate the functional side. Because the best planning system is not necessarily the most elaborate one. Sometimes it’s simply the one that lets your brain relax because everything lives in one trusted place.

Do you function better with one planner or multiple planners? If the answer is multiple, have you ever given any thought to whether or not you really need them all, or mostly just wanted an excuse to use them all?

As always on a Friday, feel free to discuss anything ring planner related, and have a great weekend everyone!

Free For All Friday No. 917 by Eve

 The Dopamine Cycle of Setup Culture

One unexpected side effect of finally finding a planner system that genuinely works is that… there suddenly isn’t much left to say about it.

My current setup is stable, functional, and quietly doing its job in the background of my daily life. Which is exactly what I wanted. But I’ve realized that once a system reaches that point, there’s no longer much to do except....use it.

Interestingly enough, that can feel surprisingly uncomfortable for someone (like me) for whom planners are not only a productivity tool but also a hobby of sorts.

So rather than either changing systems just to keep things interesting, or talking about the same old system, I think I’m going to start exploring what I’ll call “planner theory” instead. The psychology and habits behind how we use planners in real life.  

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor but I play one on Philofaxy (wink)

Have you ever noticed that setting up a planner is sometimes more exciting than actually using it?

Researching inserts, picking a new binder color or model, watching setup videos, reorganizing sections, testing layouts;  it all feels so....productive doesn't it? And honestly, part of the fun of this hobby is the experimentation.

But I think sometimes we confuse novelty with improvement. I know I do.

A planner that truly fits your life eventually becomes a little boring. Not because it’s failing, but because it’s no longer demanding your attention. You simply use it and move on with your day. Ironically, that’s the sign of a good system.

Then there is the FOMO. Part of my entertainment is watching planner content and it is sooooo easy to see something new and different and decide how much better than your current system that new shiny would be!

I, and I suspect many of you, know this cycle well:

new planner → setup excitement → tweaking → "planner peace" → boredom/FOMO → new planner search.

The dangerous part is when you start thinking, “Maybe this system isn’t working after all.” When it may in fact be working perfectly.

I’m curious:  Have you ever mistaken planner boredom for a planner problem? Or abandoned a system right when it was actually working best just for the dopamine hit of setting up something new?

As always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything ring planner related and have a great weekend!!

Free For All Friday No. 902 by Eve

 

It's Almost March! Did You Switch Planners?

By mid-February, the honeymoon phase is over for a lot of things we may have started in the new year, maybe even including our planners. Some people have already changed planners (cough, me, cough). Others have no problem at all staying with the one they started in January.

Both are completely normal once the new year collides with real life.

Switching early usually means the first couple months of the new year revealed some friction. Maybe it's a layout that didn’t quite click, a system that took too much effort to stick with, or too many pages that went unused. This is not planner failure; it is information gathering. Refinement if you will.

On the other hand, for those who stick with their original planner, small tweaks tend to happen naturally; simplifying expectations, skipping sections, or adjusting how the pages are used along the way.

By this time in the year, it's' not as much about planner loyalty as it is about planner awareness. Real life has had a couple months to weigh in, and that feedback is more valuable than any promise we may have made to ourselves in January. Or this is what I keep telling myself anyway.

A planner earns its place in our lives by helping us to think clearly and keep commitments. The only real question is whether or not our planners are working for us NOW.

So, what has real life shown you about your planning system so far this year? Have you switched planners or are you still using what you started with?

Free For All Friday No. 897 by Eve

 

The Ritual of Setting Up a New Year

By the time January is halfway through, the ritual of setting up a new year has already happened. Fresh inserts are in place, tabs feel familiar, and the planner has begun to hold the shape of real days.

That initial moment of removing last year’s pages and sliding in the new ones often feels ceremonial (I know it does for me). Last year's  pages did their work well. They carried plans, lists, and notes from a year that has now quietly closed. Replacing them isn’t about wiping the slate clean, but about making room for the new.

What’s comforting is how little actually changes. The binder is the same (or is it?! Lol!). The sections remain where your hands expect them to be. But the pages are new. A clean slate. A fresh start. And even now, halfway into January, there is still something grounding about seeing all that space ahead, just waiting for whatever potential the new year holds.

At this point in the month, the planner doesn’t need to feel pristine anymore. A few notes, crossed-off tasks, and bent corners are all signs that it’s already being used. 

The ritual isn’t just in the initial setup, it’s in continuing to show up, page by page, as the year unfolds.

What are your planner rituals for this new year? As always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything planner related.

The Transformative Power of a Planning System

I discovered Filofax, and planners in general, such a long time ago I forget what a transformative effect they can have on people's lives. Over the years whenever I encounter someone who doesn't use a planning system at all, or maybe just puts appointments into their phone (when they remember), I'm always surprised. I cannot function without my planner. 

Many people seem to think they should be able to hold everything in their mind, and then get frustrated when they forget or double book appointments, fail to plan ahead and prepare for mealtimes, events, maintenance, or simple day to day things. I think a lot of frustrations could be avoided with some simple planning.

For decades I've tried to optimise my planning system. Recently I had an epiphany: most planning systems are designed for people who have never used one. In this case, even a simple planning framework can make a massive difference. Something as basic as writing a prioritised to-do list can bring a big shift in organisation.

I know that a Filofax or any planner isn't a magic wand; no matter what system you use, you have to continuously update it with new information, look at it, and take action. No planner is going to do your actions for you. But even a little planning is better than none. 

I've seen so many people try to go all-in with a new planning system, only to get bogged down and quit because it feels like too much work. 

Some advice for anyone trying a new planner system: start with the simplest, easiest thing first. Add to your system as you discover new needs.

A Filofax is easy to adapt as you need it, with the flexibility to change pages at any moment. For example when you discover you could use a place to write notes about a particular topic, or want some trackers, or cleaning schedules, or monthly reminders for bills, or whatever, your Filofax is there for you. You can try something for awhile to see how it works, and change it as needed.

How did you discover Filofax? What need were you trying to fulfill that brought you to ring organisers, or planning in general?

Free for All Friday No. 892

 

Avoiding Planner Overwhelm During the Holidays by Eve

Here we are smack dab in the middle of Holiday Season!! This time of year has a way of turning even the most carefully organized planner into a jumble of lists, events, and last-minute tasks. 

When life starts to feel too busy, I’ve learned that the best approach is to simplify rather than try to fit more in. Instead of stuffing my planner with extra inserts or overly detailing my plans, I scale things back and focus on clarity. I even moved into this lovely Franklin Covey Compact binder with 20mm rings to force myself to stay focused.

Here are a few small tweaks that I make during December:

1.     Prioritize just three tasks a day – This time of year my days are unpredictable, so choosing a “Top 3” keeps things manageable while still moving the important things forward.

2.     Use a master list for holiday-specific tasks - Rather than scattering gift ideas, shopping lists, menus, and event reminders across multiple lists on various days, I dedicate one simple master list for all things holiday. It keeps the chaos in one place. I use a Franklin Covey Progressive Task List for this because it’s sturdy card stock and I can move it easily around in my binder.

3.     Keep your weekly view light - Instead of planning out every hour, I note down only important appointments, key errands, and family commitments. This white space gives me room to breathe and avoid feeling overwhelmed.

4.     Do a 5-minute nightly tidy - A quick flip through each night before bed to check tomorrow’s schedule, migrate unfinished items, and clear out sticky notes keeps everything feeling under control and I find that clearing my head like this even helps me to sleep better.

5.     Give yourself permission to let your planner be “good enough” – This one is tough for me and my Type A personality, but December is not the month for perfection! I simply don’t worry if I forget to pick up my planner for a day or two amongst the chaos, nor do I bother trying to make everything look neat and/or pretty

My goal for 2026 (and the rest of this year) is to allow my planner to support me rather than pressure me. This holiday season is proving to be great practice!

As always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything ring planner related.

Men and planners...

In a recent FFAT (Free for all Tuesday) reference was made to the 'Best Laid Plans' podcast, specifically their February Q&A episode.

The question that was asked was a familiar one 'Is there a gender bias in the use of planners?' it comes up at about 20 minutes 45 seconds in to the episode. 

Is there a gender bias in planning? Yes there appears to be, but men do use planners! 

Some basic facts about the make up of the Filofax planner community. 

Looking at the Facebook Group 'Filofax for Philofaxy Fans' that was initially established with about 35 people I knew in 2011, it has grown steadily to 12,400 members. In the last six months the numbers have been steadily increasing each month. 

Taking a snap shot of the current membership it looks like this: 

5% of 12,400 equates to about 620 men in the group. Their age range seems to peak in the 45-64 years old range, higher than the female peak age range. 

Another telling part of these basic statistics the low numbers in the 13-17 and 18-24 age ranges. May be Facebook is no longer 'cool' for teenagers and twenty somethings? Both sexes are zero percent in the 13-17 age group with 1% female and 0% male in the 18-24 age range.

The male/female imbalance seems to confirm the figures given to me a few years ago by Filofax that stated their sales were 80% female, 20% male on Filofax UK. 

However, on Filofax Japan the figures were reversed 80% male 20% female. This explains while Filofax Japan has had some exclusive models sold there that have not been sold on other Filofax sites around the world. 

Is it the products that are offered that has created this gender bias over recent years? 

From a personal perspective a question aimed at me. Would I still be a Filofax user if I had not become part of the Philofaxy team back in 2009? 

Possibly not, I could have resigned from my job in 2010 that had 'forced' me to return to using a Filofax back in 2005 and resumed using my Psion PDA and then subsequently an iPod Touch in late 2010 and the more recent Apple devices that I now own and use and abandoned paper completely.  That reads like a nightmare!

Go back to 1986 when I first started using a Filofax and I don't know what the balance was back then, but we didn't have an easy way of knowing who other planner/organiser users were then, other than seeing them in offices, or public places or whilst travelling to work or in the specialist stores that stocked Filofax Organisers and the multitude of inserts. 

If I can remember that far back... I had the impression back then that it was dominated by male users, although in my own family and circle of friends it was a close balance. 

What changed? Technology got better I guess and for some, more convenient to use (in some circumstances) 

I know from my 'gadget stash' of old tech that I used from the early 1990's through to the mid 2000's there was a steady improvement and the ease to store your data and back it up and keep it in sync etc. 

In the early days it was quite a painful and hit and miss process. I'm sure we have all had instances of complete loss of our stored calendar/contacts in those early days.  Bad enough for people to return to a Filofax or use one in parallel with a digital device.

I know of several instances within my circle of friends and acquaintances that will claim to have been a Filofax user or they are still a long term Filofax user. However, they don't follow their 'interest' in being a Filofax user on any of the social media platforms.  

I would imagine that to a lot of users treat their Filofax as a 'tool' rather than something they consider to investigate further. 

When I returned to using a Filofax back in 2005 after a gap of a few years I was interested to investigated what the current range of organisers looked like and could I still buy some of the inserts I still owned that I had bought back in the 1980's. It was quite a surprise how much had changed!. My Google searches eventually lead me to finding this blog Philofaxy in about 2008.. the rest is history! 

In contrast, in my volunteer role for the Radio Society of Great Britain the bias is opposite! Some 'Interests/hobbies' have less of a bias I'm sure.  

On our Philofaxy Virtual Meet Up on Skype this afternoon we had an interesting discussion about the podcast episode. I've covered most of the points we came up with in this post. 

One planner or more than one planner/organiser?

For a few years now I have been an advocate of the thought that 'You have one life, therefore you should only have one planner'

For several years I used an A5 at my desk and carried around a Filofax Personal size, occasionally an A6 or Pocket size depending on the phase I was going through. Whatever the size though, there was duplication. A diary insert in the A5 and another in what ever I was carrying around at the time. In general it worked, but occasionally there was a hiccup when something didn't get written in to either planner. 

This practice ended with the review of the compact Filofax Heritage that opened up new possibilities for me. I was able to carry the A5 size where ever I intending to go, leaving behind some of the A5 sections at home in another larger ring A5. Just keeping the essentials in a compact A5. This has been working well for me now for more than 5 years, possibly longer. 

That said, I'm about to break my own rule again! Travel, or more precisely air travel, something I've not done in recent years. I prefer to travel in Europe by train when I can. 

Budget airlines and some of the main carriers these days are quite restrictive on their baggage limits. I have a couple of trips coming up in the next few months, one a very quick two night stay in UK the other a couple of weeks in two European countries for a holiday we intended to take in 2020... and we all know why that didn't happen! 

In essence I'm looking to cut down my baggage to just a carry on bag for the short UK visit and a small light bag and case for the longer trip. I'm looking at everything I need for each trip. My 'packing list' has expanded over the years, it was therefore time to examine everything on the list and ask the question: 'Did you use this during the last 2-3 trips?' if not then it gets dropped. 

Naturally my organiser has come under examination. Yes I do use it whilst I'm away, life continues! But do I need something as big as an A5? 

I've been getting on well with my Pocket Kensington. Mainly as a notebook with a year planner. I decided to expand on its planning capability by adding a Month on Two Page diary insert and add in up coming appointments to it for the next few months to see how workable/useful it was. 

It is certainly a winner in terms of compact and light weight. When I'm travelling I like to be able to jot down things as I think of them. Also have a written record of booking numbers etc. The Pocket Kensington will be more than ample for these tasks. 

I was also considering using a Compact Personal size Filofax as an alternative. However, I will see how well I get on with the Pocket over the next week or two before trying that out. 

William Hannah - The Notebook/Planner

I was in conversation with someone in Toronto the other day and he was asking what it was I blogged about.... Oh no I thought what will they think... So I sent them the link to Philofaxy.

They came back with a link to a friend of theirs who had created a notebook/planner product. It is a customisable disc bound notebook/planner, but the way in which the discs are linked is different compared to the Arc disc bound books. So I went and had a look for myself and I was quite impressed with what I saw.

The brand name is William Hannah Ltd, they are based in England and their website is very detailed and I was able to message the company to get answers to one or two questions about the products and their responses came back very quickly.

The cover is made from Italian leather and is available in 5 different exterior colours and in total there are 15 different colour combinations of exterior/interior colour. The interior is in a suede finish. It looks well made and should last a life time.

The mechanism is based on a disc system but the discs are slotted on to a bar, this gives the system some rigidity not present in other disc binding systems and I think this is a definite improvement. The spacing is similar to the Staples Arc disc system but the holes in the paper are a slightly different shape. The discs are made with stainless steel so they won't rust.

The paper and inserts use good quality 100gsm paper. It is described as having a smooth finish, so it should accept fountain pen ink quite well. Naturally this will vary depending on the nib width and type of ink.

The number of inserts available include a week per page diary, undated week planners, lined paper, plain paper, graph and dotted pages, there is also a sample pack. These are all at very reasonable priced for A5 inserts on good quality paper.

Check out the launch video from last year. 

The website: http://www.williamhannah.com

The Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WilliamHannahUK/

You Tube Channel:

Have you ever used a disc bound planner/notebook?

Thank you to William Hannah for permission to use their images in this post which are their copyright of course. 

Planners and Planner Inserts for 2015

Today I'm bringing the community 'big guns' together to share with you what they all have to offer for the New Year. Unusually for Philofaxy we are going to feature non-ring bound solutions as well as ring bound. I realise some of us (myself included) use both formats. 

We lead off with Laurie 

Plannerisms - Laurie

After many years of trying and reviewing hundreds of planners on her blog Plannerisms.com, Laurie never found the planner she was looking for so she created it!

The Plannerisms planner is designed to help you incorporate your goals into your daily schedule. Its flexible format can be used any way you like. Monthly pages, weekly pages and goals pages throughout the book allow you to track your goals quickly and easily.

See the big picture on the monthly pages, and plan the details on the weekly pages. Write your daily intentions and check them off without rewriting them each day.

The Plannerisms planner lets you focus on what’s important in YOUR life, and helps you get where you want to go in life and in the world. The Plannerisms Going Places planner is available on the Collins UK website for worldwide shipping.


DiY Fish

Life Mapping™ is a system of color coding, time-managing and journal writing that created by DIYfish.

It’s known to have Month, Week and Day all in one glance when you plan, the charts to help track / build habits and all kinds of components to suit different needs yet consistent.

Here is one of the best-selling products, LMI v2 (Life Mapping™ Inserts version 2)

Life Mapping™ System now have products for ring binders and Midori elastic bind system. DIYfish’s website http://www.diyfishblogs.com/ and Life Mapping™ Community Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/lifemapping can be the best places to know more about this system and the designer.    


Ray Blake - My Life All in One Place

Ray Blake’s site, www.mylifeallinoneplace.com , is the place to go for free inserts for most planner systems including, of course, Filofax and Midori.

He specialises in clean and uncluttered layouts like this, his new Daily Dashboard 2 pages per day layout:

If you just want to grab and print a ready-made set for 2015 then you can do so. But you can also download open source tools that allow you to modify Ray’s designs to build your own for any year you like.

As well as diary inserts, you’ll find a full range of specialist pages and booklets to which Ray is constantly adding.

Life is Crafted - Arienne Gorlach

The Life is Crafted planner range was born from the vision of infusing life’s big picture, inspiration and soul-driven actions into the everyday. Arienne Gorlach, creator and life coach,  believes that what  you schedule becomes your life, so choosing well and crafting your days with intention is vital to leading the existence and successes you truly want.  

Functional and practical calendar pages are combined with numerous life-enhancing list and detailed goal and planning pages, to create a planner that is more than just a scheduler – it becomes a way of life. The designs and layouts organise and uplift and inspire you to want to use them.

Available as printed inserts and tabs on great quality paper or PDF packages to print your own, they come in Personal and A5 sizes and in a range of layouts and designs.

Life is crafted. Craft yours. www.lifeiscrafted.com

My Last Eureka - Diana

The blog www.mylasteureka.com was born in 2014 after a time e task management workshop that Diana followed at the University of Münster. Diana likes to play with time management systems and come up with some small ‘eureka’ moments that she distributes as freebies on her site. A small shop is connected to the site and gives the followers the possibility to purchase the printed inserts. In the picture you can see the first template draw by Diana. The Daydex.

The Daydex is a handy customizable powerful time management system available in different templates for Filofax, Midori and Moleskine planners. Check her site for details.

Lime Tree Fruits - Raine

LimeTreeFruits Planners was created to bring back the FUN in organizing and planning your days. A while back Raine {the creator} was minding her own business, trying to get thru her first semester of an MBA program while maintaining sanity through the transition into a new job. The ducks weren’t really in a row so she decided to research a game plan for the new semester and the new year approaching. Her reliable friend “google” pointed her to an intriguing and appealing little tool: A good ol’ Filofax. Soon it became way more than “just” a planner. It turned into a real tool to unleash her creativity. 

Tired of the endless search of fun and exciting planner pages she decided to unpack her brushes and create those missing pages herself. And that is how LimeTreeFruits Planners were born. It started with one single design of a monthly planner and over the years developed into a full package of 150+ illustrated pages to make life organized and manageable while having FUN along the way.

Whether you are using them to help you be on top of tasks at home or at work, LimeTreeFruits Planners are sure to bring you a smile {and some giggles!} as you go through each colorful month {and weeks, and days, and all sorts of extra fun pages! :) }

You can find more about those juicy smile-inducive planners at www.limetreefruits.com/planners-2015

I know there are plenty of others out there. So a quick mention here for some we are familiar with. 

• Pembroke Papers - www.pembrokepapers.com
• Piaric - www.piaric.com 
• Qimmis - qimmis.com

There is also of course Philofaxy, as you know Ray and I share in the development and creation of a large range of inserts. You will find them on the Diary Inserts page. 

We have also created a wide variety of files for other non-diary inserts. Please take a look on our Files page and there might be something you can download and adapt to your needs.

Thank you for all of the contributions from our fellow planner and insert creators. 

Diary/Planner Year Overlap?

As you know I've already set up another Filofax organiser for 2012.

I hit on a minor inconvenience this morning when Mrs M started booking flights or I should say tried to start booking flights in January and July 2012. I like to make sure key events like this are recorded in my Filofax to make sure we don't go and clash with other events or someone wants to come and see us etc.

Not a big problem, but having yet another Filofax A5 out on the desk along with the other two (my normal planner, and my work one) was the tipping point!

So what to do...  apart from clearing the desk to allow for another one! Then I had a brain wave. When I get to December I will move the last month of my current planner in to the 2012 organiser and then I will have an overlap period. I have just checked and there is enough capacity in the Malden to take the extra pages for the month they will be in there.

So what do you do about up and coming events in the next year in your Filofax? Do you start putting in next years diary insert in to your Filofax before you get to the end of the year and remove some of this years (say the first 6 months) to accommodate it?

Huge discount on Dodo Pad A5 Filofax 2010 diary inserts!

For all of you users of an A5 Filofax, here is a planner/ diary insert that is different from the same old straight-laced Filofax refill. The Dodo Pad diary is a bit of a cult and is now in its 44th year, available for the first time for 2010 as an A5 Filofax insert! The last few are available at a huge discount, 55% off! Just enter promotional code 09FX at checkout to receive your discount.

You can see more about the Dodo Pad Filofax 2010 insert at http://www.dodopad.com/dodofax/dodofax.html and click on http://www.dodopad.com/acatalog/Diaries_Calendars__.html#aDPFX10 to order.

Supplies at this discounted price are limited and when they're gone, they're gone!

Regular prices and discount prices are listed below. Prices shown here INCLUDE order handling, tax and shipping:

Shipping in the UK regular price: £14.45, discount price only £5.95

Shipping to Europe regular price: £16.69, discount price £8.19

Shipping to USA and Rest of World regular price: £18.85, discount price £9.34

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Dodo Pad products, let me initiate you. They have been a fixture in UK households for the last 44 years and counting, and are only just starting to become popular in the US. The original Dodo Pad diary has a weekly grid format for keeping track of each person in the family, or for appointments and tasks, or different types of billable time at work, or endless other uses. Every week on the calendar there is a notable date or anniversary, artwork, and some kind of funny quote, riddle, or something interesting, with plenty of space for notes, lists and doodles. Each week is different and it's fun to see what is coming up next.

The thing I like about Dodo Pad products is that they are funny and clever and keep your life organized, but at the same time remind you not to take it too seriously. So check out their website and get some great discounts!

See more photos on my Flickr set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41064231@N08/sets/72157622789643031/

Untidy and Cluttered Life...

I am always trying to not hold on to clutter these days. For the last year or so we have been working our way through this house that we have lived in since 1986 de-cluttering cupboards and rooms. It's all part of our plan to move to our other house in France. In doing so I've come across things I had forgotten I still had, things I had given up looking for.

I've also got rid of a lot of things that were kept 'just in case' well 'just in case' never became 'I'm glad I kept that' or very rarely!

So over this last year or so I've always been looking out for hints and tips on trying to reform my hoarding habits and improve my efficiency when it comes to storing information and things that are needed in future. Storing them in such a way that I will be able to find them when I need them.

The same exercise has also applied to my Filofax, as I said a few weeks ago, I've slimmed down my A5 to reduce the bulk of this organiser. In doing so I now spend less time hunting through the pages/sections for things... so that was a winning idea. But I still go back through it to see if I can take out any more..

This evening I came across another blog called 'Unclutter' naturally I couldn't resist doing a search for Filofax or Planner on there and hey presto up popped some previous articles:

• Creating a central binder for your home - This looked like a great application for a Filofax
• Staying organised with binder clips - You could use this idea for keeping your spare pages and inserts organised and always to hand, may be on the inside of a cupboard door. 
• Weekly meal planner - there is a nice template at the end of this that you could easily use in your Filofax

That's just three that caught my eye, but there are lots lots more to browse through... trouble is my A5 is in danger of getting fat again !

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Roll Call: What's Your Format?

Hey everybody, we haven’t had a Roll Call for awhile! (And for those of you who follow the Roll Call link you will notice I shamelessly re-used Inky's bugler image!)

So now's the time to step up and be counted among the ranks. Tell us who you are and answer these:

1) What’s your current diary/ planner size and format? A5 week on 2 pages horizontal? Personal day per page? We want to know. And:

2) Are you planning to stay with the same format for 2010?

Me first! I’m Laurie. After much flitting about and numerous episodes of Calling the Dog, I have finally settled on the original, basic Personal size week on two pages, unlined. After all the millions of planner formats I’ve tried over the last few years, I am absolutely shocked that this basic format is turning out to work the best for me. I guess there is a reason why it’s so popular!

Do I plan to stick with it for 2010? Well, I have very good intentions. I have filled out all the holidays, birthdays, and other events in my 2010 pages. But I will be the first to admit, if I actually stay with it for the entire year it’ll be a miracle. From January to October 2009, I used 12 different formats/ sizes/ planner books in my search for what works best! And frankly, I’m tired of tweaking so let’s hope I have found my solution.

Your turn!

The Advanced Day Planner User's Guide

The Advanced Day Planner User's Guide by Hyrum W. Smith – Published by Franklin International Institute, Inc – ISBN 0-939817-001-2 First of all, this book is not written with the Filofax in mind... so before I get your expectations up, I thought I best say that first. However, whilst the Franklin Day Planner is a rival to Filofax, a lot of the principles and ideas are transferable to the Filofax system.. so it's worth a look. The book takes the form of suggestions and ideas sent in by users to Franklin International and there are 83 different suggestions in total, all nicely explained and illustrated in the book which is over 175 pages in total. I've been working my way through the book looking for new ideas that I could use in my Filofax. As has been mentioned previously in a comment on this blog a while back, there is nothing earth shattering in the book, but there are a few good ideas. You don't really need to read it from cover to cover even, just open it when you have a few moments to kill and read one of the suggestions. Each one is complete and it doesn't require you to read all the others. Some of the suggestions refer to specific Franklin Day Planner Forms, some of these are similar to those available for Filofax but there are some that could be adapted to different Filofax sizes and may be slightly different layouts according to the size of the binder you are using. One of the nicer touches about the way the book is written is the way in which the suggestions are described. How they came about from real life situations. So it is easier to see how the problem was solved and how the form or suggestion solved the problem and may be how you might use a similar suggestion for a similar problem of your own. I picked up this book on Amazon Marketplace for less than £5 including postage, it was published back in 1987, which was about the time that planners and organisers where becoming very popular. So I suppose there was demand for such a book at the time. I'm not sure such a book these days would sell a lot of copies... this blog and other associated websites are most probably a better sources of information. So if you are interested in reading more, I'm not sure if this book will be in your local public library, or take a look at Amazon, there were plenty of copies available when I purchased mine.