Reader Under The Spotlight - Bex

Today I would like to introduce you to Bex.

I'm Bex, and I love organization! I recently re-entered the Filofax world with the purchase of my favorite nude A5. I love how I can put class planning and personal planning in one binder and still keep things straight.

1. When did you buy your first organiser and what was it? 

I bought my first Filofax online after seeing one in a movie--I can't remember the movie but it had Katherine Heigl, and she had a personal red Finsbury. I googled it , found it, and bought it! Since then I also bought a raspberry personal Finsbury and a navy Original personal. This past month I decided to move up to an A5 and bought the patent in nude and just yesterday ordered an ochre Malden!

2. What other brands have you used or considered using? 

I've used the Target ones that are spiral. I can't remember the name. They're pretty but I prefer a ring binder.

3. Out of the organisers you own which is your current favourite (Style and Size)? 

The Original Nude A5. So pretty but so useful.

4. How many Filofax or other brands of organisers do you own? 

Five total.

5. What is the oldest organiser in your collection? 

The red personal Finsbury from a few years ago--I'm new to the Filofax world!

6. What do you use your organisers for? 

I have a tab for planning the classes I teach (6 a week) a tab for month and daily, a tab for week on two pages, a tab for grocery planning, and a notes tab. That's all in my nude A5. In my Chameleon A5 I keep my budget and household information like daily tasks, monthly tasks, etc for keeping the house up.

7. How many sections do you have in your organiser and what is each section used for? 

Oops--answered this above. In my main planner I have five. In the chameleon I have 4: budget, debt snowball, daily tasks, monthly/annual tasks.

8. What was the feature about Filofax you like most? 

I love the high quality feel and the customization of the order of things inside.

9. If you could design your own Filofax what would it feature? 

I don't know that I have an answer for this!

10. How do you carry your Filofax? 

I keep my nude A5 Original in a fabric pouch I sewed.

11. Which Filofax in the current range do you like the most? Are you going to buy it? 

I love the Malden in purple. I don't think I will buy it because I just bought it in ochre.

12. What is the most you have ever spent on a Filofax or other brand of organiser? Which model? 

I spent $129 on my ochre Malden.

13. Turning to Philofaxy, what do you like the most? 

I like seeing the different inserts and organization.

14. And what do you not like about Philofaxy? 

Gives me planner envy!

15. What was the last music track you downloaded or bought? 

Kick the dust up by Luke Bryan

16. Have you ever attended a Philofaxy meet-up? if not do you intend to one day? 

No but it would be fun!

17. What was the last movie you watched? 

Hmm. Gone Girl.

18. What was the last book you read? 

First, Kill All the Marriage Counselors by Laura Doyle

Thank you Bex.

As you know we are always looking for new people to appear in our 'Reader Under Spotlight feature, you don't have to be 'well known' or a long term user to be considered to appear in this 'spot'.

So please contact Steve philofaxy at gmail dot com today. Thank you.

Web Finds - 3 October 2015

So I hope you have had a good week.

So now it is time to enjoy a great collection of blog posts and videos from around the internet, so grab a drink and make yourself for our weekly round-up.

Here are some Philofaxy posts you might have missed this week:

1. Reader Under The Spotlight - Emma
2. Managing Multiple Diary Inserts
3. A Date For Your Diary - Sunday 4th October 2015
4. Free For All Tuesday No. 243
5. New Van der Spek Touch Me Colours
6. Experienced User - Jacqueline
7. Van der Spek Video Competition Results
8. Free For All Friday No. 359 by Anita

So here are the latest Filofax and other brand blog posts from around the Internet. Don't forget to leave a comment on the posts you enjoyed reading, all bloggers enjoy getting comments.

1. Accurate colour depiction of VDS undyed binder at 11.5 months - This Bug's Life
2. free printable_ Memory pocket per la Filofax - Lucy Wonderland
3. How to build your perfect planner system? Week 17: Weekly calendars/planner pages - From Chaos to Order
4. Reveal of personal sized Filofax Union Jack limited edition organiser - This Bug's Life
5. Reader Under The Spotlight – Philofaxy Feature - A random English life
6. Getting ready for 2016! - It's Bluetiger
7. Planner set up in my custom Van der Spek - Random Pastimes of a Restless Mind
8. Planner Structure vs. Notebook Freedom - The Weekend Wife
9. Norman and Hill Filofax - This Bug's Life
10. More Fun with My Filofax - Making your own Dividers and Calendar - Claudine's Art Corner
11. What Kind of Planner Are You? #2 - Planner Fun
12. Swedish Filofax Journey in pocket size – perfect for a wallet - This Bug's Life
13. Why I Don’t “Schedule” My Tasks - Homemakers Daily
14. FREE Gorjuss september dashboard - Lucy Wonderland
15. Black Slimline Classic Filofax - This Bug's Life
16. Filofax : New Pear Range - With Love, Meg
17. Time management Monday: The difference between Goals and Priorities, and how to make yours the same - The Quo Vadis Blog
18. London Underground Map from Grace Scurr Filofax - This Bug's Life
19. Pocket Mulberrys  - Random Pastimes of a Restless Mind
20. Plannerisms planners next generation - Plannerisms
21. My Filofaxes: Mini Grey Malden. - A random English life
22. Limited Edition Union Jack Original Filofax in personal size - This Bug's Life
23. Unboxing my il Bison planner - Love All Planners
24. Setting Task Deadlines - The Weekend Wife
25. The essentials of GTD in 2 minutes, 22 seconds - Getting Things Done
26. The Rhythm of the Weekly Plan - Giftie Etcetera
27. Quick Post: VdS, Filofax, Mulberry, and Hobonichi on my mind this week - Random Pastimes of a Restless Mind

• We monitor over 400 blogs and sites, your Filofax/Organiser blog posts could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list. 
• We can not guarantee people will read your posts, but we know there is a higher chance of people reading your posts and returning to read other posts if you make them interesting with pictures and good hints and tips. Do not forget to give your posts a title... 
• Your Filofax/Organiser posts could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list. 
• For some general tips on Filofax Blogging, please see this post

We are on the look out for more people to take part in Reader Under the Spotlight. If you would like to appear in this feature then please contact Steve : philofaxy at gmail dot com  Thank you.

And here are a selection of the latest Filofax videos for your enjoyment.

1. Paper VS Digital PLANNING | FILOFAX - MsSamanthaX
2. Personal Filofax Planner Setup! - Tori Lynn
3. A5 Filofax Malden Setup & Review - Homemaker on the homefront
4. Filofax Saffiano Review and Inkwell Press A5 2016 Inserts - MyHomeMatters
5. Filofax Introduction - Claudynplans
6. FiloFax Clipbook | Plan With Me | Beauty and the Beast | College Planner -Plan With Hailey
7. Filofax Original A5 Setup Video *German* Part 1 - Filofanatic
8. Filofax/ Kikki K Planner Mint Setup Video *English* - Filofanatic
9. Filofax Original A5 Setup Video *German* Part Two - Filofanatic
10. A5 Filofax Domino Setup - Shenel Bankston
11. Gillio Compagna unboxing - Loretta Coles
12. Planner Set up in my Van der Spek - Random Pastimes
13. Van der Spek Touch Me with 25mm rings - One Fantastic Find

• For tips on how to improve your videos, please see this post.  Also this video too Webfinds 
• Your Filofax/Organiser Videos could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list. 

My Week Posts

1. My Week #39 (2015) - Joanny White
2. Week planner 109 - Lucy Wonderland
3. My week #180 - Paper Lovestory
4. My week #38 - She's Eclectic
5. Weekly Post #129 - Miss Mae's Adventures
6. FLORAL - Letters in November
7. My week 39/52 - Twenty5seven
8. My Week #40 - Polkadotparadiso
9. Week planner 110# - Lucy Wonderland
10. Weekly Post #130 - Miss Mae's Adventures 
11. Pimp My Planner: Whee! October Edition - Dianne Sylvan

Enjoy

Free For All Friday No. 359 by Anita

I have always been a scribbler. When I last got together with my Dad, he said that I was an easily pleased child as I all I needed was a snack, a book and a notebook to write in and I'd be quiet for hours. I haven't changed that much really...

I know that I'm preaching to the choir here, but I still find that writing helps me study better and somehow a written to-do list means that I'm much more committed to completing the items there. At work, I do everything in spreadsheets and in accounting software, but if I need to figure something more complicated out I will always reach for some paper to lay it out.

I admit that I went through a stage of trying out lots of different digital to-do list managers like Remember The Milk, Todoist and Wunderlist. Whilst they're great in many ways, I eventually deleted my accounts and returned to paper as I realised that the time spent fiddling around setting them up could've been spent instead getting stuff done from my Filofax! I use a mixture of paper and digital as it seems to work well together for me, but my binder will always be the nerve centre of my system.

Do you find that using both digital and paper together makes for a better system for you?

And as always as it's a Friday, please feel free to discuss anything Filofax or ringbound planner related. Have a lovely weekend.

Van der Spek Video Competition Results

A few weeks ago we published the announcement about the Van der Spek Video Competition.

The competition has now closed and here are the results.

We were very pleased to see the number of entries in the two months and also the high quality of the entries. We all know how much work goes in to creating videos.

We especially admired the work of the people who were doing their first ever video.

Here are the entries were as follows:

1. Van der Spek Hobonichi Cousin Cover - Unboxing - Thats_plantastic - 17 likes
2. Van der Spek 'Janet Leather' Planner - Sevanseights - 37 likes
3. Van der Spek organizer & wallet, with comparisons! - Karen Robertson - 107 likes
4. Comparison of the Janet leather VDS models I have. - One Fantastic Find - 16 likes
5. A5 Van der Spek Planner review with DIYFish Inserts - BlueSwitch 1.0.7 - 59 likes
6. Pocket DIYFish inserts for business use in a junior VDS custom with Janet leather - One Fantastic Find - 130 likes
7. My Van der Spek Touch Me Senior with Comparisons feat. DIY fish Inserts - PacificOcean17 - 79 likes
8. A quick intro to my custom Van der Spek planner - Random Pastimes - 23 likes
9. Van der Spek Custom Planner (A6) - Helen Cooper -15 likes
10. VdS planner - leather samples - Random Pastimes - 8 likes
11. VanDerSpeck custom planner - Crafty Crafty Book - 4 likes
12. VdS planner - online store - Random Pastimes 2 likes
13. Planner Set up in my Van der Spek - Random Pastimes - 6 likes

So the prize winners are as follows:

• The winner Rebecca (One Fantastic Find) will receive 100% discount off her order for a single organiser of her choice.
• The second place Karen Robinson will receive a 50% discount of her order for a single organiser of her choice.
• The third place Jessica Ober (PacificOcean17) will receive a 20% discount off her order for a single organiser of her choice. 

Congratulations to you all and again thank you everyone who entered and also to everyone who watched the videos and supported the entrants.

Thank you also to Petra Van der Spek for supporting the competition with such great prizes.

Don't forget to visit the Van der Spek Shop and to join our friendly Van der Spek Facebook group.

[Update] Further to the results announcement. I'm pleased to be able to confirm an additional prize has been awarded to Jessica for the highest scoring video made by someone creating their maiden video on You Tube.

Knowing how daunting it can be for people making their first video I thought that this separate award should recognise the people who entered with their first video. Jessica did remarkably well too to get the third highest ranking as well. Well done Jessica.

And the prize... A purple Touch Me Senior as reviewed by yours truly.. the one in the picture in fact

Experienced User - Jacqueline

Hello ... I'm Jacqueline, from "across the pond". I am a lifelong lover of reading (books made of paper), and gratefully "old school" in some ways ~ which explains my longstanding, gentle passion for Filofax organisers and paper planning.

1. When did you start using an organiser?

I started using a generic organizer many moons ago. I purchased it at my local drugstore, after entering the World of Work at age 33. That little spiral-bound, dated agenda was just right as a place to begin my paper planning and organizing. Sometime thereafter, I discovered Filofax organisers, and purchased my first: a Personal Kensington (burgundy). It has since been gently repurposed as my husband's address book. (He is rather dearly "old school", as well!)

2. How has your use of an organiser changed over the years?

My Filofax use has changed over time. Initially, it served as my personal and professional 'go-to' diary, resource, etc. Its use not only facilitated maintaining the integrity of my plans, but those of my young daughter and son back then, as well. Those were page-a-day days.

Because I preferred/used the Personal size for so long, it was also doable as my wallet/book. (Fellow Personal Kensington owners may understand my use of the word book in describing the Kensington ~ very comfortable and softcover book-like to handle and hold.)

When I left the full-time World of Work (the first time) to enter my doctoral program, I transitioned to an A5 for my studies. I found that it served that purpose nicely, but was sub-optimal as my daily 'go-to' wallet/book.

Eventually, downsizing to "less"--from A5 to Personal again--became "more". Throughout my professional career as a psychologist, the Personal size suited my planning needs quite well, until I retired from practicing full-time in 2010.

3. Which diary format works best for you and why?

Week on two pages has always worked best for me, especially as my personal diary. However, prior to the advent of computerized client scheduling, my weekday client appointments were kept using a page-a-day format, adding and removing/archiving the dated diary pages, as needed; e.g., seasonally.

4. What other information do you keep and maintain in your organiser.

Since choosing to downsize again (7., below), I've discovered that I don't actually need to carry some of the cards and items that I once did. Examples of information I currently carry include:

• week on two pages Diary, July thru December (cotton cream is my treat);
• minimal sheets for Notes;
• Information inserts, also kept to a minimum;
• Pocket credit/gift card holder + a single transparent (receipts) envelope behind the standard Financial tab;
• select business cards affixed to some Addresses pages with colorful Avery labels. However, I intend to borrow Steve's idea and hole-punch select business cards that I carry. During the recent North American tour, he shared his philofaxy cards during "meet-ups". One narrow slice using my paper trimmer, and it fits perfectly in my Pocket organiser!

5. Do you use a 'system' of organisation, and how does it work in your Filofax?

Some years ago, I read a little article about a very user-friendly 'system' of organization: "The Tao of Getting Organized". As a longtime Hatha Yoga practitioner, and part-time Yoga instructor (since retiring from my psychology practice), this "...resource pool of easy-to-follow guidelines for organizing our physical and mental space...", speaks good, common, natural, and organic sense to me. In essence, to paraphrase singer, John Mayer: "Do what you need to do", in the way that is optimal for you.

6. What routines and structures do you use?

I feel that Ray Blake expressed it well in his Experienced Filofax User post: "There really is only one. Open the book. Read the contents and take action if needed." Less is more. Which, I believe, can lead to "planner peace". (Thanks, again, Helen!)

7. Do you use one binder or several, and if several, how do you use them?

I now use one small binder ~ a smooth-grained purple Charleston Pocket ~ as my wallet/book. I happily moved into the Pocket size this summer, after having enjoyed using my purple, larger-grained Charleston Compact since its introduction. Again: less is more. I use the book-like Compact these days at the close of the weekly Yoga class(es) that I teach, when I will share a meditation or reflection with students. The Compact has become a sweet place to gather/archive readings for possible future sharing, or inspiring, personal rereading. (Again, a Filofax gently repurposed!)

"Thanks for listening."

Thank you Jacqueline.

If you would like to take part in this series please email steve@philofaxy.com and mark your email 'Experienced Filofax User'