After reading Steve's excellent post called Trying different sizes with a difference, it made me think about the different cycles that I've been through my Filofax journey so far, so I thought that I'd share this with you. Of all the sizes, I've used personal the most, followed by A5 and then A6,
Mini
Before I started writing for Philofaxy, I was using a purple mini Finsbury as a combined diary and wallet, but I'm not sure when that would have been. The Finsbury was in use for a couple of years, but I eventually gifted it to someone as I found the zipper pocket difficult to get change out of, and the week on two pages diary was a bit too small for me in that size. It's interesting to think back as I was still using a fair amount of cash back then! I managed to pick up a Pimlico wallet, which has been in use since then.
Pocket
After selling the Finsbury, I did eventually plan to buy an ochre pocket Malden, but at that point didn't feel the need as I worked set hours in my job at that time, and didn't need to keep track of many appointments. I had started using Google calendar more, so I moved away from using a paper diary and instead used my iPod Touch, if I needed to check things when away from home.
Back in 2020, I purchased a lovely little pocket Moterm, but I admit that it was never used, so I gave it away last year.
It's funny how your mind can play tricks on you, as I could easily say that, "Yes, of course I've used pocket size", but actually I never have, as I think I just found the page size too small when you have the rings to contend with as well.
Personal
This is the size that I have used the most since buying my first Filofax back in 2009. After reading David Allen's book Getting Things Done, I started searching for a refillable notebook and unsurprisingly came across Filofax. I chose a cherry personal Classic and went for this size as it seemed to me to be the best compromise between portability and page space. My main one in use today is my favourite, my faithful personal Kensington, and I have found that I've stuck with this size, despite changing to a work from home job since 2020.
A6
If I was starting all over again, I could easily see myself using A6 size instead, as I really like the dimensions of the paper, compared with the longer and skinnier personal size.
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Left to right - personal, A6 and pocket inserts
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I've been very fortunate to have owned two beautiful Mulberry agendas. The first one which had undergone some amazing repairs and another eBay bargain with lovely walnut Nile leather.
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Walnut Nile leather
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However, all of my paper and supplies were already in personal size and I hate wasting things... So, I sold the Mulberrys and decided to stick with personal instead.
Slimline
Whilst I really love this size and have owned a number of them (Lefax City and Iguana), ultimately it doesn't really work for me as I write quite a bit, so there just isn't enough ring space for spare paper. I've attempted to keep some to use for a specific project or taking notes, but I've come to realise that personal is what works best for me.
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Slimline Iguana 3CL 1/4 IG (link above)
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A5After using my cherry personal Classic for just under a year, it started to develop the cracking/bubbling that the model can suffer from, so it was returned to Filofax and I got a crimson Malden in return (also in personal size). I then started investigating the A5 size and wrote this guest post. However, I got a bit carried away, as I foolishly sold my crimson one and later realised that I found A5 was too big for me as my only binder... I remember it now... We went away for the weekend on a martial arts course and I found that my A5 Malden was too big to fit into my bag, so I left it at home and understood why I'd chosen personal size in the first place! If I could go back in time, I'd give the crimson personal to my husband and ask him to hide it away somewhere, as I am sometimes too keen to sell my binders. So, for quite some years, I used both personal and A5 together, with personal being my external brain and A5 for planning projects or when I wanted to write more in-depth notes. However, over time, I found that my focus was so much on personal that I wasn't looking at the A5, so I sold any A5s and returned to solely using personal.
After some years, I mentioned to a friend that I was considering returning to A5 for my new work from home job and was very kindly lent a beautiful aqua A5 Original.
Whilst it's a beautiful Filofax, it was eventually returned to my friend as I was starting to use Excel more to keep track of work tasks, plus I wanted to start using up other notebooks and supplies, which weren't in A5 size.
Of all of the A5s that I've owed over the years, my favourite was definitely my red Ascot. I did consider keeping this one, but I've realised that I'm not really a collector, so I didn't want such a beautiful binder just sitting on my bookshelf when it could instead be used and loved by someone else.
A4
At some point, I picked up an A4 Strata for a cheap price from eBay, but I eventually sold it as I didn't like the hard bonded leather and it was just too big. I think that A4 might be usable on a larger desk, like I used to have when I worked in an office, but it's too unwieldy when on my smaller desk at home.
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A4 Strata and crimson personal Malden
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My late Mum had an A4 Graphic, but this was sent to a charity shop as it was too bulky for keeping hospital information in, so we just used plastic wallets instead for appointment letters and I kept notes in a separate section in my personal Filofax.
I also briefly had an A4 Finsbury, but I returned it for a refund as it was much heavier than I was expecting. However, I did write a review before it went back.
So, I definitely haven't used all of the available sizes, but I'd say that I've given them a good go! Whilst I have tried different sizes, I don't tend to swap between them in regular use, as I don't think that my brain could handle that. Currently I'm using an A4 hardback notebook for work and my personal Kensington for everything else.
Have you had a similar journey with your use of different sizes as well?
