Free for All Friday No. 261

When I bought my first Filofax to replace my Palm Pilot, I decided on A5 and not Personal because it was to be used for work, and I could also get notebooks with the same size paper. Now that I had chosen a format, I could develop a new, paper-based system.

I left work and ran (literally) into a stationery store at 5:55 p.m. (they closed at 6:00) and bought the only A5 they had—a black Finsbury. The shopkeeper had every reason to think I was a little crazy. Here was this breathless woman who needed an A5 Filofax and needed it NOW.

Which brings me to this week's question: What's the craziest thing you've ever done for a Filofax?

Mission Impossible?

The 75th Anniversary Special Edition.

'Your mission should you decide to accept it, is to design a Filofax Personal Organiser suitable for celebrating their 100th anniversary in 2021....  this tape will self destruct in 10 seconds'

Gulp where do you start... well get yourself down to sunny Sussex and report to the New Product Design Department for starters.

You make yourself comfortable at your drawing board, you have a pot of new sharpened pencils in a full rainbow array of colours, some suitable paper for your initial sketches and designs and a bag of sandwiches.

So where would you start? Would you base your design on a previous design? Or a new design with hints of lots of the favourites in them?

May be start with a cup of tea and some digestive biscuits, gaze out of the window for a while, go for a walk with a Filofax clutched in your firm grip, understand the significance of what you are about to create.

It has to please everyone, be desirable, look valuable yet affordable, exclusive in some way.

What colours would you make it available in?

How would you present such a special model? A fancy box?

There's no prizes,  no right answers on this one, just give it your best shot....

Good luck.....

Using Year Planners.

What ever diary insert you use be it a Week on Two Pages (WOTP), Week on One Page (WOOP), Day Per Page (DPP) or Day on Two Pages (DTP) there is always the problem of how many weeks/months you can keep in your Filofax personal organiser without the rings becoming overloaded... sound familiar?

Well I've been a long advocate of using a Year Planner to supplement your normal diary insert to aid your long term planning. It also has the added benefit of being quicker to spot diary clashes compared to your usual diary insert, because you are seeing a full year in one view.

If you colour code your entries and label them, then you can quickly see if you are free on a particular date. You might of course need to look at the details on a specific date, but often you will remember the details of a particular appointment without needing to double check your diary entry for it.

Of course this all helps us in our race against the screen tappers... we have a new way of turbo charging our diary access techniques. You can patiently sit there drumming your fingers on the desk or tapping your pen waiting whilst they tap and fiddle with their smart phones. I realise we aren't talking about a big time difference here but seconds matter when it comes to taking command of avoiding the date you want to stay at home or at your office instead of facing the motorway or a crowded train on a Friday afternoon.

With a year planner in your organiser you don't have to load the full 12 months in to your organiser all at once.

If you don't currently have a year planner in your Filofax, why not print one out and give it a try. We have them in A4/A5 sizes and Personal on A4, which you print out trim to size and punch. We also have files available for 2015 so you can double side 2014 and 2015 if you wish, just pop it through the printer again.

Inserts for 2015

A4/A5 Format

• Year planner A4 .docx .pdf Source Files
• Year planner A4/A5 Z fold .docx .pdf Source Files

Personal on A4 Paper

• Year planner .docx .pdf  Source Files

Inserts for 2014

A4/A5 Format

• Year planner A4 .docx .pdf Source Files
• Year planner A4/A5 Z fold .docx .pdf Source Files

Personal on A4 Paper

• Year planner .docx .pdf  Source Files

Web Finds - 12 November 2013

So here are the latest Filofax blog posts from around the Internet:

1. I'm A5-ing it once again - MacPsych 
2. An Author & Her Filofax - The Contemplative Belle
3. Filofax Hint Of The Day - Roses in December
4. Post No. 5 for The Survivor Project - This Bugs Life
5. Planner Art Decoration (Filofax) - My Summer Touch
6. My life in three Filofaxes - It's Bluetiger
7. To-Do List- Cherry on Top - Incarnations of Organisation
8. Alternative to the Chronodex/Spiraldex for your Planner - The Storage Studio
9. Filofax Setup Dilemma Solved!!! - The Contemplative Belle
10. Filofax: Project Kel Week 2 is Go! - Kel & Filofax
11. Post No. 3 for The Book Project - This Bugs Life
12. Inside My First Filofax - Just a Girl...Atlanta
13. This Weeks Links - The Contemplative Belle
14. All about LM Inserts V02 - DiY Fish
15. Humiliating Humiliation: Mrs. Claus Forgets Her Planner - Giftie Etcetera
16. Filofax: Daisy is Here! - Kel & Filofax
17. Post No. 5 for The Crafty Project - This Bugs Life
18. Stationery, Planners, Fountain Pens, and Philately  - The Contemplative Belle
19. Getting Organised For Christmas with my Mini Baroque Filofax - Emma's Blog
20. Filofax A5 Malden Flip through video up - The Crazy Suburban Mom
21. Getting time on your side - GTD Times
22. Setup of Personal Buttercup Ostrich - This Bugs Life
23. Gute Frage (11) - Filomaniac
24. Meal & Grocery Planning with Organized Mum - The Crazy Life of J
25. Post No. 5 for The Lifestyle Project  - This Bugs Life
26. Filofax crisis! - Addicted to Stationery
27. Nigel’s first Filofax - Nigel The Dragon
28. Feline Filophiles - The Contemplative Belle
29. My Week round-up #45 - Paper Lovestory

• Your blog post could appear here next week if we missed you this time around. Email us the details and we will include it if we can. 
• 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... 
• For some general tips on Filofax Blogging, please see this post

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

1. Filofax tips Part 5 - Well That's Nat
2. Filofax Malden A5 Flip Through - Tracy Reinhardt
3. Filofax Decoration - w.46 - Adamsfilo
4. Filofax Tip No 55 - Using Bullet Journaling to Plan My Week - Kent from Oz
5. Decorating week 46 in my Filofax - tofufuls
6. Help Please!? - SamLuvely
7. Filofax Holiday Planner - Leslie Hickis
8. Using A Filofax As A Teacher Daily Planner - Kent from Oz
9. Decorating my Filofax- Week 46　Personal Sized Domino - mits t
10. Planner Art Decoration (Filofax) -week 45 (no washi and stickers!!) - My Summer Touch
11. October 2013 Favorites - MyPurpleyLife
12. My Review Monday: JetPens - MyPurpleyLife
13. Welcome to the World of Life is Crafted Planners - Arienne Gorlach
14. Franklin Covey Bree Set Up with Customized Inserts - Katherine Dobbs Roberts
15. Progression of Obsession - Franklin Covey Style - Katherine Dobbs Roberts

• For tips on how to improve your videos, please see this post. 

Enjoy

Free For All Tuesday No 145

Tuesdays are your chance to ask any Filofax related questions you might have.

So fire away and we will collectively try to answer your questions or offer opinions.