I wonder why Filofax don't -

* start a custom design service

Many planner addicts tend to love one type of planner but they still would like features of other planners incorporated in their chosen style.

* have a range of different weights of paper

Bleed through occurs if certain pens are used on Filofax paper. Different weights of paper would cater for different writing implements and writing and drawing styles.

* have a wider range of coloured papers

It's wonderful that new designs are on offer now and I'm sure that a choice of rainbow colours for their plain pages would brighten up their sales of Filofax paper.

* have rings which can be interchanged or even taken out if not needed

This would encourage creativity with inserts and cater to a whole new group who prefer notebook planning.

* supply planners which don't peel or stain

The coating on the Classic Cross is prone to peeling and the patent Originals are prone to staining. Wear and tear should ideally enhance the look of these organisers. The Maldens seem to just get better and better the more use they have.

* bring back the mini size

Maybe they didn't sell many of this size and that is the reason why they stopped producing - who knows?

* supply their planners with a choice of dated or undated pages

More than one planner bought in a year means more than one set of dated diary pages. Would a choice of inserts increase sales of Filofaxes?

* supply their planners with pen holders that hold a pen not made by Filofax

Does your Filofax pen holder hold your preferred writing implement?

?

This may seem like a moan but it isn't - just musings. We can't have everything and things are easier said than done. Filofax can't offer every variation under the sun - it's not feasible or economically viable. There's no harm in wishing though!

Happy planning

PS Perhaps Filofax do some of the things I've mentioned here. I'll go and have another thorough look at their site.

Recipe Organiser

I found this old Cooking Plans binder at the Charity Shop. For 25p I wanted the inside pages rather than the tatty outer cover.

They will do just nicely in my Recipe organiser.

The paper is very thick and both sides are lined so I could use this paper in another A5 if I wished.

It will certainly neaten  up some of my entries.

Happy Planning

Thought catching, Brain Dumping, Capturing or Action Accumulating

When is the best time for capturing those thoughts and ideas which would help in life organisation and productivity? For me it could be any time but there are times when inspiration and creativity are sparked while doing routine or repetitive tasks. My mind wanders and ponders at these times. This idea for a post came while doing the ironing so, with trusty pocket Malden on the kitchen work surface, I ironed and jotted. 

The following are my thoughts on the best times for thought catching, brain dumping, capturing and action accumulating.

1. when stoking the cat

2. before sleep

3. during sleep - dream catcher needed here :)

4. while ironing

5. while sitting on the loo

I shall log any more fruitful, inspirational times in my Filofax and add to this list. Blog reader contributions would be most welcome.

Happy Planning

Using up old Filofax diary pages

These pesky diary pages keep arriving with each Filofax I purchase - (note to self - stop buying them then). I can't throw them away but can I utilise them? Would they be useful for another year? One answer is here. I've tried a different way below.

My thought was to re-number the days. Simple eh? The celebrations' notes and moon phases would be wrong but I don't take much notice of those anyway unless a windy day and a full moon occur on the same day - then beware! I have 2 lots of 2016 diary pages to use up - I wonder whether these re-numbered recycled diary pages will do for 2018 and 2019 or shall I just use the pages as note paper?

Happy planning

Do I decorate my Filofax?

Being more of a functional planner rather than a decorative one means my organiser looks rather boring. I have made a slight attempt to remedy this situation by adding a minimal autumnal look to my main planner. The ochre Malden lends itself really well to this season and I made a simple attempt at a fly leaf/dashboard and ring protector in seasonal colours.

On the back of the dashboard I stuck a cutting from a magazine. My place for stickers is on the facing page, marking off the months.

September is on its way and my monthly pages are just a list of dates with one line for writing. I'm rather wonky on this page!

A leafy notelet was stuck on my September divider and I may swap my black Pilot pen for an orange one. My goodness, I used Washi tape!

Notes are already in place about things to do in this month. The yellow note is from last year and my recurring monthly 'to dos' will eventually be written up in 'best'.

My dingle dangle is an ear-ring from my DD and is one which features a leaf which I thought was quite Autumnal. The feather isn't though!

Right, that's my decorating done for a while. Now back to the planning, organisation, lists, projects and Filofax hugging.

Happy planning

Holiday planner for visitors

My original idea for a Holiday planner was for it to be a place to organise our family holidays but this year we haven't been anywhere. However we have had visitors for a fortnight and the planner came in very handy for our staycation at home with our guests.

My sections were:-

Travel Information - when our guests were arriving, their journey over (which took 2 days and involved them staying in 2 different countries to break up their journey) and information on where they were staying prior to arriving here. I also had contact details.

Itinery - here I noted various places we could visit from our home base.

Diary Section - in here was a countdown of things that had to be done before our visitors arrived 

and notes about what was happening.

I added more detail with a more detailed log of each day.

This Holiday Planner helped with both the organisation of the visit and is now a record of the visit itself.

It's next job is to help with our holiday abroad later on in the year. I've already made some notes and looked up flight prices. The cat stays home, though.

Happy Planning