Fiercely Functional Filofax Setup for 2017

No fancy stickers here, no fancy writing - I've finally found that I'm fiercely functional with my everyday planning. This year I initially chose the Pear Filofax Original for my everyday planner but, not wanting to spoil its newness I settled for my Lime Piazza instead. It's been used before, feels good and is a fresh green colour to start the New Year.

There's nothing in the inside pockets so what greets me when I open up is this puss cat pic behind which is my year at a glance.

The pages in my planner are the standard Filofax ones but I've divided them up with monthly dividers which I used last year.

Straight after the divider is a monthly 2 page spread. On the left - just a list of all the dates in the month. Here I note down birthdays, anniversaries and appointments. On the right I write more personal jottings  that happened on certain days. The reason for this is that I intend to archive the monthly pages only so notable happenings need to be logged. e.g. car broke down - towed home.

A week on 2 pages follows the monthly spread where I schedule To Dos for the week in the first box and To Dos for specific days in the day boxes. Between the 2 pages for the week is a running To Do list which is easily detachable for moving on to the next week. If I have time and inclination I can pull off a job from this list.

Following the list is another 2 page spread - this time my activity tracker listing household cleaning areas, hobbies I pursue, habits I wish to log and goals I wish to achieve.

The other half of the week can be seen when this tracker is turned over. This tracker, like the Master To  Do List is easily moved from one week to the other. Behind the weekly pages is a moveable lined card which I put in to keep my scrawly writing in straight lines. It's 'nearly' working!

That's it - that's all, as the other 11 months follow exactly the same layout. This planner stays at home and is updated every evening. I used this layout last year and it worked very well. My spending is logged elsewhere. 

Happy Planning

Time to leave home

I've only used my Pennybridge as a wallet up to now as I didn't want to run the risk of losing one of my Maldens but I decided that this little lad is ready for the big world outside and as well as being my Bullet Journal Thought Capturing Brain Dump he's now my wallet come mobile holder. My Pennybridge and 'phone case are now resting. This is my Pocket Malden and the dingle dangle I chose for this is a trolley coin for use when I shop at the supermarket.

I'm on a roll with the Autumn theme and this is a plastic pocket with a cutting from a magazine inside.

Opposite my flyleaf I keep coins in the zip pocket and my card in the slip pocket. It doesn't seem as secure as in a dedicated card slot so I may transfer it into a plastic pocket.

My ICE information is in the next plastic holder,

followed by my year at a glance.

Inside is my Bullet Journal Thought Capturing Brain Dump plus some handy bits of note paper for shopping lists or notes.

The back pocket holds my mobile 'phone and in the other pocket is a bus timetable.

My bus pass fits in one of the front pockets and other relevant bus times are slotted in behind.

I really must crochet a suitably autumnal coloured ring protector. This purple one came out of my mini and is not quite the right size.

Happy Planning

Mini Malden in Ochre

This new to me mini Malden has started its organiser life as a diet and weight tracker. I aim to lose some weight and this baby is going to help me.

The first section shows which weight range I should be in for my height. I'm only a little overweight but I aim to be in the middle of the healthy band.

After that I aim to have my own graph charting, hopefully, a downward trend in my weight. The weigh-in will be weekly. Any upturn will influence my future goals. At the moment it is eat fruit for afters, no biscuits, chocolate or any calorie laden food and no alcohol.

Next section houses any recipes that I come across on my Internet travels which will help me fulfil my goal.

In order to make the ideal meals I need a list to remind me to shop for the right ingredients.

Finally the last section houses a pull out week on which ...

I can record my meals. From this I can set myself the next week's goals and tell myself off if I fail to keep on track.

I also have in there somewhere a body measurement chart (waist, thigh, arm, hips etc) which will graphically show my changing body shape!!!!! 

Another incentive is a page promising me small treats or presents if my weight loss stays on track. My first 5 lb loss will give me permission to buy some coloured Pilot Frixion pens. It's early days yet but I aim to get there.

Happy Planning

Filofax Mini Finsbury in Raspberry

I use my Filofax mini Finsbury in raspberry as a wallet and it comes with me every time I venture out with a view to buying, travelling or recording information.

As such I keep here any cards I may need plus some added extras. The first page (badge holder) holds my ICE (in case of emergency) information with contact details of nearest and dearest.

On the other side is a list of my medication and major health issues just in case I have an accident. There's a little pencil I found tucked in the page. Next up are some holders of bus time information.

The middle section houses the diary starting with a yearly calendar, closely followed by ...

a week on two pages for the daily diary. The pages that came with the new to me Finsbury were 2011 but the majority of the year corresponds to 2016. I just alter 2011 to 2016 and I have a full diary recycled.

The notes section is cut down pages from a notes pad from B&M Bargains. They are easy pull out and I can jot down anything I wish - usually a shopping list but sometimes information or contact details.

A receipts pocket is handy for putting in … receipts of course ...

and there is a spare holder for any coupons. My ring protector is a crocheted version and tones nicely with the raspberry colour.

I did have a trolley coin hanging from the attached key ring but I changed it for some tinkling bells. They tinkle so much that I think I may put the trolley coin back and take these bells off!!!

At the back is a zipped pocket where I keep a few coins. They are not easy to get out but they are handy. The pen I found in my collection of motley pens and it just fits the pen holder.

Around the wallet is a large opening which contains notes.

The mini is small enough to carry around and large enough to hold what I want to carry with me as well as being a delight to hold.

Please click on the labels below for more detailed information linked to this mini.

Happy Planning

Personal Burgundy Classic Cross

By November 2014 I had acquired a second Filofax - a personal Classic Cross in burgundy, a wonderful rich red colour.

Here's a blog post from that time about how I then started to use planner number one plus this Classic (number 2).

Here's a quick tour of Filofax 1.

My tabs in this organiser are:-

House

Action

Ideas

Information

Passwords

and

Addresses.

This organiser is simply a reference section for my daily diary.

The house section is divided into:-

Month

Week

Food

Rooms

Finance

The Monthly pages have sticky notes with my intentions for that particular month. These goals can be fed into my daily pages so I am motivated to 'get things done'.

In the Weekly pages is an overview of suggested tasks for the day which basically boils down to -

* necessary as and when tasks - vacuum, laundry, dishwasher stack and empty etc

* suggested daily tasks to clean one toilet, one sink and vacuum one room with a choice of either cleaning a shelf, cupboard, drawer, skirting board or picture rail (which I've called swing tasks). I also aim to focus on a very quick overview and tidy of one room each day. The theory is that I'll have sparkling loos and sinks all the time and over time all my cupboards and drawers will be sorted and kept in order. :}

The food pages are just a log of freezer and cupboards so I'll use everything I buy.

On the rooms pages I've listed parts of the room to clean and these can be ticked off when I've done them. Once they're all ticked I'll either add to the list or 'go round again'. These pages feed in to the weekly task routine.

The finance pages just keep a log of supermarket shops and cash expenditure.

On the action pages I've listed jobs that could be done under different headings e.g.. Garden, Christmas, Music, Miscellaneous. Again these tasks can be chosen to be done on different days as and when I have time and inclination. It's very satisfying to tick off a task. (Sad, sad)

Also in the Action pages is a list of birthdays and cards that need to be made along with ...

… further pages detailing the tasks for the run up to Christmas and pages for lists of presents and cards received and sent.

My Diary Filofax (number 2) contains a monthly page view where I mark in birthdays, anniversaries, important dates and notes plus '2 page' weekly spreads. On each day I have my Daily tasks listed plus one or more other tasks which will fit in with the day.

Here's an example of a week that I've made up. Daily tasks are done from Monday to Friday, appointments written in and any other relevant jottings added. I've also put a quote at the top and the rooms I should concentrate on to get tidy.

I've made a handy 'puller outer' on to which I am able to stick a shopping list which I'll then take on my next shop.

My bullet notebook has fed in well into my routine and so far all 3 organisers are working well with the house reasonably tidy and clean. I've been able to remember (or been reminded to remember) things and am able to capture thoughts and ideas as soon as they occur.

I hope it all lasts!

Since then the burgundy planner went on to become a Christmas Planner, housing the run-up to Christmas from November to December. Perhaps that set-up is for another post.

Happy Planning

Personal Malden update

I've transferred my diary to the new Personal Malden in ochre just to use up the Filofax pages that came with it. I think I prefer my own design of page but I'm not going to waste these Cotton Cream ones.

I've added a dingle dangle just for decoration - it's an old ear-ring of DD's. The brown base matches the brown of the Malden.

No dividers are decorated as I thought I'd use this planner as/is.

Behind number 1 is the year at a glance. I can soon mark of March - how quickly the months go.

There are the monthly pages behind which are just 'use up' pages from another planner. I've found the list view quite adequate for my needs. I'll keep all these monthly pages and chuck the dailies so I make sure I mark in any important things that have happened at the end of the day.

Also in this Months section is a tracker of my spends in various shops. I've some space left so I may track other things as well. I know I'm drinking enough water so I don't need to track that. Any habits I want to get into I shall note down here and the first one is going to be - no chocolate tracking!

Behind tab 2 ...

is a To Do! Again this page is a re-use of an old diary page with the days crossed out with tape.

This master To Do List can be fed into any of the days on the following pages. I've enough space to write on these Week on Two Pages so I don't really need a daily page. I was finding that I was just writing for the sake of filling up the spaces on the other pages. This way I'm not wasting paper.

The other sections are not in use at the moment. Other information and planning is stored elsewhere.

I've sold one planner (the Hamilton) and am in the process of selling my Personal Classic Cross (which was my first Filofax and recently housed my Christmas planning) and Pocket Cross Filofaxes. They have to make room for (and pay for) an A5 that I just had to have.

A change is as good as a rest.

Happy Planning