Today I’d like to give you guys a tour of my main planner, my Personal Filofax Malden. As I mentioned in my previous post, this was my own little Christmas gift to myself – and so far, I’m loving it! Personal sized planners are my favourite because of their combination of space and portability, and the soft leather and elegant look of this one makes it (for me) a real classic. Now, prepare yourselves…this post is long and picture heavy. Sorry. 😉
When I got back into the Filofax world, I fell in love with the way people decorate their planners. However, I have neither the time nor the patience nor the skills required to really decorate my planner. (Also, when I make something too pretty, I get afraid to use it. Not really conducive to effective planning.) However, I make an exception for three things: pretty dashboards and dividers, a bit of washi tape and color on my weekly pages, and fun stationery/pens/accessories.
This is my planner when you open it up: On the left, I have some business cards and my bank info, and in the pocket I store paperclips. I also recently discovered these small Filofax Jot Pads which are wonderful for quick notes and lists (blog post to come). I designed my dashboard myself with some scrapbooking paper and washi from washitape.es, and a inspirational card from Kikki K. Also, the charm is from a small crafts fair at a town I visited last year in the Serranía de Ronda – a nice reminder of a nice trip. After the dashboard, I have my information, the planner registration number, and some post-its.
After my first divider is my calendar, with a year on one page from Wendaful. I use both a month on two pages and a week on one page plus notes for my planning (both Filofax-brand inserts). I mark the current month with a clear Filofax flyleaf, and use these pages for important dates, holidays, and future events.
On my weekly pages, I list appointments and to-dos in more depth. I recently switched to the week on one page plus notes format, and I love it. I list to-dos and appointments that are day-sensitive on the days themselves, and use the notes page for more general to-dos and notes. I also keep a quick workout log on my weekly pages, marking what I did and for how long every day.
I also keep a piece of notepaper (made following this tutorial from five-sixteenths blog) with me to write down to-dos and random thoughts and ideas that come up while I’m working and my planner is safely tucked away in my bag. At the end of the day, I transfer these religiously to my planner, then cross them out on the notepaper, which gets recycled after it’s all used up and crossed out.
My next section is lists.
Here, I keep a master to-do list, and three more specific to-do lists – for my business, my blog, and Filofax/planner things. I also keep books to read, movies to watch, and apps to try lists, as well as my on-going wish list. I use some of the paper from the small Filofax notepads to keep running shopping and printing lists (which again get recycled once the paper is all filled up).
The next section was inspired by Giftie Etcetera and is where I keep both files and projects (maybe one day I’ll separate them…) using ABC dividers. I have an index page where I write the name of everything I file away under the letter where it’s filed. Here, I have everything from packing lists (winter and summer)and lesson ideas to doctor information, mileage trackers, and a handy quick-reference color matching cheat sheet.
My last section is rather small, just a few pieces of extra notepaper and the top-loading pocket that came with the Filofax to store bits and pieces.
In the back pocket, I keep a small notebook which I use when I need to take more in-depth notes or lists – it’s more comfortable to write in than the Filofax, and it’s great for running into a shop to buy because it’s small and can slip into my jeans pocket.
My planning system is constantly evolving, and I love seeing new ideas and trying out new things. There’s one rule that must be followed though: WRITE. EVERYTHING. DOWN. I’ve learned the hard way that if I don’t write something down the moment it pops into my head, I will not remember it. No matter how hard I try.
(REALLY. EVERYTHING.)
Organizedly yours,
L.
PS – Write it all down. 😉
The Organizeaholic 
Excellent post. Thank you for the tour. I have a pocket Malden, but use the week on one page w/notes from a deconstructed Moleskine pocket weekly agenda. The pages are larger, but fit the pocket perfectly. Because Filofax puts the days in 5 different languages on the weekly pages, it takes up precious real estate – especially on the pocket. I wish they didn’t do that because I really like the look of it, but….oh well!
Thanks! That’s a good idea to use the Moleskine pages – I don’t usually have as much written on the days as in the week that I took the photo here, but a wee bit more space would certainly be convenient!