Embracing (Filofax) change - part 2

With a general move to downsizing and reducing the clutter in my life, I really enjoyed reading Steve's review of the Malden compact zipped and purchased one. My plan was to use it as my sole filo and wallet combined, but I sold it as I realised that the combination of the smaller rings and zip meant it all felt a bit constricted to me.

As mentioned in part one of this post, I managed to win two beautiful slimlines on eBay and I thought I'd share some more photos of them with you.

The first contender is the scarlet Adelphi.
I know that some people aren't a fan of the slimline Adelphi due to the front poppered pocket adding extra bulk, but I quite like that as it's easy to use it as a wallet. As soon as I took it out of the packaging I loved it. The colour is a stunning vivid scarlet, the leather is quite soft and I like the diamond pattern as it adds texture and interest. I don't think the photos do it justice really.

And then we have the elegant ruby Deco.
To be honest, I assumed that I would prefer this one but I just didn't bond with it like I did with the Adelphi. It's strange as the Deco is stunning with its mini crocodile print leather and cream suede interior, and the ruby colour is a lovely deep red.

When I initially wrote this, I was asking for help in choosing between these two slimlines but the Deco has already been sold! In the end, I went with my gut feeling as I couldn't wait to use the Adelphi and kept picking it up. In comparison, I occasionally took the Deco out of its box, admired and sniffed it (!) and then put it back in the cupboard. I know that from the comments the overwhelming majority chose the Deco, but somehow the darker red leather felt more serious, a bit too posh and just not me. I did adore my purple Malden, but I was beginning to find the colour a bit on the dark side for every day use, so maybe I was ready for a cheery scarlet filo instead.  

So, the Adelphi is now my main filo, with my A5 as back up for more space and projects. I will write some posts about my slimline set up once I've settled in a little more.

My friend, Filofax

I just got back from a bachelorette ("hen") weekend in Edinburgh (which was awesome: hydrotherapy spa, constant champagne and delicious food all weekend long).  I purposely brought NO planner with me on my weekend away.  None at all.

For those of you who haven't been following, I am on a quest to decide by the end of the month what planner I will use for all of 2011.  Those of you who are interested can look at Plannerisms to see the ongoing saga.

I thought a weekend completely away from planners would clear my mind and help me decide. And you know what?  The entire weekend, I missed my Deco Filofax.

Here it is with the awesome celtic-design pen my kids got me for Christmas!

I wished I'd brought my Deco with me to keep me company on the two hour train ride there and back.  One of the restaurants we went to this weekend was Art Deco style, and I LOVE anything Art Deco (thus my adoration of my Deco Filo), and I thought how glamorous my Filofax would have looked in those surroundings.  All weekend I wished I had it with me to write in addresses, websites people mentioned, reference my maps, and everything really.

I missed it like I would miss a trusted friend.  My Filofax (this one or one of my several others) has been my faithful travel companion for so many years, I felt lost without it.

I've had numerous failed attempts at making my Filofax work for me as a planner.  Most recently I failed at using daily and weekly pages at the same time, and using the two days per page format. Both seemed like great ideas at the time, but both quickly crashed and burned.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  About a week ago I made my own planner.  I'll post more about it in a few days on Plannerisms.  I used it all last week (Calling the Dog with it and my WeekDate planner).  When I used it, I got tons done. I focused on my goals, I was very task oriented, and each day I blazed through my to-do list with blistering efficiency.

And it was no fun AT ALL.

I was grumpy all the time and constantly checking my list for what task I had to complete next so I could cross it off.  Even though I got a lot done, it was not the recipe for happiness that I thought it would be.

So this week I'm trying another experiment.  I will use my Filofax with the normal Week on 2 Pages planner insert.  But the difference is this: I'm not going to try to make it more efficient. I'm not going to figure out ways to use it better. I'm just going to use it in a normal, basic way.  And if I don't get everything done this week, I'm not going to be hard on myself.

I've always loved absolutely everything about my Filofax except for the lack of functionality of the weekly pages (specifically that the day spaces are too small).  I wonder if this time it will work, not by making it more efficient, but by purposely NOT trying to be so efficient.  I really want to use my Filofax.

Because, I miss my friend.

Guest Post: Book o Fax - 'Nellie'

We all love seeing how people use their Filofax Organisers other than just using them for trying to organise their lives and keeping a list of their friends phone numbers and mailing addresses. 

So it was great to receive an email from 'Nellie' this morning showing some great photos of her red Deco... stop and read the text before you go madly scrolling down!!!!

Santa was good to me and bought me a super new Ruby Deco which I am using as a Book-o-Fax to keep a track of my reading, and work for my book blog.

A little while ago, I think it was a Friday Free For All, you asked what specialist uses we put our filos to, so I thought you might like to see what I have done with my Deco. The personalisation was inspired by other Philofaxy readers

The Deco is totally dedicated to my reading.

• The diary section has a list of books I have read (photos 3 & 4)
• The Notes section has a list if books I would like to read (Photos 5 & 6)
• The Projects section has a list of my “To Be Read” pile (photos 7 & 8)
• The Address section I have used to list the books I already own my specific authors, so I don’t buy duplicate copies by mistake (Photos 9 & 10)

The financial section will remain blank, I don’t want to know how much I spend on books each year!!

Making the personalised pages for each section was really quite easy once I had worked out how to set my printer up. I am happy to share the files if anyone would like them.[Now available on Philofaxy in .pptx and .pdf] Attached are some pictures.

Best Wishes for the New Year,

Helen (aka Nellie)

Thank you Helen for sharing your new Filofax with us and all the pictures. And also visit her website.

Dreams Do Come True

I have received as a very generous gift my "dream Filofax," a Personal Deco in Ivory!! It is gorgeous and I love it, love it, love it. I have posted a bunch of photos of it on my Flickr page!

It's a beautiful Filo, but the thing is a workhorse too. The closure strap is long so the book can be stuffed full (which I inevitably do with my Filos). It also has a full-length popper pocket inside the back cover, and inside the front cover there's a full-length zip pocket, another full length pocket, and card slots so it can double as a wallet (although I don't think I will use it that way).

One happy discovery is that the pen loop is leather on the front, and the back side is elastic to accommodate a wide range of pen sizes and shapes. Even my Bic 4 color pen fits into it, but I had to take it back out again because it's just not classy enough for this Filo!

It came loaded with all cotton-cream inserts including diary, address pages, and notes pages. Very nice. I'm not certain but the cotton cream pages seem a little thicker than the normal Filofax paper?

The Deco has hardly left my side since I got it and I have already spent some time getting to know it, loading it with my pages, and filling in the diary. Even though I had already filled in my 2010 week on 2 pages diary insert, I decided to do it all over again so I can use the cotton cream week on 2 pages because it looks so nice!

And if you were wondering, yes that clasp is even more beautiful in person!

Very, very happy with my new Deco!!