Guest post series - 'Filohax' No. 10 - Paul

Thanks very much again to Paul for this tenth instalment of his wonderful guest post series. You can find all of the 'Filofhax' posts here.

Flatability's Filofax pen hack

Neil from Flatability has done it again with his latest innovation - housing a collection of pens in the body of a Filofax by utilising the often redundant credit card pockets. His hack appealed to me, as I never really used the credit card slots in my Cavendish so gave it a try, slitting the pocket fabric with a craft knife to allow the pens to fill the depth of one pocket. 

So far so good, I'm not longer restricted to the two pens, I can now accommodate six or even seven within the binder rather than having to fish about in bags etc. If you're not too squeamish about cutting your Filofax; why not give it a try? 

 

Thanks to Neil for kindly sharing another of his innovations, check out his video here.

No notepad pocket, no problem

When I previously owned a personal Malden, I really liked being able to keep a notepad at the back to write on. It's quick and easy, and I really like not having the rings in the way. However, my Ascot doesn't have a notepad pocket and has a full length gusseted one instead.

Even when using my Malden, I found that sometimes a whole notepad could be too bulky if my binder was quite full. So, I sat down to figure out the easiest way to keep some paper at the back without it being on the rings.

Here's what I came up with:

As the pocket is gusseted it doesn't lie flat, so it's possible to attach a clip at the top to some paper. I've also used an old divider to create a better surface to write on. This little smiley paperclip (it's an OHTO smile slide clip) works great as it won't move around and is nice and flat. And I love his smile :)

I started to use this little trick whilst still in my Malden, as I own more lined paper and wanted to use it up rather than buying more notepads. It's working really well in my Ascot and I really prefer writing with the rings out of the way.

Making my own flyleaf

In the past, I've normally had the standard plastic flyleaf at the front of my binder with a nice picture or card behind it. However, I was thinking more recently, why not make a flyleaf with an image already in it? I realised that by placing two pictures back to back (one needs to be upside down) and laminating them, I get two different flyleaves in one!

Here's the first side.

And on the back, I have this.

I also have this one, which has a quote on the back.

Plastic pencil case hack

Since returning to personal size, it occurred to me that I like the idea of being able to sometimes use my purple Malden as my wallet. However, what would I use to carry money in so that it's both safe and easily accessible? I don't like the Filofax zip-lock envelopes and gave mine away as the plastic zip part made the contents a bit too fat for my liking. I considered other brands like Day-Timer or maybe trying to hole punch some grip seal bags, but then it came to me, what about a plastic pencil case like the one I used for exams at school? I looked in WH Smith, but they were all either too expensive or too thick. And then I saw them at my local supermarket! Luckily the big Tesco here also sells a very limited amount of filofax stock, so I was able to compare the pencil case size to a personal size diary and bingo, it was a match.

I did find hole punching it a little tricky as the plastic got a bit stuck, but after some gentle determination with some tweezers it was done. I'd definitely recommend a single hole punch for the job though. It will be hard wearing and I like how the zipper sticks out past the inserts. This means it doesn't add much bulk and it's easily accessible when I'm at the till. My plan was to only pop it in for when I'm using it as a wallet, but I like it so much that it's now a permanent feature and can hold so much more than the normal top opening envelope. I did initially fancy something a bit less plain, but at about 40 pence it was too good to turn down and couldn't be a better fit.

Plastic wallet hack

Since I've upsized to the A5 size from personal, I've been thinking about how I can use my filo a bit differently now that I have the extra space. Whilst clearing out old paperwork, I wanted to find a way to quickly add A4 sheets of paper in without needing to hole punch them. I had a look at the Filofax top opening envelope online, but it didn't look like it would hold enough.

I came across a pack of plastic popper wallets whilst browsing the stationery aisle of the supermarket before my weekly shop (as you do), and they were too much of a bargain to resist at the reduced price of 49p!
So, one wet and windy Saturday, I set to work with the following:

I'm a great fan of popper wallets for my Getting Things Done system, but I hoped I could remove the popper itself as I didn't want the extra bulk or the lump in my Malden. Off I trundled into our bathroom with my pliers and the pink wallet, to see if I could break or prise them off. Please be warned if you attempt this; I did it over the bath as when I managed to break off the popper, there were little bits of the plastic pinging off here and there!

I was then left with the wallet without both parts of the popper and a bit of an ugly hole showing on the top one. Looking through my stationery stash, I realised that I used up the last of my stickers years ago, but the universe was listening as I was recently sent some by the lovely Tracy.

My KW Trio hole punch coped perfectly with punching through the plastic, and the wallet itself is large enough to hold A4 pieces of paper folded in half with space for the holes on the edge. It fits nicely in and can be easily turned on the rings. The flap can either be tucked in or left on top, and the weight of the other inserts and paper keeps it shut anyway.

Once I've finished working through the current papers held in the wallet, I might use it for storing project support materials. I'm finding that it doesn't add too much bulk with the 30mm rings of the Malden, and overall I'm very pleased with this cheap way to add extra capacity and storage.

Filofax Hack

So you would like to have a note pad in your Filofax, but your particular binder doesn't have the slot in the back inside cover to hold one....

Well 'The Perpetual Student' has the answer for you.

Take a top opening envelope, trim 6mm off the left hand side of the back card of the note pad and hey presto you have a notepad that will fit your Filofax.

Thank you TPS for this great suggestion.