In which we discuss Planner Fail and Downsizing

only a month ago i was telling you how much i loved my current set-up... and then what Laurie was talking about happened: it's Planner Fail Season.
i really really love my A5 Aqua Chameleon. it's perfect in so many ways: it's pretty, it looks durable [hope it is!], it smells good, it holds my whole life, it's easy to write in, it has a bunch of pockets [but never enough for me...], it's just awesome. and i'm truly a one life one binder kinda girl at heart, so having a very big binder makes sense, right? and it does fit in a lot of my handbags, which is great. well sure, it does break my back. but who cares?? except i saw my doc last week, and he was horrified by the state of my back and joints and, wait for it... i actually 'displaced' [no idea what the word might be in English] some ribs and bones from my back! so, how crazy is that?
now, i'm sure you see, it's really not a planner fail on my part... more on my back's part. but i do have some smaller handbags i would love to use...
so of course now i find myself considering a personal. i explained here why i thought i wouldn't like the personal size: i really like staying with the ISO proportions of A5, A6... and personal looks plain weird. But i've now been using a filofax consistently for a year, and i really don't see myself changing that and going back to using only google cal or a small notebook type of planner. i would miss the flexibility, ease of use, and pockets of the filofaxes too much. so here i am, looking at personal binders. and finding them prettier and prettier, more and more attractive every time i lift my handbag. i may or may not have a personal binder coming my way as you read this... watch this space.
i'm trying to wrap my mind around the idea of downsizing. i have not regretted my pocket once since switching to my A5 [except... why yes when my back hurts!]. as you may remember from my last set-up post, i have a lot of 'reference' info stored at the back of my binder, using the A-Z tabs. i love having all of that with me, it's so useful... but not necessarily used every day. so i guess this part will stay in my A5 at home. i will also only copy my most important contacts to my personal. i'll keep all my projects in the A5 and only copy their 'planning' part to my personal. in the personal i'll use note paper to write down any ideas about projects and such and transfer those to the A5 in the evening. i played around today with Steve and Ray's inserts to create my own week on one page + notes [using the dot paper ^^] and printed it out in personal size. i then proceeded to copy over last week's content from the A5 to the personal paper and it worked out pretty well! of course i think i'll need to take the pages out of the binder to write on them, but oh well i can live with that :)
i would also like to use the personal binder as a wallet, further reducing my handbag's weight... and i think it will work out, i may add a small purse on the side for coins, that's all...
i'll stop my ramblings here, not sure anyone stuck with me until the end of this post :) it's very nice to have a blog where i can just lay down my thoughts on this very important topic, without annoying my boyfriend, and maybe even interesting some readers ?
i'll let you know how this downsizing works out for me!

Re: Poll -- Your Filo & a job interview

Hello everyone,

Thanks a lot for helping me with my Filo dilemma! I got a lot of comments on the post, and votes in the poll on the right side. Thanks a lot for sharing your insights on the matter with me! Given the discussion we've had so far, I'll take the Filo with me ;) (it's this one, which has all my notes about job searching. Of course my Malden will come as well, since it's my wallet!).

I'll be gone next week, to take this interview, so I won't be able to reply. But please keep the discussion going, and don't forget to vote! Also, send me good vibes :D

I'll try to comment during the week but can't promise. I'll make a post on how the interview went and if the Filo had any effect when I come back. By then, the poll will be closed, so I'll also be able to give the results. 

Thanks again everyone, and see you next week!

Malden, my Filo-on-the-go

Hey there,


Here is my second set-up! I hope you enjoyed the first one. Today I'll show you my Malden, which is the binder that's always with me. As I said when I described my Leon, this summer is a bit special for me in that I don't work and live at my parents', so my Filos are not as they would be in 'normal' life. Expect an update on the set-ups in a few months!

My Malden is my very first Filo. I had been expecting a Filofax for a long time, and this binder did not disappoint! It has a rich feeling, with its soft leather and beautiful color (to my eyes at least :) )
I ordered this binder in Pocket because it doubles as a wallet. To me, this is the best way to ensure I always take it with me.

Here goes!

This is what I see when I open the binder. I keep in the slip pockets my credit card, an ID, and some small business cards printed off of MOO.com. And I have a cute picture/quote to make me smile :)

I keep coins in the zip pocket. I was very surprised at how much fits, in this picture I had 20euros in coins, which is that much :

That many monies

Yes, it does say 'and act like Kate Middleton'. LOVE IT!

After the Dr Seuss picture I have two credit card holders, full of frequent flyer's card, debit card, social security... And then this picture, next to my post-it dash board. This is so useful. On the bigger post-its you see here, I can jot down whatever when I'm on the go, and later put it in either this Filo or the A5. On the back of the fly leaf I have 2 smaller post its.

This might be my favorite part of the diary: I write everything on this calendar, and it really helps me keep track of things (workouts, weight, travels, work, friends' visits, illnesses...) I had a hard finding blank months to show you :)

This is the diary itself. I use the week on 2 pages that came with the binder, but I think I might change to week on 1 page for 2013... not sure yet. Here I added a note page in the middle of the week to give me more room to write down info. Typically I only write appointments and some times grocery lists on the days :) This note page is actually from an A4 notebook I bought when I was younger and never used, because 'I had to save it for an occasion! I can't waste the paper!!'. Well I gathered all these precious notebooks and cut them down to fit in my Pocket, where the cute designs make me happy :)

Typical of this poor Malden : I write something down on a post it note, in a hurry, and slam it in the appropriate week. Then it never gets written down in pretty colors... I did use a sticker here though. The post it on the Today ruler has my weekly to-dos, so I don't repeat them.

This is the end of the diary part. On December 31st I put a post-it note on which I wrote things scheduled for 2013. They'll get written over when I get next year's calendar. After the diary we have a Notes section, delimited by this cute postcard I cut down to fit. You can see again some of the cutesy paper from earlier. Here I have notes I need to keep with me, mostly related to shopping! For instance I have a list of chemicals I try to avoid in cosmetics, or perfumes I want to try out...

After the notes I have some important phone numbers, and then a Finance section. For this section, I was too cheap to order Filofax' Finance paper, so I copied it by hand on paper cut to size... works perfectly for me :)

At the end of the binder I have this enveloppe containing souvernirs, then a zip-pocket with subway tickets for Paris. In the vertical slip pocket at the back I have my driver's licence, and in the horizontal one more note paper. The pen I use in this binder is a 0.5 Frixion, because it fits perfectly and because I need it to be erasable.

Last but not least, the reason why Pockets work so well as wallets to me: here I can of course stash paper money, but also letter I need to take care of, or doctor's notes... very useful.

There you go, you now know everything about my M.Malden!

Malden in vacation!

My Filo Background

Hey there,

I thought it would be good to start this blog by presenting myself and my history with Filofax. Oh my, I'm already talking about it as if it were a relationship...
First of all, I'm not a native English-speaker. I'm writing this blog in English because it is the main language of the wonderful Philofaxy community, but please be forgiving. Do not hesitate to correct me if you notice a spelling or grammar mistake, I'm very much willing to improve.
I've always love stationery, as far as I can remember. I have also always loved organization. I remember spending hours as a little going though all my crayons and classifying them in boxes according to color. My dad used to receive a bunch of promotional planners through his job that he never used, so I'd play with them.
I think I started wanting a Filofax when I was around 14. But I wanted to receive it for a significant date. I wanted it for my 16th birthday, but by then I realized that I couldn't be sure the type and size of the organizer I would need then would still suit me a few years later. I really wanted to have an object I could keep for a loooong loooong time. Something symbolic. Then I wanted one as a high school graduation gift, then one for my 18th birthday, then one for my 20th... Everytime deciding against it for the same reasons. I finally got my first Filo last year, for my 25th birthday. By then I had finished school and had been working for 2 years, so I decided I 'knew' myself and my organization well enough to do this investment.
Before getting it, I had been using the Moleskine planner (week on one page with notes) since high school, either in their A5 size or their pocket. Always with a red cover! I had been perusing the interwebs about Filofax for a while, and especially like to visit Flickr (pictures, which I just love) and Philofaxy of course.
As my birthday was approaching, I decided on a Vintage Pink Pocket Malden to be my first Filo. Choosing the size was the hardest part for me. I didn't want to use a Personal because I knew the size of the page would feel weird to me. I'm much more comfortable using something closer in proportions to A4. Also, I was used to always have my planner with me, so I needed it to be quite portable. To ensure that I would always have it with me, I also wanted it to be my wallet. I also knew I wanted my planner to be in leather (since I wanted it to last for a looong time, remember?), and in some sort of a purple (my favorite color). Then Malden's famous charms did the rest.

From filofax.co.uk

We had been very happy together for a few months when the beautiful sale on Chameleons appeared on Filofax' website. I had been thinking about trying an A5 (my work planner was an A4 of which I filled the pages, but that I deemed too cumbersome). I jumped on the occasion and ordered it, in Aqua. Now Filofax didn't offer delivery to the country where I was living at the time, so I had it delivered to my parents' and had to wait 6 months to meet my beautiful Leon... The agony! But then, it was love at first sight.

From filofax.co.uk

Finally, since I was loving this size so much, I wanted to get a sexy purple Finchley. Tracy was selling one on Ebay and I entered in the bidding war, using Ebay for the first time! Of course I lost... but a few days later I was able to get a Pink Finsbury for a decent price, which was thus my first Ebay win. Pink is not my favorite color, but I still love it very much!

From filofax.co.uk

So, there, you have it, my story so far with my pretty binders!