I'm really excited to introduce a new monthly feature today: Filofax Friday! I'm even more excited that I'll be tag teaming with Monika Wright of I Love it All to bring you tons of Filofax love.
A bit of history: I've long struggled to find an effective way to do my planning for all my various endeavours, as well as stay organized and on top of things. I've tried numerous online applications to no avail. I finally figured out that I really needed to write things down, so went back to pen and paper. I then made a ridiculous number of notebooks and journals, which worked ok. However, having things in various notebooks meant that I was always searching for the one in which I wrote that last brilliant idea, or thing to remember that had to be done TODAY.
So a few months ago I saw Monika posting photos of her Filofax binder on Instagram and my interest was peaked. Not too long after I saw another of my favourite scrapbookers, Anabelle O'Malley also posting about Filofax. I figured they had to be on to something! I spent the next week researching Filofaxes and asking questions, then finally took the leap and ordered an Apex in A5. I chose the A5 because I wanted a binder that would fit on my desk, have enough space to write in, and also be fairly portable.
This may sound crazy, but my productivity has skyrocketed over the last few months! The key for me is having one single place to house everything. I no longer have to go hunting for my ideas notebook, or my notebook for my Etsy business, it's all right there at my fingertips. Here's how I have it set up.
I made vertical separator tabs for each of my major sections. Somewhere online, I got the idea to have the tabs at the top and the bottom so I can easily flip to where I need to go. These sections are:
Blog: Further divided into two sections, one for planning posts, and another for design related ideas. I have a fold out calendar at the front, and then pages for keeping ideas.
(Oh! The Printing Instagram Photos sticky should be in the completed column now)
Etsy: Divided into two sections, one for each of my shops.
Ideas: This is a bit of a misnomer, as this section is more than just a space to note ideas, but is also where I brainstorm product development, work out the details of craft projects, and make notes from online classes.
Another tip: Check out my tabs at the top there. I also labeled the back side so i could move easily between sections.
Master: This is really my brain dump section where I add to my never ending to-do list. This is mostly home related stuff
Tickler: This section houses my reminders, things like books I want to buy or movies to watch, or coupon codes. Alsothe password to our home Wifi. Things like that.
I try to check this once a week so see if there's anything to add to my active list.
Speaking of the active list, that's the section at the very beginning of the binder, where I have my monthly, weekly and daily calendars. I started out using the week on two pages inserts that came with the Filofax, along with a separate monthly calendar and daily action list that I had printed out, but then I recently came across a genius system by DIYFish on Etsy.
With a combination of cleverly designed inserts and fold out pages, I can now see my month, week and day at a glance.
This is where the magic happens, and how I stay on top of all my to-dos. I am still exploring the system, so I'm not using all the functionality yet. I plan to go more into detail in my post in January.
Now lets talk about December! I added a section just for Christmas planning. I'm notrious for having lots of ideas and plans, and not getting half of them done (who's with me?).
This year I decided to do better. My emphasis is on giving handmade gifts this year, so I came up with a planning sheet for that.
It's a freebie that you can grab in A4 and letter sizes. I also just designed it in A5 size on two pages.
You can use one of the buttons below to download it.
If you think you need to get more detailed with some of your handmade gift planning, I have another free printable you can read about in this post.
As I was hiding away one of the gifts for my son (eeek!), I saw the note on the box that the batteries weren't included and had another brain wave. I needed a checklist for Christmas morning! So I designed one.
This way I won't forget all those essential things needed to prevent meltdowns and disappointments (I'm talking about me here). I made one version blank, and another with some critical things already filled in.
Can you tell that I love talking about my Filofax? I could go on and on.... Luckily we'll be bringing you this feature on the first Friday of every month! Now go see what Monika is sharing today!
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