Wednesday 5 January 2011

Filofax LOVE/Slight Virgo tendancies

Three years ago, my Aunt bought me a Filofax for Christmas in an attempt to help me be more organised. I half heartedly wrote in a few birthdays, and thought that would be it. How little did I know! Three years down the line, I am an official Filofax addict, refusing to leave the house without my pink, leather bound brain.

The one my aunt bought me was pocket sized and pink, and it served me faithfully. But last month, I knew that the time had come. Pocket size - though conveniantly portable and light - was no longer adequate for conglomerating my life. I started fantasising about Ivory Decos and chocolate Siennas. I logged onto filofax.uk late at night, trawled ebay and amazon for bargains, bookmarking Refills in a cold sweat.

Finally, I found The One. There are ancient Incan proverbs which state you do not choose your filofax - your filofax chooses you. I ordered my Personal Finsbury, in pink grained leather, and was finally able to rest. The morning she arrived, I leapt downstairs, in a flurry of excitement and organisation fantasy.




She was more beautiful than I ever imagined. Feverishly, I began to transfer the guts from my pocket to my personal. This size is perfect for me, I can jam pack it with stuff and it still fits easily into all my bags. I have my own special system for Filofaxing, thus:

In the front pocket, I keep essential odds and ends - stamps, a dance timetable, some business cards and some star stickers.



On the front page, theres all my Personal Information. I think I'm going to print off a photo and put that in though - the joy of the filofax is that it's essentially a binder, you can take things out and put things in at will. For me, this is ultimately what makes it a winner over a Moleskine.

Section One is my Diary, which at the moment, I'm trying reeally hard to keep week to view! Last year, I had day per view and I pretty much filled it - I'm one of those people who just have to write everything down, or I forget - but seeing as these pages are bigger, I'm trying to restrain myself.

Section Two is my To Do List, which consists of things like 'email Chris', 'pay Ricki', 'finish Ellipsis design' and 'eat fruit'. The joy of crossing off a to do cannot be expressed to a non-lister, it's unhealthy. Sometimes I even write down things I've already done, just to give myself the satisfaction of scribbling a big fat line through it.

Section Three is a list of websites, mainly photography and other people's inspiring blogs, which I like to spend time on. This keeps my browser page tidier, and I can even arrange them in order of content when I'm feeling super geeky. This is useful when I'm doing Photo Fridays.

Then - this is where the real Virgo madness starts - I have different coloured sections for different projects.

Pink is for All The World's A Stage - I write down ideas for articles, and I also have a subsection where I write down everything that makes me smile, so come Things I Love Thursday, I can refer back to it.

Peach is for LUDS, theatre orientated things. This semester, I'm assistant directing a production of Death and the Maiden, so organisation and notes are super important. I'm also going to write any ideas I have for side projects here.

Yellow is where I note things for Ellipsis Magazine, including some To Do's, article ideas, contacts and inspiration.

I then have a Blue and a Purple section, which I'm saving for whatever exciting thing comes along next.

After all that, I have a list of Contacts; phone numbers and addresses, which had proved invaluable so many times, when my phone has been stolen/broken/out of battery.

Then theres a plastic wallet, which I keep more business cards in. I seem to accumulate a lot, from consultants, landlords, and various other important people.

At the very back, I keep some post it notes, which get used up very quickly somehow.


I'm attempting to use them to colour code my revision. We'll see. Theres also a zipped section at the back, in which I keep some paracetamol, emergency meds, my repeat prescription, plasters and sometimes some spare change. Its basically a mini-pharmacy.



Sigh. I fear the addiction does not end here - I'm already craving some add ons. I used the plastic envelope all the time in my old one, just for popping in pictures and tickets and other odd bits. I want a portable holepunch too, so I can add things in on the move. Not to mention this sneaky mirror! Just think, you could surrepticiously check your teeth whilst pretending to be looking up an address. I think I probably need to invest in a cute pen for it too - the old freebie one I'm using does not do it justice!

Are there any other filofax addicts out there? Or maybe you're a Moleskiner, or maybe even something else?! Do you feel the need to highlight different areas of your life in different colours too???

7 comments:

  1. RIO I AM, i bought a new one the other day and just want things to fill it up asap!! i love it i love it i love it!!!! xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. you're a virgo too aren't you rosie? I swear there is something in this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a gorgeous pink that is! just came across it and am a huge fan!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am also a filofax fan.... love reading how you have set yours out. Happy new year!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh Rio, you know I'm a Dodopad, Moleskine girl, but oh my I want a filofax. Now!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fellow Filo addict here (and Pisces in case you were wondering). Love your pink Finsbury! Mine (currently a black personal Malden but I switch with mood & fashion) is also dubbed my "brain".

    Happy Filofaxing : )

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thankyou all so much! - glad I'm not alone with the creepy organisation! xx

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...