An Updated Look Inside My Filofax: Changes Galore

I realized that it’s been a while since I did a set up video on my Filofax Malden (the last one was in April and can be seen HERE) so I figured since I recently changed inserts and a few other odds and ends, it was about time I got on it!

Here’s the video and in case you can’t watch it, I’ve detailed a few of the biggest changes below.

As you can see in the video still above, I’m not using too much color these days. The Organized Mum inserts are compartmentalized, so I don’t have to worry about having a different color for everything. Instead, each aspect of my life gets its own section. The only downside of only using a black pen is that my tasks looked pretty messy when they were crossed off. So while I used to carry a FriXion pen in the second pen loop for future/flexible scheduling, I found it more important to carry a highlighter to mark off to-dos as they get done. Any future appointments that aren’t 100% set in stone will get written on a small sticky note until I know they are a for sure thing.

Another big change has been the implementation of the mobile “filing cabinet” of sorts. I started using this in the A5 Siena I’m using for This Bug’s Life Filofax Project and since it has been working so well I figured I’d use it in my personal as well!

Basically, I just stuck a set of A-Z dividers I had lying around into my “etc.” section. Before this, my etc. section was a jumble of random notes flagged by random tabs. Now, everything in the section is categorized behind the corresponding tab, i.e. home related items under H, blog post ideas under B, so on and so on. It definitely takes up more room, but now that I’m using weekly pages it seems to be a fair trade off.

Speaking of room, another major change is that I’ve added another section to my binder. Previously, I’ve been a bit of a minimalist, only using three sections: Diary, Me, and Etc. But I was finding that instead of jotting down random notes in my binder, I was using scratch paper or whatever else was around me. I’m sure it was because I didn’t want to write something in the wrong section or mess up a page with a temporary note. So I added this:

I know quite a few people use a capture section – I really don’t know why it took me so long to implement it. Behind this tab I just have a few random sheets of notepaper. If I have something I need to get out of my brain and onto the page, I simply flip to this section and write it down.

These notes can be anything from reminders of what I need from the store, to a brain dump of my new zone cleaning system (the latter of which will get its own blog post soon). The essential thing is that none of these stay in the capture section very long. They either are quickly handled, or are processed and transferred to the appropriate section.

The final biggest change is in regards to my daily routine. Although I do function well with my daily appointments and a combo daily/weekly task list, I find that I am the most productive if I map out my day in terms of tasks. This includes items on my to-do list, i.e. filming a set-up video, but also smaller items, like checking up on my favorite blogs.

Instead of cluttering my weekly pages with little things like checking blogs, making a smoothie, etc., I just use a sticky note on a clear fly leaf between my weekly pages to jot down the structure of my day.

Most days are just one day at a time, but when I took this photo I was trying to get most of my weekend planned out. This system allows me to add tasks to my Filo pages as soon as they come to me, then each day I pick out which tasks need to be done and I jot them down on the sticky in the approximate order in which they need to be completed. At the end of each day, the sticky is just tossed! It does result in some double crossing off (both on the sticky and on the weekly page) but hey, who wouldn’t take the opportunity to cross off tasks more than once?

I think that’s most of the changes for now. I really hope I can stick with this system for a while – I’ve definitely felt a change in terms of forward planning and daily productivity with these updates!

How about you? Any system updates going on in your neck of the woods?