Monday 30 July 2012

Journalling School in German

If your German is better than your English, you will be pleased to know you can now read Journalling School posts in German. Not Google's approximation of German, but real German. Go to http://filomaniac.blogspot.de/ where you will find Iris is hosting a German version of Journalling School.


Journalling School Session 2: Sustainable Journalling


Welcome to the second session of Journalling School. Today's session is about how to keep going.



Often, it can be hard to sustain writing in a journal. Perhaps you get suddenly busy and lose any possibility of spare time, or perhaps it seems that nothing interesting is going on. Maybe you just forget to write a few days in a row and then the momentum is lost. There are ways to guard against this:
  1. Try to develop the habit of writing at the same time every day, say first thing in the morning, or last thing at night. One reader, Josh, says he writes just before bed and this helps him to 'close the day'.  If you’re working, could you devote a few minutes to this in your lunch break?
  2. Don’t beat yourself up about making an entry every day; if circumstances mean just one or two entries a week, that’s fine. You can increase or decrease the frequency of entries as you like.
  3. Unless your PC is always with you and ready to go, use pen and paper, and keep them with you all the time if you can so you can snatch writing opportunities as they arise. We Filofax users will find this very natural.
  4. Use a plain paper book or your blank pages in your Filofax rather than a pre-printed diary, because you might want to write a lot some days, a little on others and sometimes nothing at all. Often, using a pre-printed journal, having a fixed space for each day can feel like tyrrany. Conversely, for some people it may represent a good discipline. 
  5. If you get stuck with nothing to write, just write yourself a question, take a breath and write down some answers to it. I’ve included some prompt questions to get you started at the end of this post.
  6. Think what it would be like if you had started a year ago. Imagine all the detail you would be able to go back and read.
  7. If you do lapse for a period, don’t consider the whole thing a failure. When you’re ready, simply turn to a new page, write the date and start going again.
Look forward to the time when you will be able to look back and find out what you were doing and how you were feeling a year ago or ten years ago. What memories you are preserving for your future, or for your children?

Journal prompt questions




When you're stuck, just write down any of these questions and then answer it. This can be the starting point for quite a long journal entry.
  • How am I feeling right now and why?
  • What was the best thing that happened today?
  • What is worrying me?
  • How will I spend the coming weekend?
  • What ambition have I had for a long time?
  • Who are the people that matter to me and why?
  • What is my earliest memory?
  • Where have I travelled and what did I see or do there?
  • If I could do anything with my life, what would I do?
  • If I won or inherited a fortune, what would I do with it?
  • What values do I want my children to hold?
  • How will I celebrate my next major birthday?
  • What would my ideal holiday be like?

Staying positive


You'll notice that among the prompts above, there are plenty of upbeat, positive topics. These give you a chance to break away from current concerns for a while. Now and then, this is important, because if your journal becomes a place in which you just whine and wallow, your motivation to keep writing will suffer, and so will your mood.

In a future session, I'll be talking about using journalling to influence your mood and to effect change, but for now make sure you choose strongly positive topics to journal about now and then.

Homework

If you haven't started a journal after last week's session, try to start this week. You can use one of the prompt questions to get you going. Do the same if your journal has stalled. Make sure at least one entry has a positive mood or outlook.

Try to write at least two or three entries this week, and do it at different times of the day. Think about which time works best for you? When do the words and ideas flow most freely? When do you feel most comfortable and least distracted?


That was the second session of Journalling School. In the next session we'll look at what to do if you want to restart your journal after a long period of not writing.


Feedback, thoughts and ideas are welcome as always. Please share your experiences in the comments.



Friday 27 July 2012

Filofax Blog of the Week: Crazy Suburban Mom


It's Blog of the Week time again, in which weekly a different blogger walks us through their Filofax blog. This week, it's Tracy who walks us through Crazy Suburban Mom.



When did you start your blog?

February 2009

What were your reasons for starting it?

I used to do freelance (humor) writing, art, and cartoons but not recently; I think my primary reason for starting a blog was to get back into the habit of regular writing and being creative.

Which post has enjoyed the most pageviews?

It was a Retro Tuesday post I did a long time ago and I don't know why it was such a hit, it's like a lot of others I've done. I do a vintage image of the day now but I used to do them only on Tuesdays. The Filofax post with the most views is Edward de Bono: On Filofax Hacks and it was about creativity and filofax hacks.

Which post is the one you’re most proud of?

I used to do posts for the now defunct New Jersey Moms Blog. I wrote a post for them called My kid's not going to college and it was picked up by their syndication group and reprinted in several news papers. 

What has surprised you since you started blogging?

A lot of things surprise me about it. Writing is so solitary and when you do it... Well, when I do it I feel like I'm in a vacuum; just me and my thoughts. On some level I realize I'm not just thinking but putting words out there for people to see but I'm always surprised that anyone else sees them. Still.

In one sentence, how would you describe your blog to a Filofax user who hadn’t seen it?

I think organization is a very personal endeavor and a Filofax allows for any customization that helps you get where you want to go and allows you to go back and see how far you've come. I post about what worked for me, what didn't, and why.

Finally, what one piece of advice would you offer to other Filofax bloggers, based on your own experience?

I didn't post about Filofaxes initially because I didn't think anyone would be interested in the odd stuff I ponder... Old rings vs. new rings, the varying size of front and backside pen loops, how you can stick a full Midori traveler's notebook in an A5 Finchley slot. Who cares, I thought. But a few months ago blogging didn't feel fun anymore and I wanted the fun back. Enter Filofax blogging... I found out if I care about something there's a good chance least one other person cares about it too and appreciates that I took the time to write it. It was a good lesson for me, so my advice is to write about what jazzes you and do it in a way only you can.

My thanks to Tracy for participating.

If you own a Filofax blog and would like it to be featured in this series, please complete the questionnaire.


Wednesday 25 July 2012

Handy Task Tabs: now for the Pocket


Remember my Task Tabs for the Personal Filofax?


These are little half-width pages you can slot between diary pages to collect and manage ad hoc tasks you can move around in the diary, putting them between different pages without having to open the rings. 

I am now publishing the Pocket template so that you can make your own if you want. 



One piece of A4 card yields four Task Tabs. I've given each a different colour, but you can change these however you like.

If you want to try these out, download the Word file.

Monday 23 July 2012

Journalling School Session 1: Recording Your Life


Welcome to the first session of Journalling School. Today's session is about why you might want to keep a written record of your life and how to get started.


Life for most of us happens very quickly. Often we do not have time to assimilate events and experiences, but simply allow ourselves to be carried from one episode to the next. Holidays and special times pass in an instant. But a month, even a week after they are finished, how much of their detail is forgotten?

Keeping a journal is something most of us will have tried once or twice when we were younger. For many people, a childhood journal is the start of a record they continue to keep throughout adulthood, but for others interest wanes fairly quickly, perhaps before the first full week passes. So why should you add to your already full schedule by making time to keep a journal? Well, some of the benefits you might derive are listed below.
  1. You create a permanent log of certain events, such as when you had a particular business idea, when your child lost his first tooth, or how much you paid for that antique chair. When you start writing, you won’t know how useful this might be in the future, but it will be.
  2. By writing, you get to filter events and feelings and your brain gets a chance to process them properly, a chance that otherwise it rarely gets. Without this opportunity, it is difficult to fully appreciate what is going on in your life and what it means.
  3. You are able over time to check progress towards a goal or other long-term changes in your life. When trying out a new personal development idea, for instance, you can log your progress and reactions as you go and later look back to see the long term change.
  4. Your handwriting quality and/or speed will improve if you use a pen; your keyboard skills will improve if you use a PC.
  5. Writing can help you solve problems in your life. The act of writing is slower then the act of thinking, so you have to slow down and be more careful in your approach. Opportunities and ideas you would otherwise have missed can flow in this environment.
Writing your journal isn't really about following rules, and absolutely any subject is fair game. You can write about the events of the day or the week and your reaction to them. You can use it to consider choices you are facing, sound off on something that angers you, or brainstorm ideas for meeting your goals. Or write about plans, dreams, fears or chicken livers. It's up to you. I tend when I'm journalling to try and write grammatically in paragraphs, because this helps me order my thoughts better, but if you want to cast syntax aside and write a stream of consciousness that's fine too. The only real rule is: write about what matters to you.

People sometimes find it difficult to start a journal, and there is a certain amount of self-consciousness involved that you will need to get past. The best advice is probably to trick yourself into it. Decide that you’re not actually going to write about yourself, but simply record some random thoughts and ideas, perhaps with a view to improving your writing, trying out a new pen, or keyboard, or word processor.

Maintain this ‘random writing’ for a few days and without ever trying or meaning to you will simply start writing about what is happening to you or around you and how you feel about it. And then you’re off.




Homework

If you haven't started a journal yet, find a comfortable place where you'll have a little time for yourself, and start. Write the date and under that write about anything you like; it doesn't have to be about you. Write until you feel like stopping. Then stop. If you like, do this more than once.

If you are already writing a journal, then one day this week make your entry about how and why you began your journal. Write about what were you were hoping to achieve in journalling and reflect on how well that has panned out. Think and write about the unexpected benefits and rewards you've got from it.


That was the first session of Journalling School. In the next session we'll look at sustaining the habit.


Feedback, thoughts and ideas are welcome. Please share your experiences in the comments.


Sunday 22 July 2012

Welcome to Journalling School

The 15th of February 2005 was an important day for me. It was the day I began the journal that I have maintained almost every day since.


In the last seven and a half years, I have learned an awful lot about journalling. Indeed, I have learned a lot about writing generally. When I began I was very unsure about how to start, what to write about, how much to write - both in terms of the volume of text and its content - but I've slowly worked most of it out over the years.

So I thought I'd pass on some of the things that I've learned in a series of articles that I'm going to call 'Journalling School'. I hope that it will be useful for three kinds of people:

  • People who have never thought of journalling before but who might like to give it a try
  • People who have tired journalling in the past but abandoned it, who would perhaps like a kick start to get going again
  • People who are already writing journals but would like some new ideas to inspire their day-to-day entries

It's called 'Journalling School' but you don't need to enrol. There are no exams or registers and you cannot possibly fail.

The first Journalling School article will land tomorrow. If you follow this blog already, you'll get all the articles.

I'd love to hear from people about their journalling experiences and ideas; I'm convinced we learn best when we share.

Friday 20 July 2012

Filofax Blog of the Week: My Once Upon the Moon


It's Blog of the Week time again. Every week a different blogger walks us through their Filofax blog. This week, it's Stephanie who walks us through My Once Upon the Moon.


When did you start your blog?

January 2012

What were your reasons for starting it?

I am a creative person by nature and I wanted a way to keep that going. It was rough going at the beginning because I didn't know what direction I wanted to take it in.

Which post has enjoyed the most pageviews?

A Feeble Attempt to Show Off My Filofax

Which post is the one you’re most proud of?

I think the one I am most proud of is the same one as above. Even though I emailed Steve and asked him to include it in the web finds list, it was the first time I actually knew that people were looking at my 'work'.

What has surprised you since you started blogging?

There are people out there that actually read it, and like it enough to follow it.

In one sentence, how would you describe your blog to a Filofax user who hadn’t seen it?

I have a lot of pictures on my blog.

Finally, what one piece of advice would you offer to other Filofax bloggers, based on your own experience?

Blog what you like, the way you like it. I love visual aids, so I blog a lot of pictures. I can not sit and read a computer screen endlessly so I don't blog that way.

My thanks to Stephanie for participating.

If you own a Filofax blog and would like it to be featured in this series, please complete the questionnaire.


Tuesday 17 July 2012

Introducing 'My Life All In One Pod', the Filofax Podcast

Well, I believe the title says most of what needs saying. This isn't studio-quality by any means and I'm no experienced broadcaster. I'm hoping that I can get better as I go along.

If you have ten minutes to spare and are interested in listening to me witter on about Filofaxes, then pop over to the podcast site and download the first episode. If you have more than ten minutes to spare, then please use the comments over there or here to tell me what you thought and what you'd like to hear in future episodes.

Monday 16 July 2012

Handy Task Tabs for your Filofax

Today's DIY project is what I'm calling Task Tabs. These are little half-width pages you can slot between diary pages to collect and manage ad hoc tasks. Here is an example:


Note that I've simply jotted tasks here and crossed through them when I've accomplished them. I've used a Frixion pen so that when this one becomes full of completed actions I can just zap it in the microwave to remove all the ink and use it again.

So far, so good, but there's one more trick. I printed this on card and after I'd punched it, cut slits between each of the holes and the inside edge, which means I can do this:


Yes, I can move this around in the diary, putting it between different pages without having to open the rings. The tab at the top means it can effectively replace my 'today' marker, too.

I am publishing the template so that you can make your own if you want. 



One piece of A4 card yields four Task Tabs. I've given each a different colour, but you can change these however you like.

If you want to try these out, download the Word file.


Friday 13 July 2012

Filofax Blog of the Week: The Zeitgeist of Zoe


It's Blog of the Week time again. This week Zoe has agreed to walk us through The Zeitgeist of Zoe.


When did you start your blog?

I started this blog back in 2011 when my previous blog was hacked and was no longer a safe place for me to post. I have been blogging on and off since 2005, though the last few years has it been focused on Filofax and my quest for the perfect day planning system.

What were your reasons for starting it?

I started to blog in general for several reasons. Primarily because writing is my passion and a blog seemed like the best venue in which to express myself. But also, inspired by the rest of the Filofax community, I started this particular blog to share the trials and tribulations of the journey to planner Nirvana.

Which post has enjoyed the most pageviews?

A post from 2011 called The Great Wallet Experiment, in which I attempted to use a pocket Filofax as a stand alone wallet, in addition to my regular personal planning Filo. The experiment ultimately failed, but this post got a huge amount of hits.

Which post is the one you’re most proud of?

One entitled The Tao of Filofax because, while I can't meditate to save my own life, dubbing around with my planner IS my way of meditating. I remember being so excited as I wrote that post...because it was the point that I stopped beating myself up for changing my system so much and gave myself permission to just relax and focus on the process of finding the perfect planner, not the end result...and I just couldn't wait to share that epiphany!

What has surprised you since you started blogging?

How awesome this community is. I mean, I knew that...but since starting this blog I have really seen (and been blown away by) how so many different people, from all walks of life and from different parts of the world, can be drawn together and become so close. I'm also frankly amazed that so many people seem to enjoy my ramblings!

In one sentence, how would you describe your blog to a Filofax user who hadn’t seen it?

A work in progress. It is not as eloquent as some, nor as focused and helpful as others. I don't post as much as I'd like and I often get carried away with non-technical aspects of planners/planning. But it's evolving, and I hope you'll all stick with me and see where the blog ends up!

Finally, what one piece of advice would you offer to other Filofax bloggers, based on your own experience?

To just do it (if I may borrow a slogan). There aren't now and never will be too many Filofax blogs out there, so put one up! Share your system! Talk about your process! Show us your photos of it! People ARE interested and want to know. Plus, it's honestly a lot of fun.

My thanks to Zoe for participating.

If you own a Filofax blog and would like it to be featured in this series, please complete the questionnaire.


Wednesday 11 July 2012

The inevitable video tour of my Filofax

Well, here it is. If you've ever wondered what I sound like or what my Filofax looks like inside, you 'll want to click on and watch the video below.



Tuesday 10 July 2012

Photographic Filofax dividers template for Pocket size


I recently created a template people could use to make their own dividers for the Personal Filofax.

I have now developed a companion template for those wanting to make Pocket size dividers. The template is built in Word:

Click to enlarge

Each page will end up being printed on A4 card and contain two different Pocket-size dividers, with crop marks to make cutting them out easy. All you need to do is add your pictures, and delete the tabs you don't need. Each template has six, evenly-spaced tabs but you could easily alter the template to cater for - say - ten tabs if that better meets your needs.

When you add pictures, you'll need to position, size and crop them. This will be hard if you don't know how to make pictures 'float' in a Word document. To do this, once your picture is in the document, right-click on the picture and from the pop-up menu, select 'text wrapping', then 'behind text'. You can then drag the picture around at will.

Study the illustration below to see what all the marks and shapes in the template are for:

Click to enlarge

If you've done everything right, you'll end up with a document that looks like this:

Click to enlarge

Print this on card, crop using the marks, taking care around the tabs, then punch as usual. You can wrap some clear plastic film around the tabs and cut off the excess if you want the dividers to last longer. If you look at the dividers that came with your Filofax, you'll notice this is what they do with the standard dividers.

Anyway, if you have that creative feeling you can download the Word file and get started.

Monday 9 July 2012

New Filofax Personal layout - Landscape week on two pages


This one began as a request from a Philofaxy reader who asked for a version of the Filofax Week-To-View Horizontal layout that wan't quite so discourteous to weekends:

Click to enlarge

The obvious enhancement here would be to put four days across the page rather than three, but we worried that then the columns would be too narrow. Our reader agreed, and came up with what Steve and I thought was a fantastic idea. See if you agree:

Click to enlarge

Weekend days are afforded as much respect as those in the working week, while each week's layout ends with a 'Notes / Next Week' space.


You can download this layout as a prepared set or you can download the source files to adapt the design for yourself.


Pre-prepared sets

You can download the 2012 set as a Word file or as a PDF file.

You can download the 2013 set as a Word file or as a PDF file.

Print this double-sided. If you have a duplex printer, set it to flip on the short edge. If you don't then you'll have to print odd-numbered pages and then refeed to print the even-numbered pages on the reverse. You might have to experiment to find out how to refeed the paper.

On one side of each sheet you'll find crop marks. Use a craft knife and a steel ruler to release the Personal pages and punch them. The templates are set up with mirrored gutters to accommodate the holes.

If using the PDF be sure to set it to print at full size as explained here.


Source files

You can also roll your own using our source files. You'll need this Word file and this Excel file.

If you want to know how to go about using the source files, this post will help you.

Friday 6 July 2012

Filofax Blog of the Week: The Crazy Life of J


It's Blog of the Week time again. Every week a different blogger walks us through their Filofax blog.  
This week, it's J who walks us through The Crazy Life of J.


When did you start your blog?

My blog has been constantly evolving. It started in July 2010 as JB Househunt as a way to track me and my fiance's progress in buying our first home. When we ended up renting an apartment by December, I changed the blog to be more focused on life in general, and The Crazy Life of J was born.

What were your reasons for starting it?

As I stated above the blog was started for very specific reasons- to track our home buying progress. But since then it has evolved into so much more- a way of venting feelings, sharing awesome products and tutorials, and meeting some of the coolest Filofax nerds I know!

Which post has enjoyed the most pageviews?

Surprisingly, that is still my first ever Filofax related post, Finding Filofax. Even though I've moved on from my first Slate Domino, he still hangs out in my recipe cabinet!

Which post is the one you’re most proud of?

I have to cheat and list two. The first would have to be a general "life" post I did, Another Year Come and Gone, recapping all of 2011. A lot happened that year, from getting my first "real" leather Filofax, to two Filofax Meetups, to getting engaged! My favorite Filofax specific post came after the NYC meetup, when Kanalt and I did a double post on our misbehaving Maldens. Malden in Manhattan is definitely the Filofax post I'm the most proud of, even if we got some really odd looks while taking the photographs!

What has surprised you since you started blogging?

All of the people I've "met" since starting to blog about something as off-the-wall as a planner. I get made fun of to this day for my Filofax obsession, but I really don't think those people get it! I have made some true friends through my blog and the blogs of others- to the point where we have two meetups scheduled this summer. When I look at Google Analytics, I'm still shocked to see how much of the world map is covered with page views, all because of a bit of leather and paper!

In one sentence, how would you describe your blog to a Filofax user who hadn’t seen it?

I'm pretty sure the name says it all!

Finally, what one piece of advice would you offer to other Filofax bloggers, based on your own experience?

Photos! People love to look at and respond to photos. And this is coming from a word person! But seriously, if you're taking the time to write about your set up or a new insert/gadget, take some shots and throw them on your blog as well. I always get more comments and page views on Filofax posts when I've included images. We are all nosy, and love to take a peek inside the set ups of others!

My thanks to J for participating.

If you own a Filofax blog and would like it to be featured in this series, please complete the questionnaire.


Sunday 1 July 2012

Adding a pen loop to your Filofax

A single pen loop is common, at least for Personal size Filofaxes. Often, they are a little ungenerous, refusing to accommodate wider pens like the Frixion. The solution is a Leuchtturm 1917 pen loop.

Here it is in its packaging:


I attached mine to a transparent envelope, near the back of my Filofax and stuck it so it protruded a little:


Note how it accommodates the wider Frixion without difficulty. The slight protrusion is important so that your pen clears the divider tabs, like this:


And here is how it looks with the binder closed:


And finally, from above:


The Leuchtturm 1917 pen loop costs just £2.50 or so and I am finding it makes a big difference to the usability of my Filofax. I got mine from Cult Pens (no affiliation, just a happy customer.) 

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