Well Planned Life

...To the Post-it! They will be 30 years old this week. Sad to say, I'm older than Post-its. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/ussocietyconsumeroffbeat

Next weekend is my trip to New York City. This trip is specifically for shopping at retailers who sell Filofax products. I don’t live that far from NYC and I’ve been plenty of times. Yet, I’ve been so looking forward to this trip for so long. It’s a bit ridiculous how excited I am to be going. Sure, a day trip with an old friend for some shopping and a great lunch is always nice. But the Filofax opportunities! This is where the ridiculous excitement comes from. There aren’t any retailers on Long Island who sell their products (at least none that I know of and definitely not any within a 20-mile radius from my house). So this day trip is a great opportunity to stock up on some items. So with this upcoming trip, I have been wondering what lovely products I might come home with. I have a small list going, though to be honest, I can’t really say what I might get until I see what’s available. I’ve been scouring the Filofax website (UK and US), as well as eBay and other Filofax-related webs...

Among my two Filofax binders currently in use, I also have a black Domino binder set aside for household items – things that need to be addressed, various information, business cards, and personal addresses. Mostly, this binder is used as a full and complete address book. While I have emergency phone numbers in my Slimline, the Domino is where I keep the address and phone number of every person I know (at least the ones I would send cards to or call). I use the Filofax letter dividers (two letters on each divider), which help me keep all of my contacts organized. I have one sheet for each letter of the alphabet, unless there’s a need for two sheets. However, I do not have individuals in alphabetical order within each letter. Even if I were to set it up that way, once I had to add someone to the list, the entire page would need to be revamped and I don’t have time to do that every time I add someone to the book. But I have come up with a way to eliminate so many cross-outs when p...

In my last post , I reviewed my latest organizational tool purchase, the Post-Its Note Tabs. At the time, I had found a use for them at work but was looking for a use for them within my planner. I have found one. Obviously, they will be used for notes. My first use is to keep track of items that I want to look for when my friend and I venture to New York City. The purpose for our trip is to visit the stores that carry Filofax items. She received her first Filofax for Christmas so this trip will be very exciting (though I think I might be slightly more excited than she is). I thought these note tabs would be the perfect tool to keep my list organized. I also have used the Filofax Jot Pads for keeping additional information for an event or appointment. I have a lot of these sheets and will continue to use them as well when the occasion calls for them. But the Post-Its Note Tabs are a better choice when needing to access the list or information often. The raised tab sticks out of my pla...

During a recent trip to my office supply store, I came across a new Post-it product – Note Tabs, which, oddly, is not available on their website, nor anywhere else on the web that I can tell. I bought two sets of these – one for home and one for work. On the back of the product, there’s a website for the product, but I don’t see the product anywhere on the site. Also, there’s a list of ideas for product use: Binders, Planners, and Paper Piles. I hope to find a use for these labels in my planner somehow. At work, I am using them to keep my project files nicely organized. I use a manila folder for my projects and use the labels where the tab is on the folder. This way, I can use the folders over and over and use the labels to let me know what the folder is being used for. I use a different color for each project (they come in blue, green, pink, and yellow). So on the tab part of the label I write what the project is (example: Book Discussion). Then on the lines of the label, I put th...

In response to Laurie’s recent blog post , I thought I’d put my two cents in on this subject as well. (I did write a little about this not too long ago – this post will provide further details of my lists.) I too am a master of lists. I have so many (and some color coded – nerdy, yes) that it bogs people’s minds – and seems to amaze them as well. Surprisingly though, I don’t get confused with all of my lists. Perhaps it’s because I tend to move items from one list to another so that I’m not looking at 50 lists at a time, but only one or two. And I try to make them as visible as possible. So here we go: First some background information: I am currently using two planners – a Slimline Guildford that goes with me pretty much everywhere, stocked only with the essential items I would need out and about. I also use a personal Jade Finchley that holds everything else and stays home. In addition to having lists in both Filos, I also keep various lists in my Google Documents – mainly, these ...

Since it is now officially spring and the weather is acting accordingly (at least for now) in New York, I’ve decided it’s time to switch out my black Kendal Filo for the more spring-like Jade Finchley . While I’ll still be using my black Slimline for anything on-the-go, the Finchley will act as the at-home “mother ship.” I love the Finchley (though I love all of my planners and have a use for each one). The leather is soft and smells wonderful. The jade color is perfect for spring – not too bright, not too washed out. Like the warmer weather, the budding flora and emerging fauna, the change in planner brings with it the hope of all things spring and great things to come for the summer! I feel like a new me is emerging as well. Happy Spring!!!