Moving into my Temperley for Filofax planner

It was my Birthday in October and I was given money as a gift to buy myself something that I would use.  I decided on a trip to TKMaxx, not really sure what I wanted, thinking maybe I could buy some nice make-up or (yet another) cute notebook.  While browsing around I spotted the Temperley for Filofax wallet with the brown and pink Ikat print, which I had lusted over when it first came out in 2012, and being limited edition, thought I’d never get a chance to own!

I decided that I would buy it, even though I had already purchased a lovely Mini Cross in a lovely deep blue and a Pocket Cross in Brown to attempt to turn into a wallet.  (I ended up gifting the Pocket Cross to my other half for him to use for work) I use the Mini Cross when I’m going out for the evening or using a smaller bag. 

I have been using my Personal Classic Filofax (it’s the same as the Cross but was the older version which was renamed at some point) but wanted to combine my Filofax with a wallet so I could slimline down what I carry in my bag day-to-day.  I love my Classic Filofax, but now I am not in uni and working 2 different jobs I felt that I didn’t need to carry around such a bulky item and this seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

I have now been using my Temperley for just under 2 months now and am really liking it.  Here’s an overview of my set up.

Firstly I would like to talk about the paper and ring sizing, the rings are small, the same as the kind found on the compact filofax’s measuring 15mm.  And this Temperley takes personal sized sheets, which is a good thing for me as I  had already started buying inserts for 2016 for my Classic!  The Temperley did come with 2016 week on 2 pages diary inserts, address inserts, birthdays, notes and fly-leaf and message from Alice Temperley along with really nice black dividers with tabs labelled in gold.

The first images show the purse/card holder section.  There are  16 card holder pockets, 8 on each side of a long zippered pocket for holding change.  On the side closest to the organiser is a patent long pocket which I use to hold some sticky notes.  The patent material is debossed with the name of the Filofax, the print and the sizing – ‘Temperley for Filofax IKAT compact organiser’.

The organiser side has a clear plastic fly-leaf which covers the ‘Temperley for Filofax’ co-ordinating print dashboard which I have decided to keep for the time being.  On the back of this is a note from Alice Temperley which reads “A Filofax is much more than a diary, for me it’s for storing all the things I collect…and my lists… This is a fun and colorful addition that doubles up as a good holiday clutch!  X Enjoy Alice”  and I really like the sentiment that a filofax is much more than a diary, you can make it what you want by adding and removing things as you need them.

The first section I am going to show you is the Diary section as that is the first section in my organiser and the one that I use most often.
I currently use day to a page filofax inserts which I was using in my Classic.  I really like this style of page as it gives me so much space to write everything down.  I very rarely use the appointment times down the side of the inserts preferring to write any important information in a red toned (sometimes bright pink) onto the page itself.  The page is split into two columns and I use the right hand side to write lists – shopping or to do’s on.  The left hand side is for personal and work things, I like to track what I wore to work (weird?  I am working on a what I wore project!), work achievements, things I need to remember and other appointments (like visiting my Mum!)  I keep a month at the front and as each week goes by I remove it from my filofax before replacing the next full month.  For example, at the beginning of December I placed the full month of pages into my planner but now, I have removed the full weeks up until the 11th December (Friday) so now I only have December 12th – 1st January in there.  Behind my Day to a Page inserts is a year to view pull out overview of 2016 which is colour coded for set dates such as pay-day, birthdays and anniversaries as well as things that are already planned, like festivals.  This helps me to keep an eye on what is coming up and things I need to plan for in advance.  I use coloured pencils to colour the squares relevant to that date in the colour assigned to the occasion and where 2 things fall on the same date I tend to colour in the most important thing (to me) and then outline with the other colour the same square.
Behind this yearly overview page I have a month on 2 pages inserts which use the same colour coding as before (for ease of use) which I normally add other information to a and when, like any medical appointments or when I need to worm the dog next,book MOT for the car, car tax due dates,  things that need doing regularly but don’t need to have space in my day-to-day planning. Behind that is my week-on-two-pages spread.  I keep the full future month in my planner, so in December I have January’s full week-on-two-pages inserts available.  This section is also colour coded in the same way as my day to a page and month on 2 pages and helps me plan things that may be happening in the month ahead and reminders of thing to do in the month ahead, like booking a follow-up appointment or ordering a repeat prescription.  It also helps me to see where things may be occurring and plan my month ahead more effectively, offers me greater detail than my month-on-two-pages or my yearly pull out sheets and helps me budget for up coming events like birthdays buying birthday cards and presents for people (I am trying to budget buying gifts and cards in the month prior to the birthday, eg if a birthday is in February, then I plan to start looking for a gift and card in the month before, so January, this saves me from panic buying or forgetting!).  The colour coding for this section is a bit more subtle as I tend to colour in the dots where the dates are.

It might seem a bit excessive to have so many formats of diary being carried around at the same time but each format offers me a greater depth of planning…

• the Yearly overview pull out shows me set events and dates
• the month-on-two-pages shows me an overview of the month ahead and helps me set reminders of things that need doing for that month
• the week-on-two-pages allows me to see each week at a glance and add information about the week coming up and
• the day-to-a-page allows me to plan my day, write reminders, lists, shopping and day specific tasks.

Next up in my filofax is my “Projects” section.

I use this section to write things in that I would like to do, at the moment I have written in there “Meal Plan for month”, “Look at Welsh courses”, “Look at ECDL courses” and blog ideas (not sharing them though…they are a surprise!)  These are things which are not assigned to a date, need completing at any point or have a specific timescale attached o them, they are things I would like to do when I have time but are not necessarily something that I need to do.

Behind this section I have addresses.

I have written own only important numbers that I may need, such as doctors, the AA, my garage, family phone numbers and addresses, any numbers that may be needed if my mobile is not with me.  All other numbers are stored on my phone.  I have a pass code on my phone and I always worry that if anything ever happened to me a stranger may need to access contact details for someone and having them written down somewhere means that they will have access to them quickly and easily.  If it wasn’t for this thought I would probably not have this section in my planner.

Next comes the Notes section

I have 10 sheets of filofax brand, lined paper in this section which I use to write down ideas for gifts, lists of things I may need to buy in the future, recipes and food ideas, paragraphs I may use in blog posts, things I may want to schedule into my diary but not sure where they may fit (like a 4x per year house deep clean!) and it currently houses my christmas card lists for work, family and neighbourhood!  This section has no rules, no rhyme or reason and just holds any snippets of info that I think about, a bit like a skip for info my brain doesn’t need to hold on to!

The final section I have in my Filofax is “Expenses” which I don’t use for expenses at all.  I have a few sheets of plain paper in here that I am contemplating removing all together as I never use it, but it is there at the moment to doodle on or create something with if I feel like it. And behind the paper I have a pull out world map which is always handy to have!

The whole organiser section of the Temperley for Filofax fits into a pocket on the opposite side to the wallet section by a thick piece of plastic at the back of the organiser.  It is designed so you can slide it in and out as needed.  I tend to remove the whole organiser section when I want to use it as it lays flat and is easier to write in when not inside the wallet.

I use the slip pocket to hold a card organiser.  This was taken from my Classic and holds cards that I don’t use on a daily basis but may need when I’m out and about, such as store cards (Boots, Matalan, Superdrug are a few) these can be removed easily when I don’t need them and placed in to the organiser when I do.  Mostly I tend to leave them in this pocket as they take up next to no space and are always to hand!

There is a pen loop situated by the zip on the same side as the organiser sits which is made out of elastic so would probably stretch to accommodate any sized pen.  I used the pen loop once but found that the pen interfered with opening and closing the wallet as the zip caught on the pen.  I prefer to tuck my pen into the other side by the coin zip pocket which doesn’t seem to have any impact on opening or closing the wallet at all.  (for the record I use a Hi-Tec-C Coleto barel with 4 colours, so it’s fairly chunky.)  I am thinking about maybe removing the pen loop as for me it has no function.

Overall I really like this Filofax and it seems to fit my life better at the moment, I was weary that I would miss the large rings and stuffability of my classic but so far I feel like I can fit in everything I need that is relevant to my life and saves me lugging around things I don’t need.  I am still able to use the format of diary inserts that I like and am able to continue to use my own planning style and can’t see me changing for another planner any time soon!