She's Filo Dependent

 So who knew that when I bought my first Filofax I would find such an amazing online community of like-minded people?

Hi! My name is Nikki and I can't function without lists. Is there a 12-step program for that? There should be.

There should probably also be a 12-step program for people who love Filofaxes. I mean, there are worse things I could be addicted to, I guess... like maybe black tar heroin, but there's a recovery program for that, right?

Just kidding.

For the last ten or twelve years I was a heavy Levenger Circa user. I have all my old planners archived and up until last year they were all Circa. It worked for me, clearly, but I found that by keeping all my information (read THINGS THAT NEED TO BE DONE) in my personal binder, I was the only one in the house paying attention to them and I really wanted a system more accessible to everyone in my house (or so I thought).

So I went electronic. For more than a year I kept all our family information in shared notebooks in Evernote. I hated it. There's no delicious paper feel to the computer, no real personalization to be done, nothing to caress while you sob over your uber-long to-do list...

...but I digress.

And really, no one (read MY HUSBAND) was paying any more attention to the lists in Evernote than they did when I wrote it all down. Now, this isn't a cut on him, I promise, I love him more than anything and he's the best hubby on the planet, no joke. It's just he's not a list-oriented person. He also has a job in the computer field and as he mentioned to me several times, he'd rather jam bamboo skewers in his eyes than have to check another computer once he comes home from work.

I can respect that.

And I don't want a blind husband, so I (rather gleefully) accepted that the Evernote option wasn't going to work for us. So I gave myself permission to return to paper.

Except I really wasn't interested in going back to Circa. It's just not customizable enough and I'll admit the ring thing started to annoy me in the end.

I searched for a new planner, and almost immediately I saw the purple Malden.

I looooove purple. Like my powder room is painted purple. So is the front hall.

I knew this gem had to be mine.

I started with a personal size, but quickly realized it was too small for my day-to-day. I record a lot of information, including activities and appointments for myself, my husband, and our two sons, and the pets, plus keep lists of things that need to be done (for everyone to reference). I was also hoping to track my work hours, so the personal size just wasn't big enough.

Personal Malden in purple.

Enter the A5, naturally, in purple. I was very lucky to find a Malden for sale.

 

A5 Malden in purple.

 But the A5 is too big to carry around in my purse.... dilemmas, dilemmas... so I found a compact zipped Malden in.... wait for it.... purple... to use as my wallet.

Compact on top with just general appointments that I might have to reference if I am out plus my wallet contents. A5 on the bottom that I use as my personal diary and house binder.

Unfortunately, the A5 was waaaaay too stuffed with the regular house items and my daily stuff for my work items, so I opted for another A5 for my work information. I'm a writer and I work in my house, so I don't have to drag these binders around with me, and I certainly don't need to drag around my work info to appointments. In this binder I keep track of work hours and what project I'm working on along with notes like reviews I'm waiting to formalize and business contacts. 

The inside of my A5 Finsbury in black.

 So I have three binders that I use regularly... a compact zipped Malden that I use as a wallet, an A5 Malden that is my home and personal binder, and an A5 Finsbury exclusively for work. It seems to be working really well for me, and it's taken me a little while to get to this point.

 I do enjoy personalizing them, and I use mostly stickers and pens. I have a to do list stamp for the notes side of my week-on-two-pages with notes, and that works well. I also don't color code anything because it kind of makes me crazy to see 10 zillion different colors on one page. Just personal preference. I don't go crazy with the decorating because it takes up too much space for planning, but I do like to make personalized dividers. If anyone would like to see those, let me know.

This is my little bag with decorating goodies.

And here is the family. A5 Finsbury in black, A5 Malden in aqua, A5 Malden in purple, compact zipped Malden in purple, personal Malden in purple, and pocket Malden in gray.

It wasn't until I started searching for the aqua Malden that I realized what an amazing web presence Filofax has. I'm looking forward to meeting other Filofax fans! Leave me a comment.