A spot of Filofaxing ready for 2013...

Hi guys!

Today I've been FILOFAXING.  I've been wanting to get my 2013 diary sorted out for quite a while now because I had almost a page of diary dates written down at the end of my 2012 diary, ready to transfer into it. But unfortunately, I seem to suffer from a condition called "Mountainoutofmolehillitis" whereby I always envisage a job taking about 14 times' the amount of time that it actually takes to complete, so I often end up putting it off for as long as possible because I can't be bothered won't have time to do it all in one go.

Anyway, today I bit the bullet and got cracking, and it took me about two-and-a-half hours to finish.  Phew!  So now my 2013 'week on one page with notes' diary and year planner are both complete and ready to go!

This is what I did...

Firstly, I gathered all my lists of dates together and wrote the following information on my year planner:

• My daughter's school holidays (dark green, right side);
• Dates I'm on call (red, left side);
• Dates I'll be out at shows/gigs/band concerts/parties etc (purple);
• Birthdays (light blue);
• Important deadlines (red);
• General perpetual reminders and reminders for my Secretarial duties (pink).

Then I transferred all this information into the diary itself (for the full year).  After that, I went through the diary week by week and wrote my reminders in. For example, when I have a birthday coming up, a week or two before I'll put a reminder on the 'notes' page to remind me that I need to buy a card and present if required. Or if I need to renew some insurance, I'll put a note in to remind me to start hunting around for quotes.

I like to have the year planner nice and full because as I use a slimline, I can't fit a full year's worth of diary pages into it in one go, so at least I'll have the year planner available so I can check for any clashes if I'm organising something well in advance.

I also use a few weeks' worth of 'day per page' diary pages as well, but I fill these out only when I actually put them in my Filofax.

So people - have you filled your 2013 diary yet? Which one are you using? And how do you use your year planner, if you use one at all?

Lucy x



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My new Filofax DIY birthday ruler hack thingy wotsit...

Good morning/evening all!

Today I thought I'd tell you about a brainwave that I had last night. Instead of doing the ironing, I "FILOFAXED"!!! (Is that a naughty word? Am I in trouble? *sulks off slowly to the naughty step*)

A small wave of panic washed over me last night as I remembered that I have an awful lot of birthdays from September to December that I need to buy cards and presents for (29 to be exact!). Thus far, I've dealt with this by putting them all on my year planner. This helps me to keep my 'week on one page with notes' (planning ahead) diary up-to-date and serves as a perpetual calendar. I also use my year planner for important deadlines (ie: car tax, MOT, insurance fa la la), when I'm on call and for noting down when the school holidays are.

The problem is, I only use my year planner to help me fill in my 'week plus notes' diary and I forget to look at it at any other time! I write the birthdays in my main diary, but I only come across the reminder that I need to deal with a birthday about a week or two beforehand, which is fine really. But when I have so many birthdays to deal with, I also want to see a list of them at a glance (and that I'd look at regularly), so I can keep an eye out for a present or card well in advance and keep my eye on the bigger picture.

So the birthday ruler was born! And here it is:

Double-page spread showing my new birthday ruler

I use a black ruler/page marker for my 'day per page' diary.

Front of ruler with months January to July.

Reverse of ruler with months August to December, including a marker arrow to draw my attention to the next birthday on my list!

It's nothing fancy - I just typed up a list of all the birthdays/anniversaries I have on my year planner, split them roughly in half, decreased the font size, printed them off, cut them out and stuck them on my ruler with sellotape  It didn't take long at all!  I'm actually considering making another one for the clear ruler I use for my 'week plus notes' diary. This would have all my important deadlines on it.

I like to be able to see the big picture when it comes to everything I have to do. The months from September to December are soooo busy with deadlines, birthdays and Christmas that whilst I don't want to frighten myself, I need to remind myself that I must remain organised and get everything sorted that needs to be sorted. This birthday ruler helps me plan ahead a little more, rather than just fire-fighting as and when birthdays arise.

How do you deal with important (perpetual) reminders and birthdays? Do you use a year planner like me, or have you got another method that works really well for you? Do tell!

Thanks for reading!
Lucy x



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