Of course your Filofax, Paperchase or whatever planner - I hear Kate Spade, Mulberry, Staples etc all have their own - will come with standard inserts and if this is all you need, then great! Go forth and plan your life and enjoy living it!
However, if you really want to maximise your organisational capabilities, there are so many inserts available out there, to buy or download or even make yourself.
The sky is the limit with DIY but today I'm going to talk about the inserts I bought from Paperchase (in Selfridges) when I got my personal planner.
So lets begin! Here's the link to the inserts page on the Paperchase website - you'll see they sell Filofax and their own brand and the inserts are interchangeable for both brand's planners of the same size, in my case personal and here's what I got, with piccies.
Paperchase Personal size sticky notes insert.
Its excellent and really I can just leave it at that, as the uses are obvious are they not? Its on a thick cardboard and each sticky pad is glued on securely - they ain't going nowhere. There is also a pocket size which may be interchangeable with the personal size looking at the binder holes, but you don't get the bigger square sticky notes which I think are the most useful.
Where does it live?
At the the front - it's the first thing in my planner and is my first form of dashboard. Simply write the note/entry on the sticky note(s) and later transfer them to the relevant section.
Downsides or difficulties?
1. I wanted to have this at the front or back of my organiser facing in, so the back could be used for something else, maybe decorative, and when reaching for a sticky note whilst writing in the planner, I wouldn't have to close the planner pages so much. Ok, I'm struggling to describe what I mean but at least I understand myself! Basically the problem was that it wouldn't fit in the ring binder that way, and if you tried this with a full organise you know what I mean, it takes up a good 2-3 mm of valuable ring binder space and the only way to avoid that is to have it at the very front, facing the front, or at the very back, facing the back, whereas I wanted it at the front facing the back or at the back facing the front.
An alternative would be to have the plastic backed sticky note inserts in the front/back pockets, but I have my insert and that's what I'll be using.
2. How to explain this... hmmm. Ok so because it has to face outwards rather than in, this insert finds itself face to face with the organiser's pockets. Which would be find if it was a book but because of the very nature of a ring bound organiser, the front and back organiser pages brush/move/rub against the organiser cover horizontally. Does that make sense? Well that's all good and fine but this particular insert has the sticky notes which then catch on the pockets. My big and small stickies seem to be fine but the darn medium one has lost a few sheets and very quickly. SO IRRITATING!
There are solutions:
- a front page/dashboard/blank insert at the front... although as discussed the sticky notes insert takes up a lot of binder space.
- a folded piece of paper, half tucked into the main pocket and remaining half covering the whole pocket section... could be unsightly but could be utilised productively, again as a dashboard, decoration, index - whatever you can think off.
- a large sticky note strategically placed to cover the part of the pocket that is catching on the medium sticky note... this is what I have done for the time being, and it features a list of Filofax-y things to get/make. Word of warning - this gets scruffy after a time so is a short term solution, or a long term one if you are expecting to need to replace that note regularly anyway.
Alternatives?
1. DIY - I have an array of post-it notes, index flags etc that are lying around doing nothing: Strong glue onto a firm piece of card would have done the trick
2. Stick sticky note pads in the pockets of the organiser!
3. DIY a sticky notes swing pad - I might do a tutorial for this later
4. Stick sticky note pads in a plastic wallet insert or envelope insert
NEXT!
Paperchase Personal undated day planner inserts
Originally I was going to get a to do list but this seemed like an upgrade. On a double page spread, you have one page for notes on the left and your day breakdown on the right, with appointments on the top third, a "remember" section at the bottom section and the biggest part in the middle is a to do list. it's good how yo can list all your to dos and if you have a lot, or if they are big tasks, you can then set the task priorities - you can always do that anyway but its good to have a dedicated column - and then you can tick them off as you go along.
Where does it live?
Currently, I have a few of the pages behind the Planner divider - useful for planning the occasional BIG day of doing things. It can also go in between a week to view in the diary section, so when assigning to dos you can look at the week just buy going one page forward or back. The remainder of the pages go in a backup inserts folder, because they take up unnecessary space!
Downsides or difficulties?
1. The remember section has tick boxes too - I would have thought if something to remember needed to be done it's go in a to do, but if you can think of a use for it, do it.
2. There is only one day to a view - it would have been useful to have a week, or at least two days, that way you could go through your day, assess the tasks, anything that needs to be reassigned to the following day you can stick it in. Likewise, if your on today and you want to see what you didn't finish yesterday, it's right there to stick it in. But space wise, this format would suit those with several tasks and appointments each day.
3. A whole half a view to notes? There is a notes section in the organiser which is rendered pointless, or else this page is rendered pointless if you prefer to use the notes section. Again, I guess this format would suit those who just want to keep their organiser on one page and have everything there. You can always transfer the notes page to the notes section when you're done with a day - but it would have been better if this was on the right hand side of the view rather than the left.
Alternatives?
1. a bog standard to do list... it can be dated/undated, day at a time/accumulative, whatever suits you
2. DIY a day planner/week planner whatever you want... I've been having a play around with different formats and will share them in due course
3. In theory, there may not be a need for this... you can list all of your tasks or to dos in your diary pages, depending on the space available and how hectic your life is or is not
Paperchase Personal 2 organiser zip wallets
Why did I get this? What are you asking me for, I don't know! It just seemed like a SMASHING idea. Literally - I saw them and thought 'that's a smashing idea!' picked them up and ran to the till as fast as I could. I have used one of them, to store a mechanical pencil. But then I stopped using them and am saving them for something else. Something special. Alright, I just don't know what for.
Where does it live?
Riiiiiiiiiight at the back, where I would stick all redundant smashing things.
Downsides or difficulties?
The zipper is on the edge which is good, but its quite bulky, so you can't have both of the zippers closed right to the top - it would pad that section of your organiser by OVER 1 CM. wowser.
There are solutions:
- Have one of the zippers slightly lowered so they just miss each other - as in the pic
- Have one of the zip wallets upside down
Alternatives?
1. Don't get them if you don't need them
2. DIY - there are so many possibilities... reuse A4 clear wallets, reuse projectbook wallets etc
3. Get paper/plastic envelopes or even better DIY them... you can reuse pretty envelopes you've received cards or letters in
Finally...
Notepad
This doesn't need much explanation, nor reasoning, but I should point out I didn't buy this. Well I did, I got it from WHSmiths about 11 years ago for 99p. But basically there is the lovely pocket at the back of the organiser into which you may, if you wish, insert a notepad. I have so many unused notepads lying around the house and I just went for this because it's colourful, but I don't like how it says "sex" on it because that all someone will notice at work... "this girl has a book for sex! Oh no i don't. I believe the design should read sex bomb, but it appears to be saying bomb sex. Which I can't fathom. But I just remembered playing Mario on the N64 and there's the level where the little bombs just walk around.
Alternatives?
1. Well I don't have to use a pad that says anything on the cover, do I?
2. Insert a shopping list pad in this pocket
3. Insert a to-do list pad in this pocket
4. Insert a swingpad in this pocket.
5. I believe you can insert something in here, that will make it appear as if your planner reads horizontally. I'm not sure what or how but I do believe and I shall investigate.
Next, I'll start showing you the different sorts of inserts I have made :)
Please feel free to comment!
