Ever since buying my Filofax a few months ago, I have been getting requests to do a "Filofax tour" or post on how I stay organised. So here it is! This is my Filofax - the Finsbury Personal Organiser (A5) in Pink. I bought it in Easons for about €70. This was definitely an investment but I'm proud to say that I use my Filofax every single day so I consider it worth the money! Here's how I organise it:
When you first open up my organiser you will find my daily to-do list and weekly goals. I like to put these at the front of my Filofax so that I don't forget about them! I make a new to-do list almost everyday. Initially I used the specific Filofax To-Do List paper with the little boxes that you can tick off but they run out rather quickly so that can be a bit wasteful. They do look cute though!
After my Personal Information page (which comes with every Filofax) I keep my calendar which consists of the week on 2 pages format. This is how I plan out my week, writing in all my video/blog posts that I have planned as well as birthdays and appointments. You also get a ruler with "Today" marked on it which you can swap out each week. Everyday I also keep on track of my bank balance & analytics by writing them in (hence the pink blob above - didn't want to make that public!). I feel like this keeps me more organised and feeling like I'm on top of things...I don't know, maybe that's weird but I have always felt this way!
After the calendar/diary section we have tabs. I actually have four main ones plus an address book which you can't really see here. I was inspired to organise them this way by FlyLady.net! I really recommend her website especially if you are a stay-at-home/work-at-home mom or just take care of the household and feel it can get overwhelming at times. I'm not going to go too in detail about her routines or philosophies because that's all available on her website but basically how I have set up my organiser is similar to how she recommends setting up your "control journal". The five tabs I have are:
Daily Routines
Basic Weekly Plan
Menus/Groceries
Address Book
Personal
Under Daily Routines I first have my Before-Bed Routine. I copied this from the Flylady website so some of it doesn't really apply to me but I still find it helpful to ensure that everything gets done and that I'm organised for the next day ahead.
Next I have my Morning Routine which almost never changes. Again I have taken this from Flylady so I don't stick to everything 100% but it's great for getting off to a good and productive start every morning! Next to that I have Daily Reminders - also from Flylady. These are handy to glance at throughout the day and keep you on track with getting things done. You can also keep them on your phone if you prefer, or set up alarms if you're really forgetful!
The Basic Weekly Plan tab is where I assign all my weekly chores and tasks to one day a week. I have a page for every day of the week where I have written out the Flylady's tasks and then modified them to fit my own life. For example for Monday she recommends doing the Weekly Home Blessing Hour, which is basically a general weekly clean including mopping, dusting, vacuuming etc. However this would probably take me much longer than an hour so instead I just designate different tasks to different days of the week. Example:
Monday - Mop all floors
Tuesday - Dust downstairs
Wednesday - Clean bathrooms (shower stall & bathtub)
Thursday - Dust upstairs
Friday - Clean mirrors & doors
Saturday - Free
Sunday - Vacuum all rooms & change sheets
Thursdays are usually when we visit the PO box, do our big weekly grocery shop and run any other errands we have to get done!
At the back of this section I keep my weekly checklist which keeps me up-to-date on what I need to get done every week.
Under the Menus/Groceries tab is where I keep a Master Grocery List which tells me exactly what we tend to buy. Like most families we do repurchase a lot of the same things, especially when it comes to basics so it's good to have a full list of everything so that I can refer to it at any time. Obviously we don't run through all of this stuff every week but it still helps to know what we use. After the Master List I usually write a new Grocery List each week which varies depending on what we are planning to eat/prepare and how much we already have in the freezer/fridge/cupboards. I usually write the list on Wednesday (the day before we go shopping) which is when I also clear out the fridge and get a good idea of what we need to buy. I also can add to this during the rest of the week if we run out of something or I know I won't remember it at the shop!
After that I have my Address Book. Obviously this is something that I also keep on my phone but I am just one of those people that likes to have a tangible version as well as a digital one...it makes me feel more secure! Plus this comes in very useful if I'm sending out birthday or Christmas cards as everything is in one place!
Finally we have the Personal tab where I keep anything else I want to make a list of or write down such as personal goals, shopping lists (that don't relate to groceries!) wishlists and so on...
At the back of my Filofax is a clear plastic business card holder and a zipped pocket. At the front it also has some slots for cards which I don't use and a pen holder which I find very useful as before this I could never find my pen!
And here's my little helper bee Emilia! She hung out in my cupcake room and played with her toys while I took blog pictures today ;) She is such a cutie-pie! Well, I hope you found this post interesting...maybe it will inspire you or maybe you have some organising tips of your own that you'd like to share! Let me know in the comments below if you do! Also please know that this is just what works for me...it might not suit everyone! I love my Filofax and bring it with me almost everywhere. If you are looking for a personal organiser I definitely recommend it :)
Stay Stylish!
