The Downsizing Experiment Continues - otherwise known as how do I cram my life into a Pocket Deco?

So I am coming to the end of week 1 using my beautiful Pocket Deco in Ivory as my main Filofax. You know the one that we have surgically attached to us, have panic attacks about should it be out of sight for more than 15 minutes and that should we ever suffer the misfortune to loose it our lives would be over (or at least a mystery as we wouldn't where or what we were doing).


So the story so far, I have been a committed Personal size Filofax fan for many, many years to organise my personal life (my work Filofax is A5 - nothing smaller could cope with my list making/project writing/note taking OCD) and until recently this was working out really well - I was happily in love with my Chameleon in Raspberry and she came in my handbag everywhere with me. And here was my problem, I carry about so much stuff in said handbag that it was starting to need it's own heavy load sticker. And then Filofax emailed their Sale newsletter just before Christmas - and there it was. The Ivory Deco half price. And an idea formed - maybe by treating myself to the most gorgeous Pocket Filofax I could start to downsize. After all how much did I actually need to carry around with me 24/7? And so with the threat of discontinuation nudging me almost as much as the enablers commenting on my blog about the indecision see here I bought the Deco. In Pocket size. And thus started the Downsizing of Loulou.

So how have I set up the Deco? (I LOVE reading about how other Filofaxers set up their planners so here is hoping my description lives up to the posts by Caribbean Princess and Plannerisms - very unlikely it will so I recommend that you should check their blogs out for inspirational planner set ups).

So a couple of shots to show how gorgeous she is...as always the photos are taken with my iPhone, in the kitchen so the quality isn't brill but you can get the idea......



How gorgeous is that clasp!!

And here is the clasp open...

And here she is open - I have some pretty business cards for jewellery sites in the card holders (left) and then a photo of my favourite building in the world - The Chrysler Building in New York so it makes me smile every time I open my filo up :)

Close up of the gorgeous suede interior with the business cards/stamps etc. Note the zipped pocket - I keep my secrets in here (well I would if had any!!)

So if we flip over the clear pocket containing New York you can see I keep vouchers behind the Chrysler - currently a discount voucher for Oasis. Then on the right is a business card holder insert - currently showing the business card of the lovely Mr P's band Hybrid.

Then we have the ESSENTIAL post it notes, so cute!!

And so to the diary layout...in my Personal and in my work A5 I favour the week on one page with notes format where I can record all meetings/events in the diary page on the left hand and then have notes/to do's/things to remember on the notes page on the right. However with a Pocket the size I think would be just too small to have this format so I am trialling using the standard week on two pages. And so far it is working out ok....

The cream diary that was supplied includes a little notes section at the top of the left hand page - so essential to do's can go in there. I then use coloured pens to distinguish between what the notes/appointments are. For example all social events like Hybrid gigs are in purple (or a reminder that the new Mary Portas show starts tonight - love her!) PM in blue refers to a work meeting taking place on Wednesday and Thursday. And things to do with appointments are in pink. I favour the Pilot Frixion pens as they are lovely to write with, come in fab colours and are erasable - so when plans change you can rub the pen notes out. AMAZIN!!

Close up of the diary in action (cue dramatic music) dum dum dum

I am currently using the standard sections of Diary, Notes, Information, Financial and Addresses...

Under Notes I have 2 clear dividers I love these as they help to mark out my sections nice and neatly. I have in there Randoms - notes just taken while on the move, Lists - of movies, books, blogs, to do's etc and then Fashion - lists of things I'd love to buy, outfit combinations that work etc.

Next is Information which currently contains all the important information on a special project - timings, contact details etc etc. Plus my London Underground map .

Then we have Financial where I am aiming, in conjunction with the Spend Free app on my iPhone, to track all my expenditure each month with a view to working out how I can save more.

Then we have the Addresses tab - where surprisingly I have people's addresses (shocking!!)

We then reach the back of the Pocket Deco:

Here you can see my stickers (love them for brightening up the diary pages) and the suede popper pocket which currently looks after my Oyster card for when I visit London town.

So that is my set up and so far it seems to be working well. I have to admit I am missing my personal size filo purely for the amount I could get in it and store within it BUT I am loving the portability of the Pocket size and the gorgeousness of the binder more than makes up for the lack of size that I am used to.

Let's see how we get on next week though.........how do you organise yourself, please do share

Lx