Filofax Revamp inspired by Gala Darling

This weekend I was extremely inspired by Gala Darling's post about her Filofax.  In fact, I was so energized by it that I completely revamped my tabs system in my personal Deco Filofax, which was no small feat.  I've been using more or less the same tabs setup for years in my Filofaxes, with some slight variations.  But Saturday I had some time to really think about my tabs and what would work better for me.

First of all, let me say I really enjoy Gala's upbeat love-yourself vibe on her blog.  I read through several of her posts* and they really got me thinking about my life and what I want to focus on.

One goal of mine these days is to have more fun in life in general.  I wanted my Filofax to reflect that too, and to work FOR me instead of being a burden full of things I OUGHT to do.

The first thing I did to add more fun to my Filofax was to put in the pink week on 2 pages diary insert (as I posted about on Philofaxy).  I think it looks great, and it reminds me every day not to take things too seriously!

The next thing I did in my Filofax was add a Me tab, which is something I've never had before.  You would think the entire contents of my Filofax would be about me, but surprisingly little was about my needs and wants.  It contained my diary pages, contact info, travel numbers and maps, children's info, emergency numbers...none of it was much fun and certainly not very inspiring.

My new Me tabbed section contains all the things about me that I want to nurture. In it I have my New Year's Resolutions to remind me of my intentions this year.  I've started a new list of inspiration, things to contemplate and remember.  Also in this section I keep my exercise routine because I want to see it as something that helps me be healthy and happy and not another chore to tick off.  This section is all about being uplifting, energizing, and positive.

(A note about the label on my Me tab: as I've mentioned before, I use the colored sticky flags from the Sticky Notes Accessory to label my tabs, so I can move them around at will and still have my tabs in a row down the side.  As we all know, purple is my very favorite color.  Alas, there are no purple sticky tabs.  So I did what any kindergartener would do: I layered a blue sticky over a pink sticky and, viola!  A purple tab for Me!)

After I added my Me tab somewhere in there among all my other tabbed sections, I took a good look at how my setup was working for me.  The answer was, not very well. 

Formerly, behind my diary pages, my tabs were in this order:

Emergency and Directories

Travel info and maps

Aberdeen (local info for where I'm moving in August)

Kids

Me

Lists (which was the bottom tab for easy accessibility)

Then behind that were Notes and Financial.

I realized it was silly to turn half the pages in my Filofax to get to my Lists section every time I needed to see my weekly lists.  Also, I had my least-used sections up front and my most-used sections buried in the middle.

So I reversed my tab lineup to:

Lists

Me

Kids

Aberdeen

Travel info and maps

Emergency and Directories (this is now the last tab at the bottom of the tabs row so it's still readily accessible)

Notes (containing blank pages for quick jotting) and Financial (with my calculator and Budget sheets) are behind those.

I like this setup a lot.  I use my Lists the most, and my Me section is right up front where I will look through it often.

*Gala's article How to Set Amazing Goals really resonated with me, especially "Have a Goal that Scares You."  This move to Scotland has been a goal for a long time, and it seemed like a far-off wish.  Now that it is actually happening, it's very exciting and thrilling yet also there's a lot about it that scares the crap out of me.  It's the chance of a lifetime to live our dream (mine, my husband's and our kids' too, they adore Scotland) and we are grabbing it with both hands.  I've done a lot of big moves in my life and made super-major changes, and yes it's hard but it's also incredibly rewarding and life-expanding.

Here are some more articles from Gala Darling that I love:

Getting Organised for 2010  (Lots of great planner ideas and wonderful tips on setting goals, getting fit, finding a new job, and how to all-around make the most of yourself!)

100 Ways You Can Start Loving Yourself Right Now

100 Things To Do When You're Upset  (lots of fun ideas in here!)

Where Are You At?  (mid-year evaluation from last year, but it's just as fitting right now)