Using Your Filofax for University

With my first degree done and dusted, I thought it'd be good to do a post on utilising your Filofax for university. This is aimed mainly at students who are school leavers embarking on a Bachelor's degree (because I have had no experience of being a Master's student or a phD student).

1) Choosing the Size

What you have to consider here are these following questions:

- are you planning on taking your planner everywhere with you?

- what kind of degree are you doing? One with a lot of structure or one without? For instance, I did a science degree and so I had more labs and lectures (and therefore, more structure) than someone I knew who was doing an English Literature degree.

- do you only want to put a planner in your Filofax, or do you want to put in other sheets of information essential to you too?

With all this in mind, you should be able to deduce which size is the best one for you. An A5 is ideal for someone with a lot of appointments or busy days; but it is less portable whereas the personal size is smaller and lighter in size and weight. The personal also has larger page sizes than the pocket and mini but it is also slightly heavier. There is a size guide available on the Filofax website but it might be worth going down to your local Filofax stockist to get a feel for each size.

Credit: Filofax Buyers Guide

Next, you might consider the ring size too. Most personals have 23mm rings but you might opt to just have your diary in the Filofax - and so, a Compact size will offer a larger page size but smaller rings, so it will be lighter.

2) Diary Layout

Options include 'week on two pages', 'week on one page', 'day per page', 'two days per page' as well as monthly and year views too. The most commonly used for university are probably 'week on one page' or 'week on two pages'. Again, what layout you need wil ultimately depend on what you are planning to write into your Filofax and also how busy your days will be.

3) Extra Notepaper

This, of course, is optional. It is well worth considering if you want to lug around some essential information with you; such as course information which you may need from time to time, or local area information if you are moving to an unfamiliar place for university.

4) Card Slots

The number of card slots and also orientation of them may be worth thinking about if you want your Filofax to double as a purse. You will want enough slots for your university ID card (if you have one), your credit or debit card and also any other ones which may accompany you on any trips.

5) Zipped or Unzipped

This will depend on whether or not you will be carrying around loose pieces of paper or not. Also, this is also down to personal preference as some people will be tempted by the allure of a zip but others won't be.

6) Style

This is probably more important for the girls but may also be relevant for fashion conscious guys too!

Colour, leather or non-leather and texture are also something to uhm and ah over. Some models will have more colour options than others; and your budget will also come into this too. Not all of us can afford the Deco but most of us will be able to afford the Domino or the Metropol at the very least (but the latter two are non-leather).


With all this in mind, you should be able to figure out what you need vs what you want. Weigh these up against the organisers you have shortlisted and one should stick out as the one you will love the most! Remember, Philofaxy is a good place to seek advice, and the Adspot page is one definitely worth looking at. Plus, eBay is a very good place to look for bargains too!

I hope this brief guide has been of some use and any questions, feel free to ask as I'm sure that either I, or a reader, will be able to answer it.