A few months ago, I went down a rabbit hole of reawakened interest in all my various Filofaxes. It turned into a big research project, the results of which I’ll soon share in a series of posts. The research project ended up involving some shopping, so my Filofax collection is now even larger than it used to be! I keep thinking about how I could use more of my favorite Filofax organizers.

I’ve been using my Guildford Extra Slim Pocket Filofax on a somewhat daily basis, if carrying it around and flipping through it sometimes counts. I can’t say I’m writing in it very actively, but it is coming in handy at times as a repository for long-term lists that I want to refer to without having to copy them from one notebook to the next.

I’ve also decided that I am going to use a Filofax for my work notebook next year, as soon as I’d done with the Pagem planner I’m using now. I am enjoying the Pagem, but don’t feel the need to use another one next year. The key thing is that it’s shown me that a pocket-size notebook is not too small for my work notes, and that an un-formatted page will be better for me than a dated planner since I have an odd part-time schedule. I just need a place to keep some checklists and quick reference items, notes about key tasks I want to accomplish on certain days, an on-going to-do list, and notes from meetings. If I was really super-organized, I’d try to make my own customized version of the Japanese bookseller/publisher’s diary that I posted about recently! But I think a pocket Filofax with some Plotter inserts will be perfect. My only hesitation is that the actual writing area of the sheets that fit in a pocket Filofax will be even smaller than the Pagem sheets, but I think the added flexibility of being able to add and move pages will make up for the loss of size.

I have a few Filofaxes that will be candidates for the work notebook, but I can’t help thinking that none of them is quite perfect. That search for elusive perfection has always been part of my relationship to Filofaxes. One of my pocket Chelsea models came pretty close, as did my customized Filofax from the early 1990s, but otherwise every Filofax I’ve had has been slightly the wrong size, or made of the wrong material. Even other brands haven’t quite nailed it– the Raymay DaVinci notebook is a little too small, and my Plotter notebook is a little too wide. In theory, maybe I could cut the Plotter down to be narrower, but I’d also rather not have the exterior metal spine.

There is one more or less current Filofax out there that is so so close to what I’d like, but it only comes in the Personal size, not Pocket: the Filofax Heritage Personal Compact Organizer. Filofax’s website lists it. but I wonder if this model is being discontinued, as it doesn’t seem to be part of the official Filofax store on Amazon, though some are listed for sale on the US site via Amazon Japan.

The Heritage line seems to have been designed to emulate a vintage model, kind of like the one in this eBay listing, but even more minimal. There are no inside pockets, no snap closure, and the shape is slimmer than the standard personal size Filofaxes, thanks to 15mm rings. This makes it a little more substantial than the super-skinny “slimline” models that only have 11mm rings. There is a stitching detail around the edges and the leather has a pebbled texture that looks nice, at least in photos– I’ve never seen one of these in person. It comes with a leather insert that has some pockets and a pen loop on it, but I’d take that out anyway. If I bought one, that is, which I won’t, because what I really wish is that they had made a pocket size Filofax exactly like this but in the size of the Guildford Extra Slim! Or even slightly bigger, if needed, to accommodate the 15mm rings, but keeping the proportions of the Guildford. I think that could have been a perfect Filofax, but alas, it doesn’t exist.

I still have a few months to decide which Filofax or other looseleaf notebook will be my daily work companion. Maybe something perfect will come along!