Because I use DPP refill in my filofax, I write a lot of things on one page and it can look very busy and cluttered on the page, especially if I don't organise it with colour-coding. So, I decided I needed to sort out my colours once and for all!
My earlier attempt at colour-coding came from the 4-colour pen I have, which is black, blue, red and green. I assigned black to appointments, blue for to-dos, red for uni work and green for recording things.
In my new attempt, I wrote a list of the common type of things I write in my daily diary. Many of these were the same as I used to have, but then there were some new things or new systems for things. Here is a picture of the list I made and the colours I assigned to them, which I will explain further below.
I use black for appointments because they are concrete events that I must do- a hard, black colour, kind of the opposite of "pencilling it in".
I use red for university, either for uni to-dos or daily goals like "FINISH ESSAY" (written at the top of the page in capitals), or just for time-blocking between appointments. The red colour just shouts at me: DO THIS!!
I use green, purple and turquoise for to-dos. I group my main to-dos that I want to do that day by the place where they need to be done- at home (green), on campus (purple) or other places (turquoise), rather than by subject. This is so that when I'm in a particular place, I can see everything I need to do there before I leave, instead of getting home and realising I have forgotten to do something on campus or in town!!
Pink is for fun things because it's my favourite colour- social events, TV programmes to watch, time-blocking for hobbies etc :)
I use Pilot V5 rollerball hi-tecpoint pens for colour-coding in my filofax.
I really like these pens, the ink is very smooth and doesn't run, fine lines at 0.5mm, and works great in my filofax- most importantly, it doesn't bead on the paper!! The pen barrels are thick enough to hold properly (I find it uncomfortable to hold thin pens in my hand when I have long nails), but not too thick- you can actually fit one into the pen loop of my Malden!! They are relatively inexpensive, about £2.50 per pen- which is OK if you are going to use them a lot, but you can buy them in multi-packs (turquoise, pink and purple; black, blue and red) which are about £5.50, saving you £2!
Unfortunately, they don't make a lighter green colour. I wanted to use that for at-home things, and the darker green for recording stuff like a log book, but unfortunately I can't do that and just use the dark green for home things.
Something I don't like about using multiple pens in my filofax (although I don't think I would be as organised if I used just 1) is the fact that when I need to write in a specific colour, I have to fish around in my bag/pencil case for the right pen. I have tried to overcome this by just writing my to-dos in black and underlining them in the corresponding colour when I have my pens out later. But I think I have come up with a solution:
They fit perfectly in the notepad pocket of my Malden!! The clips hold them on really well and they don't slip out! This is good for when I am out and about, and need access to my pens quickly, but not in my pencil-case.
However, this is only a temporary solution as they make my filofax quite fat, as you can see in the photo below. When I finish setting up my filo, I will have loads more stuff on the rings, so I don't think I'll be able to close it properly when the pens are in it!
Skinny filo! (Minus the pens ;b ) Don't worry, I'll be fattening it up soon!!
