When I first saw the Filofax Flex, I was distinctly underwhelmed. It seemed….meh. My first thoughts? ‘A notebook cover by Filofax – so what. And it is not even leather! Well, that won’t last’.
Every time I beetled over to the Filofax displays I ignored the Flex display. Then I read somewhere that the covers now came in leather. There was a second version of them with a very interesting pocket constellation. And (this was the kicker), the red A5 lizard perfectly matched my Red Lizard in Personal size.
I was given a store voucher by one of my students and the value covered the cost of an A5 Flex. So it seemed to be in the stars.
And? I love it! I use a 256 page notebook on the right hand side with a week on two pages on the left hand side. In 2014 I will be using a Week on Two pages on the left and a Page a Day on the right.
In the same way that Filofax is a very flexible system, the Flex is also flexible, despite being made up of bound books.
- 1 notebook, sketchbook or diary (available in thick and thin versions) with covers slotted under left and right inside flaps. This leaves the outside flaps for use as pockets
- 2 books with covers slotted into either inside or outside flaps. If both are slotted in outside flaps you can see 4 pages at any one time. If you need to be able to write on your lap for example you can slot them in the inside slots. All credit card and phone pockets are available no matter which layout you use. You can change your constellation at any time.
- The Jot pad can be slotted top or bottom, allowing you to use it at the same time as the other books.
- You can insert three booklets at any given time, though they will not lie as flat as if you only have three and it works best with thinner booklets.
- One person (Tim Edwards – see Philofaxy posts here and here) has added rings to his Flex and turned it into a regular Filofax
- You could, theoretically, turn this into a Midori Traveller’s Notebook by adding an elastic to the spine. This I would be VERY keen to try if I can find a cheap one to experiment on. It would be a perfect size and shape for me AND give a lot more flexibility to the concept. I could then carry more than two notebooks and have it much thicker.
