Organising those snippets of information (Part 1)

with my Systemised Product and Information Folder or ‘SPIF’ for short

For ages now I have been trying to find a way to catalogue and contain all the bits and pieces of information that I seem to collect from sources such as magazines, catalogues and even the junk mail.   These assorted clippings can be anything from a magazine recommendation for a new skin cream, to a newspaper ad for a play at our local theatre, or even a leaflet advertising an upcoming event and I keep them all thinking I might find them useful one day. (Whether this is the case or not is another matter and maybe another blog!)

Up until now I have never really found a good way of collecting and keeping these odds and ends so that I can easily retrieve the information when I need it.  All too often I have discovered details for an event that has passed tucked away in the back of my Filofax and forgotten about. I tried sticking these clippings into a small notebook but soon realised that I couldn’t organise them into any kind of order and in no time at all I had filled the book.

Then one day recently as I was browsing in my local stationery store Ryman I noticed that they are now stocking A5 lever arch binders and A5 tab inserts (even though they are in garish primary colours – what is wrong with plain white???) and this gave me the idea.

So my plan is that I will stick each clipping with Pritt stick to a piece of A5 paper (at work we always have a huge shredding pile where the bottom half of an A4 sheet of paper is unused so I cut them in half to produce a clean A5 piece to use in my Filofax).

This is a clipping advertising Solgar Probiotics that I want to try…

and this is a flyer giving details of some Open Gardens that I was interested in going to

and this is a page from a garden catalogue with various plant frames that I might be tempted to buy- but just not yet.

I have made a separate tab for each category and so far I have

Out and about (Places to go)

Gardening

Supplements and vitamins

Skincare

Foot care

Haircare

Exercise

Gifts

Books / Music

Home-ware Items 

I am sure I may add to this list as I go on or even shorten it depending on how useful it is.  As soon as I have attended an event or the date has passed or I have bought and tried a product or no longer have a use for the clipping I can remove the sheet and throw it away.

When I have the whole thing assembled I will make proper tab labels with my trusty labelling machine but for now I am using a few Post it notes. So far I am loving my new binder already.

You might also like to read: