{"id":22700,"date":"2014-11-19T02:00:20","date_gmt":"2014-11-19T09:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=22700"},"modified":"2014-11-20T14:06:04","modified_gmt":"2014-11-20T21:06:04","slug":"filofax-personal-organizer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/filofax-personal-organizer\/","title":{"rendered":"Filofax Personal Organizer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why a paper-based organizing system in this digital age? First, as Getting Things Done <\/a>guru David Allen puts it, \u201clow-tech is oftentimes better because it is in your face.\u201d Second, last I checked (channeling Jaron Lanier here), I am not a gadget. I cherish the tools that help me stay organized, yet allow me to abide within generous swaths of Internet-free time\u2014formally known as normal life (you know, when you didn’t see everyone doing the thumb-twiddling zombie shuffle). The Filofax personal organizer is one of them.<\/p>\n

I got my first Filofax over 20 years ago and it has been a love story ever since. Part of this English company\u2019s century-old line of organizers originally developed for engineers, it is a beautifully made 6-ring loose leaf binder. With the Filofax diary, address book, paper inserts and other items that get tucked in there, for most users, it fattens up to the size of a paperback edition of Anna Karenina<\/em>. Or, say, a Philadelphia cheesesteak sandwich. Right, it does not fit in a coat pocket.<\/p>\n

Depending on the model, the Filofax personal organizer comes with an assortment of pockets on both the inside and outside flaps. Mine also includes a pen holder on the right and a highlighter holder on the left, and it closes securely, so no loose items (such as that drycleaner\u2019s ticket) can fall out.<\/p>\n

Filofax sells a cornucopia of inserts for the 6 ring binder, from a wide variety of configurations for the diary refill, to a personal ruler\/ page marker, maps of most major cities, a pad for assorted sticky notes, checkbook holder, business card holder, super-thin calculator, extra paper in a rainbow of colors, index tabs, a portable hole punch, and an address book, among other items.<\/p>\n

Countless are the ways to configure one\u2019s Filofax personal organizer. I\u2019ve evolved into using the Week on Two Pages diary for noting appointments, birthdays, and any time-sensitive to-dos; two rulers\/ page markers; the assorted sticky notes pad (though now with my own, more economical, Post-Its); the address book at the back; plus a \u201cpage\u201d of plastic sleeves for business cards. I stash items such as stamps and paperclips in the front inner pocket (especially handy when traveling). Tickets (drycleaners, concerts) go in another pocket. In addition, I made up several tabbed sections to index my personal, financial, business, and other to do \/ might one day do lists, to which I slap on ideas scribbled on Post-Its as they occur to me. The tabbed sections follow my personal interpretation of David Allen\u2019s Getting Things Done (GTD) system \u2014 his basic idea being, capture all your to dos in one \u201cbucket\u201d you regularly revisit, and thereby can clear your mind for more clarity and creativity in the present moment. (To track more complex medium and long-term projects, I use the Projecteze<\/a> system of a Word table which relies on the sorting feature\u2014that\u2019s another post.)
\nAs for address book, it\u2019s not my main nor my only address book, just the addresses I like to keep handy in this particular system \u2014 so, in part, it serves as a paper backup for the most vital addresses, and those I regularly consult when making appointments.<\/p>\n

Usually the Filofax stays open on my desk\u00a0\u2014\u00a0which works for me, but clearly that won\u2019t be ideal for those who work in less private and\/or mobile situations. I take it with me when I travel or attend meetings where I might need to review my schedule or consult the to do lists and\/or address book.<\/p>\n

High-end stationary, luggage, and department stores often carry the Filofax line of organizers and inserts\u00a0\u2014\u00a0as does Amazon\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but to ensure that I get exactly what I want when I want it, I order the refill for the following year from the Filofax USA\u2019s on-line shop<\/a> on September 1st. At year\u2019s end\u00a0\u2014\u00a0following the advice of my tax accountant who says it could be handy in case of an audit\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I file the diary with the rest of that year\u2019s tax documents.<\/p>\n

There are four major disadvantages to this system. None of them torpedo it for me, but they might for you:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It\u2019s a paper-based system, and for those who want their hand-held and\/or laptop to be their all, and the many bells-and-whistles of a cloud-based system, clearly, it\u2019s a headshaker.<\/li>\n
  2. High cost. You get what you pay for, however, and I have been happy to pay for the refills and other accessories because their simple and elegant design inspires me to stay better organized. For those who bristle at such prices, however, it would certainly be possible to make a homemade version of many of the inserts.<\/li>\n
  3. Security risk. One\u2019s office or house could burn down or someone could steal the Filofax\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but then again, they couldn\u2019t hack into it at 3 in the morning from Uzbekistan, either.<\/li>\n
  4. Bulk and weight. I can easily toss my Filofax into a briefcase or shoulderbag, but without an on-call chiropractor, I wouldn\u2019t want to haul it around on a walk.\u00a0That said, when I go for a walk, I go for a walk.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    <\/div><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Sturdy, customizable, portable paper-based organizing system<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22700"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22700"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22864,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22700\/revisions\/22864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}