Why a Filofax?
_(This is part one of a series on using a Filofax in my GTD-based personal productivity system. “Part two continues here.“http://organisedlife.com/article/14/why-a-filofax)
In a world of ubiquitous connectivity, of bounteous bandwidth, of cheap and fast internet access, of ever-more-powerful consumer electronics, why would anyone choose to lug around the venerable Filofax instead of something smaller, sleeker, faster, with more features?
Today I want to explain exactly why the Filofax suits me down to the ground, and why it might just be the thing for you to stay on top of your life.
The long winding path to leather-bound perfection
I’m a gadget freak. I love technology. When I first got into the Allen cult of Getting Things Done, I looked high and low for a cool high-tech solution to staying organised.
In first year at university, I had a Palm III, one of the earlier versions of the venerable PalmPilot. Later, while I was living and working in London, I splashed out on a Palm Tungsten E, and recently only just talked myself out of a new Palm Lifedrive.
I’ve used Basecamp, I’ve used Backpack, I’ve used iCommit, I’ve used phpCollab, I’ve used Google Calendar.
(There was even a period where my main topic of dinnertime conversation was whether an online- or paper-based system for personal organisation was better. I’m not particularly proud of that period.)
But I came back to paper every time, and I think by now I’ve learned my lesson. Cool as the technology is, it’s paper that actually works, and that’s the important bit for me.
The benefits of paper
Over the next few days, I’m going to post a series of articles on using a Filofax (or other paper products) to run a robust GTD system. We’ll talk about using the calendar effectively, contexts and synchronisation, and even using your own portable tickler file.
Today, though, I want to summarise the main reasons I came back to paper every time I’d tried a new electronic or online management system.
- It doesn’t crash. Seems obvious when you see it written out like that, but this is a really big one for me. Even the Palm Tungsten E, a relatively late-model Palm, crashed on me more often than it should. If I was at my desk at the time, then it wasn’t such a problem — although it was still annoying. The real problem came when it crashed miles away from home: sometimes it would come back up and nothing would be lost, but more than once I lost work, and wasn’t able to sync it with my Mac for some time. So, paper wins.
- It’s ‘always on’, and I don’t need to be connected. As a number of people have said in comments on an earlier post here, the problem with managing your life online comes when you’re offline. I use my GTD system to manage my whole life, not just my online life, and being able to have my Filofax with me on holiday, or on a plane, or wherever, is very important.
- It’s instantaneous. I always found scheduling events a complete pain on the Palm — constantly tapping back and forward between days, and never able to see enough information on the screen at once. Online systems are marginally better, but there’s still too much mucking about required for my liking. With a paper system, you can flip back and forward as much as you like.
- It’s freeform. Even though it’s important to keep your paper-based system structured to a certain extent, I love having the ability to grab my Filofax and scribble a phone number or some notes on whatever page is to hand. No other system I’ve ever used has offered this flexibility, and I couldn’t live without it now that I’ve got it.
This is part one of my series on using Paper — a Filofax, in particular — to manage life and work. Part two talks about the specifics of using Filofax pages — and in the meantime, take a moment to tell me about your experiences of using paper, below. Are you working online? What’s your preference?
Comments
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For the last 5+ years I am a happy Palm user. In contrast to your experience, mine (Zire 31) never crashed, is always on and schedules faster than my colleagues on paper. I normally use my mobile phone to record notes, so the free-form restrictment is not that important to me.
— Jeroen Sangers · Jan 2, 20:01 · #
Hi Jeroen — thanks for your comment. Working on the Palm/phone can be a great solution if it fits the way you work; good for you for finding tools to help you work fast.
I’m interested in how you use your mobile phone to record notes — are you taking voice recordings? Do you transcribe them later, or keep them as sound files?
— David Mackay · Jan 2, 20:10 · #
Depending on my situation, I write text notes using the keypad or record voice notes.
Whenever I get home or in the office, I drop my phone in my inbox to process the new notes. Normally I don’t create a full transcription, but rather generate the corresponding to-do’s.
— Jeroen Sangers · Jan 3, 20:58 · #
Hi David, I’m a bit late finding your article, but I’m very interested in your approach. Please keep the posts coming. Two links which may be of interest are philofaxy.blogspot.com and www.succes.com – Succes are a Dutch company who make great A5 binders and some good planning forms. Thanks for your posts!
— Gerard McCabe · Jan 16, 00:52 · #