Filofaxolism: A Paper Thing

Let's be nice here and pretend that all this hype about organizing, and watching videos about filofaxes and stuff like that is just a normal reaction when you are excited about something you are looking forward to. Then again I didn't watch more Colts' games when I waited for my Colts' stuff to arrive, nor am I watching more videos of Skyfall now, even though I'm head over heels with the movie, but let's just pretend that, shall we? Maybe it's just a paper thing, you know? ^_^

Being as it may, through this sudden surge of filofaxoholism, I had the chance to see a sort of world I would even thought possible: the world where people make videos about their planners. And you know what? The videos are actually interesting! That or we are simply loving the chance to sneak-peak into other people's lives and get to know their little daily secrets. (If you'd like to see these videos and browse through them, just go to Youtube and search "filofax". I actually found them by browsing through the Filofaxusa.com site, after spending days and days checking and mulling over getting my own filofax.) In these videos you see lots of people who are mainly oriented towards Organizational Tools, and share with others ideas about how to organize their stuff. Many of them are housewives and students - mainly highschool students - who share their systems with the viewers.

The first videos I watched were about working people, particularly made by people who had hectic work schedules, but then as I started finding videos posted by housewives, it went  confusing for me. You might also thing - like I did for a few seconds - why would a not-working person actually need such a complex and expensive organizational tool for? Well, people who don't go to a job every day actually need organizational tools like this much more. Indeed, when you are at the office you block out a large chunck of your time for office time, and you kind of plan your personal time on the edges of it, or at lunch time, but the rest of the time houses big-block things. Meetings, reviewing something, working on something else, and other tasks you normally don't plan out, such as checking e-mails, returning calls and so on. If you were to take a look at my planner for the days I was in Hungary and wasn't working, you'd actually get fuller pages, basically because in order to keep on top of everything, I had to plan my day much more rigurously. When you do the shopping, which chores get to be done when, which things you want to accomplish, by when and when are you getting them done. Paying bills, checking out a yoga center, make time to watch that movie, meet with this friend, pick up these books, remember the opening of this exposition...

Yes, when you are working you clear your day out, actually. Take a glance at your planner! Can you schedule a visit to the vet for Wednesday at 10.30 am? You wouldn't even think about that! As a matter of fact, when you are working you don't think about much of that, and maybe would even tend to outsource many things. Let your boyfriend do it, take the cat to the vet if you remember it, declare Saturday the "Official Errand Day" and go at with your keycars and a list pasted to the dashboard, so you don't forget things, while you plan on the way were to go first and which things will get on the waiting list or moved for the next "Official Errand Day". From watching the videos made by these fabulous and tip-top organized people, I realized that professionals and clerks like me have much to learn about them. We see the big blocks and then wonder how come the little tasks fell through the cracks.

Several of them also included in their planners the schedules of their partners - be life partners or work partners - and though at first glance that doesn't make sense, it does when you remember that actually there are things you have to consider other people for, so by knowing ahead their work schedules you can avoid asking them to babysit when they have the nightshift, or invite them to a party when they have a big test.

There are several levels of organizing your life, and whatever you pick, it should fit your particular needs. It should be practical for you, so you enjoy it and can use it without getting out of your way for it. Then, to form and improve your system, catching on the tips other have to offer isn't actually a bad idea, even if their lifestyles and their uses are different from yours.