Experienced User - Graham

This week we will see how Graham uses his organisers. 

Hi, I’m Graham, a self-employed data consultant and author currently based in Germany.

1. When did you start using an organiser?

Back in the early 1980s when I was at University and when Filofax became the accessory for yuppies and those pretending to be yuppies.

In those days when computers weren’t portable, it was an indispensable way of storing and carrying information – a real file of facts.

2. How has your use of an organiser changed over the years?

As with most of us, the amount of data I need to deal with is increasing all the time, and with the availability of different media for storing and processing that data, my organiser is now only part of my personal data management process.

As I’m a data consultant, how I deal with my own data has extra resonance (and is always of interest to my clients). I stopped using a paper organiser with the advent of the (much missed) Palm Pilot in the late 1990s, the simplicity of which made it a great replacement for a paper-based system. But as portable devices became more complex, often in unnecessary ways, I found that I was far more efficient for some parts of the process when working from paper.

 I moved back to a paper-based diary about 15 years ago. So now I have parts of my system on a PC, some on a mobile telephone, and some in an organiser.

3. Which diary format works best for you and why?

I use a dual A5/A7 system. The A5 (Filofax Heritage) is large enough for my business and personal needs and I use a self-designed one week on two pages layout.

The days are all on the right-hand page (because I am right-handed and writing across rings is one of those things that drives me potty), all equally sized (because I am self-employed and don’t have “weekends” when less happens).

On the opposite side there’s space for recording dated todos, time use and multi-day events – this works for me in the Heritage because of the small rings. You can get a better idea from my YouTube channel.

However, I don’t like carrying around an A5 organiser – it’s too big and too heavy. So I have a mirrored system in a Filofax pocket slim Lockwood which I can slip into my pocket when I’m away from my desk. That’s also explained on my YouTube channel.

4. What other information do you keep and maintain in your organiser.

I only store appointments and dated todos in my organiser. Apart from a Filofax A5 Lockwood and some Filofax notebooks with some project-specific notes, almost everything else has found a place (digitally) elsewhere.

5. Do you use a 'system' of organisation, and how does it work in your Filofax?

No. I’ve read about various systems, such as Getting Things Done and the Bullet Journal method and, when I break them down into what they are actually proposing, it’s basically what I naturally already do. I’m already ridiculously efficient, to the point of ennui – trying to be more so would be futile …

6. What routines and structures do you use?

I wouldn’t call them routines, but there are some things that do occur in the course of a day or week – I transfer recurring appointments sometime once per week to the new week and I write the next day’s appointments and tasks on a special A7 page before the end of the day before so that I can refer to it as required when on the move. And, around October each year, I assess my current layout, make tweaks, update my spreadsheets for the next year, and print the next year’s diary pages.

7. Do you use one binder or several, and if several, how do you use them?

I have several. I can’t seem to get on with only one. I recently tried moving my diary to the A5 Lockwood which contains my project-specific notes,  but that just meant more to carry in a heavier package, and, with the larger rings, not being able to write on the left-hand pages. I gave that up as a bad job after two days.

Equally, I wouldn’t want to be carrying around my project notes when I only want to take a diary with me to make an appointment. I’m a great believer in using the best tools for each job, and for me that’s always meant storing data in many different places, including several different organisers.

Thank you Graham. 

If you would like to take part in this series please email steve@philofaxy.com and mark your email 'Experienced Filofax User'