Guest Post - My Journey by JC Parker

When I asked Steve if he would be interested in me contributing posts to Philofaxy, I was really pleased when he said yes!  

My journey through the world of organisation and time management has been long and winding, and I thought it would be an interesting story to tell, especially in the midst of the current resurgence of paper planners, whether they be Moleskine's, Plotters, Hobonochis; the tried and true Filofaxes or Franklins; and the continuing digital dominance of Outlook and smartphones, particularly in the calendaring space.

1. In the beginning: I Am A Mess.  Throughout most (let’s be honest: all) of my time as an undergrad in college I had very little need for anything more complicated than a simple paper week at a glance calendar.  Aside from my class and exam schedule, what did I have to keep track of, really?  Which keggers to go to, and where were they?  (I could remember that.)

It was only in the post-college phase of my life that my lack of any kind of system became an issue, because, well, I had a lot of life to deal with – an actual job, the beginning of married life, and law school (at night on top of my actual job!)  

I somehow made it through my first semester of law school without any kind of real system, but then under the Christmas tree that year was the original - and stylish - Coach Organiser, a gift from my amazing wife (who, being amazing, knew I needed help getting organised!) that was pre-filled with a very generously-sized 1989 Lefax insert package.  

Both Coach and Lefax were ascendant at the time, so the pairing made lots of sense.

2. I am a convert.  I dove in with abandon to make the most of my new (and stylish) tool, moving my life’s details from God-knows-where into my Organizer - as I think many people who got Lefaxes or Filofaxes did.  The original all-in-one ethos of the organizer may seem bonkers to many these days (yes, people actually put their credit card details into their Filofax! 😬) but remember, this was years before PC- or Mac-based scheduling software like Outlook or “personal information managers” like ACT! established a foothold in personal and business life.  

And the PalmPilot 1000, with desktop calendar synchronization capability, wouldn’t be introduced until 1996.  So it was a revelation and a relief to have a place where I could offload all of the things that were - or should have been! - in my head, in a way that I could recall them with the deft flip of a finger on a tab or page.

And the sheer variety of Lefax inserts made it so easy to do this!  Birthday sheets, travel checklists, business contact sheets, clothes sizes, book and gift records, expense trackers, maps for every major city, and of course the Contacts, Reminder and Diary pages at the heart of it, I embraced all of it.  

In short order my Organiser became my trusted daily companion, keeping me on track and more effective in my personal and business life.

3. I am part of a phenomenon.  I became an Organiser Guy at the peak of the ‘movement.’  While Lefax and Filofax were battling for supremacy, everyone else, including most luxury brands, were nipping at Filofax’ heels.  People from all walks of life – but especially the dreaded ‘yuppies’ – carried organisers.

But while naysayers mocked the trendiness of the Filofax (and there were plenty of poseurs carrying them), the sheer utility of the Organiser helped give thousands of people the confidence of being able to call on the most important information to you whenever you needed, and helped people be more effective in their everyday lives.  

That was definitely my experience, but it was fun, too!  I loved mixing and matching inserts, and trying new things (I used to buy a Streetwise map from Lefax for my Organiser whenever I’d travel to a new city.)  I took notes at work, tucked my kids photos into the top opening envelope, and kept score of my Scrabble games with my wife.

Every couple of months I’d take my inserts off the rings and lovingly work leather balm into the deep black buffalo leather to keep it supple.  I was hooked.

Next: I go deep into the world of Lefax, and I am tempted by another.

Thank you Mr JC Parker for your guest post contribution, we look forward to the next part.