‘Haven’t you got a Filofax?’
A friend recently exclaimed, somewhat perplexed, as we lamented on the labours of keeping all of life’s wayward ducks in a row… particularly over the summer holidays.
In response, I proceeded to say that the last time I owned such an item… was in the glory days of the Funfax, when adorning the days of the week with Word-art stickers was the epitome of New-Term-Ready.
Nowadays (or so I went on to discover), owning a filofax is not so much about ‘fun,'per se.
Disappointingly, perhaps, it’s also not about having somewhere to doodle, or keep a log of all current BFFs. Instead, this piece of handbag candy is an indispensable, order-providing tool, capable of sparing day-to-day life from the stress-inducing jaws of disarray.
I know this, not just because my Filofax-loving friends assured me so, but also because I’ve since done my research, and discovered how the ability to spiral-bind all manner of paper paraphernalia (from all corners of one’s personal, professional and social life,) into one compact, aesthetically pleasing place… it’s a game changer.
As somebody who is fluent in list-making – often to the extent of writing down already completed tasks, just to experience the satisfaction of scoring them through – the notes section especially, needs no explanation.
It will, I hope, help to cultivate the sense of agency that has dwindled over the summer, and which I’ve been assured can partly be restored, by writing more notes by hand.
What’s also vaguely exciting about this first foray into Filofax-dom, is the ability to customise, add and archive to taste, whilst also carrying over all important dates from one year to the next.
This, especially, is music to the ears of January 1st Me, who has until now always assumed it necessary to painstakingly transcribe each and every one of these birthdays and anniversaries in fresh ink, every twelve months.
Of course, it goes without saying, as well, that just the tangible act of getting all of one’s s*i* together (receipts, tickets, random notes scrawled on serviettes) – it’s a powerful proxy for not just productivity… but peace!
Peace in a I-can-find-my-car-keys-in-one-glance…kind of way!
In the last six weeks, the accumulation of NFA ‘stuff!!’ and eventual, perpetual burying of said keys in a tote bag grave - well, it was sufficient to render me….rudderless!
Being set adrift on memory-lapse bliss was, by all accounts, more than sufficient to justify jumping on the 'new term, new stationary' bandwagon, off the back of which neatness and organisation always seems to naturally prevail.
That is…until the Tipp-Ex mouse rears its page-spoiling head, such is the finitude of neat handwriting.
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