There was an interesting article in the Telegraph today about the return of the Filofax. Figures from Selfridges out yesterday suggested that personal organizers are flying off the shelves, and sales of Filofaxes have increased 25 per cent over the last year. Even Anna Wintour has been scribbling into her organizer in the front rows of London Fashion Week.For me, the Filofax has never gone away. I am a paper and pen person. I always have been, and I probably always will be. Nothing can replace the texture of paper, the feel of a pen and the idea of permanence.
In an age of the iPhone, do you find it is curious that such 'relics' are flourishing? Personally, I think it is a bit of a backlash in the face of a technical revolution. Of course I am not technophobic, and I love that you can (manually) 'synchronize' your Filofax with various calendar and email programs. There's even rumor of a Filofax application for the iPhone. As the article points out, the Filofax is the ultimate back-up for when your computer crashes.
It's ironic that the article appeared on the same day that my son was teasing me for being "old school" and using a Rolodex to keep track of business cards I receive. I wonder if they will make a comeback too? Any other Rolodex and Filofax users out there?
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51 comments:
I have to 'see' it on paper! Mine is a vintage Coach that I have had for years. I love the feel of the worn leather, and I am totally lost without it. I could not trust any technical device with all that's inside my calendar.
Great post. I too have a Rolodex...
i can't imagine NOT using my filofax. it's leathered lavender and i purchased it from rizzoli (when they were still around). i write with kelly green ink so that the busier my day is, the prettier it looks....
-katie
Yes! I have a Roots that I have had for years. I often find I can find names, phone numbers & my calendar faster thumbing through my filofax than by using my bb.
Oh I love that Katie! I have to 'see' it too Debra!
Oh I love that Katie! I have to 'see' it too Debra!
I think you struck a cord with many! If I lost my personal organizer, lovely worn leather or not, my head might fall off!
Never got rid of my organizer -it's my life - phone numbers, dates, addresses, personal notes. Couldn't live without it. I guess I'm old-fashioned but it just doesn't seem "real" if I don't see it on paper.
We are definitely on the same wavelength here!
I'm a paper and pen girl as well and my Filofax has never left my side. I also have a rolodex that I use very frequently. Remember those!
I love my Filofax! I have had it for about 8 years and it is so soft and the leather is all old and worn. It feels so good in my hands. I really like all the technology but just really enjoy writing things down...I am very visual. Great post!
~jamilyn
Everything goes into the Rolodex--if I write it down and stash it in the Rolodex, I remember. Otherwise, life is a jumble. Great question.
I still have my red leather Filofax that was given to me for my 25th birthday... though I haven't used it in a couple of years. :( I love it, and I always say that I'm going to have a dual organization system, but I just haven't done it yet. A Filofax iPhone app might help! A red Moleskine notebook does travel everywhere with me, though... maybe there is a way to combine all of that. :)
I am a paper and pen person too!! I can´t imagine living without it! Nothing can replace it!!
In my opinion, all the eletronic stuff are there to be used and to help us, but not to replace the unreplaceable pen and paper!!
I recently returned to a Rolodex for my phone numbers and addresses. My father who never has gone for very many technological advances will be so proud of me. Here is the one I bought:
http://www.lovelydesign.com/lovely_products_address.html
It is pricey, but I do like it.
I'm one of those people who has to see the whole month. I simply can't check my phone and say, "Yes, I'm wide open on the 13th," because what I can't see is that I have a deadline (which I will likely miss) on the 12th, two school projects do the 14th and that Mr. B will be out of town that week. Paper - and pencil - are my friend.
I have to see the whole month too! No "week at a glance" for me!
After many years with a Palm organizer I recently made the decision to go back to a paper organizer as soon as I find a new great cover.....it just seems to work better for me and I like that it works like a journal of sorts. Computer progrmas just don't make life look as interesting when you look back.
I'm with you on this... even though my phone can do all this, I still carry around my little notebook everywhere!!
While I can't live without my laptop, notebooks, paper and my Filofax are also vitally important to my life!!!
YES! Roledex never went out with me. I need to redo it though. And I am thinking a filodex would be a good idea for me right about now.
The filofax has never gone away for me either. Some people laughed at me the other day when I told them that's what I carry around, but of course, I'm WAY more organized than they are with their iCalendars, virtual sticky notes, and other gadgets.
I still have a filofax that Exective Editor Margaret (peggy)Kennedy gave to me when I was her assistant at House Beautiful in 1989. It is covered in a Manuel Canovas paisly. Well worn nearly 20 years later!
I aam a huge fan of rolodex! Just talking about it last week with a colleque about how cool they were... I am off to eBay ;PP
I finally ordered new inserts for my Filofax pocket edition. It is so much faster to write in a small journal, then to have to hassle with my Pre or get online to update my calendar. When I have time, I update those, but this is small and super convenient.
My beauty is a fifteen year old cognac alligator embossed leather Filofax! Sometimes it is just easier and faster to find a number - I will never give it up.
Love this post!
Nancy
I want to thank you for bringing an absolutely huge smile (of relief!) to my face!!! I have been using my black faux croc embossed leather version since I graduated from college. I suppose you could call it vintage, and me old fashioned but like many of the other commenters I find there is nothing like seeing my upcoming life in writing!
My iphone is great but there is just something about pen and paper that I can't live without. I'm loving the new organizers from Kate Spade.
Yes, count me in too! I saw some wonderfully chic file folders the other day, I too love the old school way to "pencil" in a date or appt!
L.
i agree with you.
i like to have something real in my hand.
i can just glaze over when i am looking at a screen for any length of time.
if i need to REMEMBER something...i must write it and look at it.
...but i am a.d.d.
good to hear that i am not a weirdo fuddy duddy
xxx
Tools are great as long as you use them. I've been a using technology for a long time and don't use paper. Programs are great and the more you use it the better you become. I use my iPhone and can set alarms and use different tones on different days or events. It all works!
Bette
I'm with you.....I'm old school.....Still love pencil to paper. :)
I soo agree with you - I love my Blackberry, access to emails at a moments notice, ability to tweet on the run, or call my husband while out and about in another country - but when it comes to my calendar, I'm a paper and pencil girl at heart! Writing my schedule is an act of therapy - helping to cemment dates in my mind, and the little doodles I draw and bits I tape into my agenda make it all the more personal and memorable!
All the Best,
Toma
couldn't live without my filofax - just retired the 15 year old one for a fancy new red/pink - li actually have a kate spade but same idea with pretty watercolors and quotes scattered throughout - ove it - pen and paper - the written word for everyday - works so much better for me - have all the inserts tied in ribbon tucked into my desk - a mini journal of sorts - sometimes i pull them out and check back the same day year to year...this is when i am usually procrastinating...find ways to distract myself...
I'm a rolodex girl! Does anybody make a pretty one? I've never been able to find anything except ugly plastic ones.
Well said Ronda, pen and paper forevah! xx
i have been teased for years due to the fact that i love pen and paper. i am very old fashioned like that and love having it with me. i left it for awhile and had everything in my phone (but never backed up - never dreamed of it) and lost it all. back to what i love best.
and i still have my rolodex brimming with cards from my "past" and although i dont really refer to them often, i love the look of it and do use it occasionally. now i have a leather bound book and all cards are bound in this.
great post as always... have a wonderful weekend ronda... xx
I truly can't imagine life without my rolodex that is jammed with...well, my life! I am a writer at heart and tactile to boot. I do enjoy my iphone, but give me a pencil and let me write out my to-do list, check it off, sketch out an idea spontaneously and lazily dream with faith on paper. Yep...love my pencil and paper...
Thanks for the post!
WOW!! And I thought I was one of the very few who still prefer their "trusty" Filofax. Nothing better than a great fountain pen to paper. Also, love holding newspapers & magazines and turning pages.
i LOVE my little filofax. there's something so much more fulfilling about writing things down, seeing your calendar at a glance... and of course if my phone died i'd still have my schedule and contacts! i think it's hilarious that they're making a 'comeback'... they definitely never left for me either!
I love leather and paper and pen and have never not had such a diary or calendar in my purse. I've never learned to use any electronics for this purpose and don't think I ever will. Happy to hear that the classics work!
Cristine
www.melangelook.com
I've gone all around the world and I'm back to written calendar, notebook for work & personal life, etc. I can't keep up with all the information electronically. It doesn't work. I have to have a place to put all the papers that go with my crazy life to keep it all straight, thus back to the written calendar, notebook, etc.
I can say this..the most unorganized I've been in years was when I was using my Iphone to keep up with everything. It lasted about a month. And, I can't read anything on that phone! I guess I need glasses!
Hope you are well!
Me too, mine is applegreen and well loved!
XX
V.
Ronda-
I can NOT live one single day without my filofax..I have the very chic brown leather version..it it is not written in the filofax, it does NOT happen, end of story!
fyi..Michael Devine, Phoebe Howard, Eddie Ross...they are all friends we have in common..and I would venture to say they would all agree with me!
All the best-
Jeffery McCullough
I keep an electronic calendar at work but I still have to make sure I also copy everything onto the paper calendar hanging in my cubicle, the Moleskine calendar in my bag, and the Wallace and Grommit calendar on my wall at home. Right now I use my Filofax just as an address book, but next year I'm going back to using it as a calendar too.
I still keep a hand written calendar, it seems to keep me more organized.
Thanks for sharing
Firoozeh
I have a Bright Red filofax AND an iPhone; love them both!
Having endured one too many computer crashes or "glitches", I am a paper and pen calendar and to-do list kind of girl. Don't get me wrong, love my iphone. But there is something satisfying about crossing something off rather than just deleting it...
I have a wonderful tiffany blue filofax that I bought last two years ago in Paris. (I know that you can buy them anywhere, but mine is more special because of where I bought it). I'm 26, and I don't know anyone else my age who totes around a filofax instead of one of those handy dandy smart phones, but I love it, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Could NEVER give up my filofax
get laughed at every time i drag it out
great worn leather
this is as techno as i can push myself!!
glad im not the only dinosaur wandering around!!
ray
I have both and lots of journals too for those endless lists that need to be written. I also have an iphone...love that I can read emails on the go!
I still have my filofax purchased in 1986...burgundy leather and I will never let go:)
Jeanne
I have kept my trusty agenda forever.
Bonnie
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