People often ask me, which is better to use: a paper or electronic planner?
Here is the answer: There is no right answer.
You first need to figure out some things about your brain and your life, such as:
1. Do you remember things better when you write them down? yes, no
2. Do you have only one or two appointments in a day? yes, no
3. Do you need to see the whole week or month at a glance to get the big picture? yes, no
4. Are you uncomfortable using tech gadgets or have trouble trusting tech gadgets? yes, no
5. Do you often skip reading instructions when you get a new gadget? yes, no
6. When you read a book, do you flip back pages or forward pages? yes, no
7. Do you remember where you wrote something down? Or what color? yes, no
8. When you ask for directions do you prefer a map drawing instead of turn by turn directions? yes, no
9. Do you remember the day of the week more than the numeric date? yes, no
10. You do NOT need to share calendars with anyone. yes, no
If you answer yes to most of these – you will likely do well or better with paper.
You may be a visual, global thinker, who processes information by writing.
If you answer no, you may be more detail focused and can remember things without seeing them. You may be comfortable using electronic planners.
If you have a ton of appointments to keep track of and you can get by just looking at one day at a time, electronic will proably be a better match.
If you’re some of each, you need a back-up calendar, or you plan with family or colleagues, then you may need to try the electronic thing and do your best to make it work.
One way to be both paper and electronic is to enter things electronically, but print the daily or weekly calendar out to carry with you, keep in a binder,or post on a wall.
Now with that said, you can do the electronic thing and just be a little less comfortable. I have switched and still don’t trust it and don’t remember, so I have to look at my calendar more often. So you may have to do a little somethin’ to MAKE it work.
Have you switched from paper to electronic? How did you make it work?
Have you switched back to paper? We want to know! Leave a comment.
– Allison
It’s been a long journey for me, from paper to a combination to strictly electronic, now back to a combination and likely to be going mainly paper come 2010.
I love your quiz – I got 6 yeses, so maybe that’s why I’m so wishy-washy.
I love paper, but the need to back up and share my information finally drove me to get a PDA several years ago. For a long time I kept my digital planner, but printed out the calendar and task list at least once a week to see it on paper.
This year I’ve been testing out Mark Forster’s Autofocus system, which is paper-based, and I’m finding it hard to go back to paper-based task management.
Recently I wrote a post related to this topic. You can read it here:
http://newleafnews.wordpress.com/2008/08/28/paper-or-digital-%E2%80%93-which-is-best/
Especially follow the link to the pdf table comparing paper to digital.
Google calendar has made my life so much easier.
I have a mac and have synched it with my iCal. So at work I stay logged into google, and can just add stuff as needed. At home, I just add it to iCal on my laptop. It can also be checked and added from any phone with internet access by downloading the free application: Snaptu For me, having multiple access points is key.
I love using my Centro phone (and PDA) and desktop sync..or at least I did. I’m at a crossroads now because it seems that technology has not kept up with technology. My Centro will not work with Windows 7, which is what I now have on my computer. I’ve tried several go-arounds that have not worked. I’m back to a paper system again (which feels cumbersome to me) until I find something that will import all my centro contacts/calendars/tasks. Like it or not, technology gets outdated, but paper is forever (I hope).