Think You Dont Have Time to Keep Up with a Planner? Think Again
- Published
- 11/21/2022
- Author
- coreInternal c
Monday, November 21, 2022
Have you ever had that “back in my day” conversation, regaling those younger than ourselves about how tough we had it. You know the examples- walking to school in the snow uphill both ways, or maybe something a little closer to our present time like describing early mobile phones that were the size of bricks.
Or maybe you have described the tedious nature of having to grab a pen and physically write everything down in cursive no less! Wasn’t it a waste of time to write rather than clack away so happily on our keyboards?
Writing things down is not a time-waster at all. In fact, it can help you save time by helping to commit important details to memory. And the best place to start is by using a weekly planner.
Paper Versus Digital: The Modern Debate
There are numerous best practices for keeping track of our busy personal and professional schedules. Think about what you use to remember birthdays, dentist appointments, and parent-teacher meetings or what devices you rely on for remembering business lunches or out of town conferences. Those are just a few examples of the many things that must be documented for almost every hour of our busy lives.
Many of us depend on our digital devices, with their colorful online calendars and many options for customization and sharing. But relying solely on these may not be the most efficient way of organizing personal, business, or family calendars. Sometimes what seems easy to record does not necessarily translate to remembering.
It is good to be reminded that the physical act of writing assists with organization skills and need not be relegated to the dark ages of writing by hand. We are all visual learners to an extent. Putting pen to paper, that is, in a weekly or monthly planner, is a simple yet effective method to managing our time. The thought process from mind to pen and paper and back to mind can help anyone keep track of important dates, family events, and business commitments.
Of course, with all the online conveniences we have to navigate the intricacies of busy schedules for one person, an entire family, or an office team, it is fair to say that digital calendars still have their reliable place. Let’s look at what we can do with a weekly planner that sits on our desks or a pocket planner that travels with ease.
Stay Organized with these Tips
Have you been using a digital calendar for so long that you don’t know where to begin with a paper weekly planner? It is not difficult at all!
Take a minute and think about how you use your calendar. Next, ask yourself what things are the things you miss because you cannot maintain your digital calendars. Maybe it’s birthdays? Or possibly that doctor's appointment you made a year ago never got entered.
The new year will be arriving soon, so January is a perfect time to open an eco-friendly paper planner and start documenting what you know for your days, weeks and months.
• Begin with all the birthdays- mom, dad, kids, partner, siblings, boss. You know the main people in your life. This is also a great time to go note birthdays of friends and colleagues. Make a note in your monthly planner the week before a birthday as a reminder that there is an important date the following week.
• Enter all your family’s doctor and dentist appointments. So many folks have to make appointments so far in advance that it can be hard to think that far ahead. Make sure you include days for sports physicals for the kids or annual mammogram for mom. It is also much easier to maneuver your days around those twice-a-year dental cleanings when you know the dates are in place.
• Kids keep all parents busy, so it can be beneficial to take a look at their schools’ academic calendars to note report card periods, school holidays, and exam times. Share all this information with your kids and encourage them to use their own pocket planner, especially when they are on the go..
And while you are juggling the multitude of balls that make up family life, it is important to use your planner for your professional responsibilities as well. While home life and work life may seem separate, the schedules can intertwine, and if commitments are not accurately documented then a lot can fall apart.
• Use your weekly or monthly planner to note all your meetings, deadlines, and client lunches and avoid any conflicts with your personal dates to remember.
• Nurturing professional relationships is vital in retaining your hard-won clients. Acknowledging birthdays, holidays, retirement dinners, or fundraising events can make a huge difference in alerting your clients that you are invested in the relationship.
• Weekly and monthly planners are a tried-and-true back-up to our sometimes, unreliable technology. We are never too removed from our digital devices, but they tend to lose their charge or crash. The beauty of a paper planner is having all those important dates at your fingertips without the need for an electrical outlet or charger.
So, we might be attached to our smartphones and our laptops for many practical uses, but weekly planners still are unmatched with their practicality and ability as an important asset to track the important dates that make up our daily lives.
Check out the latest planners and calendars at House of Doolittle to help you stay organized.
Have you ever had that “back in my day” conversation, regaling those younger than ourselves about how tough we had it. You know the examples- walking to school in the snow uphill both ways, or maybe something a little closer to our present time like describing early mobile phones that were the size of bricks.