Because buying something new always makes things better

Does anyone out there share my belief that if I have the proper time management tools (planner and whatnot) I will magically become organized and productive? I definitely think this, however irrationally. Right now, I'm trying to decide if I want a new planner.

For about the last year I have been using my iPod Touch as a PDA. My go-to to-do list is Remember the Milk (free online, but $25/year to be able to sync between your computer and iPod). I really like the way RTM lets you put your tasks on different lists (job applications, Con Law, etc.), but also lets you look at all your tasks at once (Google Tasks lets you divide your to-dos among different lists, and I like the way you can integrate it with Google calendar, but you can't look at all of the tasks at once, so it's not so useful to me). You can also postpone tasks when you don't get them done on the day you'd planned (not that I would know anything about this, of course!), and tag with whatever label you like.

For scheduling, I use Google Calendar, although for most of the semester, my schedule is pretty fixed, so it's not that I have to check where I have to be at a given time; it's more a way to have a record of the things I've been doing, and to plan ahead (for instance, to see how far away finals are. About which I am currently in denial, kthxbai.)

Anyway, I went to these tools because I'm on my computer all. the. time. (since I take notes on my computer, I'm on the computer any time I'm in class, for instance), and the ability to enter something once on the computer and have it show up in my iPod was crucial.

But it's funny how you get bored with your tools, even if they're working (or maybe this is just me?). Because right now, I really hanker after my old paper-based blanner. I used to use this one:

 

The paper in this planner is nice and smooth and stands up to fountain pens (which I use a lot); I also like that the schedule is broken down by hour and that it's separate from the to-do list section. (I'd always write in my classes for the semester and fill in those blocks of time with different colored highlighters, because I'm OCD like that, but also because then I could glance at any day and see how much free time was left.) And I HAVE to have a page-per-day layout.

I think what I miss most about this planner is physically crossing tasks off my to-do list once I finished them. I really enjoyed crossing-out something I'd finished, and it was always uber-satisfying to look at a day's list and see 3/4 to all the tasks triumphantly struck-out. In Remember the Milk, completing a task merely erases it from the list, which makes sense (having all your completed tasks hanging around would get awfully cluttery, since it's not so date-centered), but just isn't as satisfying, because you always have tasks left staring at you, without any sign of what you have actually accomplished. (You can go back and look at completed tasks, but it's just not the same.) At this time of the semester, when I always have overdue tasks staring accusingly at me, I really miss seeing that I've at least accomplished SOMETHING.

But then, I do go back and forth: when I've been using a paper planner, I miss the slick graphics of the electronic world, where my schedule and tasks look far more elegant and organized than anything I can write on a page, where recurring tasks reappear as if by magic, where I can be a gadget-hipster tapping away with the tip of my finger. When I've been using the electronic planner, I miss the organicness of paper and pen, the way how neatly or messily I've written something tells you about how my day was going, how I could scrawl across the page, coloring outside the lines. I miss the layering of entries, where different inks or different pressure or even different angles of writing show how a day became progressively busier. And flipping back through paper pages is just different from clicking back through computer windows -- although paper is much more vulnerable to loss or destruction.

So. That's my latest retail therapy obsession. What about you guys? Are you paper or electronic planner people? Do you, like me, favor a particular planner because it makes you feel especially productive? Do you have other retail therapy obsessions at this point in the semester?

Comments

[Patty Steck]

I'm much more of a paper planner person -- for quite a while it was a Franklin-Covey planner... then I moved to Russell + Hazel - but, now Franklin will let you do a custom printed planner, with all of your known appointments and your own photos...so I think I'm going to order one next weekend.

[WW]

You just taught me that it's possible to create multiple lists in google tasks. Thanks! I went from school-issued planner to BB to google calendar over the last few years. I think electronic is the way to go. It's definitely come in handy during law school because there are often multiple events going on that I want to attend at a given time so I can add them all in to google calendar and figure out which one I'm going to later. Paper journals are too limited with space and often get messy. Plus I love how you can colorcode google calendar so on at a quick glance I can tell how many classes, club meetings, social events etc. I have on a given day.

p.s. crossing stuff off the to-do list is the BEST part which is another reason to love google tasks since you can keep the struck-out tasks. Electronic is just way more convenient than paper. Paper smells better though... :-)

[Clancy]

Definitely a paper planner person. I have a Vera Bradley planner for 2009, but a Franklin Covey for 2010, which I'm excited about. Sometimes I use Nozbe for electronic GTD-ing.

[Rev Dr Mom]

My number one reason for NOT using a paper planner is that I would have to carry it around, and I'd be sure to lose it. (Although I love paper and pens the way you do). I just use notes and the calendar in my iPhone--but I might check out the program you mentioned.

[life_of_a_fool]

I have a similar retail obsession, as I prepare to get a smart phone. I think the best part about an electronic calendar is that you can switch between daily, weekly, and monthly views. I *need* the month view to be able to get a sense of what's coming in a way that I just can't get with a daily or weekly view. But, that can get crowded on a monthly paper planner.

[maude lebowski]

paper.

[phd me]

Both. I'm still working on my system, partly because I'm still working on the right tools. (Do I want an iPhone?)

I have my calendar on the computer (iCal) but, since I have a basic "dumb" phone, I can't access my calendar without one of my computers. Luckily, I have a good memory and I have my notebook (see next).

I keep a notebook for each semester filled with daily to-dos, reminders, notes. I like the physicality of writing something down and crossing it off at the end of the day (because that always happens). I also like the history; I've returned to my past notebooks several times (to confirm I did such-and-such on so-and so day, for example).

But I'm so with you about the transitive property of looking organized translating into organization and productivity!

[Bardiac]

Mmmm, office supplies....

[Michelle]

I've paper oriented because there's something about writing it down and physically erasing and re-writing and striking through. However, I am going to *try* to make friends with electronic this week.

[oliviacw]

I really like paper planners, and given free reign I'd use one. However, I can only handle managing one calendar at a time, and my past several employers have used online calendaring software (Outlook, for the most part). So, that's where I dump everything, even personal things. It makes me happy now that I can sync Outlook with my iPhone, so I always have access to the calendar. I don't usually use electronic to-do lists, and only revert to paper ones when my life gets truely desperate.

[New Kid on the Hallway]

It's so interesting to see what everyone likes best! I completely appreciate the benefits of both that everyone's mentioned, hence my dilemma...

I think if/when I end up with employers keeping calendars for me--or even with a job where most scheduled events don't come at regular intervals each M, W, and F--I am going to suffer quite a bit from culture shock.

[Lu Lu]

Here's a toss into the conversation:

While paper cannot be mysteriously deleted (which happened to me with Entourage) ... it cannot 'talk' to me either. I like having a calender that I can sync onto my computer and set alarms on. This way while I am teaching, in class, or writing, I know when it's time to quit and rush to the next thing . . . Otherwise I wouldn't stop gabbing with a student after class or rambling through whatever it is that I was writing.

[helenesch]

Paper planner for me. For some reason, I've been buying the same one each year since the early '90's (the beginning of grad school). I've always got it with me, whereas I don't bring my computer with me to class or to meetings, and so when students or colleagues need to schedule something, I just pull it out.

[lawdevnull.wordpress.com]

I'm in the same pickle. I used to live and die by my At-A-Glance monthly/weekly paper planner...

...then switched to Google Calendar so I could have the email reminders in the morning...

...then realized I never updated Google Calendar and switched back to a paper planner...

...then realized there were times I frequently didn't have my planner but *did* have my laptop (I was a Comp Sci student in undergrad). So I switched back to Google Calendar again...

...before realizing I might have my laptop, but might not have internet. So now I use iCal but find myself typing a bunch of memo notes on my BlackBerry.

I miss the days of planner-based simplicity >_<

[CC prof]

I use Outlook when I'm at my computer. Otherwise I make a sticky note with things I need to do, and I cross them off as I do them. Works great, never crashes and the price is right.

[Amy]

Crossing out or checking off items on a to-do list is definitely the most satisfying and concrete part of completing tasks and errands. Like most of the other people who have commented, I have evolved into a mainly computer based system but I still use paper and pencil sometimes. A turning point for me was when I realized my "book" with calendar,addresses and to-do lists weighed more than my computer which is a 2.2 lb net book. I switched to a calendar on my computer, phone numbers in my cell phone and word documents for to-do lists. I sometimes put a specific task on the calendar because it will alarm me.

[comebacknikki]

I'm all about the paper planner. M has been trying to get me to switch over to Google calendar for years, but I just can't make the switch. There's something about writing it down that makes my appointments & lists all the more real -- and I tend to remember things more when I write them down (versus typing).