Day Planners

[Lord Manhammer]

Since this is the time of year for chats on calendars, what about day planners? Do you use one? Do you prefer a paper one (like day runner or Franklin Planner) or do you use a phone/app/electronic planner?

I've been using a paper planner for years as I love to write and collect pens. For appointments, my wife and I use the Calendar app on our phones, but for meeting notes and other daily jottings, it simply must be paper. My 2023 planner came from Hungary and my 2024 planner was purchased in Florence, Italy. I have also used Smythson and FranklinCovey.

How will you keep 2024 organised?

 

[soccerdad72]

I just use my phone at this point.

Family stuff, we send each other meeting notices so it's in our iPhone calendar. Work stuff, Outlook.

 

[PollyannaMom]

We have a wall calendar, but I also use my phone more and more. - I really like having my schedule with me and I use the reminder feature. I also have a weekly ToDo list I print from my computer, so I tend to jot things on there as well.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

There was a time I was addicted to the Covey paper planners - so many things neatly stored in the book, and I used it for everything. And every year, I got a little less 'paper' and a little more 'digital', until I found I wasn't actually keeping up with things in my paper planner. Years ago I stopped spending the money on the replacement pages, and I never missed it. I used my phone and/or computer. Times change and everyone has their own approach to planning and note-taking and remembering important dates/times.

 

[easyas123]

I purchase a paper planner every year and that is where I put everything - personal, work. Everything.
Comes from a very exclusive retailer...Quill

 

[auntfrannie]

I still use my paper planner; I have the refillable monthly format. I don't need to track at a daily or weekly level but like having the full month in one place. Plus I use the address book section because there are addresses I want to have on file but don't need to clog up my phone with them.

 

[CdnCarrie]

For work I just use Outlook calendar.
For home we do have a paper calendar up in the kitchen but I don't put too much on there.
I also put some personal stuff in my Outlook calendar at work. Like evening appointments/meetings.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I keep everything in my phone calendar. We do have a paper calendar on the fridge where I write in things that affect DH and I both.

 

[_19disnA]

A certain brand of planner (looked like a small notebook) used to be all the rage maybe 15 yrs ago where I worked. Don't recall which brand it was. People in meetings were constantly writing things down in their 'planner' perhaps in an effort to impress the boss.........LOL. Apparently you wrote things down on a specific date then transferred that information to some other part of the notebook. Seemed like a needless redundant effort to me. I never used it since I felt it was way more efficient to organize/store things in paper folders by project or topic. Storing things by date never made any sense to me at least for the types of work we did. No one can remember what day a certain meeting was last June, but it always related to a specific product. When you got a new boss, they didn't know about things that took place previously and generally didn't care, so the need to store a lot of old information was unnecessary. Some people are also pack-rats, so they NEVER threw anything away. I think some of that is the result of not knowing what is important and what isn't.

I can also recall moving to a new office location about 5 yrs ago and all those files stored in many file cabinets just got tossed in the trash. No one could ever recall why we were saving them and couldn't be bothered boxing it up prior to the move.

Virtually everything we now do is on a computer somewhere so there are mostly digital copies of presentations, letters, various processes/procedures, etc. Those paper planners faded away and I can't recall anyone using them anymore. Work related appointments/meetings are in an online calendar program. You also have the option to 'share' (or not share) your calendar with co-workers.

At home, I use the calendar feature on my cellphone to store appointments or various non-work related topics.

 

[Praying Colonel]

I've tried them all over the years--I was a big Franklin Planner user for a number of years. These days I use Outlook at work and at home a combo of the Apple Calendar app and the Any.do list-making app.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Originally, going back to the late 60's, I always used a Pocket Planner. Then,, maybe early 90's, I faithfully used the Franklin Day Planner. Bible size, with a zippered, leather case, for calendar and contacts. New refills every November.

When Blackberrys became in vogue in the early 2000's, I started the digital transition. For a time I kept dual records, Franklin and Blackberry, both calendar and contacts. I would say my final Franklin was maybe 2008 time frame.

I then went from the Blackberry to Android, probably around 2010 or do. And that's where I am today. I put information into my phone, tablet, desktop, laptop, Chromebook, any device, and it's in all my devices. So easy.

 

[tvguy]

Our master calendar is a paper pocket planner. I do use the one in my phone, but their are things my wife puts on the master calendar that I don't put in my phone.

 

[Micca]

I used to buy some sort of day planner every year while I was working full time outside my home. Soon as I began WFH, the planner was no longer necessary, and a few years later I was retired.

My day planner is now DW She'll remind me if we're doing something/need to be somewhere at a specific time.

One of the best parts of being retired is not constantly being concerned with "What's next?"

 

[Mle8308]

All of the above??? For work, it's all Outlook. For personal, it's a combination of paper/planner/calendar and my phone. It seems to work for me! The more I enter the information somewhere the better I remember!

 

[VandVsmama]

Since this is the time of year for chats on calendars, what about day planners? Do you use one? Do you prefer a paper one (like day runner or Franklin Planner) or do you use a phone/app/electronic planner?

I've been using a paper planner for years as I love to write and collect pens. For appointments, my wife and I use the Calendar app on our phones, but for meeting notes and other daily jottings, it simply must be paper. My 2023 planner came from Hungary and my 2024 planner was purchased in Florence, Italy. I have also used Smythson and FranklinCovey.

How will you keep 2024 organised?

I use Google Calendar on our phones + we have a white board in the kitchen that the major upcoming stuff is written on. 1 of our DDs also uses the white board daily to write down her HW assignments + upcoming tests & quizzes.

 

[tvguy]

One of the best parts of being retired is not constantly being concerned with "What's next?"

LOL. I'm 2 1/2 years into retirement. We have found we depend more on a calendar than we did when we were working. The norm is there is "nothing on the calander".......so having a calendar when there IS coming on it is even more important.
And my wife went back to work 3 days a week temporarily in October and THAT has thrown our schedule into complete disarray.

 

[Dan Murphy]

if we're doing something/need to be somewhere at a specific time.

One of the best parts of being retired is not constantly being concerned with "What's next?"

Seems like my calendar is filled with either doctor/medical appointments or grandkid stuff.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I am so disorganized. My stuff is split up between a calendar on the refrigerator, my phone, and post it notes.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Paper!

 

[amylevan]

I’m a paper planner person. My work stuff is on Outlook, but everything else is on paper.

I would love to find a virtual planner that works as well as paper because it would be nice to always have it with me no matter where I am but I just don’t like the way things look virtually. I like the monthly view of the planner I buy. It allows me to see the whole month at a glance.