Did you know there is a community of people who use paper planners and calendars? It’s true. I’ve been a part of it for several years, and am thoroughly enmeshed in the world of Planner Peeps.
I kind of came into it by necessity. In the early days of wi-fi technology, the signals would mess with the radio signals at the Day Job. I kept a digital calendar on my cell phone, but because of the interference, cell phones and any digital device that used Wi-Fi or cellular was banned from the workplace. So I began using a mini Moleskine weekly. It was pretty basic—nothing but color coded writing in it.
Now that the signals are more stable and we have the encrypted radio channels, we are allowed to have digital devices at work. So why, in this age of all things digital, would someone choose to use a paper planner at all?
I can’t speak for everyone, but there are a few reasons why I choose to.
- It’s been proven that writing things down on paper helps a person remember them and retain the information where digital entry doesn’t.
- It helps me relax. Choosing stickers and decorations for the planner and putting them down on the page is soothing to me. Between anxiety over the state of the world, panicking over deadlines in writing, and the high stress of the Day Job, methodically placing stickers and highlighting events helps to keep my thoughts calm, which in turn keeps my writing on track.
- It’s a way for me to occupy my time. I do most of my planning during quiet times at the Day Job. When I’m stuck at my desk for 12 hours a day, I set up my planner layouts. It’s difficult to write or focus on reading at work (too many interruptions), and I don’t want to mindlessly play games on my phone, scroll social media, or watch reality TV, so spending the time decorating the planner and planning what I have in store for the week keeps me productive and on task even if I’m not writing.
As of now, I have found Planner Peace for my writing. It’s what Planner Peeps call finding a system that works for them. In rare occasions, like mine, it can be found in a single planner. Many others Franken Plan—cannibalizing various parts of different planner systems and putting them into one unit to get the most function out of them.
While I have been lucky to find Planner Peace with writing, I do still use multiple planners. I have my Amplify Planner for all things writing and business, a Big Happy Planner that I use as a Series Bible, a B5 disc bound planner that I use to track the quarterly HB90 System and Publish & Thrive, and my Hobonichi Weeks that is strictly for tracking personal tasks and appointments.
Join me next week to see how I plan my writing in my Amplify Planner.
Christina