Comments on: Why I’ve Gone Back To A Paper Diary

By: Lisa T.

Lisa T. — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:57:14 +0000

I prefer a handwritten list, too. Gwen makes some great points. And if your computer happens to crash, you are screwed.

When I first saw this topic, I thought you were talking about a personal diary, not your daily agenda. My first response was: why would I want to let everyone know all the personal thoughts about my life? I guess that’s what a blog is for.

I am an anachronism, because I still haven’t gotten a PDA. What if I lost it? For some reason, I don’t worry about losing a larger planner.

Lisa T.’s last blog post..Arguing about who is dumbest is really dumb

By: Sharon

Sharon — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:14:24 +0000

Hi Gwen

I like your comment about the handwriting, lol. I sometimes have trouble getting around to filing, and many of the other admin tasks, but I will do better one day.

By: Gwen

Gwen — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:15:26 +0000

I use my laptop with OneNote for staying electronically organized and writing; an iPAQ for my calendaring, which I keep either in the cradle on my desk or in my purse; Outlook to manage email and syncs to my iPAQ; and two paper notebooks. Yes, two. A small one for jotting down reminders as I think of them (it often goes with me in my purse) and a larger one that I take to meetings or meet with clients.

My handwriting is horrible, but it doesn’t:
need batteries
take forever to boot
happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time
stop working unexpectedly

I avoid post-its except to label physical paper with next action steps. (Yes, I’m a Getting Things Done fan.) My laptop is pen enabled, but I don’t write neatly enough or small enough for that to be practical.

My filing system works, except when I don’t get around to filing, but that is another problem.

By: sue jeffels

sue jeffels — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:37:28 +0000

Thanks Sharon, although there is a lot more work involved in this than I thought at first – I’m still learning things about html etc that I didn’t know, but it keeps my mind occupied which is a good thing at the moment.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 10:57:02 +0000

Good luck with your new site, Sue. It’s done wonders for my writing career. It really helps to have a central location where people can find your stuff.

By: Entrepreneur

Entrepreneur — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:43:28 +0000

I did what you did once- transfer stuff online … only to have it be mysteriously deleted. It was a waste of several hours over several days. I never got a reply from tech support as to what happened to all the data I inputed. It was up … and then it was no more.

Never trusted the online calendar again. And its a pain to have to log on before I can see what I need. Nice big paper calendar … LOVE PAPER! (So Recycle, don’t kill anymore trees!)

By: sue jeffels

sue jeffels — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:29:40 +0000

Like you Sharon I have tried doing this online and found that it didn’t work for me. For some reason I either missed things off or put in too much so I too have gone back to paper. It is much easier to keep track of what I am doing – especially as I have taken your advice from everywhere and got myself a domain name and new website which I am setting up.

Sue

By: Sharon

Sharon — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:21:13 +0000

Yes, there’s something about being able to look at a list that helps you to get things done. I know many people keep these online, but that doesn’t work as well for me. As Ashok says, not everyone can sit at the computer all day and yes, it can get confusing, Katherine. I do find that keeping bookmarks online works, though, as I always need to be online when I use them.

When I worked away from home, my PDA was my best friend, Rebecca, but I don’t use it much now that I work at home. And yes, it doesn’t stop the typical chaos of a writer’s desk.

By: ashok

ashok — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:43:50 +0000

I’m with you entirely – I have no clue how some people do everything online.

Nearly everything I write online exists in some form on paper first. And organizing my life online? I mean, I need the list in front of me too – I ain’t sitting here all day to remind myself of what needs to be done.

By: Rebecca Laffar-Smith

Rebecca Laffar-Smith — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 03:58:50 +0000

I’m a fan of the paper diary/planner too. I like to have my week at a glance. My writing is a mess but I found online versions would stay out of sight too much. I’d forget to log in or load it up and it was easy to miss something planned for the day.

With my desk planner I have the whole week in sight at all times. It is a good prompter to get me back on track with a project. It’s also handier when booking new appointments of projects and it’s far more portable.

I attempted an electronic organizer but so far haven’t found a portable one that worked effectively. So, I’m sticking with my paper desk planner for now.

I haven’t given up on finding a new tech alternative. With the invention of e-books and PDAs, electronic versions of our paper planners/diaries are sure to be right around the corner.

My to-do lists are also on paper although those are typed first and then printed. I have a basic daily to-do list that I like to check off as I go so it is easier to print multiple copies for the days of the week. Additional tasks for the day can be added in the extra lines.

Now it sounds like we’re all really organized, doesn’t it? Don’t let the lists, diary, etc. fool us. It’s still chaos half the time.