Hey all! I hope the beginning of 2020 has been treating you well! If you're like me, you're still trying to get a few things organized in the new year -specifically my calendar. Because of that, I figured I would share a few tips that have been really working for my lifestyle. Hope they can help you too!
Before college, my experience with planners and calendars was the assignment notebook that I had in middle school and the many many many planners that I tried to use throughout high school. Looking back on it, I honestly don't know how I juggled it all without having a consistent way of keeping track of everything. Maybe it was the ease of knowing that band practices were every Wednesday after school, or maybe it was the fact that I had parents and friends helping remember everything... either way, that style of life didn't last forever.
When I started college and got a part-time job where they trained me in things like "time management" and "getting organized," I gave a little bit of an eye roll. I knew how to get my stuff done, and here they were telling me that I needed to use Google Calendar?? It's like they were totally overlooking who I was! I just wanna write out my to-do's and meeting times in a cute little planner! WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE ON THE DANG COMPUTER??
Now don't get me wrong, I was digitally competent. Like most college students, I knew how to use my docs, sheets, and reminders. Still, there's always been something in me that loves seeing a nice pen glide across crisp paper. There are just so many possibilities! But being the good little rule follower I am, I started using Google Calendars. And boy was I grateful, especially when I realized that having a part-time job + going to school full time made my schedule look crazy most weeks. So for the most part over the past six years, I have used digital calendars and organization for everything that I've needed. For concentrated busy seasons where I am feeling overwhelmed, I will revert to paper planning because writing out the things that need to get done for that season helps me re-focus and buckle down so I can get back to my normal self.
But at the start of 2020, I was feeling ambitious. I wasn't in that overly-stressed mindset, and I was actually really excited to own the year! So, I went out and bought a paper planner. Oops. I was so so excited to write everything down and to be able to have that small creative outlet throughout my day. But here we sit, over 1 month into the year, and I just can't do it. I so love the idea of writing things down, but when it comes down to it, paper planners actually made my life more difficult.
5 Reasons Why Going Digital Is Worth It
1) I need my calendar with me at all times.
I am by no means a minimalist, but I am definitely one who doesn't like to carry things around with her in the day-to-day. Put me on a weekend getaway, and you can be sure I will overpack. But in my normal every day, all I want with me is my wallet, phone, and keys (egg, egg backup, anyone?). Keeping my calendars and to-do lists primarily digital means that I don't need to always bring my planner with me. If I see a friend at the grocery store and say, "We need to get lunch!" I can look at my calendar on my phone and schedule in time right then and there. If I were using a paper planner, I likely wouldn't have it on me and then I would maybe miss out on planning lunch with a friend. That's just one example, but I'm sure you can imagine how it could be helpful
2) Digital Calendaring allows for clean flexibility -no whiteout or eraser shavings.
Life is always changing. Sometimes lunches get canceled, meetings get rescheduled, and other times we just write down the wrote date altogether. Your organization can only be as good as the system that you use and let's face it, in times of stress, you're not always going to write "doctor's appointment" all neat and pretty. That means that some weeks, you'll start off a new planner page with scribbles and messy writing that you wrote the week before. I don't know about you, but having a clean schedule definitely helps my brain think clearer. With Google Calendars, everything looks clean and I can even customize the color of each event.
3) Digital Calendaring automatically syncs with all of my favorite productivity tools.
I have talked about the app Wunderlist before on my post about my favorite Tools To Accomplish Your New Year's Goals, but one of my favorite features of this app is that it will sync with my calendar. When I select a due date for an item, it automatically pops up on my calendar as a task to be done by the end of the day. Google Calendar also offers its own form of a to-do list and other helpful widgets.
4) I can share my calendar with my family, co-workers, and friends, and I'm able to get updates in real-time.
This feature is especially helpful in work environments. Not only can I send invites to people to join a meeting, but I can also include any pertinent information in the event itself. Location, time, details... you can do it all. I even have an availability calendar set up with some of my part-time workers (college students) so I can see if they are available to attend something or see if they are in class. And if for some reason details of an event change, I can update it in real-time and anyone invited to that event will be notified via email.
5) I'm not saying goodbye to paper and creativity all together.
This is probably the biggest reason that I know sticking with a digital calendar is the right thing to do. While it is important to keep all of my information in one place, I know that in certain seasons, I may make a conscious decision to spend a couple of weeks planning out my life on paper. It's true that writing things out helps you remember them more, so I definitely value doing that when it is helpful! I think that's the key phrase though... when it is helpful. If I decided to stick to paper calendaring 24/7, I would end up losing all the things that I listed above. In my mind, that's just not worth it, but I still look forward to the many ways I get to embrace creativity in my calendaring when it is helpful. All that being said, I can move forward with my digital calendaring in confidence, knowing that I am doing what it takes for me to steward my time intentionally.
Well, there it is, friends! Hope this is helpful! Honestly, just do what makes sense for you. Make the things that are good for you simple. Don't overcomplicate it. That's how I decided what worked for me! As always, feel free to reach out with questions, comments, encouragements, or any other random thing that pops into your head. Find more tips and thoughts on my Instagram stories at @itsshannonlong!
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