Why I transitioned to Digital Planning

Okay, so hear me out.

I love planners. I hoard notebooks. Heck, even in this eco-conscious society I unabashedly love paper products. Paper source is my happy place. The last few years I’ve had my eye on a super cool planner (super cool = intense and overly detailed). Every year I dream about it, but I could never justify it. This year I decided to buy it.

But then I didn’t.

Planning is important, especially to my OCD INTJ crazy brain. I like to plan, perhaps even more than I like actually doing things (which I also like a lot). So as much I wanted a fancy shmancy planner for 2020 I also wanted to make sure my planning would be successful and actually work for me, not against me. During the Holidays I took a day to sit down and really figure out what I was going to do, and either buy the damn planner or not. I read blog posts and watched YouTube videos about all sorts of planners and techniques and came to the conclusion that it was time to commit to all-digital planning.

The thing is, planners are bulky, heavy, and inconvenient. Whatever planner I have would need to get shoved into my already over-stuffed bag and weigh down my already over-worked shoulders. Then, whenever I need to make notes I would need to dig it out, along with a pen that may or may not be rolling around the bottom of my bag. It’s overwhelming just thinking about the planning process with a paper planner. When I think back to the last few years I realize that using a paper planner always felt like more work than an actual help. So I’ve leaned in and made the switch, and I’m loving it. So I’m here to share how I’m doing it.

Just to be clear, I am in no way sponsored, supported, or anything else by any of these companies. These are just what has worked for me.

LONG TERM PLANNING

The past year I’d already been regularly using Google Calendar to do most of my scheduling anyway. My husband also uses it, so that makes it super easy to plan around each other’s schedules. It’s been a win win since we’re both always going in ten different directions. Not to mention, it’s always in my hand since I have the app on my phone, but I can also use it on my computer when I sit down to do more intense planning.

With Google Calendar you can also create multiple different calendars that are all color coded and can easily be hidden if you need to. I have different calendars for me and my husband’s shared calendar, our meal planning, my work events, and even my workouts. I like to add my workout plan to the event notes of each day. Since it’s all in my phone I can easily pull it up each morning and just go.

DAILY & ABSTRACT PLANNING

So, half the battle was already won, but what about other planning? Goal planning, random ideas, and daily tasks that don’t have an easy place on a calendar. Also, I love checking this off, so a check list is a must in my life. I researched a whole bunch of apps and found a few winners in that department, and I ultimately went with TickTick. I’ve been using it since the beginning of the year and love it. Seriously, I’m pretty picky about these types of things, and now I wonder how I ever got along without it. For the price (only a few bucks a year for premium), it’s everything I need to keep all my random ideas, goals, and tasks organized, dare I say it, better than paper ever has.

At the beginning of the year I created a “2020” folder and broke all the different areas of my life down into different lists. Broad goals and dreams as well as specific projects. I can write out more abstract goals as well as add specific tasks that have a due date. There’s an easy to toggle tab to for you daily tasks that I love. Like Google Calendar you can also use it both on your phone and on your desktop, which is a must for me, since I spend plenty of time on both.

GROUP PLANNING

Last but not least. I started a new job in December and was wanting a way to easily connect our different teams on the various projects we collaborate on. My old job had used Basecamp, which was great but a little more expensive. One of my coworkers introduced me to Clickup which is free and has worked out well so far for us. It took a little bit for me to get used to, but have found it to be a great way to plan projects with a group, especially for being free! I believe TickTick has similar collaborative features, but personally I like using something separate for work.

Honestly, I wish I went all digital sooner. Of course, I do miss perusing paper stores for a gorgeous planner, but in reality digital planning is a better system for me by leaps and bounds. If you’ve ever found yourself struggling to actually stay on top of your planning then definitely test out digital planning!