What's Better: Digital or Paper Planners?

Last November, I reluctantly joined the masses and got an iPhone4s. I'm a bit of a technophobe. I didn't call anyone the first week I had it. For about a month or two, I was overwhelmed and ignored every feature on my phone beside the actual phone and text capacities. In January, I finally made the switch from a paper planner to a digital calendar.

This planner saw a lot of action in 2011.

Before using Google Calendar, I loved loved loved my Do-It-All Planner for the following reasons:

• Each weekly spread had tons of space for writing in activities.
• Each week featured a positive quote.
• Each spread had shaded rows that were perfect for keeping track of different areas of my life, including scheduled things like work and appointments, as well as meeting goals like exercise and water consumption. 
• There were no printed time slots. This is great because my day doesn't start at 8am or end at 8pm, contrary to what lots of planners seem to think.
• It had a folder pocket in the cover page. Brilliant!
• There was a contact book in the back with prompts to fill out important numbers like doctor, handyman, and food delivery! 
• A generous number of note pages in the back also left space to record other important info. I wrote mine and Richard's sizes in everything, account info and customer service numbers for every utility service I use, and the hours of my favorite places there.
• The last pages were slim perforated tear-off grocery and to-do lists that could be used as a book mark to find the current week and record tasks that didn't need to be done on a specific day. 

The Do-It-All Planner is the best paper planner I have ever used. It was nearly perfect for me. Nearly. One problem was the papers kept falling out of the front folder. That was easily solved when I got hip and used a binder clip to attach them to the cover. Another problem was occasionally I'd accidentally leave it at home. (I guess that's more of a personal problem, though.)

There's a new sheriff in town and she's dressed in pink.

Is my Google Calendar better? In some ways.

• It's much smaller and lighter than my planner.
• I can include links to websites with more info (like Facebook event pages) or cut and paste details from email or websites. This is so much easier than writing out all the info.
• I can access my calendar from my SmartPhone, my laptop, my iPad, or any other computer with the internet access.
• I can schedule pop up reminders.
• I can click on an address and be taken to a map. I get lost a lot so I love this feature!

What's not great about digital calendars?

• I need to have a SmartPhone to really use it effectively because I'm (thankfully) not glued to my laptop or other wifi enabled devices all day. SmartPhone data packages are an additional expense on top of my regular cell phone minutes package. This stinks!
• Sometimes I find myself on the kind of block or train line where I do not want to whip out my iPhone but need to look at it to check an address or train stop. #imightgetmugged 
• You can't cozy up with a mug of hot cocoa and read through years old entries in a digital calendar and get the same sense of nostalgia you would get from a print planner.

What do you think? Do you use a paper planner or a digital calendar like iCal or Google Calendar?

If you'd like to buy the Do-It-All Planner 2013 (good for August 2012 through December 2013) on Amazon, please use this link to help support my blog. Thanks!

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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