Yes, people, I still have a paper planner. Wait, it gets worse: I actually bought a new Filofax a few months ago, and I got the most amazing deal because these days it's like buying a rotary phone or something. I know of just a couple of other women who have them, who I won't out here. Surprisingly, there is no "I have a leather-bound diary!" Facebook support group.
I love this organizer, with its burnished leather and chunky feel and the way it isn't easily toss-able into a toilet (these are the subtleties you appreciate when you have kids). I've kept all the pages from the last 10 years, a record of my transition from carefree single woman to hypercrazed mom who jots down deep thoughts like "Buy rainbow sprinkles and glue stick." I have a BlackBerry. It's got a good phone, some fun apps and a calendar I ignore. Every December, when I order refill pages for my planner, I fear I'll find out they've stopped making them...or that the person on the other end of the line will laugh at me. ("SERIOUSLY? YOU WANT PAPER?!!!")
I realize this isn't the most eco-correct way to exist, but I'm hooked. My Filofax essentially functions as my brain: I note everything I need to do—work stuff, medical appointments, people to call, house tasks, bills to pay—and events like kids' birthday parties and the occasional night out with friends. In the back, I have a page with a list of all the specialists in Max's life. It's a looong list. This thing can get a little ridiculous looking because I shove in assorted paperwork and random stuff (like the hotel key). Friends tease me, but when we make plans I can flip to days faster than they can click. Also, my Filofax never runs out of batteries.
So, call me a dinosaur, but I am a damn well-organized dinosaur. Now that I've gone public about my paper planner, it's your turn to share: How do you (or don't you?!) stay organized?
I have the cheapest phone of all time (and don't care) and use PAPER to keep myself organized! You are not alone. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a "back to school" paper organizer...I buy one EVERY year in Aug. I LOVE IT! :)
ReplyDeleteI have a huge diary, that I carry with me everywhere in my huge over the top handbag. I also make lists, lots of lists *and* I write down all of my questions on paper for doctors. it drives them insane.
ReplyDeleteI also have a wall calendar, that I write the same appointments that are in my diary onto - you know, so the family can stay organised too.
You are not alone!
I love and appreciate techy stuff. I have an ipod touch, a macbook...and many, many video games that a 38 year old woman just should not have.
ReplyDeleteBut when it comes to scheduling my kid's ever increasing appointments---I use a free-bee type pocket calendar. It's easier for us that way. So it works.
So strange, that I, a technophobe, would be the first commenter here to say I'd die without my BlackBerry. I hate learning new tech, I am not a gadgethead - I only got my first iPod two years ago for music and am still on my first one, for the car and exercise. But that crackberry? How could I have lived without that calendar? Hannah has 4 hippotherapy, 6 PT and 2 OT sessions a month, plus doctors, both girls in Little Gym and then there is my own PT, medical, social crap, and that full time job I have. When I upgraded last year it made it all so very much easier to keep track of the schedule and to make changes as needed. I can look ahead for months, years, or back in time, make recurring appointments once, and flexible appointments fill in where they can. And the built in phone book? God, how I love that. And I bet I only use half of what is available. Now that I got here I'll never go back.
ReplyDeleteI'm all paper--I prefer to write on paper and my organizer is definitely paper. The computer seems "unreal" for some reason.
ReplyDeleteTHAT"S exactly how I am! I live in fear that they will discontinue my dayminder refills.
ReplyDeletehaha. Had to laugh, I'm not alone!!
This was absolutely darling.
Count me among the prehistoric people who still use a paper planner. Yes, I have a computer, & yes, I have a cell phone...but without my little paper pocket calender...I'd be lost!
ReplyDeleteLove my paper planner! I buy a new one every year, and will spend too much time perusing them to find just the right one! Hoping to upgrade old school Nokia to a crackberry soon, but I bet I'll still use a paper calendar. Just seems easier to me.
ReplyDeleteI used to love my paper planner... I'm thinking wistfully about it...
ReplyDeleteHowever, my hubby and I started getting into HUGE arguments about schedules and I had my planner up at work, yadda, yadda, yadda.
He ended up making a google calendar for us to share... "who ever enters an activity first, wins"
Marriage changing.
We can also both see it from our phones... but I still don't have places to put my receipts and notes!
I miss my Filofax. It's a brilliant little tool. And yes, I loved the weight of it, the feel of the leather, how busy it made me feel. But I've graduated to the iPhone. It's not perfect, but it does enable me to carry a smaller bag. ;-)
ReplyDelete"Hi, I'm Niksmom and I'm a paper organizer addict." I *tried* so hard to learn to love the whole Palm Pilot, paperless, cloud computing, etc style of organizing. It's never big enough for me to see everything I need at once bc I don't just schedule a week at a time, I schedule MONTHS out for nik's specialists, etc.
ReplyDeleteI still keep a paper calendar on my fridge w/all our appointments. Works great until the little man figures out it's more paper to shred. *shrug*
Ironically, I use word, onenote, and excel files for "data" tracking. Well, except for the 6+years of hardbound daily planners I use to track all of N's sleep, food, etc.
I'm a dinosaur too! LOVE paper!
ReplyDeleteI'm all about my paper planner as well--and I've kept everyone since the day Shawn and Clayton were born!!! I have notes all over them and hope that future generations don't think I was a scatterbrained as they make me look!!
ReplyDeleteYep - I have one too! LOL! It is nice when you are in the doc's office and they tell you they have to check when they did the last test....You can see them visibly deflate when I bust out the calendar to fill them in! Ha!Ha!
ReplyDeleteSteph
P.S. Thanks for reminding me - I need refills!!!
I have a regular month at a glance calendar (shocker!!!) that I use. I also use a program called billIQ to remind me of bills which is really helpful for me and my husband.
ReplyDeleteI'm also a big list maker.
I need ALL the help I can get!!! :)
I have a cheapy cell for emergency use or the occassional call home. I keep everything on paper also. I keep a calendar in my purse for appts and to store other papers. I keep an organizer at home for current medical papers. I also keep Kennedys ER protocol on paper in her tube feeding backpack. I keep files in a regular filing cabinet of school and medical papers. The one thing I do have that is electronic is an iD usb storage device for kennedys medical stuff, kind of like a medical alert bracelet but it plugs into any windows computer for immediate information.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like it just takes too much time to keep everything electronic when I can just write it down.
oh and I still use the dry erase boards on my fridge for an up to date calendar to keep me organized.
I love paper but gave it up because we keep our family schedule on Google Calendar and it's saved our lives. Just being able to share our appointments and access the schedule through our phones has been a lifesaver.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, my brain keeps my life together. I write appointments on a wall calendar but that is the extent of my organization.
ReplyDeleteOh please! I still use the leather Day Runner I bought in 1996. I need paper. Hate the calendars on my phones and iPods.
ReplyDeleteI am a devoted paper-planner user, and I confess to a feeling of quiet satisfaction when I'm trying to schedule something with a friend, and I've got my calendar ready, pencil tapping, while she's still clicking to find the right screen. I do wish there were a way to back it up, though. I live in fear of losing all the addresses and (carefully coded) passwords I keep in there, and the only thing I've figured out is to photocopy the whole thing every few months.
ReplyDeleteNot all that shocking, next to my PDA I still have my Franklin planner... paper based. More real that way.
ReplyDeleteI also have a paper planner: a MomAgenda. I tried to go all tech with my planner, but it just didn't work. I need the paper, and don't plan on switching any time soon!
ReplyDeleteI'm still in the dark ages as well! I've tried to go paperless, but I just can't do it!
ReplyDeleteI've just gone digital this year after having a filofax for many years. I love that my phone does everything - phone, calendar, ipod etc. The only problem is...what if I lose it???
ReplyDeleteI have a calendar with big squares in the kitchen next to a blackboard and a white board. If I need to make a list of things to do, I write it on a piece of paper ... and forget to put it in my pocket!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any of that fancy iPodish stuff. It's just too expensive.
I was kinda sorta secretly hoping that you guys would talk me into going electronic but, nooooooooooo
ReplyDeleteGoogle Calendar. Love it. Does repeating events like birthdays etc and you can share it with whoever you like. There are calendars you can use (I have the Grand Prix one), to do lists, a variety of views.
ReplyDeleteWe also have a white board which we use for the things we want the kids to know about ahead of time. It's good practice for them to get organised now.
Oh, yeah. And Gill's head. Amazing capacity for remembering appointments whereas I have a head like a sieve ... with extra holes drilled in it ... and a bit missing.
That's the exact same FiloFax model that I used for YEARS! I loved it!! I cry a little on the inside every time I get an email reminder this time of year to order the refills. :( I still miss it. You could keep all sorts of random bits in that thing.
ReplyDeleteMy iPhone and Google Calendar are now in charge of keeping me sane. What finally pushed me over to the techno realm was trying to keep track of my husband's crazy schedule as a prof. - when he is teaching classes, in meetings, or out of town. It was in constant flux but by sharing calendars electronically everything is worlds easier.
It was painful at first but now I love being able to type into search and find things like when B's last genetics appt. was or when his next eval. will be.
I've also scanned in all of Bertrand's medical records from every institution he's been seen at and they are password protected on my phone. I love being able to correct the doctors on which tests he's had before! :)
Look up the Philofaxy Blog!! It is a wonderful community of like minded Filofax and paper planner enthusiasts.... with lots of information and free downloads for planners... and just marvellous. We even have Filofax meet ups... days out together for a meal and Filofax shopping and browsing..... in the UK and USA.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of us filofax fans out there! Your blog post has been featured over at http://philofaxy.blogspot.co.uk
ReplyDeleteI love using my filofax alongside my iPod touch :)
There is something much more satisfying about a paper planner and I love my filofax very much, the calendars on phones and other devices just do not make me feel organised, they make me feel nervous that it will delete itself or I have entered the data wrong. Something I have managed several times using the alarm clock function on my phone. I am the only one of all my friends and family that uses a paper organiser but I often get asked to check something in my filofax because its faster than them opening the planner app on there electronic device. :)
ReplyDeleteNever never EVER apologise for having a paper planner. I also have a BlackBerry, and I also ignore the planner, the tasks list and the memo pad, because there is just no way they can compete with my Filofax.
ReplyDeleteA paper diary will never delete, duplicate or scramble your data (as my email client has just done to an archive of 32,000 emails). A paper planner will always offer greater speed of access to the diary. A paper diary will always offer better perspective on different parallel time frames (daily, weekly, annual). And a paper planner will never EVER have battery failure at a crucial moment.
Simply superior in every way.....
There are plenty of us paper planner users out here! As someone noted Philofaxy blog is full of them. And Plannerisms blog. Just google planners and you will find us. Also, there are a ton of you tube videos on how to set up your planner. Its really hilarious. I know some die hard Apple users who think I'm nuts. I've been using Franklins for 25+ years but switched to Filofax 2 years ago and still search online for the perfect paper planner. Erin Condren is also a good one and as someone mentioned Mom Agenda. One I just discovered today is the Woman's Success Planner at thesuccesschoice.com. For me, its more than appointments and to do lists...I use my paper planner for receipts, menu planning, doodling, journaling, those annoying store card that were weighing down my key chain, coupons, etc. Many of those things you can do on a phone but not as fun. I change my planners to match my purse or tote bag and I love the smell/feel of leather. Can't say that about my iphone. LOL
ReplyDeleteI loved this post; it's awesome! There's also a Philofaxy Facebook group, 'Filofax for Philofaxy Fans': https://www.facebook.com/groups/filofaxusers/
ReplyDelete