Planning, Planning, Planning

Today I spent $32.00 and four hours of my time to fetch my planner and journal that I had left behind. As I was waiting in the ferry line up I posted on Facebook about this and asked how many people had moved to using all digital to keep their calendar and planning or did they still like to use paper.

I had some interesting responses and it led me to think that most people younger than me are far more comfortable with digital record keeping than I am. Or if they have used technology in their workplace, it's easier to transition that into their everyday record keeping.

Now with the ability to keep everything "cloud based"  and synced between devices, it makes less and less sense to have it all on paper. However I like to have it all spread before me, there's an undeniable feeling of liking to turn pages, scratching things in the margins and the feel of the pens or pencils in my hand. 

 But, and this is a big BUT, I am very particular about the kind of paper planner I use, it has to have a two page spread for each month, plus two pages per week for writing plans, notes and lists. It has to be large enough to write comfortably, none of those 5"x8" ones are for me, I like the 9" x 12" ones and they often run to $30.00 or more. I usually buy them twice a year so now I'm looking at $60.00 or more.....

Then there's the challenge of having enough months in the planner. Do I use the academic year September - August or the calendar year January - December and what happens when I need to make notes for 2015 but I'm still working in 2013? Oh my, the decisions!!!!

And then what about shared calendars? Last Christmas we actually organized a Google Calendar for the family for who was going to be where and when as we had four children, three spouses and two grand kids all with different schedules.  My husband who admits to being a bit of a Luddite, uses an Outlook Calendar for his work schedule but asks to refer to my calendar for family appointments and such. I'm thinking of moving back to something simple to stick on the fridge for easy reference.

Well, for now I need to add all the notes into my planner that I've missed over the last few days and catch up with my lists. But since I have either my phone or tablet with me almost all the time, I'm thinking that I might try embracing my "inner geek" and move into this century!

How about you? Which options appeal to you? What do you use to keep you on track?