Best Day Planner/Organizer

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Having a day planner/organizer is an essential tool for highly productive living. When you first get an organizer, it looks a little overwhelming with all the different features and long instructions. But once you get used to it you begin to see the logic and value of each part. Eventually, using it becomes second nature.

I am going share my experiences using both a paper and software day planner/organizer. Although this is a subject that is usually considered just before the start of a new year, I would encourage anyone who is not currently using a day planner/organizer to start right away regardless of the date. In addition, if you are unsatisfied with your current organizer you might consider switching. What’s important is taking advantage of the time you have left in the year to learn how to use it so that you can put it into practice as soon as possible.

I was first introduced to the Franklin-Covey® day planner while working for a large international corporation. My boss purchased a Franklin-Covey planner for each of the department heads. Franklin-Covey is a leading developer of planners, organizers, and other productivity tools. One of the best things about Franklin-Covey is the outstanding product training they provide. I received this training along with the other department heads at our headquarters. I was so impressed with the product and the training that I purchased a Franklin-Covey planner for each of my managers.

There is a tremendous advantage when everyone who you are working with has the same planner as you do. This is especially true for a manager who is leading a group of subordinate managers. When you plan various activities, everyone is literally on the same page.

Giving my staff this day planner also provided me with the opportunity to fine-tune their planning and organizing skills. Although it was my management style to provide an intricate plan for what I wanted my staff to accomplish, I accredit the Franklin-Covey planner, in part, for developing a team that consistently lead the United States in all performance categories.

Personally, my Franklin-Covey day planner greatly improved my productivity. And I was already pretty strong in this area. What it did for me was to refine my skills and streamline my organizing activities.

Paper Verses Software Day Planners/Organizers

In January of 2010, I started using a software organizer on my desktop computer after using the Franklin-Covey paper-based day planner for many years.

Always being on the lookout for ways to simplify my life and increase my productivity, I starting looking into converting to a software organizer in November-December of 2009. This is the time that I’d normally get a new Franklin-Covey calendar for the upcoming year. Had I known what I came to discover about the software planner, I would have switched years ago without being concerned about which month I started.

Although Franklin-Covey does have a software version of their planner, I decided to try a different one that I had gotten as a gift a couple of years prior. This software is an early version of the AnyTime Organizer.

Unless you have little or no experience using computer software, I see few advantages for using a paper-based day planner/organizer. Although the costs for purchasing day planner/organizer software can be a bit more initially, in the long run the cost is much less. Purchasing the software is a one-time expense that can last years. With the paper-based version, you have to buy a new calendar package every year and a new address book every few years as it wears out and gets cluttered with obsolete information.

Here are the advantages of a software day planner/organizer in comparison to a paper-based version. This comparison is based on the AnyTime Organizer that I am using currently.

Ability to password protect access. (Impossible with a paper version.)
Ability to insert reoccurring weekly, monthly, and yearly events and tasks with a single entry. (With a paper version you’d have to enter each one separately.)
Ability to setup alarms & reminders for upcoming events and tasks. (Impossible with a paper version.)
Ability to make quick, easy, and clean changes to any entry. (With a paper version the erasing and rewriting leaves the area messy, especially after multiple changes.)
Ability to drag and drop, copy and paste entries to another date or location. (Impossible with a paper version.)
Ability to automatically rollover unfinished tasks to the next day and beyond. (With a paper version this must be done by hand.)
Ability to find a particular event or task using the search function. (With a paper version you could waste a lot of time trying to located a particular event or task.)
Ability to switch to various calendar views depending on your need at any particular moment. (Paper version only has one view.)
Ability to make journal entries and notes of any length. (Impossible with a paper version.)
Ability to enter multiple addresses, phone numbers, and emails along with birthdays, anniversaries, and notes for each contact in the address book. And have the birthdays and anniversaries automatically entered into the calendar. (All of this is impossible with a paper version.)
Ability to initiate envelope and label printing from the address book. (Impossible with a paper version.)
Ability to automatically dial phones numbers of contacts in the address book. (Impossible with a paper version.)

The newer version of the AnyTime Organizer software includes these great capabilities.

Spell check to ensure a professional appearance.
Customize look and feel.
Keep a daily personal or travel journal.
Store user ID’s, logins, pins, & more in a encrypted password organizer.
Track personal and business expenses.
Create a PDF of your calendar to email to friends and family.
Send email to contact in address book with one-click.
Access website of contact in address book with one-click.
Start letter to contact in address book with one-click.
Get map and directions for contact in address book with one-click.
Send email to multiple contacts in address book.
Check time in hundreds of locations using the world clocks.
Import-Export information from/to other software.
Synchronize data between AnyTime Organizer and mobile devices (phones, pads, tablets) and Personal Information Managers (PIM: Outlook & Google).
Print pages for Day-Timer®, Day Runner®, At-A-Glace®, & Franklin-Covey® paper-based planners.

There are many more features that are too numerous to include in this article. Get more information here.

The developer of the AnyTime Organizer also has many other excellent software products including Professor Teaches Web Design Fundamentals, Professor Teaches Dreamweaver, Professor Teaches Expression Web, Business Plan Maker, Resume Maker, Typing Instructor, Media Expressions, Video Expressions, Photo Expressions, 3D Home, Landscape, & Deck Suite, Family Tree Heritage, and more. Get these and other product descriptions and download links here. All of these software titles are eligible for the special Guru Habits discount!

I wish I had started using a software day planner/organizer years ago. It would have made my life easier and more productive. I am so thoroughly impressed with this software organizer, I am going buy the newest version. (Read my review below.)

If you want to increase your productivity, save time, and simplify your life, I strongly recommend that you get the AnyTime Organizer.

Be sure to use the special Guru Habits discount coupon code!

Reviews & Updates

11/29/10 - I purchased the deluxe version (12) upgrade.

12/06/10 - Now that I’ve worked with the new version for a few days and set everything up, I have this report.

This new product is 10 times better than the much earlier version that I was using before. It has many cool features too numerous to list here. I can already tell how it is going to significantly improvement my productivity and organization. What I like most about using this software is in how it going to simplify my life.

I was having a problem updating the holidays file for the calendar so I sent an email to technical support. I received a reply with an easy fix within 24 hours. Once I read the fix, I realized that the problem was my fault. I hadn’t followed the instructions in the user guide close enough.

10/20/11 – The new AnyTime Organizer Deluxe 14 has just been released! And it is eligible for the special Guru Habits discount! Download it here. Get more information here.

11/03/11 - I got the new AnyTime Organizer Deluxe 14. Can't wait to try it out.

11/11/11 - Here's my report after using the new AnyTime Organizer 14 for about a week.

Even though I got the full version and not the upgrade, the transition was seamless. All the information from the old version transferred to the new one with a couple of clicks. This included all the information I had entered in future years using the “Repeat” feature. So everything is already done for next year and beyond! That “Repeat” feature has saved me countless hours in comparison to when I was using a paper-based organizer.

There are numerous improvements to the 14 version. Of the ones I’ve discovered so far, I particularly like the “Sub Priority” category that was added to the “To-Do List” and the addition of the password requirement to enter the “Password Organizer.”

The “Sub Priority” category provides an additional level of organization, which I have found to be very useful. Although the organizer has an optional password requirement to open the program and the passwords inside the “Password Organizer” are encrypted so that only asterisks (***) are shown, having a second password requirement adds an additional level of security that I very much appreciate.

I would imagine that improvements were made to the “AnySync” tool as well. I just haven’t gotten that far. This tool allows you to synchronize data between AnyTime Organizer and your mobile devices (phones, pads, tablets) and Personal Information Managers (PIM: Outlook, Google).

With each new version, my productivity goes up and my life gets simpler!

Tips: (1) Be sure to uninstall any organizer programs before you install the new AnyTime Organizer. (2) Read the "User's Guide." It will shorten your learning curve and introduce you to some cool features that you might otherwise overlook.

Conclusion

The AnyTime Organizer software has a familiar appearance, intuitive user interface and it's easy to learn.

Now that I’ve gotten to know this new version of the AnyTime Organizer software, I’ve fallen in love -- all over again.

Get more information about the AnyTime Organizer here.

Be sure to use the special Guru Habits discount coupon code!

Brad Paul

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