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 to 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 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 introduced to the Franklin-Covey (paper) day planner while working for a large international corporation. My boss purchased one for all the department heads. I was impressed with it so I purchased one for each of my managers and support staff.
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 helping develop a team that consistently led the United States in all performance categories.
My Franklin-Covey (paper) day planner improved my productivity significantly. And I was already pretty strong in this area. What it did for me was refine my skills and streamline my organizing activities.
Paper versus software day planner organizer
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 started looking into converting to a software organizer. 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 earlier. This software was a very early version of one I’ll introduce to you soon.
Unless you have little or no experience using computer software, I see very few advantages to 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.
Software advantages over paper day planner organizer
Ability to…
- Password-protected access. (Impossible with a paper version.)
- Insert recurring weekly, monthly, and yearly events and tasks with a single entry. (With a paper version you’d have to enter each one separately.)
- Set up alarms & reminders for upcoming events and tasks. (Impossible with a paper version.)
- 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.)
- Drag and drop, copy and paste entries to another date or location. (Impossible with a paper version.)
- Automatically rolls over unfinished tasks to the next day and beyond. (With a paper version this must be done by hand.)
- Find a particular event or task using the search function. (With a paper version you could waste a lot of time trying to locate a particular event or task.)
- Switch to various calendar views depending on your need at any particular moment. (Paper version only has one view.)
- Make journal entries and notes of any length. (Impossible with a paper version.)
- 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.)
- Initiate envelope and label printing from the address book. (Impossible with a paper version.)
- Automatically dial phone numbers of contacts in the address book. (Impossible with a paper version.)
The day planner organizer software I’ll show you next also includes these great capabilities.
- Spell check to ensure a professional appearance.
- Customize the look and feel.
- Keep a daily personal or travel journal.
- Store user ID’s, logins, pins, & more in an encrypted password organizer.
- Track personal and business expenses.
- Create a PDF of your calendar to email to friends and family.
- Send an email to a 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 an email to multiple contacts in address book.
- Check the time in hundreds of locations using the world clocks.
- Import-Export information from/to other software.
- Synchronize data with mobile devices (phones, pads, tablets) and Personal Information Managers (PIM: Outlook & Google).
- And much more.
I wish I had started using a software day planner organizer years ago. It would have made my life much easier and more productive.
Okay! Drum roll… here it is. AnyTime Organizer Go get it!