Are you a paper person? Or do you prefer to work digitally? In this blog we look at the difference between paper and digital planners. To find the perfect planner for you.
Digital Planners
Digital Planners are online apps, or downloadable documents which you use to plan out your week, month and year. You can easily find them on the internet and they are normally free.
Paper Planners are a more traditional type of planner. They are things like Passion Planners, Bullet Journals or just planners. Often they are already laid out for you, giving you space to fill in your week.
Paper planners often require a yearly up-front fee. This can be anything from £10.00 to £30.00 depending on the type of planner you are purchasing. Digital planners however are normally free. At the end of the year you also do not need to re-purchase. You can simply delete the contents and start again. If you are looking for a free planner, digital planners could be just the ticket!
Endlessly edit with Digital Planners
Personally I hate having to cross something out in my planner. I think it messes up my week and makes my thoughts scattered. Digital planners are highly editable. You can simply backspace and delete if you make a mistake, spell check and even change the formate of a page. You have a lot more flexibility with a digital planner for example, if an appointment’s location is changed you can easily edit this within your planner.
A Digital Planner is also fully customisable. You can add in links, change layouts and colour schemes. The fact that they are so easy to edit is a major plus.
If you run a business or work free-lance, collaborating with others for work is very important. You can easily link others into your work by adding google doc links or sharing a zoom link via your digital planner. The list of apps you can monopolise (normally for free) is endless. If you run your own business you could use Deputy within your digital planner to schedule timesheets and the integrate Quick Books for invoicing hours.
Set Reminders with a Digital Planner.
With a Digital Planner you can link in your calendar. This allows you to set reminders across all of your devices. When you are on the go, you will still receive a reminder of where you are supposed to be next. Integrating your calendar is such a helpful feature because everything is one place as opposed to being scattered across digital and paper. It also means that if plans change, you can easily edit your planner to reflect this.
Now let’s have a look at why we love Paper Planners..
Improve retention of information.
Have you ever spent hours on the internet and then realised you do not remember a single thing? Because if yes, same! In the information age that we are in we spend most of our time skim reading online. With so much to take in, our brains can only handle so much. When reading a book however you often remember its contents for longer. Our brains are very clever, they can skim read on the internet but take time soaking up information on the internet.
This makes paper a great choice if you are wanting to really focus on what you have planned. It is widely known that we remember things we physically write over things we simply say or type. Writing stimulates thinking and allows our brain to carefully process information. Writing will allow your brain to store more information and remember it!
Our attention spans are already much less than previous generations. This is partly because of social media and the constant need for new information. When using a digital planner you can get notifications coming through on your screen. This can be very distracting and can mean you are constantly going from thing to thing without finishing the first task.
Working on paper allows you to focus on only one thing, writing. This can help you plan more efficiently and have a clear plan.
Write Better Notes
Typing takes less mental effort than writing does. That means whatever you write is often more succinct. Just like avoiding distraction this leads to clear notes which you can use. It might also weed out tasks which just are not necessary, giving you more time.
Writing on paper or quickly getting all of your thoughts down (known in Bullet Journaling as a Brain Dump) can reduce stress. The art of writing releases a hormone in your brain that helps to de-stress you. If you journal for 15-20 minutes, three or five times a week it can help lower your blood pressure and improve liver functionality (studies show). If you do spend a lot of time on your computer or on the phone, writing on paper can help to give your eyes a blue light break.
When it comes to paper planners or digital, really it is all up to you. It comes down to personal preference and what suits you when. For example you could use a digital planner to help you keep track of tasks, calendar appointments and help you collaborate with others. While a paper planner could be used for goal setting, gratitudes, habit tracking and general journaling. That way you get the best of both worlds!
Do you use a digital planner or a paper planner? Let us know in the comments below..
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