Eight reasons I no longer use a paper planner

[ojibwa13]

Agree with best of both worlds

I use a Tablet PC, which gives me the best aspects of both worlds.

My TabletPC is perhaps the best purchase I have ever made. The ability to type or write allows for plenty of flexibilty. I also use MindManager 6.0 to track my projects, and what an outstanding application that is (I must thank Jason Womack for this purchase). I then synch this with my Palm Treo, and I have my needed information with me at all times.

For me personally, I could not imagine using a paper-based system. Although I find it very interesting to read about how others are using their paper systems.

Phil

 

[GTDWorks]

I use paper as a journal to record the events of the day as they happen (Day-TImer 2-page per day) and my PDA for calendar, Tasks, and Contacts. I have Day-Timer two page per month pages for longer-range planning.

It works for me.

 

[severance1970]

Four years ago, I went without a Palm for months without missing it one bit. But I still had to carry a cell phone, so an organizer of any kind was just another cumbersome accessory to carry. Then I got a Treo, which I've stayed with since. I capture on paper, usually with a notetaker wallet, then process everything into the Treo, usually at the Palm Desktop. I'd actually prefer an all-paper system, but have compromised on the organizer side because:

1. Most of my information arrives electronically, so I can paste action support material into memos or note attachments in the Palm Desktop. Palms can also store whole Word and Excel docs, which is usually an overrated feature, but for small reference material it comes in handy.

2. I'm left-handed, which makes the typical looseleaf organizer a non-starter. The rings at the left margin get in the way. A perfect bound organizer solves with problem at the expense of losing the looseleaf's main advantage: the ability to insert, redact and rearrange pages. GTD requires more flexibilty with lists than provided by most commercial organizers, which tend to be calendar-centric.

3. Size matters. The Treo is conveniently small relative to most paper organizers, especially now that I've refitted it with a 2.5mm antenna, and remains small as reference and support material increases.

4. I see the need to reenter what I've captured as a feature, not a bug. I can write something down inarticulately without worrying where to park it in the system, knowing that I'll loop back around to clean it up. I can write something as fragmentary as "tires," and later, process that single word into "Get new tires" in Projects and "Call tire store for prices" in @Calls. Of course, the fact that the paper/PDA system forces the issue doesn't mean that you can't do the same thing using either paper or electronics exclusively.

 

[GTDWorks]

Gameboy 70:

Thanks for this. I plan to upgrade from my HP to a Treo once my current plan allows for it. I carry a PDA, a cell, and a Day-Timer right now and I look forward to the PDA/phone combo.

Anyone else using a Treo? Would you recommend the Palm OS or the Windows OS?

 

[DoingIt]

I use a duplex system: I maintain my GTD data on a USB memory stick running OpenOffice. My data are held in a spreadsheet thus giving me lots of flexibility with the creation of Context lists, checklists etc. However, for safety's sake, as well as for convenience when I'm away from a PC, I also keep a hardcopy version of the whole spreadsheet.

This system suits me because I can backup my data by easily keeping a remote electronic copy and I can also use the hardcopy version whenever it suits me.

Before anyone else comments about it, I'll be the first one to admit that keeping two systems, as I do, is inefficient. It's not too bad though, once you get used to it. Anyway, one of the first things I learned about the different ways of implementing the GTD system, especially on this Board, is that "if it's good for you, then go ahead and use it".

 

[JSR]

A revelation...

I tend to follow threads like this with interest because I am still trying to determine whether I want paper or a palm for my system. I have switched back and forth or gone hybrid for the past year.

However, shortly after this tread started, I was listening to the GTD Fast cds (which I purchased 2 years ago and have heard 2 or 3 times). This time I noticed what David said about note-taking. Essentially he said he tried all of the programs available for the palm that are meant to make note taking possible, but they were "toys". Writing on paper is always faster (for him at least). And he said something to the effect that the higher tech your organizational tool gets (he says the palm is an organizer, not a note taker) the lower tech your collection/capture tools should get.

Why this did not hit me before, I do not know. I have always taken notes on paper in meetings or when the phone rings, or whatever, and then felt obligated to copy anything I commited to or needed to remember to either a palm note, or to the right-hand side of my 2-page per day planner. My notes are very messy, so I would never just write them in the limited space on the planner, and the input limitations of the palm make it impossible for me to take notes directly into there (and even if I could, I over-note take and would have to decide what to keep and delete the rest anyway).

Now I realize I do not have to have 1 tool for both capture/colleciton and organization, but can capture anywhere on anything but make sure it gets into an inbox. Then I can process it into my system directly as calendare, action, waiting for, etc. without being forced to recapture the note onto paper or a palm memo.

I have permission to break a rule I have heard in many programs - that your system is all in one binder or palm that needs to be with you all of the time. This was impossible anyway because the inboxes are in different formats, but I thought I had to somehow get anything of use from the various inboxes into my system before I could process. No more. Capture is different from process, and now I just process it.

In the spirit of the original post to the thread, I use a palm becasue
1. My writing is messy, even when I try to be neat. Difficulty reading a weeks or so later
2. I type much, much faster than I can write, and I can type into the palm desktop when I process or review, sync, and I am done.
3. I do like the backup - and it gets backed up at work and home, so I am fairly sure one will survive if the other dies.
4. It is really easy to carry with me, plus it has audio books or MP3s I can listen to while I walk and digital books I can read when I get bored. And I can carry a lot of reference material in the memos or word files (I do not think it really works for excel, but I only need spreadsheets when I am at my desk anyway)

That being said, there are issues. The screen is small, but it only bothers me when I am doing a weekly review, and I can do that at my work desk using the palm desktop software on the screen, so I can see the entire month's calendar or action list on the big screen.

And I do drop it a little too often. But I will always repair or replace it (in my current mindset), and the desktop software with backup means I can print and carry around my calendar or lists with me and even update on the desktop as needed until I get it repaired or replaced. Then it is just a sync away from all being back in the palm.

I know now, even more than before, that the tool does not matter. I do not need to be costrained by any tool. I will use what is easiest for and most trusted by me...

 

[kewms]

I have permission to break a rule I have heard in many programs - that your system is all in one binder or palm that needs to be with you all of the time. This was impossible anyway because the inboxes are in different formats, but I thought I had to somehow get anything of use from the various inboxes into my system before I could process. No more. Capture is different from process, and now I just process it.

Yes. This was an enormously important insight for me, too. I have some of my best ideas when I'm away from my tools, whether walking in the park, or eating lunch, or out and about with friends. In those circumstances, I'm simply not going to carry a bulky paper planner, and data entry into almost any electronic device is just too slow. (Maybe taking a camera phone picture is fast enough, but that only helps if the idea is visual.) But with a few extra business cards and a small pen, I'm all set.

Katherine

 

[TesTeq]

What about a voice recorder?

data entry into almost any electronic device is just too slow. (Maybe taking a camera phone picture is fast enough, but that only helps if the idea is visual.) But with a few extra business cards and a small pen, I'm all set.

What about a voice recorder? Many mobile phones have one built-in.

 

[wordsofwonder]

What about a voice recorder? Many mobile phones have one built-in.

I'm another "capture on paper, organize on my Palm" type of person, and I've tried the voice recorder method of capturing. (In fact, my new Treo 700p has a voice recorder, though I've never used it.)

The reason voice recorders don't work for me boils down to self-consciousness: I feel a lot more self-conscious talking about stuff into a little silver box than I do pulling out a notebook or 3x5 card and just scribbling down some notes.

I don't feel self-conscious talking on a cell phone, though, so I don't know that I can adequately explain why a voice recorder bugs me. I just notice that it does, and that it creates enough disturbance to my psyche to subtly discourage me from using it. And that's an attribute one definitely doesn't want in a capture tool.

-- Tammy

 

[kewms]

What about a voice recorder? Many mobile phones have one built-in.

Making a voice note seems like more of an interruption than writing a note. That is, it's more disruptive to whatever conversation sparked the note in the first place.

Katherine

 

[Cristian_9-3]

my problem

It's about six years I use a PDA. I started with a Palm, then 3 years ago I switched to PPC.

Now my problem is that I can't be without my computer in my pocket!

I'm a mechanical engineer, I lead an R&D office, and I do many things with my PDA: calendar, to do's, contacts, all kind of database (engineering, products, personal things, encripted,...) datasheets (I'm famous because I can make any calc directly in the moment), scientific calculators... and much more.

At office I'm used to do about 10 projects during the same day, with many telephone calls and other interrumption in the middle. I manage everything with the PDA and if I forget it at home I have to drive back!
Program crashes, battery drop and hardware damege are big problems for me.

I feel everything under control with my PDA... But since some months I got a bad feeling. It's like I'm managing too many things, at evening I'm stressed and sick of my handheld.

I tryed to go back to paper, to it's natual feeling, but it's like I can't anymore. I love paper agendas, I buy one somethime, I like to write and sketch on paper... but to be extremely high-productive my simplest and most complete way is with a computer in my hand.

In the morning I wake up refreshed and I bring happly my HPC. I hope in the future I will feel like that more continuosly during the whole day.

 

[TesTeq]

Not a PDA problem.

I feel everything under control with my PDA... But since some months I got a bad feeling. It's like I'm managing too many things, at evening I'm stressed and sick of my handheld.

It is not a PDA fault that you are managing too many things. Try to renegotiate your agreements and delegate some work (if possible).