Why I Stopped Using My Planner
At the beginning of the school year last year I ended up destroying my Day Designer by soaking it with Dr. Pepper. Until then I thought there was no way to survive without my planner. When I was in that dark time with no planner, I started putting tests and reminders in my phone calendar for the meantime thinking I would just get another planner. Almost a year later I still haven't gotten around to replacing my Day Designer because I like the Calendar app so much better! I ended up loving using the Calendar app that comes with Apple products and have to say I like using it so much better than any planner I have had in the past.
Why?
1. Color coding
While I liked the idea of it, I was never really into color coding with my planners. I knew either a) I would mess up writing in pen or b) my schedule would change and I couldn't erase what I wrote in pen. When I color code using a digital calendar, it's easier to color code without everything being permanent. I only color coded to separate school, home, blog, and sports but I may end up color coding by class next year.
2. Easy to move events around
Going off what I said in the first point, what you put in a digital calendar isn't permanent like a regular planner so it's so easy to just drag an event to another day when something is rescheduled. I know for me test dates and due dates were always being moved around so it was so easy to just drag the events from day to day.
3. If you add an address to an event, it notifies you when to leave
I did not realize how handy this is until I had to go to a million graduation parties in one week earlier this month. When I received an invitation, I added the address of the party in the event so about 30 minutes before I needed to leave, I would receive a notification telling me what time I needed to leave my current location in order to get there on time. This ended up being a lifesaver when there was traffic I didn't know about or when I wasn't sure how long it would take to get to the location.
4. Always have phone/computer with me
I almost always have either my phone or laptop with me, so why would I need to carry an extra calendar around with me? It's so much easier to glance at your phone to see what upcoming events you have than to pull out a planner, not to mention you can turn on notifications for events so you don't forget about them (I was definitely someone who forgot to check their planner and showed up to school only to be surprised by a test/quiz)!
5. If someone texts/emails you about an event with a date on it you can add it straight to your calendar with one click
Whenever you text a date or time on an iPhone it automatically shows up blue and underlined so all you have to do is click that date and it will automatically create an event for you with that date/time. It's so easy because you don't even need to think twice about it to add it to your schedule. A ton of apps are also connected with the calendar and make it easy to have everything in one place. For example, the gym I belong to has an app and if I use it to view the class schedule there is an option to add classes to my calendar.
Here's a look at my calendar for the past month:
As for homework assignments and to-do lists, I keep a running list in the Reminders app or a Google doc and check them off as they are completed. I like how you can add notes and due dates to the reminders as well so you can prioritize what you have to get done.
Reminder: Make sure all your different calendars and lists are categorized as iCloud so you can see them on all of your devices!
Are you a planner or digital calendar person?
Thanks for reading,
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