136: Using Paper Planners Will Fail You

One of the greatest blunders and wonders of our time is digital media. We use our smart devices for everything, but is that something we should be proud of or should we move back to simpler times and simpler ways?

In today’s episode, we’re talking about paper planners and why they’re making a huge comeback and why I have started used them again.

I recently have been feeling very overwhelmed. Life gets in the way and without something to help hold me accountable, I tend to ignore the issues sitting on my ever-growing to-do list. For this reason, my blog has been neglected, my podcast has had only a handful of episodes in 2018.

It’s not that I haven’t wanted to, I’ve let life take control instead of me taking control of my life. This is why I’ve taken to looking at solutions in helping me stay organized, goal oriented, and forward focused.

I recently purchased a new day planner. This planner is not a typical one that comes pre-determined with a calendar and daily pages. This planner helps you organize your goals into quarters, break them down by month, and by week, then by day. The planner I purchased, This is My Era.

I’ve looked at all sorts of planners, even looked at getting Michael Hyatt’s, Full Focus Planner, but when the rubber hit the road, I didn’t want to part with a whole lot of cash on a system that I may or may not like. So, when I was told by my father about the “This is my Era” planner, I knew I should take a closer look. I liked what I saw.

But what does using a planner cost you? Nothing but a few dollars and time. That’s it.

I opened this post with a statement that paper planners will fail you. That seems illogical, people use them all the time, but paper planners will fail you if you don’t use them to further your goals and stay motivated to do something to take your goals and massive to-do list into your hands and make something happen.

1. Paper planners allow you to focus your attention on the here and now.

My problem with life is it gets in the way of doing life. I tend to have an ever-growing to-do list that never seems to be quenched. I needed a system that would help me accomplish more. I needed to focus my attention on the here and now.

Until the past week, I’ve been using a digital calendar. It’s not working. I go to use my calendar and get distracted by Facebook or YouTube. Not a good solution if you’re trying to get more done in less time.

I began this year with a paper planner, a cheap daily calendar – but I stopped using it in February. Not a good start to a new years resolution. That’s when things started going downhill. And as a result, my weekly tasks got shoved to the side and things fell through the cracks.

Utilizing a goal-oriented planner, not just the daily calendar, I’ve been able to be more focused and in fact, I’ve been impressed at how much I’ve accomplished this week. I’ve remained focused.

2. Goal planning doesn’t have to be hard, it needs to be worth it.

Most people would say that goal planning is difficult. And for a lot of people, they’re right. Not because of how hard it is, but because they don’t have the drive to put together goals to accomplish within a year’s time.

For the last several years I’ve been big about goal planning. Yearly, I sit down to plan out my annual goals. Sometimes I accomplish them, but a lot of the time, they end up stuck on a digital bookshelf, like Evernote and hardly visited.

One great thing about using paper, you always carry it with you. I’ve been a fan of Moleskine notebooks, I have a few, they’re clean, sleek and look great. But using them for goal planning works great, and you can take it everywhere you go.

Goal planning doesn’t have to be hard. It needs to be worth it. Whether you’re planning out your annual goals or monthly goals, take the time to write down each action step you need to do to accomplis...