If you're anything like me, you may have come across digital planning and went all in, 100%, without giving it a second thought. The rest of you may be a bit more hesitant. It is quite a change, and the options available to you may seem a bit overwhelming. I am here to answer your questions, give you peace of mind, and provide you with 10 reasons why you should start digitally planning today.
First of all, I don't want you to think that I'm going to be telling you that Digital Planning is better than paper planning, or that you should throw away your hundreds of dollars worth of stickers, inserts, and pens. If you want to be successful at this, you need to take your time. Jumping in can be really overwhelming. I would suggest you keep your paper planner as your main planner while you play around with your digital planner until you get the hang of it. I struggled so much with learning how to use Xodo. I was stressed out watching how easily everything was done in GoodNotes, and almost gave up a few times. Once I even considered purchasing an iPad. I should have taken my time, but I didn't. I reached for my paper planner like it was a lifeline.
Secondly, Digital Planning isn't for everyone. Don't try to force yourself into something that doesn't come naturally after a couple of weeks or even after a couple of months. This is another reason to keep a backup paper planner. If digital planning is for you, you will naturally find yourself leaving it behind.
Now that I am more experienced, and have established my routine of paper planning, I will never go back. So let's begin with 10 Reasons why I made the switch and why you should too!
1. Digital Planning is Space-Saving
No longer do I have to lug around all my pens, stickers, and highlighters, in addition to a thick planner filler with sticky notes and bits of paper with important information. My laptop is already on me, and my planner is inside. I like to carry as little as possible with me as I complete my daily tasks.
2. Digital Planning is Easily Portable
I carry around a tablet or laptop pretty much anywhere I go. I say "a" because I have multiple laptops and tablets (I may have an addiction to technology). I spend more time on my laptop than I'd care to admit, but there is always something that needs to be done. The laptop I currently use is a Google Chromebook Pro. If you haven't heard of it, it's a 2-in-1 tablet/laptop combo. This thing is super thin and weighs maybe 2 pounds, although I'm bad at estimating that sort of thing.
On this laptop, I have everything I need to do my planning. Planner? Check. Stickers? Check. Pens? Double-check. I have every color, thickness, and opacity in the world. I never have to dig through my bag of pens to find a specific one.
You can also easily access Digital Planners on your phone. You don't need a tablet or computer. This is even easier with large phones that come with a stylus. I mean, who leaves their house without their phone?
3. Digital Planning can be Cheaper than Paper Planning
Yes, there are Etsy's out there that sell planners ranging from $20-$50+, but there are also planners for just a couple dollars. Not to mention, there are hundreds of freebies out there. Not just planner freebies either, there are sticker freebies floating around everywhere you look. Not the mention the pens. You will never need to buy another pen for planning, or run out of your favorite ink. Along with never running out of ink, the stickers, and some of the planners, are completely reusable. Don't you hate running out of your favorite sticker, or finishing your favorite planner? That is almost never a problem in Digital Planning.
4. Digital Planning is Pretty Much Endlessly Customizable
Let me explain why:
First, You have hundreds of options to choose from when it comes to your planner. They are pretty much never out of stock. If you can't find your perfect planner, you can make one, or sometimes even commission one. Either way, you are almost guaranteed to find the planner perfect for you. If you like the style of your current paper planner, you can find a digital planner that mimics your style perfectly.
Secondly, if you thought you have an overwhelming amount of options for planners, wait until you start looking into stickers. Stickers are everywhere. You can find stickers as individual, pre-cut PNGs, You can find them as printable PDFs (You can easily edit those to work for digital planning), and you can find them by browsing google for clip art. That last option is the least ideal, but it is possible.
Finally, many apps for Digital Planning offer every color known to man. It is super easy to use colors that match the planner, or find your own colors. These also allow different thickness and opacity, and some even offer different textures.
5. Digital Planning Reduces Your Trash Output
Digital Planning means you never have to throw away a finished planner (or store it, if you prefer that), dried-out pens, and used sticker sheets. Aside from the trash produced when you purchase the hardware needed to plan, you can almost make Digital Planning waste-free (I'm not going to get into the use of natural resources, that's an entirely different topic).
6. Digital Planning is Editable
If you have to cancel an appointment, a meeting, or some other event, usually you will cross it out and write it somewhere else. This leaves a mess in your planner, and wasted space. Personally, scribbles and white-out draw my attention from the important information. With Digital Planning, All you do is click the item you would like to move, remove, or copy, and put it where you need it. It takes maybe 5 seconds.
7. Digital Planning is Time-Saving
Everything you need is going to be right in front of you. Yes, there is some time involved in researching and finding the products you love, but once you have those, and once you learn your software, it becomes a breeze. You can flip to a page with the touch of a button. You can switch your pen without it ever leaving your hand, and you can add a sticker in a couple of seconds. You could decorate a whole page in a matter of 5 minutes.
8. Digital Planning Allows You to Easily Carry Multiple Planners at once.
It is hard enough carrying one bulky planner around with you. Carrying two or more is such a hassle. Digital Planning allows you to not only carry your fitness planner, blog planner, and life planner with peace, but also allows you to have all of them open simultaneously and switch between them with just a click.
9. You Can Save Old, Finished Planners and Enjoy the Memories.
If you memory keep inside your planner, you never have to really put it up or dig it out of storage. You don't have to worry about it getting ruined due to environmental hazards. You can easily find it using the search tool in an external hard drive, the cloud, or wherever you decide to save your planners.
If you enjoy pocket journaling but are pretty far behind, like myself, it's pretty convenient to look back through your planner to refresh your memory of events and when they happened.
10. It Provides a Creative Outlet
Finally, there is a sense of accomplishment that comes from finishing a spread. I am far too busy to actually take the time to create a physical product, especially with how time consuming mistakes can be. I can get in touch with my creative side far more frequently without falling behind in my other responsibilities.
I hope you guys find this information useful in helping you to decide whether or not Digital Planning is right for you. If you would like more information, be sure to subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of future posts, and past posts you might have missed. The newsletter also grants you access to our library of free digital resources.
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