Whether you’re an ever busy businessperson, a freelancer, a stay-at-home parent, or a regular at the office, you need a system to organize, plan, and prioritize your tasks, chores and events. That structure is essential for getting things done, whether it’s on your Google calendar, post-its all over your fridge, or a paper planner.
The rise of digital gadgets has substantially diminished our habits of note-taking, journaling, and planning set on paper. Do you recall the last time you wrote more than two phrases by hand?
We never seem to forget to bring our phones with us, no matter what we do or where we go. Clearly, many organizations are migrating their organizational processes to the digital realm.
Despite these developments, the paper planner, agenda, and productivity journal sector appears to be doing well. More and more people are interested in owning and using a paper agenda on a regular basis (the rise in bullet journaling demonstrates this) so decided to delve deeper into the subject: what makes paper planners superior to digital planners? What are the advantages?
In fact, in doing some research, I discovered 5 science-backed advantages of using a paper planner than back up my own long held assertion, as a professional organizer, that a paper planner is still a great thing organizational tool for everyone.
You are less easily distracted.
Many individuals emphasize notifications and reminders as advantages of digital planners over paper planners. With your phone at your side all the time, planning apps can have recurring reminders and ping at the exact time when you need to take out your dog or plan out your budget for the month. Isn’t it practical?
However, how many notifications do you receive per day? How many of these do you just swipe away? In the era of pop-ups, dings, and buzzes, we have become practically immune to app reminders. We’ve learnt to start ignoring the content of the message, as we know that notifications are obnoxious and distracting per se. It’s no surprise that your “Read a book” reminder goes unnoticed for months!
According to studies, too much screen time has a negative impact on your brain, so while journaling by phone appears smart and easy, it actually contributes to the problem.
Taking a few minutes to plan out your day on paper allows your eyes to rest for a little while also clearing your mind from the flood of information we receive in our inboxes and social media feeds. If you really want to enhance your focus by minimizing screen time, then certainly switch to paper planners for journaling, concept mapping, organizing activities and events, poetry writing – whatever! In the long term, you’ll be doing your brain a favor.
You remember things better
You’ve probably heard this one, and it’s true – writing it down actually helps you to memorize it better. But there’s more to it than that. Not only does writing by hand makes us organize our plans and to dos -better, it do’s activates particular brain cells at the base of the brain to boost concentrate.
Writing simply activates this area, causing your brain to switch to maximum concentration mode. When write a reminder or goal down, your brain works overtime to make you pay attention and remember it.
Many studies back this up, including one from the Dominican University of California, which discovered that folks who wrote down their goals, communicated them with others, and held themselves accountable for them were 33% more likely to achieve them than those who simply established goals in their phone’s notes app. Take note of that!
Simply explained, writing by hand engages your brain more since you shape and link the letters. Typing, on the other hand, entails merely pushing keys to arrange letters. Furthermore, many people have learned to type without looking, so it’s becoming a muscle memory no-brainer.
You’re more enthusiastic about and engaged in organization
Because writing longhand takes more effort, it allows you to be more concise and to the point. Of course, typing is easier and faster, but it also makes it more difficult to be selective about what we write in order to refine our thoughts to the essence. If you’re still deciding between paper planners and digital apps, compare your notes – the ones in your app are almost certainly messier and far less enlightening.
We can clarify our thoughts and deliberately connect with exactly what we need to do, as well as what we want and aspire for, through writing. It is beneficial to shorten events and specific points on your to-do list in order to save time. However, being more exact while thinking about your monthly, annual, and lifetime goals is really beneficial.
After all, our thoughts and the language we use are inextricably linked. Therefore, setting your goals down and carefully expressing them helps you maintain that aim in your memory. Consider how convenient it would be if it were written right there – in a planner you open every day.
Stress reduction
Writing down your plans offers considerably more advantages than merely being more organized. Surprisingly, one of the world’s top digital technological countries, Japan, has a robust paper agenda culture.
The Japanese take time to organize their thinking via pen and paper, stickers, color coding, drawing, etc., with many designing their own unique notation systems similar to the bullet journal concept. In a fast-paced world like Japan, that might be one of the easiest habits to help people keep a clear mind as well as stay better organized.
There are many studies that show the link between writing things down by hand and mindfulness. In stress therapy, it is often advised to keep a journal exactly because of the activity’s healing properties. Like an active meditation, writing helps you sort out whatever mess of thoughts you have in your mind into words.
And exactly because of the effort it takes, you get to become more selective with words. That makes you better at defining your feelings, attitudes, and goals. As you register them, it’s easier to deal with them appropriately.
It is a healthy habit.
Similarly, because writing down your objectives, plans and goals increases your likelihood of sticking to them, owning a planner is also a commitment. We prefer physical objects over digital ones because they are tangible and can be touched. In a digital world divided by an impermeable screen, your attention to an app can get lost among all the other things on your phone, tablet, or computer. A properly displayed daily planner on your desk serves as a fantastic reminder to use it.
Plus, if you’re not really a habit person, then having a paper planner might be the first step towards a positive change. Various studies reveal that it takes somewhere from 21 to 66 days to create a habit. That implies you only need about a month of testing mode with your paper planner on a daily basis to see how you like it and make it a habit. The best part is the chain reaction of healthy habits that will begin.
You can even combine the habits; for example, while doing your daily planning, drink two glasses of water – killing two birds with one stone.
When you combine the five aforementioned processes, you have the productivity requirements. That is to say, using a daily planner can help you become more organized, motivated, and productive.
Want some ideas on a great planner to treat yourself to as a holiday gift, and as a great way to start of this new habit as we head into the new year? There are some great ones here.
Speaking of treating yourself, being organized is a gift you give yourself that keeps giving all year long.
Think about it:
- How much smoother does your life function when you are organized?
- How much easier is it to get tasks done?
- Do you feel like you accomplish more with each day?
Organizing your home is a great start. When you have an organized home you – and everyone else who lives there – will find everything they need faster. Things won’t get mysteriously lost, you won’t keep buying things you don’t need (because you forgot you already had them) and you won’t be quite so stressed out about the idea of having unexpected guests.
But home organization is just the start. To be really organized, you need to start practicing life organization as well. The planners are a great start, but there’s a lot more you can do with the help of a professional organizer.
You don’t have time?
No. You don’t have time NOT to be organized. When you get your home and your life organized, you free your brain up to focus on other things. You give yourself space and freedom to concentrate on the task at hand.
You remove SO MUCH stress from your life.
So, how do you do it? Well, it’s different for everyone. There really isn’t a “right” or “wrong” way to do it. The trick is to find what works for you. And that’s where Just Organized by Taya comes in.
We don’t just come in and declutter and organize things, we help you find organization systems that will work for you in the long term. And we show you how to make use of them, ensuring you understand them before we consider the project complete.
Not that any organization project is ever really complete. You’ll add new stuff to your home that will need to be organized, your life will change and you’ll need to tweak the way you organize that too. And the good news is the Just Organized by Taya team will still be available to help.
Ready to give yourself the gift of organization? Book an appointment here, or contact us here to chat first and let’s make a plan to get this new year off to a great – and very organized – start.
Working with Taya and her team is easy. You can book an appointment easily on her website, or contact her directly at 832-271-7608
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