Low-Tech Ways to Manage Your Schedule

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

The Bathroom: You finish “recycling” your morning coffee, up go your jeans, and your phone takes the plunge from your back pocket into the porcelain, effectively flushing away all of your data.

The Charger: After a 16-hour day on cam, you face-plant into your pillow without a thought to recharging your phone. The next morning you have no battery power and no access to your schedule.

The Club: You had a rare night off so you decided to hit your favorite club. The place was crowded, and a stranger who had a few too many accidentally body-slammed you from behind. That “note to self” about Mom’s birthday: gone. Oops.

The Signal: You’re on your way to an appointment when suddenly you can’t remember the address. You turn on your phone to look up the information and — no signal.

There’s no question that technology makes our lives easier and more convenient, but with the new year only weeks away, maybe it’s time to rethink your planning. Believe it or not, there’s a lot to be said for the old-school method. Daily planners, date books, calendars — whatever you want to call them, they’re plentiful, convenient, easy to use, and they always work.

Planners are available in all sizes, configurations, colors, and styles, from the most formal to the most decorative, in a range of price points. All you need is a pen, and you’ll have your schedule, important dates, and contact information at the tips of your fingers, a simple page-turn away.

Let’s look at a few options.

Pocket Planner – If your 20/20 vision makes it easy for you to type on a tiny keypad and read it on a small screen, a pocket planner may be all you need. These lightweight booklets are the size of your phone, making them easy to store in a purse, clutch, or gym bag. It might be worth considering one of these as a backup system for all of your electronic data, in case you find yourself in one of the aforementioned scenarios.

Standard Planner – These notebook-style date books are somewhere in the 8×10 range in size and are available in either hard cover or soft cover. Standard planners are particularly efficient, as they offer a variety of scheduling preferences: week by week, day by day, hour by hour, and often include full-month calendars to accompany the planning pages. Additional features include address book pages, blank pages for notes, birthday section, and more. Some even contain information such as currency exchanges, international time zones, and maps. Another helpful feature to look for is a spiral spine, which allows you to keep the planner open on your desk or work table for easy reference.

Desk Pad Calendars – Are you too busy, or too busy multi-tasking, to remember to check your daily planner every day? You might do best with a full-size monthly desk pad calendar. You’ve probably seen these on teachers’ desks and in doctors’ offices. Sure, they’re not the hippest or coolest thing going, but they’re surprisingly affordable, and at 22×17 inches, whether on your desktop or hanging on a wall, you can’t miss it, which means you’re unlikely to forget anything on your agenda.

Do It Yourself Planner – Hardbound, soft cover, leather, pleather, solid office tones, psychedelic color schemes, flat spine, spiral spine, desk pad, zipped cover, clasp cover, luxury price, one-dollar store — all this and you still can’t find what you want? Or perhaps you’re…what’s the word? Ah yes, frugal! You’d rather save your money and DIY for the next twelve months. Congratulations, you’re in luck. A quick online search for 2017 calendar templates reveals endless free options that you can print, bind, staple, hole-punch, or whatever your heart desires. Like the pocket planner, a DIY calendar is a good idea for backing up your schedule in case of technological problems.

So there you have it: fast, simple ways to always stay ahead of the game and never forget or miss an important date or appointment. And just think: The next time your system “crashes,” it will mean that your planner fell off your desk onto the floor, still in one piece, with all of your information intact!

Here are so many options from Mead (classic) — give ’em a look!

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Jenna Andre is a total gearhead who also appreciates the simpler things in life. Email her at Jenna.Andre@ynotcam.com.