Discussion Forum > agendas, calendars, reminders
The main advantage of digital is sharing and collaboration. If your meetings with your teams automatically appear on your cell phone, if you can send appointments via email etc and so on…
Timely reminders via the phone can be ignored the same way as reviewing your paper schedule. This is not so much a question of what sort of calendar you use but a question of your attitude torwards your scheduled stuff.
If you have a lot of scheduled items, space can become a problem with paper.
I find that paper calendars tend to have a nicer layout than digital ones. It's just nicer to see a nice spread than a glob of color blobs on a screen.
If you carry your paper diary with you, you could potentially loose it somewhere. The digital stuff gets backuped.
You can also print out digital stuff and carry a paper DIY binder with you.
There are also methods like the Bullet Journal or Mark's DWM and DIT where you can combine task list and schedule.
Timely reminders via the phone can be ignored the same way as reviewing your paper schedule. This is not so much a question of what sort of calendar you use but a question of your attitude torwards your scheduled stuff.
If you have a lot of scheduled items, space can become a problem with paper.
I find that paper calendars tend to have a nicer layout than digital ones. It's just nicer to see a nice spread than a glob of color blobs on a screen.
If you carry your paper diary with you, you could potentially loose it somewhere. The digital stuff gets backuped.
You can also print out digital stuff and carry a paper DIY binder with you.
There are also methods like the Bullet Journal or Mark's DWM and DIT where you can combine task list and schedule.
September 10, 2021 at 12:58 |
Christopher
Christopher
I use a hybrid system - digital and paper/pen.
I have three kids under 12, and a full private therapy practice. Hence a lot of appointments being cancelled, rearranged, added, etc. To do this by pen/paper would be a mild nightmare. Mac's Calendar program (along with iCloud) is powerful, reliable and just works.
My daily journaling - tasks, updates, etc - are done via pen/paper. At the end of the day, I craft a quick narrative of how my day went in Pages (Mac) based on this information.
I have three kids under 12, and a full private therapy practice. Hence a lot of appointments being cancelled, rearranged, added, etc. To do this by pen/paper would be a mild nightmare. Mac's Calendar program (along with iCloud) is powerful, reliable and just works.
My daily journaling - tasks, updates, etc - are done via pen/paper. At the end of the day, I craft a quick narrative of how my day went in Pages (Mac) based on this information.
September 10, 2021 at 14:00 |
avrum
avrum
One advantage of my digital calendar (Google Calendar is the basis, and I use Fantastical on the Mac to interact with it) is I can set alarms and emails to remind me of events. I usually have most events set to send me an email the day before or (in the case of birthdays and anniversaries) a week before, and that prompt may set off a to-do to get a card or gift or send a message.
I had my own system of processing weekly/monthly/annual reminders in my Day-Timer days, and it's gotten a little easier to do that digitally.
One interesting aspect of digital calendars is setting up multiple calendars that overlay. So I have my work's Outlook calendar (in green colors), my cohousing community meetings and events (this is a shared calendar, in brown), my kettlebell trainer's class schedule (in red), and so on. When everything is turned on, I can see what's going on in my world.
But when I want to focus on just my cohousing commitments for the month, or when the kettlebell classes are for this month, I can turn off the other calendars and see just the calendar I want to see.
There's some good aspects to multiple calendars, but it does add another layer of complexity and distraction. My calendar is showing me possibilities but not everything I've committed to, for example. When I know I won't go to this week's kettlebell classes, then I'll delete those events from the calendar, or I may just turn that calendar off, so it does not distract me from what I've committed to.
I had my own system of processing weekly/monthly/annual reminders in my Day-Timer days, and it's gotten a little easier to do that digitally.
One interesting aspect of digital calendars is setting up multiple calendars that overlay. So I have my work's Outlook calendar (in green colors), my cohousing community meetings and events (this is a shared calendar, in brown), my kettlebell trainer's class schedule (in red), and so on. When everything is turned on, I can see what's going on in my world.
But when I want to focus on just my cohousing commitments for the month, or when the kettlebell classes are for this month, I can turn off the other calendars and see just the calendar I want to see.
There's some good aspects to multiple calendars, but it does add another layer of complexity and distraction. My calendar is showing me possibilities but not everything I've committed to, for example. When I know I won't go to this week's kettlebell classes, then I'll delete those events from the calendar, or I may just turn that calendar off, so it does not distract me from what I've committed to.
September 10, 2021 at 14:57 |
Mike Brown
Mike Brown
Digital has its advantages, especially for people who are required to constantly reschedule and resynchronize with others on a constant basis. However, I'm a huge fan of analog, and I do almost no digital calendaring. I get a nightly email from the company I work with that contains the meetings of the day and a set of future meeting plans, and I just work off of that for my calendar. I've worked to adjust my working habits to reduce the number of meetings I have as well as the number of synchronization points. I've also reduced the volatility of my work environment.
This means that I don't even really need a normal diary. However, I use it to help track reminders, schedules, and the odd appointment that crops up as needed. I really like to work off of an analog system enough that I've adjusted other aspects of my life to ensure that I am able to continue to do so without strain. That's actually one of the things I like about analog and simplistic tools, in that it encourages you to re-evaluate more often whether what you are doing is actually something you should be doing, and whether you are efficiently using your logistical/scheduling resources or doing too much context switching because the calendar system makes it "just easy enough."
This means that I don't even really need a normal diary. However, I use it to help track reminders, schedules, and the odd appointment that crops up as needed. I really like to work off of an analog system enough that I've adjusted other aspects of my life to ensure that I am able to continue to do so without strain. That's actually one of the things I like about analog and simplistic tools, in that it encourages you to re-evaluate more often whether what you are doing is actually something you should be doing, and whether you are efficiently using your logistical/scheduling resources or doing too much context switching because the calendar system makes it "just easy enough."
September 12, 2021 at 0:59 |
Aaron Hsu
Aaron Hsu
Thanks for your input, everyone!
It occurred to me that another, closely related, query would be: Is a smartphone necessary (or even desirable) for productivity in 2021? While some advantages of digital calendars/notifications, etc. have been pointed out, I don't get that the sense that the case in favor of digital is overwhelming... Analog calendars, etc. seem valid (if archaic to some).
Granted in some workplaces, analog won't be an option and digital will be mandated.
It occurred to me that another, closely related, query would be: Is a smartphone necessary (or even desirable) for productivity in 2021? While some advantages of digital calendars/notifications, etc. have been pointed out, I don't get that the sense that the case in favor of digital is overwhelming... Analog calendars, etc. seem valid (if archaic to some).
Granted in some workplaces, analog won't be an option and digital will be mandated.
September 16, 2021 at 2:05 |
Belacqua
Belacqua
Well, I'm an outlier here, but I don't keep a smartphone of any kind, whether for personal or business use, and I work in the tech sector.
September 16, 2021 at 8:00 |
Aaron Hsu
Aaron Hsu
I have a Smartphone, but my main uses for it when at home are reading books, getting the exact time, checking the weather, messaging and waking myself up in the morning. Oh, and I use the torch a lot.
When I'm away from home it takes over email, Facebook, and very importantly Google Maps from my desktop. Also anything I would otherwise be using my desktop for, e.g. looking things up on the net. It's also useful for keeping Covid passes and documents.
I use the camera a lot for photos and scanning documents.
Things I don't use my SmartPhone for are:
Scheduled alarms during the day (though I use the timer quite a lot for miscellaneous things)
Calendar (I use Evernote for that)
To Do list (except for "The Next Hour" if I'm using that - otherwise I use paper and pen)
Making phone calls - except in very rare circumstances
As an additional note, I've never been able to get on with laptops. It's desktop and/or smartphone for me.
When I'm away from home it takes over email, Facebook, and very importantly Google Maps from my desktop. Also anything I would otherwise be using my desktop for, e.g. looking things up on the net. It's also useful for keeping Covid passes and documents.
I use the camera a lot for photos and scanning documents.
Things I don't use my SmartPhone for are:
Scheduled alarms during the day (though I use the timer quite a lot for miscellaneous things)
Calendar (I use Evernote for that)
To Do list (except for "The Next Hour" if I'm using that - otherwise I use paper and pen)
Making phone calls - except in very rare circumstances
As an additional note, I've never been able to get on with laptops. It's desktop and/or smartphone for me.
September 16, 2021 at 12:35 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Aaron Hsu:
< I don't keep a smartphone of any kind, whether for personal or business use, and I work in the tech sector. >
Wow! I don't have a smartphone either (as you probably gathered from this thread) but I'm one of the least tech-y people around. So your choice is much more interesting. I'd be curious to hear your reasons. I feel that there's a lot of societal pressure to buy a smartphone. ("How do you do without it?" "How do you text?" etc.) Different perspective are always welcome.
Mark Forster:
<Things I don't use my SmartPhone for are:
Scheduled alarms during the day (though I use the timer quite a lot for miscellaneous things)>
Interesting. I imagined that the ability to have timed reminders would be one of the main attractions of a Smartphone. Sometimes one can miss paper reminders (e.g. one forgets to check the agenda again the the early p.m. and misses: "2 pm: Do X." As I said above, I thought this might be especially useful for "no-list" systems. But maybe I'm overrating this advantage.
< I don't keep a smartphone of any kind, whether for personal or business use, and I work in the tech sector. >
Wow! I don't have a smartphone either (as you probably gathered from this thread) but I'm one of the least tech-y people around. So your choice is much more interesting. I'd be curious to hear your reasons. I feel that there's a lot of societal pressure to buy a smartphone. ("How do you do without it?" "How do you text?" etc.) Different perspective are always welcome.
Mark Forster:
<Things I don't use my SmartPhone for are:
Scheduled alarms during the day (though I use the timer quite a lot for miscellaneous things)>
Interesting. I imagined that the ability to have timed reminders would be one of the main attractions of a Smartphone. Sometimes one can miss paper reminders (e.g. one forgets to check the agenda again the the early p.m. and misses: "2 pm: Do X." As I said above, I thought this might be especially useful for "no-list" systems. But maybe I'm overrating this advantage.
September 17, 2021 at 3:09 |
Belacqua
Belacqua
My smartphone usage is almost identical to Mark's. I use the timer for my exercises. I use some of those apps that make the phone your "wallet" of sorts with the institutions e.g. online banking.
Except for the calendar ("hard landscape" in gtd terms), ebooks, fotos and voice memos I do not sync any data.
The smartphone is handy. But I wouldn't equate it with anything "productivity."
The scheduled alarms sound great in theory, but in practice I almost never used them. Not bad either, but just not happening.
Except for the calendar ("hard landscape" in gtd terms), ebooks, fotos and voice memos I do not sync any data.
The smartphone is handy. But I wouldn't equate it with anything "productivity."
The scheduled alarms sound great in theory, but in practice I almost never used them. Not bad either, but just not happening.
September 17, 2021 at 7:58 |
Christopher
Christopher
Belacqua:
I used to carry around a flip phone, but even that felt like too much of a tether to "other people's intent." The short answer is that my attention and focus are more important than most other things for me. That means protecting my time to an insanely strong degree. It also means making sure that people have no expectation of being able to distract or interrupt my work or life. I can easily get all the information that I need and produce my work much faster and with higher quality using pen and paper and a computer by sitting down and actually focusing on getting work done. A phone is simply a distraction no matter which way I look at it. It's either going to distract me from spending time with those around me while I'm out and about, or it will distract me from work by giving me yet another way in which I can be interrupted and yet another system to optimize. Instead, I subscribe to a rather austere level of "digital minimalism" a la Cal Newport (more extreme than he recommends explicitly).
This sets the tone for people so that there is much less unnecessary communication and much more clear expectations. It also permits me to explore, think, and optimize my time more easily.
It's all about clarity and removing avenues of distraction and interruption for me.
I used to carry around a flip phone, but even that felt like too much of a tether to "other people's intent." The short answer is that my attention and focus are more important than most other things for me. That means protecting my time to an insanely strong degree. It also means making sure that people have no expectation of being able to distract or interrupt my work or life. I can easily get all the information that I need and produce my work much faster and with higher quality using pen and paper and a computer by sitting down and actually focusing on getting work done. A phone is simply a distraction no matter which way I look at it. It's either going to distract me from spending time with those around me while I'm out and about, or it will distract me from work by giving me yet another way in which I can be interrupted and yet another system to optimize. Instead, I subscribe to a rather austere level of "digital minimalism" a la Cal Newport (more extreme than he recommends explicitly).
This sets the tone for people so that there is much less unnecessary communication and much more clear expectations. It also permits me to explore, think, and optimize my time more easily.
It's all about clarity and removing avenues of distraction and interruption for me.
September 19, 2021 at 22:40 |
Aaron Hsu
Aaron Hsu
Aaron,
Thanks for weighing in! I share your view expressed here:
<I can easily get all the information that I need and produce my work much faster and with higher quality using pen and paper and a computer by sitting down and actually focusing on getting work done. >
But I suppose it would be different for workers spending a significant amount of time in areas without wi-fi for their laptops. As it stands, I'm not sure I'll be able to hold off getting a Smartphone for too much longer. Other people--and most employers!--aren't always so accommodating and are going to want to reach you by text, etc. I don't see an obvious way around that. Though maybe you (or Cal Newport) will figure something out.
Thanks for weighing in! I share your view expressed here:
<I can easily get all the information that I need and produce my work much faster and with higher quality using pen and paper and a computer by sitting down and actually focusing on getting work done. >
But I suppose it would be different for workers spending a significant amount of time in areas without wi-fi for their laptops. As it stands, I'm not sure I'll be able to hold off getting a Smartphone for too much longer. Other people--and most employers!--aren't always so accommodating and are going to want to reach you by text, etc. I don't see an obvious way around that. Though maybe you (or Cal Newport) will figure something out.
September 20, 2021 at 0:31 |
Belacqua
Belacqua
Aaron Hsu:
<< It's all about clarity and removing avenues of distraction and interruption for me. >>
I think that's basically the principle behind my use of a smartphone - though I've ended up with a different solution from you. But that's the way it should be.
The problem is that it's getting increasingly difficult to live in the United Kingdom without a Smartphone. I don't know if the United States is going the same way. It is just assumed that you have one for an increasing number of things - and the government is leading the way.
For instance a week ago I came back from a short visit to France and I had to produce a plethora of test and vaccination results, plus having to fill in a very difficult "locator form" online. Like most Government forms it was designed to be as hard as possible to be filled in the first time. Once you'd done it once there was no problem. But there was no requirement to fill it in more than once.
The things I use it for which bring greater clarity to my life include:
Google Maps. I never drive anywhere - even in the local area - without using Google Maps. This is because one of the results of easing up on Covid restrictions is that they are clearing two years work of roadworks and new works spring up overnight like mushrooms.
The Camera. It's a better camera than my proper camera and has the great advantage that I can edit and process the results within the phone.
The Timer. Not the alarm, but the timer. I use the timer for all sorts of thing (including writing this comment). I only use the alarm when I really need to, which is a max of once or twice a week.
Reading books. I can't be bothered with real books now, unless they are art books. I can have two or three current books I'm reading on hand wherever I go. And I can download any one of thousands of others anywhere I can get a signal.
Evernote. Although Evernote has messed up its phone app almost as badly as it's messed up its desktop app, it's still essential to the way I work.
Roam Research. A new one for me. But it's just so useful and I'm appreciating it more and more the more I use it. When I'm out and about I make loads of notes on anything that interests me and then tidy them up on the desktop when I get home.
<< It's all about clarity and removing avenues of distraction and interruption for me. >>
I think that's basically the principle behind my use of a smartphone - though I've ended up with a different solution from you. But that's the way it should be.
The problem is that it's getting increasingly difficult to live in the United Kingdom without a Smartphone. I don't know if the United States is going the same way. It is just assumed that you have one for an increasing number of things - and the government is leading the way.
For instance a week ago I came back from a short visit to France and I had to produce a plethora of test and vaccination results, plus having to fill in a very difficult "locator form" online. Like most Government forms it was designed to be as hard as possible to be filled in the first time. Once you'd done it once there was no problem. But there was no requirement to fill it in more than once.
The things I use it for which bring greater clarity to my life include:
Google Maps. I never drive anywhere - even in the local area - without using Google Maps. This is because one of the results of easing up on Covid restrictions is that they are clearing two years work of roadworks and new works spring up overnight like mushrooms.
The Camera. It's a better camera than my proper camera and has the great advantage that I can edit and process the results within the phone.
The Timer. Not the alarm, but the timer. I use the timer for all sorts of thing (including writing this comment). I only use the alarm when I really need to, which is a max of once or twice a week.
Reading books. I can't be bothered with real books now, unless they are art books. I can have two or three current books I'm reading on hand wherever I go. And I can download any one of thousands of others anywhere I can get a signal.
Evernote. Although Evernote has messed up its phone app almost as badly as it's messed up its desktop app, it's still essential to the way I work.
Roam Research. A new one for me. But it's just so useful and I'm appreciating it more and more the more I use it. When I'm out and about I make loads of notes on anything that interests me and then tidy them up on the desktop when I get home.
September 20, 2021 at 11:01 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Mark :
<< Calendar (I use Evernote for that) >>
Without being intrusive : how do you manage your calendar in Evernote ?
<< For instance a week ago I came back from a short visit to France and I had to produce a plethora of test and vaccination results, plus having to fill in a very difficult "locator form" online >>
Oh the famous Passenger Locator Form... Horrible to fill!
<< Calendar (I use Evernote for that) >>
Without being intrusive : how do you manage your calendar in Evernote ?
<< For instance a week ago I came back from a short visit to France and I had to produce a plethora of test and vaccination results, plus having to fill in a very difficult "locator form" online >>
Oh the famous Passenger Locator Form... Horrible to fill!
September 20, 2021 at 11:15 |
Fabien Kieffer
Fabien Kieffer
Belacqua:
<<Though maybe you (or Cal Newport) will figure something out.>>
Cal Newport's approach from Deep Work is to talk to your boss and actually negotiate what sort of time budget they expect from you. In other words, to identify just how much of your time their expect to be "shallow work" and available for things like interruptions and communication. The idea is to explicitly discuss the question with your boss and figure out what is a real and reasonable quota for the job.
In some jobs, I imagine there is a very high budget for shallow work because they want you to be always interruptible, but for most jobs, bosses aren't exactly going to say, "I don't want you doing the work your job is paying you to do because I'd rather you be able to be interrupted at any time."
Implicit in this is the assumption that you are going to communicate to your boss the fact that you can't actually get real work done if you are able to be interrupted during that time when you have to be producing good results on some info-work based topic. If your job has zero deep work in it, then there's a zero budget for deep work and it's all shallow work and can all be interrupted without negative consequences.
<<Though maybe you (or Cal Newport) will figure something out.>>
Cal Newport's approach from Deep Work is to talk to your boss and actually negotiate what sort of time budget they expect from you. In other words, to identify just how much of your time their expect to be "shallow work" and available for things like interruptions and communication. The idea is to explicitly discuss the question with your boss and figure out what is a real and reasonable quota for the job.
In some jobs, I imagine there is a very high budget for shallow work because they want you to be always interruptible, but for most jobs, bosses aren't exactly going to say, "I don't want you doing the work your job is paying you to do because I'd rather you be able to be interrupted at any time."
Implicit in this is the assumption that you are going to communicate to your boss the fact that you can't actually get real work done if you are able to be interrupted during that time when you have to be producing good results on some info-work based topic. If your job has zero deep work in it, then there's a zero budget for deep work and it's all shallow work and can all be interrupted without negative consequences.
September 20, 2021 at 11:16 |
Aaron Hsu
Aaron Hsu
Mark:
I'm probably more disagreeable than you in that regard, and I'll make life difficult on people if they want to try to force me to have a phone to do something, particularly if it is the government. As for the other things you mention, those are things I think a lot of people use, but I'll use separate tools for those if I need to (I have discreet timers for the very rare occasions when I use them, but they are usually specialized for a particular task), and I keep my notes on pen and paper. :-)
I'm probably more disagreeable than you in that regard, and I'll make life difficult on people if they want to try to force me to have a phone to do something, particularly if it is the government. As for the other things you mention, those are things I think a lot of people use, but I'll use separate tools for those if I need to (I have discreet timers for the very rare occasions when I use them, but they are usually specialized for a particular task), and I keep my notes on pen and paper. :-)
September 20, 2021 at 11:18 |
Aaron Hsu
Aaron Hsu
Fabien Kieffer:
<< Without being intrusive : how do you manage your calendar in Evernote ? >>
I designed my own using the Table feature. Four columns: 1) The event 2) No content except I mark up in colour periods I'm going to be away. So for instance for my recent visit to France, I coloured the column grey on every day I would be away. I also use it to mark up today's date in black. 3) The date, in the format "Mon Sep 20", 4) Notes.
Important to note that I draw it up and fill it in on my Desktop, so the Phone is only used to refer to it when I'm away from home. I only make small adjustments on the Phone. Nevertheless it works very well for my circumstances.
<< Without being intrusive : how do you manage your calendar in Evernote ? >>
I designed my own using the Table feature. Four columns: 1) The event 2) No content except I mark up in colour periods I'm going to be away. So for instance for my recent visit to France, I coloured the column grey on every day I would be away. I also use it to mark up today's date in black. 3) The date, in the format "Mon Sep 20", 4) Notes.
Important to note that I draw it up and fill it in on my Desktop, so the Phone is only used to refer to it when I'm away from home. I only make small adjustments on the Phone. Nevertheless it works very well for my circumstances.
September 20, 2021 at 11:38 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Aaron Hsu:
<< I'll make life difficult on people if they want to try to force me to have a phone to do something, particularly if it is the government >>
Maybe that's ok for a young guy like you, but in the United Kingdom if you are an old guy like me the Government's reaction if you upset them is to declare you not mentally competent, stick you in a care home and sell your house to pay for it. Just like the good old days in the USSR in fact.
<< I'll make life difficult on people if they want to try to force me to have a phone to do something, particularly if it is the government >>
Maybe that's ok for a young guy like you, but in the United Kingdom if you are an old guy like me the Government's reaction if you upset them is to declare you not mentally competent, stick you in a care home and sell your house to pay for it. Just like the good old days in the USSR in fact.
September 20, 2021 at 11:45 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
In any case, I'd be curious to hear others' opinions on whether the proliferation of digital scheduling apps, smartphone reminders/notifications/calendars, etc. has significantly changed the game here. Does digital scheduling offer improvements? (And here, I'm thinking specifically of digital scheduling as an adjunct to a paper task list. I'm not thinking of entirely digital productivity systems.) Does a digital calendar, etc. help with implementing Mark's long-list systems? And what about timed smartphone reminders/notifications? It seems conceivable that they could boost the viability of "no-list" systems. Arguably, paper reminders are more fallible and require added mental energy to review them periodically. Or is our opinion of tech less favorable? (I love paper, so please tell me I'm not missing out!)
The only previous thread I found on this topic was from 2013 (I may have overlooked others). There, forum member Marco asked the following question which is on point (but it was a pretty brief thread):
< How do y'all keep your calendars / appointments / scheduled tasks?
Seems like we (justly) spend most of our energy creating ways to do unscheduled tasks. Is everyone just using a basic scheduling calendar for time sensitive things, or is there a better way? >
http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2147812