Many years ago, in another lifetime, I used to use the software program Lotus Notes for general day-to-day planning, organising and e-mail. I only used it at work, mind.
For my personal ‘organising’ I used a small notebook, the brand Rhodia Block, small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, where I kept track of my To-Do list, reminders, thoughts, ideas, notes-to-self etc. I fitted it with an elastic loop and bought a small pen that was about the same length as the notebook and fitted it well.
I’ve always liked the idea of the Filofax but never quite got on with it, but the small notebook-and-pen-in-shirt-pocket worked (and continues to work) well.
I was just wondering what others use – are you a pen-and-paper Neanderthal like me, or do you use an electronic gadget or a piece of software on your phone or tablet? I have an older model of the iPhone and I must admit I don’t understand or use 80% of it’s functions . . . . . . so what do you do?
For many years I used a piece of Mac / iOS software called Daylite from Marketcircle - until they went on to a subscription model, and then put the price up (in one giant leap) from around £80 a year to £400!!
So now I have two little apps called BusyCal and BusyContacts, which also run on both Mac and iOS, and which cost me fifty bucks a pop, plus ten dollars for the iOS version of BusyCal.
I use it to make digital notes (it has a nicer texture than an iPad, more like writing on paper than a screen) but also for reading ebooks. I couldn’t quite justify buying a Remarkable 2, but this is priced cheaper.
I got fed up of having to constantly search through the many paper notebooks to find stuff about meetings I’d attended or things I was working on, etc…
We use this also - so much better than the standard iPhone calendar - we have shared calendars and individual ones and it works very well.
I also use Microsoft Todo - for shopping lists etc - we both have access to the lists and can both add/remove items, - works very well when one of us has already left to go shopping and something has been forgotten- can just add it and it appears on the list of the person who is going the shopping.
A combination of Google Keep, Google Tasks, Post-Its and Thunderbird Lightning Task & Event manager. I’m looking for something less intrusive than Lightning, but more complete than Google Tasks/Calendar, which must be cross-platform and support multiple devices.
Same sort of thing here, except I tear a sheet out of a spiral bound notebook and use a real calendar and pen . I do have a smartphone, but just don’t use it for that sort of thing.
I do use LibreOffice Calc on a PC for tracking my pension and energy consumption but that’s about it.
My daily diary is where I write all my spendings down, rdv’s,pension payments etc each time and follow the bank balance daily. I have a block of those 9 x 9cm loose coloured pieces of paper that I jot down reminders on or telephone messages and for shopping, an exercise book with a pen inside to write stuff down as it runs out or I need to buy. Can’t be doing with computer stuff, would rather use a pen and paper any day of the week
Refreshing to read how many reminder gadgets and systems people use.
For me I keep diary to note any future appointments and for anything else if I can’t remember then it’s not important.
In my working days I kept a notebook and a secretary. The notebook literally but not my secretary!
I use the Apple calendar. If I write it on one of my devices it shares it to the others. Every evening my iPad shows tomorrows commitments on its home screen and they are also there at breakfast time. It’s simple to use, easy to edit and allows for regular activities. It clearly shows blocks of time when I might be away or have visitors here.
I know I am terribly badly organised. So I have a ring bound “Zap book” where I write down things I know I will forget in the next ten minutes. It’s not difficult to flip through the pages to find stuff I know is probably there somewhere. Things like my To Do list, recipes, dates, ideas, camera settings… etc. I do have a Filofax diary, which is vital for noting appointments and events.
I like your small notebook idea. But I don’t have any shirt pockets !
Phone nos and contacts are on iPhone.
Shopping lists are written in non-permanent marker pen on an ancient magnetic sheet I got as a gift from Chronodrive years ago, that clicks satisfyingly onto a metal box in the kitchen.
We have two wall calendars with nice big pictures and enough room underneath to note appointments in advance on one and significant events afterwards on the other.
For appointments, I use Desktop-Reminder on my table-top computer. I usually set the Reminder twice, one for the day before, and one for the day itself. So, when I switch on my computer, which I do first thing every morning, any Reminder that has been set appears on the screen and yodels quite loudly. Hasn’t failed me yet.
The only failure would be forgetting to set the Reminder, but as yet, haven’t come a cropper!
For to-do lists or shopping lists I use my smartphone, and I’m always setting out things that need doing anyway in my daily WORD diary.
Whoaa, beware advancing age and brain freeze, I used to have an excelllent memory but now even though I know there is something to remember, I can’t remember what it was, and that can take as little as 5 minutes.
I use Alexa for everything. Voice controlled, it operates the aircon (turning it on for the dog if it gets too hot and I’m out) lights (I have 12 lamps in the living room; bedtime is no longer a chore), also with the lights they are programmed to come on at staggered times like 10/20/30 minutes before/after sunset, regular reminders eg every Tuesday at 11am (water the plants, open the gallery etc), individual reminders on the day or the day before often both! I also use it for timers (Alexa 12 minutes for my eggs). You can programme routines such as when I say ‘goodnight’ the aircon, lights and music are switched off, she announces the weather and says ‘goodnight sexy’ - well you’ve got to have some amusement with it! If I say ‘cinema’ any lights that glare on the screen are switched off leaving the background lighting. The command ‘sofa’ turns on the lamps at each side of the sofa. You can add things to a shopping list too and look up recipes on the web. Life would be impossibly busy and frustrating without it. It can do so much more and I feel I’m only half using it!
. I do have a smartphone, but just don’t use it for that sort of thing.