Held On Paper: my life in analogue

I’ve had a planner for decades, planners of various shapes and sizes. Pre-printed and pretty, dots, lines, grids, all weights of paper. I’m finally (more or less) settled into a groove which works for where I am now.

My planners, yes multiple, hold my life and lives. And, for someone immersed in tech and with a degree in IT, the analogue supports my brain better than any apps. Apps are where my tasks go to disappear into the mists of memory. Believe me, I have tried. However, there is definitely something about the brain, eye, hand connection that enables what I write to stay … for longer, at least.

And they are not there for simple task checking, they are there for me to check in, to connect ideas, to reflect on occurrences. Sure, I track what I am doing (because I forget), but also my energy, quotes, reminders, all the minutiae of my life, because at regular intervals I flick back through the pages and I can see how far I have come, where I may have stumbled, ways I can perhaps do better next time.

I have three, currently. My A5 Wonderland 222 is the workhorse. It shows me the shape of my days and weeks and months, allows me to plan projects and track habits. There’s space for everything life and study and consultancy related, space to think, space to reflect, space to doodle. It resides mainly on my desk and is always open by my side.

Then there’s my A6, basically a simple notebook which I carry everywhere. Where I journal daily with no page limitations, where I throw ideas and tasks and reminders as they occur during the times I am away from my desk. This is my fun place, the place that I decorate with stickers and washi tape, where I allow the soul of my creativity free reign.

The third is a Traveller’s Notebook that I use only for my role at National Trust so I don’t have to take anything personal to work, and also so I can keep my work and my life separate. It is decorated though.

And yes, I plan in these notebooks and journals, but I also notice. Especially in my A5, that’s where I see the patterns of what I planned and what actually happened. Unlike an app where I can delete and reinput, leaving no trace, my paper planner holds all the memories, all the evidence.

I’ve come to realise that planners and planning the analogue way is a personal matter and a personal preference. There is no one true way to use any of them, any system.

Productivity is a whole world in itself, productivity and planners a huge subsection, search on YouTube if you dare. If you’ve met my words before you may have an inkling that, to me, ‘productivity’ is not a word I like. I am an advocate of ‘slow productivity’, but my whole being internally whispers: “humans were not built to be productive,” at least not in the capitalist sense it is used today.

So, what I am attempting to say here is, if you want to try the analogue way, then find a planner it’s a pleasure to write in. Find a planner that fits with your life. And then don’t use it to only plan. Use it to notice. Use it to think. Use it to be creative.

And, most important of all. Use it to lead a life you love.

With kindness and coffee