daily planner

Selection

First and foremost, everyone is different, and what works for you may not work for someone else. Keep that in mind as you determine the type of daily planner you will use. Planners come in all shapes, sizes and colors. There are electronic and paper planners.

So, what type do I use? Well, if you like gadgets and can figure out how to use them easily, you may want to go electronic. Electronic daily planners come in a variety of forms; examples are, pc software such as Microsoft Outlook, and google calendar, and smart phones with planner applications built in that you can synch up with your pc. There are many advantages of using electronic planners. They are portable and you can set audible alarms to remind you of appointments and tasks. They have voice recorders and camera’s to capture ideas when you don’t have paper and a pen. And they keep contact information at your fingertips, to name a few.

For those that aren’t tech savvy and prefer to write things down, a paper daily planner may be the way to go. Paper planners have all the sections electronic daily planners do such as, a calendar, contacts, task list, and also usually provide lined paper to jot down ideas, or any other notes you may want to capture. Select the best size for you. Keep in mind, the smaller the planner, the less space you will have to write. Also, if you’re like me, I don’t write very small mainly because it’s difficult to see small print. Select the planner with the page view you want. For example, do you want to see daily, weekly, or monthly pages? Make sure it has all the sections you need and that you can get refills for next year.

Usage

Whether you use an electronic or paper daily planner, the first thing to do is to enter basic information. Basic information would be contacts, and appointments. Under contacts, you may want to include things like, policy numbers or account numbers. See the list below for some tips to help your planner help you.

•When entering appointments, using colors helps categorize appointments so you can see what type of appointment it is.

•Set an alarm as a reminder for appointments or tasks with an electronic planner.

•When making an appointment, schedule it immediately in your planner.

•Keep your planner with you at all times. You never know when you will need it to capture an idea or schedule an appointment.

•Check paper planners frequently to avoid missing an appointment.