Back to Paper: Should I Ditch My PDA?

"Last week my old Clié ran out of battery power, resulting in a blank Clié. I didn't loose any data, as I'd been syncing regularly. However, it became a bit of a hassle restoring the PDA this weekend, because one of my restored preferences seemed to hang the Clié at startup. I wiped out the Saved Preferences file, solved the hang and then spent time finding and re-entering many of my software serial numbers.

I like my Clié, yet it suffers from one problem — the need for constant care and feeding. In this case, keeping the battery charged and after failing this requirement, steps necessary to bring it back from the dead....

...Taking the time to separate myself from tech solutions and getting back to a more tactile approach — maybe this is something to consider. Already I'm very analog with my logo, icon and web design sketches, why not try it for scheduling my personal life?

Then I wonder, what would life on paper look like? I tried paper for a few weeks, after losing the Zire 72. I truly enjoyed using paper. I appreciated seeing an entire week at a glance. I found myself writing thoughts in the Moleskine, something I'd never have bothered doing on the Palm.

I'm very close to trying a paper Moleskine Weekly planner for 6 months to see how I like it. While the flexible cover of the new 18 Month Moleskine is attractive, the week on a page seems too cramped. I much prefer 1 week across 2 pages, like the traditional Weekly Pocket planner has. Since 2006 Weekly planners..."

Mike Rohde
Rohdesign

LINK

Photo: "Time-management software -- offline version"
via dgray_xplane @ FLICKR
© All rights reserved. Used with permission
Note the interesting comments

Comments

[Mike Rohde]

Armand, thanks for the mention. It's official: I am going to paper, though how exactly I've not decided. I think it will probably be a hand-made weekly planner (2 pages per week) made from a ruled pocket Moleskine. The 1 page per week format is being tested this week, but I'm finding it is a little too cramped. I'll be sure to post more on the topic once the planner has been chosen, created and is in operation.

[Mary R]

I accidentally bought a one page per week/one blank page calendar one year. I thought I wouldn't like it, but now I won't buy any other kind. Why? You can put what you are going to do in the calendar page, and the details about the event on the blank page. It is then easy to flip through the blank pages looking for jotted down phone numbers, to-dos and such.