Why should you use a paper planner?

23 Reasons You Should Use a Paper Planner

1. Paper Planners are Easier to Set Up – Written planners typically already organized and ready for you to start adding critical dates
2. Calendar Paper Planners take less time.
3. Writing May Help You Remember Better.
4. Calendar Paper Planners Work Everywhere.
5. Paper Planners are fun.
6. Increase odds of reaching goals
7. Writing things down on paper planner improves recall 
8. When you see it you can believe it
9. Vividly describing your goals in written form is strongly associated with goal success,
10. You can customize paper planners
11. You can never lose data written Paper planners due power outages or technology
12. Paper planners are great keepsakes
13. It is your own personal success booklet
14. Writing is great for brain development
15. Writing is a great Stress Reliever
16. Everything is all in one place instead of different apps
17. Paper Planners can go anywhere without restrictions
18. Using a paper planner keeps you connected with the foundational principles of success
19. Paper Planners never go out of style – There is a reason paper planners have never gone
20. Paper Planners only require a one time purchase
21. Less distracted
22. High Achievers Use Them

Why should you use a paper planner? Of course, we are advocates for paper planners, but we also use them. I use our athletic and life planner. From my personal experience, I can say it has made me more engaged and focused on my daily goals in addition to my long term vision.  Taking time to write my vision, goals, and action items helps me see the details that will be easily missed. I have failed to use any planner in the past because I like to keep my calendar open in addition to moving naturally without being locked in a day of things to do. But what ends up happening is I will often get big items completed and miss many of the details. Here are some of the many reasons you should implement a calendar planner into your life:

1. Paper Planners are Easier to Set Up – Written calendar planners typically are already organized and ready for you to start adding critical dates, events, workout times, financial milestones, and other information to keep you on track. Written planners are simple in that you need a pen, pencil, and commitment of 5 to 10 minutes a day. 
2. Paper Planners take less time. – Paper planners take a lot less time than setting up an app calendar and figuring out how the app works. Have you ever gone through the time of setting up your app calendar planner only to realize you did something wrong? Planners should be seamless, not a learning process to figure out how it works. 
3. Writing May Help You Remember Better. – critical writing events down promotes memorization. Writing by hand makes us formulate our ideas, goals, plans, and to-do’s better; it activates good brain cells at the bottom of the brain to increase focus. The physical writing action ignites this sector of the brain, making your mind snap into full focus. Once you write down a dream, goal, or aspiration, your brain starts working to make you pay attention, focus, tune in, and remember the actions needed to accomplish your goals. 
4. Paper Planners Work Everywhere – Planners work anywhere, anytime regardless of power, time of day, or lack of wifi or internet connection. You can take a planner with you and have access to it at any time or anywhere. 
5. Paper Planners are excellent – Planners can be used as a great tool to tell your life story for the year; it is a perfect tool to help improve your quality of life. 
6. Paper Planners increase the odds of reaching goals. – The sad news is that your New Year’s goals and resolutions might not come to actualization. In contrast, the majority of people abandon their new year’s resolutions within half a year, 25 percent of people who disregard goals within a week. The great news! You can always make new goals, resolutions, and visions for your life to improve yourself and the quality of life. You can always decide to get after going after an achievement, no matter what time of year.
7. If goals don’t actualize, you can always make new ones and commit. Dominican University Psychology professor, Dr. Gail Matthews, led research on goal-setting with nearly 270 participants. The outcome was fantastic. The study determined you are 42 percent more likely to achieve your aspirations and goals if you write them down.
8. Writing things down on a paper planner improves recall. 
9. When you see it, you can believe it.
10. Vividly describing your goals in written format is strongly associated with goal success,
11. You can customize paper planners.
12. You can never lose data written Paper planners due to power outages or technology.
13. Paper planners are great keepsakes – Capturing the first year of your business and family life is the perfect gift for any parent to pass along to their children. A calendar planner is a great way to preserve and detail the journey for their children. Planners are keepsakes that can be passed along to future generations. Calendar planning your life can be used as a teaching point for years to come. Having a log of events after three years of marriage, seven years, or longer, will provide beautiful teaching, learning, and historical moments to remind families of what it took and how we got through some of the lives most difficult times and some of the rougher parts of their years together!
14. Your success booklet is your calendar planner. Your unique story and personal goal booklet allow you to plot activities that will produce the vision you have for your life. 
15. Writing is great for brain development – Ina recent article in Psychology Today, it discusses the impact of handwriting on brain development. Schools that teach handwriting spend slightly over an hour a week, based on Zaner-Bloser Inc., national handwriting-curriculum publishers. Cursive writing is usually not taught until after the third grade. Researchers are discovering that learning cursive handwriting is an essential tool for cognitive brain development, specifically in training the mind brain to learn functional specialization, which is the capacity for peak efficiency. In learning cursive handwriting, the brain develops an operational discipline that connects sensation, movement control, and thinking. Additional Brain imaging research reveals that multiple brain areas become co-activated during the learning of cursive handwriting of words instead of just typing or visual digital computer practice.
16. Writing is a great Stress Reliever – writing is a calming activity when done on your terms. It is a way to let your emotions out, organize your thoughts, express yourself, and plan upcoming activities that can eliminate anxiety. 
17. Everything is all in one place instead of different apps – 
18. Paper Planners can go anywhere without restrictions.
19. Using a paper planner keeps you connected with the foundational principles of success.
20. Paper Planners never go out of style – There is a reason paper planners have never gone away. 
21. Paper Planners only require a one time purchase.
22. Less distracted – When you think of the benefits of digital app planners vs. written paper planners, many people pinpoint notifications and sound reminders on your phone. These planning apps can have recurring reminders and ding at the exact time when you need to be somewhere or plan out your meal for the month. It seems perfect! Often people tend to block out these reminders as they become just another phone notification like a social media spam call or some other notification that you want to ignore. A paper planner actually forces you to engage and be more mindful. Using a calendar planner will teach you to be more aware.
23. High Achievers still use them – I read an interview with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett that intrigued me. There was a section that many of us could learn from. It was how Warren Buffett and Bill Gates use their calendar planners. Bill Gates had almost every hour, minute, and slot of the day planned, plotted and schedule versus Warren Buffet was the opposite. His calendar was left empty. Bill Gates discussed how Warren showed Bill his calendar. And Warren Calendar was left open. Bill, as many tech giants do meetings, had every minute packed and had come to the conclusion that was the only way to achieve success. What I learned is a calendar planner should not be a resource used to pack every minute but rather to highlight important events and actually create more open space without hard commitments. Time to create, be innovative, and give more energy to those things you genuinely enjoy.