Online Calendar or Paper Diary?
I like to have the best of both worlds. Here's why ...
Should I use an online calendar or a paper diary?
Way back in the 1980s, I attended a time management course. Well before the days of online calendars and all the digital distractions that have come along with the Internet.
It was one of the few courses that I truly benefitted from. A major lesson I learned, and used from that day forward, was how to manage my time with a diary. Each day, appointments and necessary tasks that needed a specific time would go into the diary on the appropriate line. Other tasks would go into a notes section and be acted upon when required.
From that diary, my next day’s to-do list would be created.
Another great tip on this course was that unless a task had to be done on the dot of starting business, I would place the task that I dreaded, or disliked, the most at the top of the list. If this task could be done first, or at least very early in the day, it made the day go much better. It’s an awful feeling knowing there is a task you dread waiting to be done. It’s almost as though an executioner is ready, with an axe in hand, waiting to strike.
Applying this method of tackling difficult tasks early in the day served me well. In the end, they are no longer as daunting, because when this method is applied, you have your full energy and not had it drained by waiting in fear.
Of course, using my diary depended on it being completed and acted upon. In an office-type environment, it’s easy to keep a large enough diary on your desk and to check it regularly. If you are employed in other ways, it might have required a little more management using a smaller, maybe pocket-sized diary.
The rise of the online calendar
In 2025, many now use online calendars to manage their work and personal lives. This is one digital tool that I do find to be very useful. Apple, Google, Outlook, Yahoo, and others all offer a free online calendar.
I use Apple products and so Apple Calendar is my preferred choice. Having the ability to access the same calendar on each device, even offline, is very useful. Online calendars can also be shared with colleagues, family and friends, and even customers. Separate calendars for different groups can be created and displayed for you all on one view.
The online problem
The issue that first comes to mind is: What if you can’t access your calendar, either, because there is no Internet, or your devices aren’t working, lost or stolen? To solve this problem, I do keep a paper back-up of my most important tasks in my Personal size Filofax. I am retired now, so there are far fewer important appointments and things that must be done than in times past.
The beauty of an online calendar that really appeals to me is the ability to set reminders. For example, if I have a date when my car insurance is due, I can set a reminder to let me know several weeks in advance so I can shop around, rather than have to pay whatever the insurance company wants to charge — and that’s usually much higher than needs be.
For me, having a calendar or diary is vital and it helps me plan and use my time wisely. Calendars enable me to extract information for my to-do lists, something else that works well, and they also have other advantages.
Looking back in time
Making sure that you don’t destroy old paper diaries, or wipe clean online ones, can provide a useful record if you need to look back. Perhaps this is an extreme example, but it’s worth noting. It might be that someone claims you were ‘up to no good’ on a certain date, but if you have entries in your calendars to the contrary, you would be able to remind yourself what you were doing, and if necessary, call up witnesses to the facts. In such cases, being able to go back and have a record of what you were doing, or where you happened to be, be would be very useful.
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Online calendars are searchable, so if you want to remember when the last time you spoke to your friend Anne was, you could search for her name, and if that was in your calendar, it would appear. This also shows you can add things to your calendar as you do them, and not just as a planning tool. I could, for example, add to my calendar a note that I have completed writing this story. It would be a permanent record for me to look back on.
A diary or calendar is a work in progress. It will be added to, sometimes amended, and should be easily accessible. If you can’t access it, then having a notebook and pen to jot down notes is vital. Make notes so you can to add to, or amend, your calendar later. I often do this rather than pull out my phone. It’s often easier for me to write a note on paper and then add to the calendar when more convenient. I find that if I rush trying to add to my calendar on my iPhone, I am likely to have fat thumb syndrome and choose the wrong date!
How do you manage your time?
I would be interested to know how you manage your time. Let me know in the comments.
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I didn't get an iPhone until 2013. Before that, I used paper calendars and diaries. Sometimes I'd use Excel to map out tasks within a project. For most of my working life, I kept a journal. As you said, it helped me remember what I was doing, in case the boss wanted to know why the schedule had slipped. (Often, it was him trying to slip an extra mini project in...)
After years of online calendaring, four years ago I returned to a paper diary which is working well for me.