I consider myself to be a fairly productive person. I work part time as a labor and delivery nurse, write a daily blog and I manage a household while making sure to allow enough time for DIY projects, socializing and Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
I have friends who take full advantage of their electronic devices for their uber-organized to-do lists, calendars and probably some kind of ap thingies that I’m too much of a caveman to even comprehend. (Yes, caveMAN, as I am too backwards to evolve into a caveWOMAN.)
I’m a pen to paper woman. Yes, I know this is hypocritical from someone who writes an online blog, but there it is. I keep a physical engagement calendar and I write my to-do lists on scraps of paper and old envelopes; with tiny square boxes that I check off as I complete each tasks. I had assumed I was the only person under the age of fifty who operated this way, but breakfast out with tech-savvy J.D. Roth taught me otherwise.
Despite having his smart phone sitting right there on the restaurant table, we bonded over our paper calendars, agreeing that being able to open a page and see a whole week at a time was vastly superior.
And then, when we had finished our breakfasts, he pulled out a paper index card, which was filled top to bottom with a tidy list of all of his day’s tasks. That’s right people, a to-do list on a piece of paper.
I knew there was a reason we were friends.
Do you write your to-do lists on paper or have you made the leap out of the cave and into the electronic age? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
{ 67 comments… read them below or add one }
I keep a running list of stuff to do on my phone, because it is always with me and I remember things at the oddest moments. But I hand write out a calendar by day to make sure all the stuff actually gets done. Crossing something off with a pen is so much more satisfying that the electronic version.
Me too. I do a lot of things electronically, of course, but calendars and to-do lists work better for me on paper.
Like you, I use scrap paper, though…with four kids in the house, there’s always scrap art paper to be found, even if a used envelope isn’t handy.
I’m definitely a pen-and-paper list maker. I don’t have any of the gadgets to do it electronically, and it just doesn’t seem as satisfying that way either. I’m in the cave, too!
Wow, this cave is getting crowded. I hope there are snacks!
Katy
Oh, me too. I am just over fifty, but I don’t need a fancy overpriced phone, used envelopes, tablets (paper kind) and post-its work just fine!
Besides it’s cozy in a cave!!
Oh, and another thought. My husband fusses because for our rental house, I write everything down in my notebook, before adding it to our computer spreadsheet.
Paper lists – I get satisfaction out of crossing things off! That plus I own a dumb phone but if I get a smart phone I will still do paper lists
Not only am I a pen-and-paper list gal, I make little boxes like you do so I can check things off! The only difference is that I run all my boxes down the left side of the paper because it’s tidier…because I’m a little anal like that. 😉
Pencil (very important, much nicer than pen) and paper, in my Filofax. And yes, with boxes – but mine are on the right side.
I am back to paper since my toddler niece tossed my iPhone in a bucket of water sitting in the garden. It took me weeks to recover my life, meanwhile missing appointments at work, no email addresses for some folks. I have a new phone now, but still am ssticking to paper. (And I missed crossing things off as I got them done!!)
aaand, bucking the trend: I’m almost exclusively an electronic calendar-er and to-do lister. I work in front of a computer, and both my calendar and task list are available on my phone, too. I also always have my phone with me, so no keeping track of a planner on top of my phone. And the little check marks in google tasks are very satisfying – at least as satisfying as crossing things off a paper list for me. You get to check a box AND a line gets drawn through the text! Now…if only google would get around to making a tasks app that synced with the online tasks…
Glad to hear that I’m not the only one! A few years ago my husband forced (um, I mean convinced me to try Google Calendar rather than the paper calendar in the kitchen. He was sick and tired of not knowing what was on the calendar unless he was in the kitchen. I was not too enthusiastic, but once I tried it I have definitely become a convert. We each have a calendar plus one for the kids’ activities. I can see all the calendars at once, either on the computer (when I’m at work, for example) or on my phone. I can see a daily, weekly, or monthly view. I can choose to see only the kids’ schedule, or only my own, and I can search for things as well — “when the heck is the kids’ dentist appointment?” is now easily answered with a quick search.
And for those who lose their addresses and whatnot by losing their phones, I am completely confused by that. All my data is stored at Google, so I don’t actually need my phone to get it, just any Internet connection.
But I do agree with Betsyohs, we need a tasks app that properly syncs! So far I’ve been using Toodledo, but I don’t love it.
The grocery list is still on paper, though, on the fridge. That way anyone can add to the list when they notice we are low on something. It is now a shared responsibility in my family to figure out what we need, and I no longer have to do that entirely by myself. 🙂
You make it sound like paper is only for the older generation! I’m 26 and still carry a full planner – the kind with the month view AND the week view! It’s full of reminders, receipts, paycheck stubs, and binder clips holding it all together. I honestly don’t know what I would do without it: with three jobs, a husband, classes for my masters program, and a brother getting married this year, I don’t want to think about what my life would look like without my planner!!! PERISH THE THOUGHT! There are to-do lists on almost each day in the “week” view. So many irons in the fire – and a phone would probably explode from the pressure.
I like sharpie and paper. It’s bold. Crayola washables work too- esp if my 4 year old has chores on the list.
I am using a paper date book/planner, and would be lost without my wall calendar.
I use spring pad to keep track of my digital scrapping due dates, previews and such. But it is DIGI scrapping! I can attach the kit previews, my pages, sort things with tags, etc.
I do have one timer set on my phone, and it is to remember to get my kiddo from school. I am terrified I will get lost in me time and forget to go. (on time I mean, I wouldn’t really forget him altogether)
I am a tech person but I love my paper to do (and grocery) lists. There’s such a pleasure about checking things off and also the writing down seems to help embed it in my brain. It’s amazing what I can type and not remember. It’s just a knowledge transfer.
I also like my wall calendar even though I also use my laptop for events because I like the pop up reminders and reoccuring events.
I know lots of tech people over 50 who are less paper than I am so I don’t think it’s an over 50 habit necessarily.
Also my school age daughter likes her check lists for her chores.
As a professional organizer, I have a hybrid (electronic and paper system). I keep everything in my electronic calendar and sync it with my smartphone. Every week, I print the weekly calendar along with my task list. This year, I have also started tracking my resolutions ala Gretchen Rubin style from her Happiness Project books. So far, it’s working great!
I have a paper calendar and to do list. I have a weekly calendar in a 3-ring binder. It’s a 2 weeks at a glance. I slip a page of lined filler paper in the week at a glance and write my to do list on the filler paper. I put a line down the center of the page and write the to do list on the right side of the line. Any notes for my to do’s go on the left side of the page. It has worked for me for years. I write my grocery lists on junk mail envelopes. Any coupons that I know I will use, go into the envelope.
Hahaha I thought I was the only one who wrote lists on the backs of opened envelopes and scraps of paper! 🙂 I have a blog too but I love written lists.
YES TO THIS!
I swear by little free spiral-bound notebooks specifically for to-do lists and random thoughts. My friends know this about me and pick up free SWAG notebooks whenever they can for me but I ever only have one backup because I go through them so quickly.
I recently bought a fancy new phablet: The Samsung Galaxy Note II. At first, I thought I would make the switch because it has a stylus and I can write my notes right on my phone….but old habits die hard and I just really enjoy having a little notebook with me at all times. It feels more permanent.
Paper list, usually on the back of an envelope, and a dumb phone. I lead an app-less life, and it runs along very happily:)
I have a dry-erase board for my to-do lists at home for sure, but putting my grocery list on my phone has eliminated all those times I got to the store only to realize my looong list was NOT in my purse.
I lived and died by my paper agenda for 10 years (seriously), but recently found this wonderful app called Astrid which is more more streamlined and easy to review than others.
Some folks mentioned loving the satisfaction of crossing something off, for which Astrid compensates by having the most adorable little critter who says things like, “Won’t you just finish this so you can go out and play?”
When it comes to planning my life, I’m a paper and pen girl. I love to cross things off my list. I do put my events in our family google calendar so my husband knows what’s going on in my and the kids’ schedule.
I use the back of the receipt from my last grocery shopping chore to start my next list, some times the one super market prints a bunch of useless coupons on the back of their’s rendering it worthless to use for this purpose, I try to re-purpose most things at least once, you probably think I’m quite frugal and thrifty but, actually I’m just down right CHEAP! As always” watch the nickel and dimes and the dollars will take care of themselves”. Hasta La Bye Bye!
Paper all the way! I love my lists, and my $1 monthly view planner from Dollartree. I plan on keeping my dumb phone until my carrier makes me change!
I have a dry-erase board on the fridge for the grocery list which I copy over to scrap paper before I leave for the store. (Today, DD2 y/o told me to put it on the list, when I told her we’re out of celery!)
The family calendar is a flylady paper calendar on the kitchen wall. And if it’s not on the calendar, I am not accountable.
I keep a daily journal in a steno pad and do my writing at the end of the day, summarizing my accomplishments, but my daily to do list is on my kindle. I kept losing my to do scraps kept getting lost.
I’m over 50 and I’m a Google girl for my phone, apps and calendar. When I got my first smart phone 2 1/2 years ago, I gave up paper for my calendar, contacts and to do list. I use ColorNote for my To Do list which I love because I can color code my lists and cross out completed tasks. I got a 7″ Samsung tablet for Christmas for my online business and I use ColorNote on it. I also cut and paste recipes into Notepad so I can access them from anywhere.
I’m 27 years old, and I feel naked without my Moleskine planner. I love writing my lists, engagements, etc. into my planner and checking them off. I have an iPhone and use it for a few lists (especially my grocery lists), but give me my planner!
My calendar is on my phone since it’s always with me. I tried a grocery list app and hated it. I have to have my paper list when I go to the grocery store. It’s something I can attach my coupons to. Plus now that my daughter is learning to shop, I give her my hand written list. If she got my phone, she’d be playing Angry Birds instead of learning how to shop. I’ve never been much of a “to-do” list kind of person. Even at work. However, if I have forgotten to do something more than once, it gets listed in my phone calendar. More of a reminder than anything.
My appointment calendar is on my phone since it’s always with me. I tried a grocery list app and hated it. I have to have my paper list when I go to the grocery store. Plus everyone in the house can add to it when they use the last of something. The paper list something I can attach my coupons to. Plus now that my daughter is learning to shop, I give her my hand written list. If she got my phone, she’d be playing Angry Birds instead of learning how to shop. I’ve never been much of a “to-do” list kind of person. Even at work. However, if I have forgotten to do something more than once, it gets listed in my phone or work calendar. More of a reminder than anything.
There is something special about writing things down. It might be the same process as writing your spelling list over and over. Also, I like to see a monthly calendar with some days filled in. I get more visual memory everytime I look at it. If I don’t write things down before I get in the car, I usually forget something. I’ve found lots of old envelopes with Cleaners, Bank, and Gas written on them. I also use my paper calendar as record keeping. I mark when I need to get my hair done, when the dogs need to visit the vet, etc. It’s easy to turn the page backwards also. I’m jealous that you know JD Roth. He seems like a really interesting person. His Get Rich Slowly is not the same since he stopped writing for it.
I do both….my calendar on my work computer but a paper calendar too where I jot lovely notes to myself and random information that I may need to refer to later. I also frequently use the David Allen “brain dump” approach where you write down all the random thoughts and ” to do’s” that are swirling around in your brain. Next you organize them in to categories of “where” you are going to do them (examples are: phone calls, home, office, on computer, driving, etc.). It helps me be more efficient with my time. My description of David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” is over-simplified, but it works.
Definitely a pen and paper girl – although I am loving using pencils at the moment rather than pens. One of the first things I did on my holiday break over Xmas was sharpen them all. Ah the satisfaction! 🙂 I have two diaries – one for work and one for home – and run a monthly calendar that lives on the fridge, which helps me balance two jobs and a social life. I love, love, love making lists – especially when I get to check the completed tasks for purchases off. Sometimes the back of an envelope suffices but I am also a total stationery geek so have loads of pretty pads, cards, notebooks etc that get lots of use. I am sad that paper seems to be becoming more and more redundant.
I’m in the over 50 crowd; paper all the way! I have three or four lists going at a time. All on re-purposed paper, of course!
Yes! Yes! Yes! Paper lists!
I use my computer in my computer room at a desk ( we have a laptop, but I leave that for Dh ( and I notice he sneaks in and uses the desk computer!). I also LOVE my Kindle and read here, there and everywhere in the house. I live a ways from town and when I drive to town it is for a reason…. not to read….. and I don’t have to worry about returning my Kindle book on time! My Daughter has a KOBO that she loves, her only problem with it is not in the Bath with you!
That all being said, I write on scrap paper, my list for town, It starts with the front side being what I need … Groceries on the top, also a (C) following for anything I wanted on sale with a coupon…. any other things that need to be bought at the bottom. I use the cross it off method when I get the item. The other side of the list has where to go and the order to go to each place ( saves on gas and I don’t forget anyplace I need to go, also don’t forget to put gas in the car before heading home!). This starts about a week ahead of time on another list….. the night before I go it gets put on the back of the grocery list….. ( things change and the note needs to be a little neat).
So Yes, Yes, Yes for lists, and for Christmas check offs, cards, and so on.
Paper calendar for sure, and paper lists too for homestuff. I’ve been looking for a calendar that really works for me for years – and may have finally found it! The clerk at the stationary store laughed when I listed my criteria: must fit in my purse, must have a month view, must have Sunday on the left (last year’s otherwise perfect moleskine drove me mad as I kept mistaking the day of the week), good to have an elastic or some other way to close it so loose lists can get tucked into it, and okay to have a weekly view too, but can’t have Saturday/Sunday shortchanged on space.
Too funny—the thing I was doing right before I opened the post was starting a new list for the drugstore and marking off the dinners I’ve already made off of the “meals available” list. (These are meals I can make from what’s in the pantry/fridge/freezer and I make whatever I feel like that night based on what needs to be used up when.) I always use scrap paper for my lists, except the grocery list which is included in my paper calendar/planner—perforated and ready to tear, so exciting. 😉 I have a cheapie prepaid cell phone just for emergencies—no apps, people!—so everything’s done the old-fashioned way. The less technology, the easier it is for me.
Wow and I thought I was one of the few that prefers pen and paper all the way. I like real calendars, lists in a notebook and to do lists in front of me. I just have to have something to scratch off. I use index cards for the things I am going to do each day too! My kids get their school work for each day written on an index card.
My dear sweet husband bought me a Palm Pilot a number of years ago thinking that it would be great for all my lists and such. It was probably the biggest fail too. It was a great idea, but just not for me. I have an older iphone and I use some apps on it, but my lists will remain on paper.
I learned a trick from my friend’s mother years ago… Any piece of paper that has writing on one side, I take on the side of the counter or table and tear it into 4 equal pieces. I keep a stack of these (blank side up) in a drawer with a pencil. I use it for my daily to-do lists. I like the size of the paper because it forces me to keep it real. Only so much will fit on the paper… and only so much will fit into my day.
I am 38 and have two small children. And I do not have a smart phone.
My mom has done this my whole,life! She’s still doing it at 90. Never a shortage of list paper in her house!
I am a pen and paper gal. I will even write out my blog posts on paper before typing them up. I just recently started to use the notes section on my computer but it just isn’t the same.
And here I was so embarrassed at buying my yearly desk calendar at Staples, thinking I was the only one stuck in the 1950’s! I need to see the whole month at a glance, and I like to write down funny things the kids say during that month. I love my iPad, but not for calendars or lists. I hate my cell phone and regularly forget it, or don’t have it charged–it’s a running joke with my husband. It seems a lot of my friends have contacted me over the years to say, “I lost all of my contact information on my phone–would you please resend it?” So I just don’t trust technology for dates and contacts. I think I’ve had a calendar ever since grade school, so it’s ingrained in me and I like it.
Love technology but couldn’t function without my to-do lists on scrap paper. I still keep a paper diary too which I rely heavily on.
Can’t type as fast as I think. So paper, every time. Wow, warm in the cave with all these folks 🙂
oh yes, paper all the way and I’m in an IT job complete with degree. I use one side for my to-do list and the other side for meal-planning and grocery list.
Sometimes I want to be “un-plugged” from the electronics, but I carry the paper lists everywhere. The feel of checking off a finished project feels so much better with pen and paper.
And since we’re all in the cave, has anyone checked to see if we even have any reception for those devices?
For all of us who still love our paper, is there anyone else out there who still prefers to write and snail mail letters to people? I believe it’s a lost art already, but thinking that this group would be among the few who carry on the tradition. I hand-write thank you’s, Christmas card letters/notes and even full page-long letters. Anyone else?
I did a 52 Letters Challenge in 2010 on the blog.
Katy
So cool! I’m not sure I could do one a week, though! I’ll have to check it out – I’ve only been following your blog about 6 months.
🙂
I still hand write thank you notes and birthday cards. But I’m not as good at writing actual letters as I used to be.
I write actual letters – but have to type them on the computer and print since arthritis arrived (I’m 78 and counting, so don’t mind the arthritis so much!)
I got a smartphone a couple of years ago but do not use any apps. Make paper lists for everything. Will probably consider going backwards to a dumb phone soon. It just seems so simple to use a small notebook day planner for everything–grocery lists, to do lists, appts, etc.
I don’t go to too many unfamiliar places so I never need the maps app. I don’t eat out in too many restaurants (we have our local old favorites if we do) so no YELP is needed to tell me where to find a “trendy” place.
My own photocopied grocery list has items I use often, listed in the order of my grocery store and Trade Joe, so no need for a “grocery app!”
My laptop is great for visiting friends and family through facebook and reading blogs and writing in Word.
Paper planner,laptop,basic phone.. easy???
I’m a paper girl myself. I’ve tried electronic lists and computer calendars but I always go back to paper. There’s an extra feeling of accomplishment to physically scratching something off a list. I also love a real, in my hand, paper calendar. I like seeing a whole month at a time.
I too am a paper lister. I have tried to keep them on the computer or my ipod, (I don’t have a smart phone either) and I just don’t like it as well. I feel like the act of actually writing the words with my pen makes things more concrete sometimes and thus they may eventually get accomplished!!
I keep my long term to do list in the reminder ap that came with my iphone. That way I can stew a while on things I want to do in the house or in life and reference that list when I am at Goodwill or have a moment of inspiration. I keep my daily to do list in my head (as I think that if I have to write it down to remember to do it, it must not be that important), but I do occasionally write it all out on a big white board in our office if I want to get myself organized.
This is a very crowded cave, but maybe I can stick a toe in! Love my lists and planner. This year I have a small planner from a company called Paperthinks that fits nicely in my bag (or even jacket pocket). The weekly calendar is down the left page of each spread and the right page is lined for notes. Be still my heart! I am loving keeping my to-do lists in there for the week so I don’t have to keep track of floating pieces of paper.
It also has a section of note pages in the back so there is plenty of room for tracking movies, books and music people tell me about. Or taking notes at meetings, etc.
I do love the alarm feature on my dumb cell phone. Let’s me focus on the task at hand without forgetting to leave for an appointment or pick up my mom.
I am a paper and pen(cil) girl all the way 🙂 I am 40 yrs old and have used paper for lists for as far back as I can remember. I have a monthly family calendar on the kitchen wall, 2 running grocery lists on the fridge, 2013 goals list on my night table, monthly meal planner on the side of the fridge, weekly/daily To Do list on the kitchen island…..there’s just something so satisfying about crossing items off an actual list and when it’s complete, throwing it in the recycling. Done.
I also use paper to write Thank You notes, make birthday cards (no eCards for me – not that there’s anything wrong with them), and write letters (although I do use e-mail occasionally for keeping in contact, too). And I love receiving personal paper mail.
And although I have a Kindle (love it!) I still have about 60 books in my closet waiting to be read!
I was a Franklin Planner woman for over 20 years. Until I got my iPhone this past summer I figured I would always use paper (had already purchased my 2013 insert!) then I started using my phone, which synced with my yahoo calendar and I became a convert. Love it, love it! My phone is always there so I can add info whenever. I even kept my Christmas purchases list on it this past winter. The only thing I still write out is the grocery list but I wish I could do it on my phone too.
I have a cell phone that’s only a step or two above cans and string, but I love my Dell PDA ( a gift from my younger brother several yrs ago) and I keep all my dates, ph#s, lists and info on it – and I STILL use paper lists!! Paper lists can be crumpled into my pocket, don’t have to be recharged, aren’t worth stealing, can be crossed off and added to on the fly, and just work better for me. So – I guess I’m both.
I had a bad app a year back that messed with all my synced calendars and really messed up my life. So I am a strictly paper and pen gal now because I have never lost anything in my life, but I have had electronics go bad on me. But I don’t use scrap paper, because I use a little notebook that I carry around in my purse, and a moleskine paper calendar. I also carry a journal in my purse in case I want to write somethimg reflective, so I have a very full purse. 🙂
Ooopppps, you caught me. I am a software eng and work daily on computers helping people with problem. For my list for this weekend…. yep you called it, on paper.
I use old envelopes and store receipts to keep my lists. I have blank paper books I buy at thrift stores for under a buck to keep notes and info like neat lines from books, sketches, and thoughts to ponder. ; ) My laptop is very old and very heavy and not fun to carry around… like those dated movies where people are carrying cell phones that are as big as a shoe box.
I haven’t had tv for years and now that I do, one commercial I saw was interesting…a tax app allows you to take a picture of your w2 with your phone and it figures your tax for you. That does seem handy.
Oh and whether I use a pen or a pencil depends on what I find while out walking. Since I started walking a few years ago I never have to buy writing instruments…they are much more plentiful found objects than money.
So true. I picked up a nice pen today in front of my sons’ high school.
Katy
I’ve done both over the years- remember the Palm Pilot? Now I’m a strictly paper sort of gal for shopping lists, to-do lists and calendars- you never have to charge it, it never refuses to work and I can hand the shopping list to my toddler son to shred as we’re waiting in the check-out line. Beat that i-whatever!
Back in the 80s,,,yes I am that OLD! We had a recipe box with 3×5 cards
You listed everything you could possibly think of that needed to be done from your hair appointment , doctors appoint meats to cleaning the bathroom. There were dividers 1-31 and for months. You scheduled your week by putting the cards in the correct ” file”. No wasting paper. I still have the cards. I used an inexpensive newsprint tablet for grocery lists. I don’t make grocery lists now. I just replenish based on what is cheap. We still have certain chores we do on certain days….when you are retired all the ads run together if you don’t ! lOL.
Work two days a week, do a blog. Run two side businesses, take care of my grandaughter when she can’t go to school, and belong to a once a week dinner club and a service organization for women. And keep the house. I’m more busy than I was before I retired. I got a tablet last year. I love the reminder section for appointments.
Back in the 80s,,,yes I am that OLD! We had a recipe box with 3×5 cards
You listed everything you could possibly think of that needed to be done from your hair appointment , doctors appoint meats to cleaning the bathroom. There were dividers 1-31 and for months. You scheduled your week by putting the cards in the correct ” file”. No wasting paper. I still have the cards. I used an inexpensive newsprint tablet for grocery lists. I don’t make grocery lists now. I just replenish based on what is cheap. We still have certain chores we do on certain days….when you are retired all the ads run together if you don’t ! lOL.
Work two days a week, do a blog. Run two side businesses, take care of my grandaughter when she can’t go to school, and belong to a once a week dinner club and a service organization for women. And keep the house. I’m more busy than I was before I retired. I got a tablet last year. I love the reminder section for appointments.
Stock! I save everything vegetable related in the freezer (and meat bones) and cook up a big pot of stock when there is enough. Add to recipes instead of water -yum! And it breaks down faster in the compost. Win win!