My wife came home from the shops the other day and she told me she spent $AU50 on paper diary inserts for 2008. This way she is able to keep her nice binder in use for another year. She uses her computer calendar for very few scheduled reminders, and I couldn’t understand why she would try to use both at the same time.
I use a computer based calendar (Outlook 2007) and find that it does everything I could want it to do. I asked her why she used both when the computer options are free and come with a number of features a paper diary can’t offer. After listing a few of the advantages, I thought it would be wise to do a bit of a comparison.
This article will look at paper diaries vs computer based calendars. I am strongly leaning towards the computer based diaries as being a better option. The only way a paper diary can win this is to bypass all the benefits and answer “I simply prefer paper diaries!”
Benefits of computer based diaries:
- Not limited to one year: Most paper diaries are limited to just one year of data whereas in a computer based system, you can keep data from years back and years ahead.
- No transition time: When one year is up and another begins, you don’t need to run two paper diaries in parallel as the computer based system is continuous.
- Easily backed up: Most computer based calendars are either backed up by the company supplying the calendar, or can be easily backed up by the user.
- Accessible anywhere: Many computer based calendars can be accessed from any computer in the world, normally through a web browser.
- Syncable with phone: You can take all your dates with you on your mobile phone. This is much smaller than carrying a paper diary around.
- Recurring appointments: Instead of writing a date down for every fortnight or week, you can make recurring appointments which will automatically fill in future dates. This saves a huge amount of time.
- You can set up visual and audible alerts for important reminders.
- Address Book: The address book does not need to be written out each year, it continues on. There are no scribbled out names in the address book.
- Delegates: Using some advanced features of computer based calendars, you can see when other people are busy by looking at their calendar and book meetings accordingly.
- Typing data is quicker and easier to read: I can’t write very neatly or quickly so a computer based calendar is better for me.
- You don’t need to trek out to the shops to find one you like at the right price.
Benefits of paper based diaries:
- Looks professional: Opening up a paper based diary at a meeting looks good. It makes it look like you are organised.
- Writing is quicker: Some people can write quickly and neatly.
- The joy of making a hand-script tick as you complete your tasks.
- Habit: You might be used to a paper based calendar. Making the change to a computer based system may be a hassle.
Additional Points:
Portability: Depending on the size of the paper diary you use, it could fit into your handbag without too much weight, or it may end up being a pain to lug around. Likewise, your ability to reap the benefits of an electronic calendar largely depends on how easily you can access it through your mobile, laptop or another computer perhaps at work or uni. Many current phones do have sync and calendar functions built in.
Access: I spoke with a colleague about paper diaries and why he uses them. He is not completely comfortable with computers yet (even though he is in IT) but he had a valid point. He likes to access his diary when he wants to. He doesn’t want a computer based calendar to control his life and distract him with alarms constantly.
My wife would want to customise the colours, fonts and alerts in Outlook so she could enjoy using it, and feel like it was hers, so we are going to look into the colour options of Outlook in the coming days. More on that later.
Conclusion:
It has to come down to personal preference. The most I can suggest, if you have not yet tried electronic diaries is to give it a god for a month and see what you are missing out on. I doubt you will regret it.
As a result of writing this article, and sitting down with my wife to give her a quick run-down on Outlook, (after lots of oohs and aaahs) she has finally come around and now she enjoys using her new calendar, especially the recurring schedule function. The computer based system is a clear winner!
I hope you have enjoyed this article and found it useful. It can be hard to pick up new things, especially when there are so many features you won’t use that are available to you.