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There is a long discussion thread at the Davidco forums on the care and feeding of Paper-based calendars, which is a subject near and dear to my heart. I love my paper calendar!

Here are some of the thoughts:

I guess that at first I was some kind of snob when it came to paper tools, I also was much too lazy to do the rewriting that I thought I had to do… I now use a paper binder set up the way that DA sets his up and for the most part I really enjoy the speed and portability that I didn’t get in my Palm (yes I said that…) Perhaps its just the physical pages and quickly tabbing over to my calender or to my projects page… the binder has become second nature so that I am really used to it.

Note the perceived weakness: re-writing.

…this retro binder is by far the best for me. I do have Addresses on my TREO and iCal and also reminders—Molly owes me $50 for new tire–stuff like that, but it’s paper for me for lists. I really love the day pages for jotting down things and also planning out my week. I can really get into the reality of the week when I see it day by day with the hours all laid out. I slot in project work and don’t freak because I know that on thursday, I am going to be working on Board Meeting agenda, or my students final summaries, whatever. It’s captured and it has a time.

Note the perceived strength: the reality of the week.

I’ve been back and forth on this one. I love paper (my F-C 2-page per day with 2-page per month calendars) but also have to change my schedule so much that my binder was filled with too many white blobs of white out. So, I use the F-C clasic binder for the right hand page and the docs I wish to see visually and use my Treo 700wx for all else.

Note the perceived weakness: too many blobs of white out.

My ideas/notes eventually get filed in a 3 X 5 repository. In fact, as an academic, I’ve switched to index cards for note taking–so my hipster is also my main notetaking tool. In less than a year, I have collected over 1,500 notecards, organized alphabetically by subject.

This paper system has immensely clarified my thinking–forcing me to focus on one idea, one list at a time. I like how paper forces you to work through the steps of GTD deliberately: collection, processing, review, and action.

Note the perceived strength: clarified my thinking.

Now here is the tip, that no one mentioned: use a pencil for your time-specific events in the paper planner. Bonus tip: write recurring events on a small sticky-note, this way it can be moved from page to page as needed.

Using a pencil to write in appointments, meetings, or other events that may be subject to re-scheduling eliminates the need for white-out, and increases the speed with which you can make changes. Time specific events that are not subject to change can (and should) be written in pen, preferably a color. I use red and green and blue pens in my calendar for assorted events such as birthdays, “hard” due dates, telephone numbers, and any “Big Rock” items that must get done that day. The final example above shows the usefulness of a separate capture device, in order to “focus on one idea, one list at a time.” This clear thinking is the essence of Getting Things Done, working through the Workflow Process, and achieving stress-free productivity.

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/63me8l. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen