Some of my first “Oh-my-goodness that is fabulous” thoughts on digital planning.   

Last summer, I was on a call with one of my clients – a successful, professional woman I highly respect. While we were talking, she sincerely asked me if I could create a printed version of the plan and schedule we discussed on our call to import into her iPad for notes and comments. 

I was happy to help and made a PDF within a few days. We discovered it worked beautifully: She wrote her notes on the PDF document with her iPad and stylus. Her productivity went through the roof, and it was a true mission accomplished.

Paper vs. Digital Planning

At that time, I had a Kikki K paper planner on my desk that I used throughout my day to plan the gazillion to-dos on my list for working 70+ hours a week with clients. 

My system was to plan on paper (give me a blank sheet of paper and a black sharpie to get my creative juices flowing) and then manage the project, tasks, and timeline through an online project management tool. This combination worked well for me for many, many years. 

But that same week, I downloaded the GoodNotes app on my own iPad and digitally went through my planning routine. Within days, I started to create a duplicate of my paper planner system into a digital planner. 

Eventually, I abandoned the paper altogether and went completely digital.

Here are a few of the features that motivated me to research more about digital planning. 

Repeating What Works with Speed and Ease

My system works for me. For years, I’ve set up my paper planner daily page in the same layout and created my own digital planning templates. 

Digital Planning GoodNotes Feature: With the Lasso tool, I can copy my Monday afternoon routine text, highlight, and image, and paste it onto the following Mondays. 

Hex Color Codes are Limitless

Like so many, I have used a different color of pen to represent a person, priority, item… you name it. For example, when creating a schedule, I might use green for one person and blue to represent another. 

Digital Planning GoodNotes Features: Enter your hex color codes and save them as a preset to access at warp speed. No more colored pens. 

Need to update an item with a different color? Not a problem; use the Lasso tool to “lasso” the item, then select the new color. DONE.

Sync It Up

In the early years, I called my planner “my brain.” It helped me juggle “all the things.” Now I’ve named my planner system “my memory.” Yep, at this age, I need it to help me remember all the things.

For the past 20+ years, one of my secret weapons has been the speed at which I could recall information. Guess what?! My planner was the difference-maker. I had lists of names, numbers, addresses, calendars, schedules, contracts, and more in my hands at all times. When my CEO would ask for a number, I could have the answer in less than a minute. 

The sync feature takes this to a new level. No more trips to the store and wondering what’s on your paper list that’s sitting on your kitchen counter. It’s all at your fingertips.

Digital Planning GoodNotes Feature: The sync feature connects my digital planner onto my iPad, iPhone, and Macbook. I update my digital planner on one device and then POOF! All my devices are updated.

No More Paper and Printer Ink Cartridges

Not only are paper and ink cartridges hard on the environment, but they’re also expensive. Thanks to having a digital planner that syncs in real-time, you can wave goodbye to the old-school printed hard copies. That means a lot less paper and ink cartridges. 

So Many Favs

I have so many more “favorite” features when I talk about using my digital planner in GoodNotes. It’s hard to narrow it down:

• Enter handwritten or typed notes directly onto the page. 
• The search tool has to be in my top faves.
• Using the hex color code presets to make the information come alive.  
• Capture related information from other websites and paste it directly onto the page.

Can you see how using a digital planner is a huge difference-maker? Knowing what I know now, you couldn’t pay me enough money to return to the old pen-and-paper method. There are just too many good things about using a digital planner.

Learning about digital planning and finding (or creating!) the best digital planner takes a bit of time. But take it from me, a 25-year veteran of paper planning: Digital planning is the way to go.

Happy Clicking + Planning,