I was asked what planner I used. I am not very trendy. I truly do not care what others are using. I care about what works best to keep me at my best. Here's my answer:
I found the digital and notebook-type planners had me spending a lot of time keeping them filled in with the different tasks and appointments. There often was not enough room in the designated places in the pretty notebook planners to add all I needed to do. I had to add things to a piece of paper and put them in the planner. The notebook type is also pricey (compared to a simple spiral notebook) and they didn't meet my needs.
Putting tasks into the digital calendars also consumed more time than I liked. I had to stop everything to check or maintain them, which slowed me down. It negatively affected efficiency.
Over time, I came up with something that works well for me: I send "subject line" reminders to myself from my phone (gmail) to my laptop (yahoo mail). I have the app on my home screen. It only takes seconds to send myself a reminder. I can do this while out and about when I am in the middle of something at home, on a shopping trip, or when someone reminds me of something in conversation, and late at night when I am too tired to move. It works anytime, anywhere.
From the list of reminders sent to my email, I make a written list each day (sometimes weekly) of what I plan to do and where I need to go. It only takes a few minutes at the beginning of each day. As I complete the tasks, I mark them/delete which only takes a split second.
For repetitive events like special days (birthdays, anniversaries) and yearly gardening/animal husbandry/home and car maintenance reminders are on a digital calendar that automatically sends a reminder to the same email. I only open the digital when I add something to it which is infrequently now that it is all set up. It remembers the annual things for me and sends the reminders to the email which I use to make the daily/weekly lists. It's very easy and convenient.
We recently set up an appointment for our dog to be spayed. If the appointment was this week or next, I'd send it to my email. Since it is three months out, I made a reminder in my digital calendar which will remind me the day before and the day of the appointment.
For my needs, this method is simple, efficient, free, and has worked very well for about 20 years. And, that is very key. We each need to find out what works for us. I found the fancy notebook planners and the daily digital planners took time away from my tasks and became an extra thing to maintain. I needed something that lightened my load instead of adding to it.
