There was no blog post last week because I got busy and forgot to write one. I realized this on Friday and decided to just wait and post a new one for this week. I try to write one every week, usually on Sunday to post on Wednesday, but sometimes life just gets in the way.

Hubby and I have a lot going on over the next few months so I might occasionally miss one here and there. Once things settle down I’ll be able to write and schedule them a few at a time.

So there’s this new thing I found and have become a bit obsessed with. Well it’s not really new, it just new to me.

Digital Planners!

See I’m one of those people who have always looked at other people’s planners and wished I could have one of those, but my handwriting isn’t the greatest and I can’t draw a stick figure. So I’d buy a new planner and then I’d end up writing and erasing and writing and erasing, trying to make it look pretty the way everyone else’s seemed to look. And in the end I would get frustrated and I’d stop using it. Then a year or so would go by and I’d think, maybe I should give it another try and well I’d end up having the same results. With the growing popularity of planners again, I’ve once more bought a planner and after a month or two it’s sitting in my drawer unused.

So the other day I was just randomly looking at classes on skillshare.com and found one on How to Design and Create a Digital Planner. I decided to watch it to see what it was all about and let me tell you, these things are amazing. You can make them look like paper planners with tabs and buttons and even the rings down the middle if you want. Or you can do a simple one. If you’re designing it you can do a much or as little as you want. The sky’s the limit.

For me, the best part is, I can make it look pretty by using digital stickers and things. I can either use the Apple Pencil to handwrite things (which I don’t do since that was the problem with the paper planners) or you have the option to use text boxes. And if you really want to get fancy you can write your text in an app like Pages and use whatever font you want, then screen capture and import it into your digital planner. I’m using the GoodNotes app, but I’ve learned that there are several other apps that will work as well. So I have all of the function of a paper planner, as well as the ability to make it pretty and keep it neat, without having to erase a million times or worry about not being able to draw.

I’m currently using a digital planner I downloaded, but I have plans to create my own in the near future since there are some pages I would like to have that I haven’t found anywhere else. Things like a page for my publication schedule, blog post ideas, author events, income tracking, etc. Mainly things related to being an author. And if it turns out well then I’ll probably end up putting a download link for it on my website. Once I’ve thoroughly tested it that is.

I’ve found that there are tons of free for personal use things online for your digital planners. And even more ideas for pages and things I hadn’t even thought about. While the one I am currently using works for now, I think once I have the time to design my own pages it will work a lot better for me. 

So, do you use a planner? What do you think of digital planners?