Why I Made The Switch To A Digital Planner

After years of using paper planners and eventually making my own paper planner, I decided to finally try a digital planner. I bought an iPad Pro and a new Apple Pencil with every intention of using a digital planner but when it came time to try it, I didn’t. It felt too bougie. After shelving the idea for almost a year, I had a conversation with a college student I met with for a work project and she brought her iPad to take notes. I told her about my hesitation with my digital planner and she said she didn’t think it was weird, that a lot of people in her classes used iPads as planners. That’s all the validation I needed.

I did all the research, purchased a few from Etsy, and tried them all out. I loved the features of the digital planners but ultimately, I really missed the weekly layout of my Productivity Planner because it was integral to my workflow. Then it dawned on me, I’ve already built my planner, why can’t I just use my Productivity Planner on my iPad?

I did a bunch more research and expanded my InDesign skills by creating an interactive planner, complete with links

It took a while but I completed the first version of my digital planner in January 2024 and have been making tiny tweaks since. It’s now exactly what I wanted it to be. Not to be totally dramatic but,… It. REALLY. Changed. My. Life. I thought I’d miss paper but with the Paperlike screen protector (can’t recommend it enough but it HAS to be the Paperlike brand), I don’t miss paper at all. I actually love writing on my iPad. LOVE. I love messing up a stroke in my lettering, erasing it, and doing it again. My lettering has even improved dramatically.

Why I Love Digital

IT’S CLEAN

I can mess up writing, erase, and do it again and there’s absolutely no evidence of the mistakes. It stays so much prettier than paper and ink. There’s also no ink ghosts on the opposites sides of paper (I’ve always hated that).

Notes are SEARCHABLE

If I can’t remember where I wrote my favorite vinaigrette recipe, I search “vinaigrette” and it’s right there. Come on.

IT’S MORE FUNCTIONAL than paper

Appointments can be moved without messing up the page. I don’t have a ton of meetings so I usually write them in at the top of each day’s box. Inevitably, I would write an 11am appointment at the top of the box then a 9am meeting would get scheduled. I just wrote them out of order. With my digital planner, I lasso whatever I want to move and shift it around. I can’t begin to express how gratifying this is.

I can attach photos to anything

You can access your device’s camera roll and add any photo anywhere in the planner. You can scale them smaller or larger and move them wherever you want. I do this more way than I thought I would. One of the ways I didn’t expect: I screenshot key text or email conversations (ones I know I’ll need to refer back to later) and place them on the corresponding day in my planner.

I can access the planner from my phone

This is also revolutionary because it means I don’t have to haul my giant planner or my iPad with me everywhere. I don’t love using Goodnotes on my phone and I really don’t use it to add or edit things, but I have it in case I need to check my calendar. 

IT WORKS WITH THE MY APPLE CALENDAR (AND GMAIL FOR THOSE WHO USE IT)

I prefer writing in a planner as opposed to typing digitally. I swear my brain processes info better when I write vs type, But access to my apple calendar (where all my appointments are) was something I missed. My digital planner has links to my Apple calendar and it’s a game-changer. I even added links to the Gmail calendar for all you Google users.

highlighters in every color you can imagine

I can highlight in any color of the rainbow without carrying a giant bag of fancy markers. Don’t get me wrong, I still love all my fancy pens and highlighters but they’ve almost become decorative at this point. And it probably saved me a fortune. As if that wasn’t enough, you can ERASE the highlighter. Boom.

digital stickers

I eventually discovered digital stickers and it took my digital planner to the next level. While I prefer the minimal look of planners, I use digital stickers like Post-It Notes to make important notes stand out. And it’s glorious. For those who love to decorate their planners, the options are literally endless.

Unlimited Pages

Run out of blank pages before the end of the year (I do every year? (I always do.) No problem, just insert more!! And if that’s not enough, I can add any style of page I want: blank, dot, wide lined, thin lined, grid, etc.

It’s secure

I was afraid to write sensitive items in my paper planner because anyone could pick it up and go through it. Not the case with my iPad so I write shit about everyone. In all seriousness, I can write salary notes for people and business numbers that nobody else needs to see and when I lock my iPad, I know that info is secure. Plus, nobody around me knows how to work my digital planner so they couldn’t find anything if they tried.

there’s always a backup

All your info is backed up on the app. With a paper planner, you’re screwed if you lose it or damage it. My boss couldn’t find her paper planner for several days and she was absolutely lost, she had meetings scheduled and didn’t know when or with whom. No need to worry with a digital planner because it’s all backed up and synced with your account.

The One (Possible) Drawback

There’s only one thing I don’t love: the threat of my iPad dying. It hasn’t happened yet but it’s come close. My iPad uses the same charging cord as my phone so I can always charge it if I get desperate but I haven’t had to do that in the middle of the day yet. It’s dropped as low as 14% after using it all day but I know its usage will go down over the life of my iPad. 

Digital isn’t for everyone and that’s why I offer both. I just want everyone to have access to a beautiful planner that will help their day. But after using my digital planner for a full year, there’s no going back for me.