A couple of months ago I published a video titled, "A paper calendar system that actually works." The video got a lot of positive feedback with many viewers sharing that they feel more in control of their time, attention, and responsibilities when they plan on paper versus a digital calendar.

But not everyone had nice things to say.

If you want to talk about a waste of time this comment may be the best example possible. I mean, doesn't he know chatGPT could've written that for him?

But it's a fair point and one that I actually used to agree with.

In the past I religiously used Notion and Google Calendar to organize all of my time, tasks, and notes. Analog methods like Bullet Journaling and paper planners seemed archaic, inefficient, and self-indulgent.

But what I found was that the more I relied on digital software, the more time I would spend on my devices. Every task or need to check my schedule was an excuse to whip out my phone. Naturally, this would lead to a check-in cycle that would siphon time away from me in increments that were hard to notice at first.

It looked something like this:

Use Notion/Google Calendar –> Check Text –> Open Email –> Scroll Social Media –> Put phone away (or, repeat the cycle).

My screen time started to creep higher and higher until it got to the point where I was spending an average of 5 hours a day on my phone.

I'm not claiming all 5 hours a day were a total waste of time but at least 4 and half of them were.

It was in response to the time-sucking nature of digital technology that I began to experiment with analog systems for information management.

But the question remains, Is planning on paper and using an analog documentation process such as the Bullet Journal Method actually an effective use of time?

Luckily, I track a lot of things on paper so I have real data on how much time I spend "fannying around" in my notebooks. So let's take a look at a few numbers.

Every day I set up a daily template in my Bullet Journal that I use as my daily planner and diary to document what occured.

Making the spread, the time-block, the daily plan, and documenting tasks I complete takes me five minutes or less throughout the day.

I also conduct a weekly review tallying up my trackable metrics, my biggest wins, and some takeaways to focus on for the next week. This takes me somewhere between 20-30 minutes.

After that, I plan my week drawing a custom weekly spread. To draw the template from scratch takes me 3 minutes. (Not exactly a "monumental" amount of time.)

Then, I map my week out onto the template so I can get a bird's eye view of my schedule and tasks so that I can map out my plan for the week. This takes me 10-15 minutes.

To complete both a weekly review and plan usually takes a total of 45-50 minutes.

Once a month I draw up the new monthly spread which takes an additional 10 minutes.

So if you tally up the monthly, weekly, and daily time spent in my planner and Bullet Journal it adds up to a grand total of 350 minutes a month or roughly six hours.

But those six hours reward me in ways that are both tangible and at times, incalculable.

Firstly, I never need to pull out my phone for anything other than texts now. Whenever something comes up it goes into one of my notebooks meaning those phone check-in cycles have been eliminated. My screen time has plummetted to less than 30 minutes a day thanks to this switch.

Secondly, spending that time to organize and plan ensures that I'm staying on track more often than not.

Five minutes of daily planning is less than half of one percent of the time available in day but, that small investment keeps me focused, on task, and organized.

Fifty minutes to review and plan my weeks is only 0.007% of the waking hours available in a given week.

And it's not like these review and planning sessions are purely for documentation.

It's rare and vaulable time spent in reflection.

This reflection gives me space to see what I'm struggling with and what I'm consistently making progress on. It helps me understand the traps I fall into and the strategies that lead to my success. It's time that allows me to remember all of the good moments that I just got to live through and a chance to imagine what might come next.

It's a lot like having a warm conversation with a friend–you catch up, you talk about your plans, and vent about your frustrations. Once the coffee is gone, you say your goodbye and plan to meet again next week.

While this all may seem elaborate and time-consuming, the raw numbers tell a different story.

Turning away from digital tools has won me back 135 hours a month of my life that was previously being wasted away looking at a phone.

6 hours of paper planning is a fair exchange if you ask me.

And more importantly, if your planning system works for you then that's all that really matters.

Making the switch to paper is the sole reason I have enough time and bandwidth to read 4-6 books a month, write a weekly newsletter, make YouTube videos, play in a band, exercise, work a regular job, spend time with my wife and family, and even do leisurely things like play video games, watch movies, and walk around the neighborhood with my dog.

You know, all the stuff you'd expect to do if you were "living life."

Prompt:

What do you think you get in return for the time you spend journaling and planning on paper? Do you feel like it's worth the time invested?