Organized Chaos

When I was a kid, I could guarantee that every around the holidays (where my birthday and Christmas falls conveniently together), someone would get me a day planner or organizer of some sorts.

These old dodo-like things were leather-bound, had a daily planner (where you could input your appointments) and a monthly calendar to effectively plan your life.

Even as a teenager, I had homework and places to be and things to do, I liked the rigidity of it, to plan things ahead. As I got older though, my life became predictable, boring almost. I clocked in at a 9-5 gig, my tasks didn't differentiate from one day to another. It seemed a waste of paper, trees, resources, etc to schedule anything. Especially with the advent of Microsoft Outlook and email applications that you could easily say "Hey, get on my calendar," was easier than calling ahead and trying to find a mutually convenient time to schedule something -- even a coffee! -- and deciding against it because it was too difficult.

I had to chuckle today, though, while reading the New York Times Sunday Styles section. Seems like paper calendars and day planners are fighting the extinction route, with the devotees having a tough time letting go of them even if they have a smartphone like a Blackberry or iPhone which were created for busy people like us.

Why, exactly, was I chuckling? Well, a few reasons actually. One was, I, too, had that dilemma, probably at my first "real" job, when I had a class on Time Management and they gave us the old school Franklin-Covey planners. Funny thing was, I had my own planner. To tell the truth, I'm surprised this place still exists, especially in this day and age with paper planners. I suppose there is still a market.

Anyway, my dilemma back then was the advent of Microsoft Outlook. After awhile, it didn't make a ton of sense for me to double-book, so to speak, by jotting down a meeting or a class when it pings me on my calendar. It had to though for a few reasons, namely because I didn't have a Blackberry for work at that time. When I did, it didn't make a ton of sense then.

The other thing I chuckled at was something I noticed the other day. I had to fill out some paperwork, yet another thing that I rarely do anymore since mostly everything is automated or online forms. I used to care about my handwriting. Yet since I can type pretty quickly, and I am usually behind a computer or on my phone, texting away, I feel like even handwriting is going the way of the pterodactyl. Heck, even a school in Indiana is no longer teaching cursive!

So I have to think that those things are contributing to the automation of our culture, using more electronic means of scheduling such as Google calendars or iCal on your Mac or iPhone, and writing is obsolete. Whoda thought, right? But according to this article, it's a hard habit to break where people still like to manually write out their schedules. I suppose there is something admirable in jotting it down. However, I'm getting to the point where I'm cranky to even write out an appointment card at my dentist's office (You know, the one they send you a postcard to your home address a month or so prior to your scheduled visit?).

I have to admit that my iPhone has been great. I mean, we're pretty much attached at the hip, I might as well use it to my advantage besides Tweeting during a sporting event or texting my friends. I have a busy week anticipated, and I know this on Sunday night because I can bring up my calendar at home. The focal point of the article in the Times today was a woman who left her physical planner in her office one weekend, leaving her clueless as to what parties her children may have had to attend, any appointments she may have had or other life events. Which I find hilarious because we've become so regimented as a culture that we are lost without these guides. Yet, I'm just as bad, because I have to constantly look at my phone's calendar.

Sometimes, you know how you feel like you are forgetting something or you should be somewhere but can't figure it out? I know, for me, that if something doesn't show up on my iCal, that I am in the free and clear.

Yet, this organization can be chaotic at times with double-booking and having to schedule time with your family. I know, from working in investment banking, that some wives needed to make appointments to see their husbands. This is not just a rumor but a fact.

It's nice to see that there are those out there still holding on to what could be deemed as a dead technology (though paper calendars are hardly a "technology"), but sooner or later, I'd have to believe they'll come to the dark side once they've upgraded their phones.