First World Problems
At the moment I seem to be caught in a battle for the heart and mind of my organised self. The protagonists are the phone, a collection of various internet services, and the Filofax. I suppose this could be whittled down to “gadget vs. web vs. paper”.
The phone could be great – if only the battery lasted forever, internet connections were ubiquitous, and I didn’t have to wage a continual (and losing) war with autocomplete.
The internet (Google Keep, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, etc) is of course by far the most persuasive option, but is useless without easy access. It’s fine carrying a Chromebook around, but if you have no internet connection it’s kind of like knowing you have an aircraft carrier on-call, but have lost the phone number.
The paper alternative is the most reliable option, and also the most disorganized. Unless you write everything in pencil and fill your pockets with erasers, your plans cannot be changed without making an enormous mess. My plans change. A lot.
There is no easy solution. Each one has both benefits and failings. The eccentric part of me says the Filofax is the best solution – perhaps from a damn fool romantic paper and pen perspective. The technologist in me knows damn well the internet and the phone are the winners – except of course the moment you need them, they will fall over like a stack of cards.
What do you use to stay organised? Paper? The computer? Your phone? Something else?