Through a convoluted network of butterflies flapping their wings and poor time management, I often found myself in various offices during primary school. First, was speech therapy. An odyssean epic that stretch from second to eighth grade leaving me with the smoothest “r” you’ve ever heard. Then there was organization and it’s many seminars.
I was not a neat kid. Nor am I a neat man. My main method of organization is to put everything on one desk to be found months (or years) later through perturbed stratigraphy. As a child, this extended to my locker where the end of the year would often constitute an archeological event and the rediscovery of “Missing Assignment 5 — Biology”. In an attempt to modernize my methods each year the students would be given a planner to use at their discretion. I had to write all my assignments in it and have it signed off by my teachers.
I’m lightly teased by loved ones for habitually saying, “I can’t do anything I’m not interested in”. But I’m this case it was more than true. Being told to do something I was not interested in sparked a passionate flame chasing active disorganization. If there were war crimes for paper I’d be writing to you from Nuremberg.
But college came and with it my hatred for for planners faded. As the complexity of a college schedule soon engulfed my life, I found that writing down on which dates what was due had an outstanding impact on my mood and productivity. I’d wish I wasn’t so stubborn before!
Which leads to the root of this essay. Now, I’m struggling to reconnect with the enlightened Tristan of 2019 who kept a rigorous planner that made his life easier. What I need to track has changed: the scale of which life events happen; the domains each task falls under. How can I keep track of it all in a way that fits me?
Private
Privacy is the most important thing for me when considering a planner. It’s not because I’m writing my “plans for world domination”, on Thursday. Simply, the thought of people I don’t know just being able to see my notes—a space warranted to have all my best ideas and worst thoughts—at any moment brings me immense discomfort.
Notability concerns me for this reason. After reading their privacy policy I’m still not sure if they can read notes that aren’t “shared” publicly. I don’t want to use an app that I can’t be 100% sure I trust.
Style
I’m a sucker for black and thin. Ink; typefaces; margins. There’s nothing better than a modern paper and sans-serif emboldened design. My favorite app for style is Bear. It’s Apple only, but I’ve been paying for the premium version for half a decade and despite leaving Apple completely twice in that era, I’ve never canceled my subscription. I’ve always known it would call me back. But it’s markdown and professional writing capabilities are sparse and non-standard. That makes organizing a lot of posts wordy and leaves a user with a clutter of semi-intelligent tags.
Pleasure
There’s something serene about feeling a pen gives as it scratches along the right kind of paper. Is like breaking through a barrier in your mind, freeing stuffy thought, and gibberish and forming them into beauty. Typing isn’t always as pleasurable. A lot of writing apps strive to “get out of your way”, but I’ve never really found their designs helpful. A blank piece of paper with no limitations is not a conducive environment for writing. Margins, line height, and spacing all play a role in how and what we do with paper. Of course, it’s not impossible to write or create without restriction, but it’s friction that creates fire. I’d prefer an environment with my tools obvious and present. Even if it’s to just tell me what keyboard shortcuts I need to press to access them.
Portability
At this point you’d be right to point out the best contender in all previous categories is just plane old paper. It’s pleasurable to write on, stylish to a fault, and as private as you make it. But where it fails to be a solution is portability. I think that's self evident if you consider I always have my phone on me.
I need your help
What apps do you use to keep track of your life? How do your organize your time, keep track of deadline, and take notes? Comment below, or reply if you're reading this as an email.