Are diaries, notebooks, planners relevant in today’s digital world?

In the recent times of fast paced life, keeping the day organized is very essential. As we are progressing ahead – new digital ways have come to the forefront to make our tasks easier. There is too much dependency on smartphones since there is hardly any functionality which cannot be done through smart phones. It can be said that your entire life can be crammed into a single device. But the bigger question is – have the diaries, notebooks and planners really lost their charm these days.

The major drawback of extensive usage of such tech savvy devices is the distraction with constant alarms, notifications popping up on the screen. Notebooks come handy in such situations. Technology has improvised notebooks, diaries and planners to make them multi-functional. For a creative person like a content creator or fashion designer, a notebook comes very handy for the ideation process. Even for the field sales executives where it is difficult to carry bulky gadgets like laptops, notebooks are handy to make notes on the client requirements, take quick surveys to note down the first level information. The portability makes them convenient to use. We can say, notebooks and diaries will aid the usage of digital medium, not replace them.

A project manager will use the planner in a very different way than a real estate agent. A project manager will start breaking down the whole project into smaller chunks with their respective deadlines. The varieties in terms of size of the notebooks / planners, detailing layout should be customized as per the usage.

Innovation can bring greater utility even to simple things. An old fashioned diary with slight modification (for instance added battery aided power charger) can be very useful for travel purposes or field trips. A diary cover may have leather covering for safe keeping of the cards like a wallet as well. Over a period of time – due to such minor changes usage of notebooks and diaries have changed dynamically.

Take the case of a new joinee in a typical IT / ITES setup – company branded notebook/ diary serves as a memento of association with that organization. It can also be useful for induction oriented steps for smoother onboarding if few pages in the diary/ notebook are dedicated to the FAQs for the same. Few diaries / planners are designed for specific events as well which help in very focused detailing aligned to the agenda of the event. Notebooks can also be gifted to the employees to get started on a new habit or new routines with daily tracking of the progress. There are even options of pocket size planner which are very well suited for noting down ideas or recording details at any point of time. For more information check joining kits for new employees or corporate gifting for employees

From an organization perspective – company branded diary / notebooks are very cost effective measures to engage the stakeholders. It can create brand awareness of the company which is much needed visibility to remind of an organization. A good quality notebook/ planner with distinct headings and categories are of great help to organize the events and plan their day accordingly.

It can be said that the digital world has not replaced diaries, notebooks or planners. In fact they have supplemented their usage in current times as per our needs.

To conclude I borrow from Annabelle Mathews who simplified the never ending need for writing in just 7 words – ‘Hang On. Let me write it down.’

It’s that simple isn’t it?