2012. Journal/Planner/ Streamlining.

So it appears I will be upgrading to an iPhone 4S because my bestie’s son got honor roll and I promised him my iPhone if he did it. (Who knew??) I’m all for his rising to the occasion and I’m proud but this means I will be buying a new phone so I started looking at apps because I’m a bit of a app-addict.

After some perusing, I have decided that this year, 2012, I am ditching my paper planner/pen in favor of using my iPhone/iPad/MacBook Air to keep me on track…at least one if not all three are with me throughout the day.

This decision was not taken lightly. I have been using a notebook/pen combo as a planner since 7th grade but it dawned on me that my planner has been steadily neglected in favor of the electronic “nagging” of my iPhone Calendar. Frankly I need it so in order to make the switch I have found and installed a number of apps, some free, some not, that should help me make the transition.

I discovered Springpad about a month ago and with the site as well as the app on my iPad and iPhone I can keep track of articles, images, and make notes. I prefer Springpad to Evernote although I still use both, I find myself logging into Springpad more often. http://www.springpadit.com but I still have a ton of awesome links at Evernote.

By the way, I actually have been using Instapaper and Read It Later for links more and more…so there’s a chance that I’ll transition completely to those two in time. Read It Later is particularly great since it’s also available on my Kindle Fire as well.

As my planner is resting on the shelves, I did find I needed something more than that iPhone’s calendar. As much as I like a “planner”, I really don’t like or need to plan out every hour of every day. Instead I need to make sure that the occasional appointment/webinar/interview is not forgotten (perfect for the iPhone) and that I organize my projects. Enter the Action Method from Behance. A trio of a (free) iPhone app, iPad app, and website which all syncs allows me to brainstorm on any of my devices and keep track of them. The Action Method is simple and the apps/site are very intuitive so check it out. http://www.actionmethod.com

So far we’ve got free apps and sites and I could stop here but I know I have some bad habits to work around, enter Commit. This simple 99 cent “nag” app takes the tasks that you want to make sure you do with regularity and reminds you to do them as well as keeps track of how often you do them. http://www.thinklegend.com/commit/

Two more apps are purely optional but filled a need. I often “journaled” in my planner (simply planning a day is no good unless you have some sort of connection to WHY and HOW you’re doing it!) and it’s something I’d like to two once or twice a day, even if it’s just a sentence or two. The Day One app (also with a nice “nag” feature) helps me do just that on my iPhone and iPad. I have mine set to remind me to “journal” twice a day – once and in the morning and once in the evening – it also has a nice password protection feature to keep your pesky brother from reading your diary ;) You can star favorite entries and it syncs to Dropbox so I can move form iPhone to iPad smoothly. I’ll usually put some general thoughts down on my iPhone and elaborate on the iPad or even my MacBook. http://www.dayoneapp.com/

The last app is a journaling app as well but it’s linked to my YouTube, Digg, Facebook, and Twitter accounts (as well as last.fm, Instagram, and more!) It automatically includes these entries in an automatic journal. I like it because it lets me see my social site activity and keeps the links to these entries handy. The app is called Momento and you can check it out at http://www.momentoapp.com

That’s it. My geeky, electronic transition has begun…all thanks to a twelve-year old who was hell-bent on making sure he got my iPhone. Love it!


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