Switching from a Paper to Digital Planner

Switching from a Paper to Digital Planner

Switching from Paper to Digital Planner
Switching from Paper to Digital Planner
Switching from Paper to Digital Planner

Ah I did it! I said goodbye to paper planners and I organized my entire life and business digitally!!

Are you thinking about switching to a digital planner but you’re not sure what that’ll look like logistically? Or maybe you’ve already started a hybrid of a Google calendar and paper planner or some other online system like Trello, Asana, etc?! Let me give you all the tips on how I made it work.

First — how I got here!! Back in 2018, I decide it was time – I was in a season of business & life where I needed to use a digital planner.

But I LOVE paper planners! (If you know, you know!) SO what I wanted to do when I first switched to the digital planner was create a hybrid model where I could STILL use a paper planner but keep everything else straight on the digital planner.

And I hated it! I couldn’t find a good rhythm and things were lost in the shuffle!

SO In 2019, I decided I’d create my own digital planning template and it’s on a system that I love called Trello! I’m going to show you EXACTLY how I keep track of ALL the things in Trello based on those 2 Templates I created! You can get FREE access to my templates here — and below I’ll share how I use them to make things in my life & my biz run SMOOTHLY!!

The 1000-foot view

Okay, how I use this digital planner system overall…

Trello is where I keep track of all the tangible to-do’s. This is where I make lists, keep tasks, utilize my team, etc. Trello does NOT keep track of my appointments.

Google Calendar is for ALL the other things. When I have calls, when my husband has calls, all of my personal appts, business appts, etc. lives on my Google Calendar.

When I start my workday I pull up Google Calendar and my My Week Trello Board. First I take a look at EVERYTHING going on in Google and then I go to Trello to see my actual TASKS that I need to keep track of.

My Google Calendar

Switching from Paper to Digital Planner

On my Google Calendar, I use the My Calendars (on the left hand side of the screen). You can see I have quite a few! I’m able to micromanage and easily organize the business this way. The calendar ALSO syncs with Zoom! Everything is integrated. So at the beginning of the week I check on ALL of those and get a birds eye view what’s happening.

THEN, I’m going to go & take a look at my My Week Trello Templates. I have 2 (they’re both included in the free download!!) & I’m going to show you the templates & the reasons behind why one might work better for you right now.

Option 1: My Week 2-Week Guidebook

This is My 2-Week Guidebook. Right after I had my daughter, I stepped back into work after only a few weeks of maternity leave. So looking at just one week wasn’t working for me and every day looked different — I needed a way to tackle all my things in longer (2-week) sprints. Switching to an efficient digital planner was a must!

Let’s look first at the card where you can see I have Weekly Work & Maintenance Work.

Switching from Paper to Digital Planner

You can change the due date every week, and you can update based on what your week is like. Then you have the ability – because you can see each of the days right there next to this card – to add in new things. So based on what you see on Google Calendar and what you KNOW needs to happen to meet deadlines & time sensitive tasks, you can create a 2-week system that feels doable to you.

Other lists on here include the Quarterly Goal list. These keep me in check & I like to have them right here on my My Week Planner so I can look at them every day!!

Switching from Paper to Digital Planner

The other lists are made to be helpful for you. I have lists like Offer 1 & Offer 2 to keep up with the nitty gritty specific details that your clients need from you. So for example, let’s say you have Wedding Planning and also Coaching as part of your biz. You can add things you need to do to each list and then move those to a day in your 2-week plan so that you can see it all in one easy place. (Easy access is SO helpful!!)

Switching from Paper to Digital Planner

I have a New Ideas “parking lot” and a card where I can add Education for me to keep that in mind as well. And I also love having a Duty Day in my biz once a month to be able to tackle some things that tend to get backed up — so you’ll see that card featured on here as well.

Switching from Paper to Digital Planner

Option 2: My Week Theme Day System

This is kind of the opposite of 2-Week Guidebook! Instead of looking across a 2-week span with various things happening each day, this is useful when you’re laser focusing. You’ll want this one if you’re in a season where you can have a theme or topic for every day of the week and then organize your to-dos based on everything that you have on your plate.

One of the big differences is that I have now laid it out horizontally instead of vertically.

Switching from Paper to Digital Planner

These are just example theme days but you can organize based on what you need to do in the biz & update them to make sense for you. You’ll also find the New Ideas, Education & the Duty Day boards like in the 2-Week Guidebook.

Again, the main difference is that in this My Week Theme Days Trello board, there’s one list for the whole day vs having 2 lists for the whole 2-week time frame.

What does mine look like?

For me right now, I am currently following the Theme Day system. You can see that instead of having a Quarterly Goal list, I have Yearly Goals at the top & Quarterly Goals below. Then I have a Quick Links list, my Parking Lot, and each of my daily themes.

Switching from Paper to Digital Planner

Towards the end, I’ve got some other things written for maternity leave (because I’m taking time off for this little one coming soon!!) — but you can see that I’m actively utilizing this in my business & YOU can tweak it to make fit for your biz & life too!!

Give it a shot!!

Trello My Week Templates by Kat Schmoyer

I hope seeing what I do and what the possibilities for you are are helpful! Bottom line: I want you to give full digital planning a shot! And when you do, stick with it for at least 30 days — it WILL take some time to get into a groove. You WILL probably miss some things about a paper planner (and I do keep a journal or sticky notes on my desk with a pen for when I need to write some things down!) but OVERALL this has been an incredible transition for my biz, work with my team well, organize for my clients, and I can do it all on the go since it’s digital. It’s been a wonderful transition & I hope you find my FREE Trello Templates helpful if you decide to dive into a digital planner using Trello!

 

I'm a biz coach and integrator for creatives! My job? To help you dreams & dailys happen every week. Rinse and repeat.

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