Oh my goodness there seems to be a never ending bombardment of try this app/program and try this app/program for all your time and project management needs. To be honest in the digital world I have yet to find one that can handle my life and all its pieces. As I type this blog, I am using Agenda. This is a pretty good App, but it is only for Apple products. My computer is a MacBook Pro and my phone is an LG (Android OS) — do we see the problem? And if I wanted them to sync between the two (if it were possible) I would have to pay a monthly or yearly fee.

So lets break it down first into analog. Oh, I forgot not everyone that reads this (it is in digital format) knows what analog means. Analog is the way we did it for hundreds of years and it seemed to work out marvelous until someone invented computers and programs on those computers. So, analog is paper/book/writing it down instead of typing it on a screen and seeing it there or printing it out.

Digital is just that — digital. A computer operating system that is running a program or app. The list of them is tremendous just for to do’s, calendars, mail, etc…

To be honest, I have my calendar in digital and I use an analog planner.  Why? Because I cannot write quick notes exactly where I want them in my digital calendar (or most programs), and because during a meeting (if I am bored) I can sketch a quick thought. I have tried a whole handful of task management, calendar/planner, notebook type programs and not a single one is really all that favorable. I write out a “battle plan” on paper for every day during the work week with check boxes. This helps me accurately (most of the time) budget my time accordingly. Some days, instead of checking the box I am putting an arrow and moving it to the next day or even two days later — in which case I either make a note right there to move to the next day or write on the day I plan to work on something again.

I have been trying to write this blog for months! And struggling… I use both analog and digital … but to be honest, If computers were poof gone one day, I would survive in the world of paper (analog) and a typewriter. Computers (desktop, laptop, cell phone, iPad, handhelds etc..) have taken away curiosity, communication, and the desire to want for anything. In a click on an electronic I can have just about anything I want in the time frame I choose — including INSTANT COMMUNICATION. I mean really, why go visit someone or even be with other humans when you can send a text, instagram pic, etc? Todays teens are in a terrible way. They base their worth on the number of likes they receive on something they post on social media or how many texts they get in a day etc.. They type in sentences of ✍️ ☞©™⛈😴🗄 and everyone is supposed to know whats that means. I have seen it with adults also. They spend so much time on an electronic they do not see the world around them, they miss out on so much, and they too base their worth on a post they put online somewhere.

I can assure you that I am on Twitter and Facebook — however, I am not on their every day anymore. I have more interesting things to do with my life than post what I had for dinner or that my clothes are hanging on the line, or that the grass grew and it had to be mowed. I choose to be the change I want to see in the world.

I challenge each and everyone of you to power your electronic down on Sundays and see how much more your family is together. You will start to see a change on non-electronic Sundays! Heck, I have even left my phone at the house when I have left!

I am including this article I ran across in one of my emails. I have put it in quotes as I have taken it directly from the author — take a minute and read it! It is astounding what has become of us (humans) and how we got to where we are today.

www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2019/07/6-ways-to-just-say-no-to-stress.html

“There is a growing epidemic that is killing us as leaders, and it’s completely curable. Our culture is filled with more anxiety and stress than ever. None of us were built to handle what we are all dealing with on a daily basis. The average knowledge worker today is interrupted every 11 minutes by some form of communication. Many of us wake in the morning and immediately reach for our phones which we strategically placed on our bedside table the night before so that it will be the first thing we see each day. The people in our lives expect an answer to their messages in seconds, and they think we are ignoring them if we take even a few minutes more than that.

The result of all of this is chaos and chaos creates stress. Stress is a killer. It effects our health, causes confusion, and steals our joy. If it goes on long enough it might steal our time here on this planet and that would be even more tragic.”