29 September 2023

Free For All Friday - No. 777 by Steve

'Non believers' and I don't mean in any form of religious sense...! Non believers in the sense of people that don't believe that they need to use a planner of any sort, digital or paper. 

These are the people that need prompting to do anything, but not all services we deal with remind us when things are about to expire. 

You need to be pro-active and apply before the expiry date or due date, what ever it might be. 

I come across non-believers all the time in my voluntary work, and when their applications have expired they moan that they didn't receive the reminder..... even though they might have been sent two emails before the expiry date. 

I always remind them that it is their responsibility to apply for renewal before the expiry date, I even suggest putting it in their Filofax (just to see what reaction I get!) or their phone calendar. Sadly they rarely seem to use either! 

How do these people get through life? Answers in a short comment please!!

To my believer friends that read this blog.... you are of course welcome to discuss anything else planner related. 

Have a good weekend. 

11 comments:

  1. I agree. I don't know how people function without some calendar/planner system. I use a hybrid of paper and digital, which works very well for me.
    -Mary

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  2. Most of my services are either direct debit or repeat on my credit card.

    I have a spreadsheet of all important dates (birthdays, anniversaries, etc) which calculates the years for a birthday or event. I run two years (current and following) in my personal sized Filofax and as soon as the next diary refills are available (normally May) I remove the oldest year and insert the next year and use that opportunity to add my own important dates.

    I add appointments to both my paper Filofax and my MacBook Outlook which synchronises with my iPhone so I have a dual system for appointments.

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  3. How do they get through life? I think you answered your own question: they don't. ;)

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  4. There's all sorts of people out there and perhaps volunteering puts you in contact with people who would have issues with or without planners.

    I have a half in, half out relationship with planners. I use one but for a lot of things I don't. One big way is to write a data down but it's my memory that I work to. The writing it down helps me remember. Looking at a blank notebook page gets it out on the day as a to do list entry.

    I could operate without for a lot but not everything. Birthdays I remember but not the detailed dates all the time. I however do have an interest and desire to use a planner more. It's just the getting it to override natural tendencies to do without.

    As an aside I do have a bad habit of forgetting things I want to forget but shouldn't. However I suspect two things apply here. One volunteering gets you in contact with ppl in need of help, organisation might be that help but not necessarily. A habitat of planner users might not necessarily understand non planner users mindsets or habits. I have a memory that's good enough to not need a planner, but also issues that cause procrastination and selective remembering. Also, a mindset that doesn't quite get the use of planners. By this I mean the various theories or methods of using planners i get but not the practicalities. I'm getting better but it's not the use or not using of planners that would make me forget something important or ignore something important like emails.

    As an aside I've just remembered I've had three emailed meter reading alert emails that I've still not responded to. That's with three or more planners plus Gmail calendar in operation.

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    1. I hope this is the PaulB I think it is! How are you? I had a lovely lunch with Cliudberry the other week and we thought of you. Get in touch! You know the address :)

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  5. I honestly don't know. I mean obviously, some people don't get through very well. Maybe they have fewer things to track than I do? With kids, and spouse who travels often, work and volunteering, bills and life admin, etc I absolutely would not be able to get it all done without my planner. I think those of us who use a planner (well) are (obviously?) higher functioning than some people. People who have less going on might think they don't need a planning system, but honestly I think everyone could benefit from one in some degree.

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    1. And another clarification: these days there seems to be a lot of messaging in social media that using a planner is somehow virtuous. I don't see it that way. For me it is purely functional. There's no moral judgement, it's all about how well I function, or not. Without a planner it would definitely be: not!

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  6. I would be no good planning on a screen, phones seem too small for me. I like the tactile feel of paper and a pen and I remember appointments more easily if written down!! I don't know how any folk cope without a scheduler and info holder to hand. Bonkers to me to rely on memory alone, or even brilliant and capable office staff !!

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  7. The answer, to me, is quite simple. These people freeload on those of us who care about such things to remind them of their obligations, instead of taking responsibility for their own lives. The latter is called adulthood.......

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  8. Thank you so much for this amazing post. I loved it so much.

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