It’s one of our favorite weeks of the year: Launch Week! 🎉 As beautiful as our Simplified Planners and products are, we get that you may be wondering: Why use a paper planner in a digital world? We’re glad you asked! Emily put on her research cap to find out—and what she discovered will absolutely floor you. Today Emily’s sharing four ways that paper planners can help you streamline your life at work and at home. Because it turns out, working on paper is kind of like a superpower for your brain (because it helps your brain remember more, minimize distraction, and even enhance creativity!). And couldn’t we all use these superpowers every now and again?
(PS: don’t forget to find your new Simplified favorite when the new collection drops on Friday 9/16!)
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Thought-Provoking Quotes
“One reason your brain can “see” what you’ve written down in your memory—more than “seeing” what something looks looked like on a webpage—is because webpages are built on scrolling. According to that same study by the University of Tokyo, scrolling is something your brain isn’t able to capture into its memory bank. But with paper planners, your brain can take a mental snapshot of the data, because it’s spending much more time there. Pretty cool, huh?” – Emily Ley
“The average smartphone user receives 46 push notifications per day. 46! That’s a lot of interruptions throughout your day. But you know where push notifications don’t appear? Inside of your paper planner.” – Emily Ley
“If I leave my planner at home while we decide to go out to dinner as a family, that means I can’t do meaningful work while I’m away from my desk. And that is good.” – Emily Ley
A Blessing for Your Week
As you plan the days ahead, I hope you build in time to do good work — and also to experience joy and love in abundance.
As you shepherd your people, I hope you give grace in abundance and remember that you’re each trying your best.
And above all, I hope you keep your eyes open for the unexpected people and blessings placed in your path.
Simplicity Tip of the Week
We’ve talked all about how paper planners help your brain. And if you’ve never tried it for yourself, now’s the perfect time to get started!
You can grab your Simplified Planner, but you don’t need one to get the benefits of writing things down—even a regular notebook will do!
On one side, label all the hours in the day—I usually go from 6 AM to 9 PM. Plug in all the appointments you have in your day. Then, on the other side, write out your To-Do list. If you want to take it a step further, you could pencil your To-Do list items into all the hours in the day, so you can see what you can actually get done today.
I challenge you to do this every day for a week, and see how you feel by the end of it. Were you able to get more done? Or, better yet, how did your brain feel by the end of the week? Did you feel calmer and more relaxed? I bet you probably did. That’s the beauty of the paper planner life, baby.
Pre-Order Emily’s New Book!
Need a Fresh Start? These Podcast Episodes Will Help You Streamline!
- Episode 3: Simplify Your Calendar
- Episode 25: Planning for the Week Ahead
- Episode 27: Weekly Meal Planning Will Change Your Life
- Episode 29: Using a Digital & Paper Planner Together
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