It took many years for me to 'go digital' with my scheduling. During the transition I got in to a right mess. A paper diary was with me at all times but I couldn't invite others to meetings and adding reoccurring events was done manually but only up to December. A paper diary generously provided between two to four weeks in to the new year but a new diary meant a fresh beginning. Birthdays had to be writing in, regular meetings re entered but that was the routine. Or there was the academic route which gave a full 18 months before having to re enter dates. They always took me by surprise and left me hanging unprepared every time they ran out. Then I began the transition. Annual and reoccurring events were sorted first off. However I still had to transfer them to the paper diary and new arrangements had to be entered in to the online calendar. It was so much easier to have pen and diary to hand, take it from my bag flip to the date, review the plans and make a discussion to my availability. Digital on the other hand depended on a suitable user interface to access a calendar. Until I got my iPhone in 2010 I didn't have an iDevise with a responsive enough UI (user interface) or was able to synchronise across platforms and devices.

Before 2010 my primary media making mobile devise was the Nokia N95. My first touch screen phone was a Nokia 5800. It had a comparable camera and HD video. I had an Asus notebook PC, an Acer laptop and a desktop PC running the Windows edition it came installed with when I bought it. My last PC had Window XP but is a long distant nightmare since I now have a MacBook. Forget the Windows vs Mac debate. All my devises talk to each other with ease. I use Google Calendar, my scheduling is synchronised and I also have the benefit of document collaboration through several applications too.

Every year however I still receive my Equity Diary. Its a benefit of membership to my industries trade union. Its use now, a directory of contacts and a document detailing all my membership benifits. Its a reminder of how I now have no use for a paper tool to plan my life.

I do wish I had the option to chose a notebook version. I do still use a paper notebook for jottings but I use Evernote more and more but paper and pen as a mechanism to record and plan have not left my process. I have a LiveScribe Echo. An electronic pen with a compatible paper notebook which I can archive, search, convert in to text before copy and pasting into a document for editing. I can record the audio around me and notate my thoughts. Later I can review my notes and listen to the audio recorded at the time the note was made.

Going digital takes time. It involved personal change to thought processes. The resulting tools make life easier, make business more efficient, make collaboration simpler. Make my job as a social audience builder and social media practitioner possible. And the adventure continues.