If You Still Write Things Down In A Physical Planner Instead Of Your Phone, Experts Say You Display These 5 Rare Traits
Sticking with a paper planner in the digital age says more about you than you think.
GaudiLab | Canva Amid the highly online, digitized world we all live in, there sits a person writing in an old-fashioned planner. Their pen moves across the pages of a day planner. Another notebook lay open and face down on the table. The writer is lost in thought. Thoughts you can almost read on their face. You wonder who they are and what they might be like. Maybe, they write it all down to keep themselves together.
Maybe they are a sensual person, a romantic who remembers the details others will easily forget. Someone who is always crystal clear about their intentions and knows how slowing down is the best way to arrive at success quicker.
If you still write things down in a physical planner instead of your phone, experts say you display these five rare traits:
1. You have a tender soul
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For senior editor Aria Gmitter, tenderness is a personality trait that comes with being a person who writes things down in a planner. Writing is sensual, and to be sensual is to love intimacy. There's only one thing as intimate as a diary, and that's a paper planner.
It tells my story. It is me. It's a blanket of my priorities and the things I want to accomplish each day. It reminds me I'm a part of a community of planner people — the writers, the dreamers, and people who stick with something because it works.
I hate notifications with the beeps and alarms. I prefer the feel of a good pen brushing against the roughness of paper, and paying close attention to the way I form the letters. If my mood strikes, it's cursive or red ink. Every line, each number means something deep and permanent.
I love how I can hold my planner, tucked to my chest or beneath an arm, when I need to rush somewhere. Unlike a phone, my planner inspires me when I see my ideas across a printed page, while the adjacent page's blankness invokes possibility.
Keeping a written planner is a lifelong intimate, sensual, and thought-provoking experience.
2. You are deeply nostalgic
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You probably leave voicemails, says attorney Jennifer Hargrave. You probably write letters that are sent via the post office with a stamp. You might even have a fax machine. You probably are nostalgic and over-romanticize the past, and are not eager to adopt new technology.
Non-digital information could also be something you are used to from your educational experience, as explained by a 2011 study. "Children who are more proficient in comprehension and technical reading and spelling skills read more; because of more print exposure, their comprehension and technical reading and spelling skills improved more with each year of education." Frequent readers are more successful students, so reading and writing become life-long habits.
3. You have a great memory for detail
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Research from 2018 reinforced that people who print out documents instead of reading them online have far greater retention of the contents of the document. Life coach Susan Allan repeatedly hears clients telling her they have to check their phone to know what they're doing later in the very same day.
However, her clients who still keep a day planner check it in the morning. She sees it whenever they are checking off an appointment they've just had, and they are far more present with their schedule because retention is easier based on brain function.
4. You're big on routine
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You probably enjoy sticking to habits that work for you, points out therapist Gloria Brame, PhD. For example, you know you're bad at remembering dates, so you write them down in a planner. Over the years, you've developed organized rituals around these updates, and they've become second nature.
This isn't just about being set in your ways. People who choose physical planners often do so intentionally. You might be someone who finds that writing things down helps you remember better than typing. Or you prefer the tactile experience of flipping through pages rather than scrolling through screens.
Many planner users are also seeking a break from digital overwhelm. In a world where we're constantly connected, something is refreshing about a tool that can't buzz with notifications or tempt you into social media rabbit holes. Plus, planners never run out of battery or lose data when your internet goes down.
You're likely someone who values mindfulness and intentionality in how you organize your life. While others are frantically switching between apps, you're calmly writing things down, processing information more deliberately, and creating a ritual that feels grounding rather than stressful.
Physical planners aren't old-fashioned, they're a conscious choice for people who've figured out what works for their brain.
5. You're resistant to being rushed
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Counselor Larry Michel suggests you have come to realize the cognitive benefits of writing versus typing or dictating. Results of research in Psychological Science "clearly show that handwriting compared with non-motor practice produces faster learning and greater generalization to untrained tasks."
Comprehension, retention, understanding, and integration of ideas and concepts are greater when handwriting. Writing promotes slowing down thought and increases mindfulness.
Writing in the Digital Era said, "While the benefits of digital writing tools are numerous, there are also challenges that writers face in the digital age. With the constant bombardment of notifications and other distractions, it can be challenging to maintain focus and produce high-quality writing."
Adding all the points up, we find keeping a physical, written planner is more likely to be remembered, followed, and even romanticized as the tactile sensations ignite your nervous system's motor center along with all your motivation for manifesting an abundant tomorrow, while using the proven tools of the past.
Will Curtis is YourTango's expert editor. Will has over 14 years of experience as an editor covering relationships, spirituality, and human interest topics.
