In today's hectic world, some of us just don't have the time. You've got assignments to work on, tests to study (heaven forbid... perhaps even a job!), people you want to see, movies to watch, food to eat, bowels to empty, sleep to... sleep.

Sometimes, I bet you just want to give up... or at the very least to get your very own... hyperbolic time chamber!

Well personal agendas are the next best thing. They allow you to organize how you spend your days... so you won't have to worry about how you spend your nights.

I've been thinking... and I wanted to make a list of the pros and cons of paper and electronic(pdas) agendas

Paper agendas are more convenient to write with, it's much faster to write "8pm take out trash" than click and type
- "8pm to 8:30pm"
- "location: home"
- "take out trash"
Paper agendas don't require recharging, this is only a small issue if you don't use your PDA for gaming as pdas last pretty long on standby
Digital agendas are more convenient to take out (pants vs backpack) and to carry around
Digital agendas have reminders to remind you to look at your agendas (for when you're lazy) to go to sleep, to wake up... etc... they help you organize your life
You can't waste time playing games on paper agendas
Digital agendas look cool, and iPhones can help you attract girlz

In the end though, I think I'm going to use both. Paper agendas for general purpose tasks, and digital agendas for reminding me to look at my paper agendas.

Anyways, I gain a lot of enjoyment from trying to be as efficient as possible.

Hedonic Treadmill, aka myth of sisyphus

I believe in the happiness treadmill. When someone starts getting happy because of a big life changing event, like they win a lottery, or they find out that they're terminally ill, their body will revert back to a stage where they produce seratonin and epinephrine at more sustainable levels. In English they go back to their regular happiness levels dictated by how their genes allow them to produce happy juices.**

In even simpler layman terms, when you run faster on the treadmill, you don't move further. The treadmill speeds up and you stay in the same place on it.

A lot of this happiness is rather out of our control. But doing small things like exercising, going after a girl, or accomplishing your larger meanings can really bring a lot of true happiness.

Organising your life can help you accomplish all these things, in addition to eating right and sleeping right. It's the only way to beat this accurssed treadmill. So organise your life. You'll be alot happier! I promise.

**
+ Show Spoiler +

obviously, living a comfortable life: having food, shelter, communicating, sleeping, pooping, peepeeing makes you happier. They're things that people have pursued to survive, happiness has evolved as a motivation for people to do these things.

And sex. Sex is the way people have been able to allow their genes to survive. Therefore people have also evolved to want secks. If you don't beleve that pursuing girls could enhance your overall happiness then you're an evolutionary anomaly. I bet your parents enjoyed sex, and your grandparents too!

However I'm talking about what you can do to enhance your life beyond just mere survival (having less stress), and how to balance all these survival tactics to make you overall be more happy.

Lastly, I'd like to acknowledge that there are cases where people fall off the happiness treadmill (eg. depression) and go into prolonged periods of extreme happiness or sadness.

Navane

Netherlands2762 Posts

February 11 2011 12:05 GMT

Digital agendas are more convenient to take out (pants vs backpack) and to carry around -- this is not true. Just get a small flexible paper agenda and it fits in every pant too. Same goes for pen; just get a good shape which fits.

Attracting girls? Even if it was true, that's not part of the functionality you strive for; you want efficiency. Besides; using paper agenda makes you stand out, which is good for attracting girls.

This remains PDA with only one point: alarm. I use my (25 euro) phone to alarm me for the real important things.

I use a paper agenda myself and it works like a charm.

Antimage

Canada1293 Posts

February 11 2011 15:24 GMT

You have to find what works best for yourself. I myself used a paper agenda all throughout first year, then I got my first smartphone (Nokia N82). I was in love with it and put all my school, work-related tasks, chores, to-do lists on it and it worked out fine (the phone had a pretty long battery life too btw).

It was difficult at first transitioning because I would forget to write stuff down and I used both for a while but I worked it out fine. Then, recently I got a new phone - the Samsung Focus.

It runs on Windows Phone 7 and syncs with my Windows Live (messenger/hotmail) so whenever I log on to check my e-mail, my calendar is there. I can also sync it with Gmail (if i want it to - since I use that e-mail provider too).

The fact that syncing is so fast and automatic makes this crucial. If my phone runs out of batteries (it won't), I have a back-up online.

So becuase I use a digital agenda now, I now:
1. won't have to look for my agenda/carry one around
2. can sync it across my computer and my phone
3. view it online remotely if I need to

You'll switch sooner or later, I did and never looked back since.

Chef

10810 Posts

February 11 2011 16:17 GMT

I organize my life in my head. I feel like it is a waste of valuable time to write dates that I already know. I think most people are capable of the same, but they want to look proactive so they have an agenda/PDA.

This is a skill I gained from not using my agenda in high school which they forced us to buy for unknown reasons. I have my rebellious teenage self to thank for compliments on my memory. It's also why I'm the least flaky person you'll ever meet, because I'm not totally dependent on remembering to read 'meet so and so at 4pm here.' So many people write all this stuff down, then forget it, and look at it way after they were supposed to have accomplished what they wrote down. That's why I don't trust people who use agendas. It's very unattractive.

That said, I do put all the dates for my midterms (which are often due a month or so in the future) in one place, whether on a calendar or in a notepad file, just so I can visualize how much time I have between each one. But I think having a daily agenda is just really anal and weird.

My opinions, sorry if they're offensive

Nyx

Rwanda460 Posts

February 11 2011 19:49 GMT

On February 12 2011 01:17 Chef wrote:
I organize my life in my head. I feel like it is a waste of valuable time to write dates that I already know. I think most people are capable of the same, but they want to look proactive so they have an agenda/PDA.

You're not being offensive but you're making huge assumptions, I'm a university student and I don't have any problem remembering deadlines, classes or assignments, I don't know anybody who does.

Agendas aren't for us, they're for the busy people, the small business owners, personal assistants, secretaries, people who HAVE to remember 5 or 6 appointments a day that differ every day.

Sorry if I made you feel less superior

Hidden_MotiveS

Canada2562 Posts

February 12 2011 00:13 GMT

I at first thought you were just playing devils advocate here Chef. Nyx's explanation is better. If you can manage everything then all the more power to you.

My memory isn't that great, I know that it forces a physical limitation on me. I think however, that even some of the best memories, are no match for pen and paper.

Side Note:
On a second consideration I probably should have split the blog in two. One half agendas, one half happiness.

edit:
Got my PDA a week ago.
I think it's really been helping me stay on track.
I can't tell if I'm wasting a lot of time just writing down what I'm going to do and moving things around though. Spend 15 minutes a day writing the things, and then twenty minutes updating it.

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