If you had told me two years ago that my day book would go digital I would have smiled kindly but been unconvinced. I was very committed to my day book for planning my teaching week and my Kiki K diary for organising my personal life. Each term I would photocopy a time table the exact size of each page for my day book (colour coded by subject) and then annotate week by week the important details I needed to remember. I knew the process was time consuming, but that was the day to stay organised, right? Wrong. Going digital for my day book and diary was one of the best decisions I’ve made. In terms of efficiency and planning, going digital has saved me hours and keeps me on top of the many responsibilities teachers have to juggle each day. Below are five reasons to go digital and five tips for making the transition.
5 Reasons
1. Portability: Having a digital diary is incredibly portable. You can add events and information on the run and can confirm availability instantly rather than having to check the diary later.
2. Syncing: Your digital diary can be accessed on all devices, which is incredibly convenient and efficient. Your personal and professional diaries can also sync. For a long time I resisted integration of personal and professional diaries. I wanted to keep work at work and home at home. But as my work load and responsibilities increased this was unrealistic.
3. Changes: Making changes in a digital diary is seamless and so simple. Events can be moved or deleted with the click of the mouse. In teaching, diary changes occur on a daily basis. I found this incredibly frustrating in a paper day book as it often felt crowded, confusing and out of date.
4. Repeat: Repeating cyclical events is so simple and incredibly powerful. I now never forget birthdays or regular meetings and appointments. I don’t have to write them in each year when I get a new day book or diary, they are on repeat with reminders.
5. On and Off: I love the ability to turn calendars on and off. My phone doesn’t have my school calendar turned on because I like it to be a personal device. But if I need to check work commitments on the weekend I have the power turn my work calendar on. Also my I have my husband’s calendar turned off on all devices, but I can turn it on at any time to check his availability.
5 Tips
1. Set Up: The initial set up of your digital diary is time consuming, however the dividends are worth it. You will need to take the time to set up reoccurring events such as meetings, lessons and personal commitments.
2. Commit: Work out which digital tool you will be using and commit. You will get in a muddle if you have four different calendars on your phone linked to different email accounts and then add to them at random. In your settings make sure you set a default calendar which will make your entries consistent.
3. Use Notes: Events or lessons with specific and detailed information can be annotated by using the notes function. For example your weekly Science lesson can be set on repeat, but the details for each lesson each week can be added in the notes.
4. Views: Make use of the day, week and month view in your calendar. I tend to use the week view most consistently and hone in on day view to see specific notes for meetings and lessons. I mark the beginning of each school week by adding an event at 6.00am each Monday as Week 1 etc. In month view the weeks are then clearly visible which makes term planning simple.
5. Shared Diaries: It is incredibly easy to share digital diaries with others. My husband and I share the same Apple ID so we have set up multiple calendars using iCloud for each aspect of life including personal, work, church and study. Shared calendars can also be achieved through setting up a shared email account and using the calendar function. In the workplace Outlook allows you to share your calendar with colleagues. All my meetings and lessons are booked by my colleges using my shared Outlook calendar.
Question for you: What tips do you have for using a digital day book or diary and why have you made the switch?
