5 . Calendars are for managing your time. They work overtime to keep the messiness of human life confined into neat little grids, squeezing our lives into seconds, minutes and hours. I appreciate a calendar’s determined efforts to manage time.     1     For the past several years, I’ve kept a planner with me at all times. The real magic in planners, to me, comes in the blank space where I reflect on the past and imagine the future. Cracking open a fresh week’s layout on a Monday morning and seeing the empty pages expand like a canvas waiting to be filled, the tone of the week yet to be set, the possibilities endless.

You start by creating a wish list for your ideal life. The idea is to be as specific as possible. You then pick the one goal that would have the biggest positive impact. You break that goal down into smaller tasks, and then prioritize them.     2     This method turns a general idea in your head into something that you can actually accomplish. From there, you can reflect every month on how you spent your time, and whether what you did actually is consistent with the goals you set.

    3     It leaves no digital footprint, but it does leave a paper trail that you can look back on for years to come. It doesn’t buzz impatiently when you don’t look at it, and it will not be exported to Outlook. It requires you to sit in quiet conversation with yourself, reflecting on your past and visualizing your future. It forces me to answer hard truths, like what do I really want out of life and am I spending my days in line with who I want to be.     4    

Planning helps me ensure that I’m not a passenger at the mercy of my calendar, but rather driving toward a destination that I choose.     5     And some really nice pens.