Many people have used a paper book style diary for years and it has worked perfectly well for them. Some of them even have beautiful leather bound ones to look extra official when planning out their day. These days a lot of people would not consider a paper diary as there is plenty of diary software to use and it has almost become second nature to use the technology available to us. But what are the advantages of moving to software based diary versus a paper one? Can technology ever fully replace paper?

When using Microsoft Outlook's diary functionality for example it is possible to share calendars with other members of staff (learn how in our time management Outlook training course). This means that when someone wants to request a meeting with you or find out when you are free they can simply check your calendar without every having to bother you. If you are using a book-based diary then you are the only one that can see it. People may have to interrupt you more than once to plan a single meeting. This can mean your concentration is broken and your performance decreases as a result. Reducing distractions as part of your time management can improve the quality of your work. Microsoft Outlook still allows an individual to place private appointments that nobody else can see so that lack of privacy is not an issue.

When meetings are added in this way automatic alerts and reminders can be set up to go off at a specific time interval, which the employee can set. With paper-based diaries it is necessary to continuously check for meetings or to remember the entire schedule for the day. This can lead to human error and missed appointments. A simple reminder can mean that you never have to miss a meeting or appointment again. Even if you are distracted with a task, the reminder will ensure that you are interrupted at the correct time. Since you will not have to keep an eye on the clock yourself, you will be able to give full attention and focus to the tasks you are working on. Reminders can also be set to be recurring to avoid the need to add the same thing over and over again. Additional reminders can be set for half an hour before the meeting starts to remind you to get the relevant material together before you leave.

When gathering relevant material, it may be necessary to search through emails and folders to find the appropriate emails and documents to print off. Microsoft Outlook allows you to attach as many documents and emails to a meeting request as required so that you can save time by negating the need to search. Simply open the request and open the documents attached. This functionality allows far greater efficiency especially if you have several meetings in a day. The user can feel less overwhelmed and more organised.

There used to be a problem with diaries on the computer since you could not take them with you. Nowadays, even if you do not have a laptop there are BlackBerries and PDAs that are portable and have wireless Internet connection. This allows total access all of the time. Since it is likely that you will bring a laptop or BlackBerry with you when travelling for work purposes, bringing an extra paper based diary would be cumbersome. Using the diary already present on your laptop means less weight to carry around.

There is an environmental and cost reduction advantage to technology based diaries. They reduce the amount of paper used and are cheaper since the technology already exists on the computer. The cost of a paper diary per member of the company is saved annually which can add up to a large overall saving. Meetings and appointments can be added and deleted easily and with no mess. Since the purpose of a diary is to help manage a person's time in the most efficient and organised way, a technology-based diary would fulfil this requirement to a higher standard. Having seen various paper diaries with items scribbled out or written with ineligible handwriting on margins, a technology-based diary is more likely to give organised and skilful time management ability.