Back to school? Why Tiimo App is better than a regular planner

For many people, the start of a new school year brings both the promise of new stationery and a chance to get organised. The cornerstone of this is unarguably the planner. But times, technology and work patterns have changed and so your planner should too. Now is the perfect time to upgrade to a digital planner, focus timer, calendar and to do list all in one! Here are 10 reasons for you to swap out your paper planner for Tiimo instead:

1. Easy to set up - low maintenance to sustain

The most common use of an academic planner is to keep track of which classes or commitments you have on each day - but with a paper planner, filling in the same schedule every week quickly loses its appeal. With Tiimo, you can create your classes and activities, and then save them as a routine, or if you prefer, set them up as recurring activities. You can create your schedule for the whole semester in less than 5 minutes!

2. Personalise and colour code your activities

Let’s be honest - for a lot of us, the thing we love about new planners is the opportunity to personalise them. There is a lot of joy to be found in colour coding activities and making your schedule feel more fun. However, once the initial new planner buzz dies down, keeping up this effort can feel more of a drudge than a joy. One of the common reasons why people abandon their planners is down to guilt at not carrying on with new spreads or the aesthetic system that they created.

The full version of Tiimo has over 3000 icons, an unlimited colour palette and the ability for you to even add photos from your camera roll to your activities. You can also use the colour picker to create your own theme for the focus timer. The best thing though is that it is very easy to add these elements to your activities and then replicate them going forward (and again easy to switch them up when you need a new dopamine hit!)

3. Checklists

Activities and events often come with their own to do list. Instead of recording all the information you need in a separate note pad or app, you can set up everything you need as an actual checklist within the activity. This feature is so useful for students - remember equipment or books that you need to bring to class, add your reading list to study sessions, or the step by step process you need to follow for that activity. You can keep the same checklist for every time that activity repeats if it is helpful, or it can be a new one depending on your needs.

4. Visual, flexible scheduling

As well as your timetable and other fixed time appointments, every day will also bring a new range of to dos and tasks. Tiimo makes it easy to either set a time in your daily schedule to do them, or add them as flexible activities which you can start, pause and restart at whichever time you are able to do them. Being able to see all the tasks and the classes you have for each day in one place helps you to visualise how you are spending your time and makes sure that you aren’t overloading yourself. If you realise that your day is looking unrealistic, it is easy to move tasks to another day without them getting lost or forgotten about. This is also true if you have a low energy or sick day, where you can reschedule your commitments easily and quickly.

5. Brain dump future tasks

Get future tasks, reading lists and projects out of your brain and into your system. Our Notes feature allows you to create a to do list on the go and then later quickly convert those checklist items into activities in your schedule. This is a feature which can help you manage your time and make sure that you don’t forget things that you don’t have to deal with immediately.

6.Import external calendars into your schedule

Often extracurricular activities are planned using different calendar systems. Remembering to copy over and keep these commitments up to date into your planner is an extra chore. With Tiimo you can sync calendar apps like iCal, Outlook and Google Calendar and import events from them into your schedule.

7. Use Study methods like pomodoro, timeblocking or timeboxing

Once your timetable is in place, you need to make sure your schedule is updated with study time, and focused work time to get assignments and class projects done. You can make sure that you make the most out of each session by using our focus timer to keep your attention on the job in hand, or by using our premade pomodoro routines. You can also get advice on how to set up a good study environment and on time management strategies (like timeblocking) though our library of premade activities, which you can just drag into your schedule.

8. Never forget an appointment or activity

No matter how beautifully organised your planner is - it is only useful if you look at it! You will never miss an activity or an event with Tiimo, as you can set notifications to remind you what you have on. Upgrading to the full experience of the app, also allows you to receive notifications through the activity as well as when it is ending to help you transition ahead to the next one. We also make it so easy to follow your day that you don’t even need to open the app - you can use our variety of widgets and complications for any digital watches running iOS or Android.

9. An accessible system in one place and always with you

It is very important for people with executive dysfunction to have their organisational system visible and accessible - but this holds true for most people). Instead of having your daily schedule in one place, and your to do list and notes somewhere else, having them together and easily accessible to you at all times means that you are more likely to keep on track. There is also an advantage that as they are held on your phone, it is always with you. Less things for you to need to remember to pack and bring with you!

10. Set yourself up for success by not just focusing on studying

It can be easy when term starts to focus just on classes and coursework. But Tiimo can help you to make sure you have more balance in your day. You can use our premade routines and activities to make sure that you take a break, grab a snack or lunch, or incorporate some movement into your day. We also have activities to help you to reduce stress and anxiety and encourage you to regularly check in and look after your mental health.