I love books. When Kindles came out, I was excited by the prospect of having hundreds – no, MILLIONS! – of books all on one small device. I even thought about getting rid of our shelves full of books. But over time I realized there was something I missed about holding a physical book. Furthermore, reading a book on a device meant that (1) it was that much more time I was spending staring at a screen, and (2) I was always prone to get distracted by other apps and alerts on the device.

I started returning to paper books. Not only are they easier on my eyes, I also don’t get distracted as much. An unexpected benefit is that I’ve noticed I feel calmer when I read a paper book—and the same doesn’t happen when reading an e-book.

Finally, there is an issue I have with digital books and calendars that’s harder to define. The best I can explain it is that I find when I’m reading it on a screen, I am less able to mentally grasp the material, the schedule, or the concept.

One explanation for this phenomenon is that when you’re reading a physical book, you’re building a spatial and tactile picture of it. You have a physical sense of where in the book a certain scene occurs, or where in your beloved cookbook the bread section is. There’s something almost ritualistic about it—like your mind knows it’s entering a sacred space.

The same goes for using a paper planner versus a digital one. A planner is something you’re ideally going to be checking several times throughout the day. That means either several more opportunities to look at a screen and get distracted—or several more invitations to re-enter the map of your life, your priorities, and your dreams.

This is one reason we’ve grown all the more fervent about the value of paper planners like our Dreambook.

The Dreambook is so much more than a planner. It guides you to better understand who you are and what feeds and inspires you. It helps you decide what kinds of activities and goals to incorporate into your life. And it supports you to construct and enact the blueprint that will make your dream life a reality. Oh, and it’s printed on nice heavy paper that your pen won’t bleed through.

It’s a book to love—because it’s a book about you coming into your greatness. Or maybe even your magic.

Be well,

Peter