Plenty of people who work for themselves still plan on paper, and for good reasons. A notebook, a bullet journal or a printed planner is calm, has no notifications, and writing by hand helps many people think. For planning with a pen, paper is a solid choice.
Next Moves Lab keeps the calm of a short list and does the part paper leaves to you. It hands back one task to do now, the reason it was picked, and a small first step. Unfinished tasks wait for you, so nothing gets copied forward by hand. It even reads a photo of your page.
The short version
- Paper is a solid pick if your list is short, writing helps you think, and you rarely lose track of what matters.
- Next Moves Lab is the better fit if you spend time copying the same tasks from page to page, or you open the notebook and do not know where to start.
Side by side
Price
- Paper planner
- The cost of a notebook
- Next Moves Lab
- $9.99 a month, 30-day money-back guarantee
Who decides the order
- Paper planner
- You
- Next Moves Lab
- It does, and shows you the reason
Unfinished tasks
- Paper planner
- Copied forward by hand
- Next Moves Lab
- Wait in Later, with no rewriting
Rules for your day
- Paper planner
- Kept in your head
- Next Moves Lab
- Set once, like "admin on Fridays", and followed every day
Follow-ups
- Paper planner
- Only if you remember
- Next Moves Lab
- Suggested from what you finished; tap Yes or No
When a day goes wrong
- Paper planner
- Crossed-out lines and arrows
- Next Moves Lab
- Nothing turns red; get the next move from where you are
When paper is a solid choice
- Writing by hand helps you think. That is a real benefit, and many people plan better on paper.
- You want no screens. A notebook will never ping you or tempt you into email.
- You like freedom of layout. Doodles, arrows and margins work however you like.
Where Next Moves Lab wins
- No rewriting. Unfinished tasks wait in Later and come back when they make sense. Later has no limit, and only you remove a task.
- It does the choosing. Paper holds the list. Next Moves Lab looks at it and hands you one task, the reason it won, and a first step of a couple of minutes. You can swap the pick.
- Your week has a point. Set one goal for the week, and tasks that move it rank first.
- Your rules are followed every day. Set "no calls before 10" or "admin on Fridays" once, and every plan respects it.
- Today fits the day you have. Tell it your time and energy, and it sizes today to fit. At most three tasks are in play.
- Follow-ups come to you. Finish an invoice or a quote and it suggests the follow-up. You tap Yes or No. It never sends anything for you.
Using both
Keep writing by hand. Take a photo of your page each morning and add it to Next Moves Lab. It turns your handwriting into tasks and picks where to start, so you keep the thinking of paper and hand off the deciding.
Common questions
Can it really read my handwriting?
You can add a photo of your notes, and it turns what it reads into tasks. Clear handwriting works best, and you can fix anything it misreads.
Will I end up staring at a screen all day?
No. It shows one task and a first step. You can glance at it, then get to work.