The diary on the kitchen table

Text: an original contemporary personal-column-style practice extract.

My sister says a paper diary is simpler than a calendar on a phone. She has a point: mine lies open beside the kettle, and I can see the week without unlocking anything. On Sunday evening, I write in the appointments I already know about. The page looks pleasingly settled.

By Wednesday, the neat columns have met real life. A meeting moves; I cross it out and squeeze the new time beside it. Someone asks me to bring a document, so I add a note in the margin. On a busy week, the page becomes crowded. I have also left the diary at home, which is not much help when I need to check a time while I am out.

I still use it for planning the week, and I like being able to see several days at once. For reminders when I am away from the kitchen, I use another method. A paper diary is straightforward when the information is in front of me; it is not automatically the easiest choice in every situation.

The writer tries to challenge the idea that a paper diary is always simpler to use.

In your answer, you may consider how the writer presents the diary’s advantages, what difficulties are introduced, and how the final paragraph shapes the writer’s overall view.

Evaluate how successfully the writer challenges this idea. Support your views with detailed reference to the extract.