Calendaring For Success
Calendaring
When it comes to keeping up with our busy life’s commitments, utilizing a calendar is a magnificent tool to incorporate into your life to set you up for success. Keeping a calendar can help set up each day, week and month for success. I’ve found utilizing a calendar to be extremely effective in keeping me on track so I don’t miss important events, appointments and special times with my family.
I first started using this tool in 2012 when I first got into sales and needed to keep up with my client appointments. I would be helping anywhere between 4-8 clients at a time in my sales business which required 2-3 hour blocks of time. If I didn’t keep my calendar available to me, I would overlap appointments or just plain out forget some. After a while I started to realize what a valuable tool this was and added important dates into my calendar like birthdays, anniversaries and events. As time went on I came to appreciate the benefits of being able to look at my calendar each day and see what and where I needed to be. At first I started by keeping it very basic, I kept it for work appointments only. As I grew to build calendaring as a habit I then put in all my families birthdays and had them stay on the calendar every year and even set up a reminder for a week before so I can get a card or gift out if necessary. As time went on I would schedule in “appointments” to be with my family, for meeting up with friends or any activity I personally enjoyed
What is the benefits that I have received from it
A benefit I have received from utilizing a calendar has been my ability to stay on track with my entire life (both professional and personal) each day. Instead of always worrying about if I will remember an appointment or even worse forgetting one. Another benefit is it provides me the opportunity to not have to store all the information in my head. I keep just about every activity I do in my calendar because it is always right there for me to review and stay on track. Ultimately, the biggest benefit I have received is the freedom that utilizing a calendar has given me. It may seem counter intuitive meaning that having a calendar is restricting your time, however I have found that if there is something I want to do or If I want some time off, I just block it off. I create an appointment in my calendar for all my commitments including time for myself and I use it for my benefit.
How I utilize my calendar
I use Apple calendar because it’s supported on both my PC and phone and if I put an appointment on either it automatically syncs to both devices. Each day when I am finishing up my morning ritual I pull out my phone and review what appointments I have that day. This way I know what commitments I have, what time they start and if I have any extra time available for other activities I would like to do.
Anything personal I use BLUE (vacations, work outs, hobbies, parties, etc).
Anything with my family (sports, school, functions, date night etc) I use RED.
Work time and client appointments I use GREEN .
Birthdays and Anniversaries I use PURPLE.
Setting up your calendar
You can utilize any calendar (Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc) that links with your phone or even buy a yearly printed calendar book.
Color Code your important appointment Items.
Put in all important Birthdays, Anniversaries, etc in your calendar and use the reoccurring “each year” setting and set a reminder 7 days prior to the date that your phone will remind you. You will never forget another important date again!!!
Anytime you commit to an event whether personal or professional immediately open up your phone or calendar book and put it in while its top of mind at that moment. Never procrastinate on this, it takes 15-20 seconds to do and you can then forget about it, knowing it will be there to remind you in your calendar when you need it.
Don’t over complicate it, the simpler the better until you build calendaring as a habit.
Don’t forget to leave yourself free time, the idea to calendar is to help become effective at keeping your commitments but that doesnt mean your calendar has to be filled up every day of the week.
In conclusion
My calendar has become a valuable and reliable partner in my life. It has helped me reduce stress and helped me keep up with the commitments I make from clients to my family. If you are not utilizing a calendar and are struggling to keep up with life demands try calendaring for 90 days and build this habit into your life. If you fully commit to calendaring every appointment as they come into your awareness I promise you by the end of the 90 days you will feel much more empowered to tackle your day and keep your life and commitments on track.