Planners and getting things done

 

I think a lot of us have a planner or calendar that we use to record that various appointments and meetings that we need to attend. Being able to figure out what works best for you is very important, and it can change over time. You may use a variety of methods of recording the various things that you need to accomplish each day, or just one thing that catches everything.

For us, I know that we have a calendar where we both record the various appointments and deadlines that effective either both of us or either of us, but we want the other person aware of the event. This is the place where we also put the various vacations that may impact us, either clients on vacations or family members, and of course our own vacations. This is the spot that we check when we are trying to schedule work meetings and even a lot of our social events because it lets us know what could impact the event.

Besides having our joint calendar, I have a planner that I use to document the things that I would like to get done daily. It is also the place where I put the appointments, deadlines, and meetings as well so that I can see at the beginning of the day when is ahead of us. Yes, it means that a lot of the things are documented twice, but at least I can see them quickly and my planner is beside me on my desk throughout the day.

My planner is also where I document what I have accomplished each day so that at the end of the day I can see what I got done versus what was planned to get done. There are days when I can get lots of things done that weren’t even on the to-do for the day, and then other days maybe only one thing that was on the list can get achieved before it was a larger project than I originally thought. Being able to manage things in a couple of ways make it so much easier because it at least lets us see what is going on.

I use my planner for a lot of the little things that I need to do and things that I would like to do each day but not they have to do that given day. Normally in the planner I am writing when bills need to be paid, different notes that we want to have available but don’t need to be on our calendar that may interfere with planning of other things.

Yes, having multiple planners and calendars can be a challenge, but you need to make sure that you have a method of getting things done. One calendar may work for a lot of people, but we have found that having a shared calendar for a lot of the stuff and then me having a separate planner for other things works great. See what works for you, and then you may end up changing things around, but at least give the idea a chance and see how it goes.

You, Me and a Crazy Schedule

As some of you may know, I run a small IT consulting business with my husband, and that can be a challenge sometimes. For us, it is sometimes a challenge to figure out what we are both working on and how our schedule actually works together. We decided a while ago that one way to try and keep our schedule known to the other was to start using Google Calendar for a lot of the things that we do. One of the key steps that we did for that was to set up a Gmail account for the business, and that is where we manage a lot of our schedule.

Yes, managing two schedules for work as well as personal life can be a challenge, but we decided that we would be putting all the different things onto one calendar so that the two of us can see what is going on. Sure, the calendar can look a little busy sometimes, but at least we both know that is going on, and that does help a lot. It also means that if there is a conference coming up or even bills that need to be paid, they are entered into the calendar. The important thing to remember is to turn off the reminders on events that are just notes and not something that is time specific.

The calendar has given the two of us a better understanding of the overall schedule that we are dealing with, and it helps a lot. I know that there are times when I look at the calendar can start laughing because it just seems like there are weeks when there are so many things on it and then another week it is pretty quiet. The quiet weeks may look quite, but those are normally weeks when bigger things are happening, and we are doing other tasks that need to be done.

Our calendar is synced to both of our phones so that we have it with us when we aren’t home because that also helped let the other one know, what is going on. We found that making sure that even the little things are noted means that it is easier to schedule client meetings when we know what else is going on in our lives. The one thing that needed to be on the calendar was all the holidays because without those you could be scheduling a weekend of work when it’s a holiday weekend and people really don’t want to work that weekend. Besides having the calendar on our phones, I also have a paper copy of it because it means that if I can on the phone with someone I can quickly see what is going on without having to try and check my calendar which is also on the device I am using for the conversation.

One day I was looking at our calendar and someone asked me how many kids we had because we were so busy. I explained that we didn’t have any kids but when you are managing two work lives, two personal lives and things we do together the calendar can look a little crazy depending on when you see it. Yes, some people may laugh at our calendar, but it works for us and that is what is important. We have found a method of keeping track of the different things in our lives, and it works for us. It may not work for everyone, but that is fine because every is different.

Schedules

A schedule can mean so many different things to working individuals. A schedule can mean that at a certain time you always do something. For other people a schedule can mean that at some point during a day you will attempt to get something done.

For people that are self employed a schedule can actually just be a guideline of things that should be done. Knowing that things should be done on a given day is great in a lot of ways as it can ensure that it is at least done when it is needed to be done.

The calendar that I have been using is very helpful as a reminder of when things should be done. Of course, there will always been things that are required to be done at a certain time like client meetings or visits but those are only some of the things that we have been adding to our calendar. The calendar that we have been using makes it easy to see when things are due and when meetings and such are. The calendar is also great as a means of tracking all of those other little things that need to be completed.

For us, a calendar is a great way to remind ourselves of the little things that also need to be done without having to do it at a specific time. The calendar that we have been using is the Google calendar and it means that we can set appointments for ourselves for all the various tasks and meetings that we have. The other nice thing about the calendar is if you set a reminder notification to appear it will appear and until you acknowledge the notification it doesn’t go away. I like this notification because what I do is if something need to be done on a specific day I will not acknowledge the notification until I have completed the item. This means that if I get busy and don’t get to the item until late afternoon or evening it will still be showing as an appointment.

Schedules really do vary based on the person and their job. There are always going to be the items that must be done at a specific time as they involve others. Being able to set up the appointments are reminders of the other tasks is also good because it means then the tasks are not forgotten when you get busy.

Recently we were at an event and we were talking to someone else but a possible demo and I was able to pull out our calendar and see when we would have the time to see the demo. Sure some of the items on the calendar where just the five or 10 minute tasks but at least it helped us focus on the days when we currently didn’t have a bunch of those reminders already scheduled.

Schedules will vary for each person and if it is for work or personal. Knowing what words best for you is important. The method that we use I know works well for us because it is a blend of both personal and business as being self-employed that is our life. Making sure that we have time for ourselves is also important and that is some of the times that are actual scheduled on the calendar that we use. Our schedule works well for us and that is great and it might not work for someone else. Your schedule or calendar has to work for you and don’t like others tell you that your method is wrong.

Calendars

I think everyone has a calendar for some of the things that they do or would like to do. For us a schedule or calendar is extremely important to make sure that things are done when they are required to be completed. As a business owner there are deadlines that must be met for the government otherwise there are penalties that have to be paid.

A calendar for me is something that I check most mornings to make sure that there isn't anything that I will be missing that day. Also my calendar let's me see what is coming up in the next little while so that I know the time I have available to accomplish my work. If you had of seen my October calendar you would have noticed that there were a lot of things written on it and some of those were conferences. What I noticed is that in the spring there are a limited number of events that we normally go to and they are spread out. Now, October seems to be the month when a lot of the conferences and events are so that calendar is always extremely busy. This October there were even days when there were two conferences but luckily they were both close together and neither required a whole day attendance.

A calendar is a great communication device because it lets you see what is coming up but also what has happened in the past. For me, there are two calendars that I use most of the time and one is the one on my mobile device which has some of the events on it and then there is the paper calendar that is near my desk. The second calendar is the one where a lot of the other events and items get written on so that I can see what is happening in the future. I use my paper calendar to review the future events because it is a lot quicker to see the week ahead or even the month overview without having to click on the various days to see what the dot means.

The calendar is also a means of making sure that we both know what is coming up because in some cases, if we didn't write something down, we may miss that specific event. So yes, a calendar can be for a few key things or for a lot of what is going on. For me, the calendar lets me make sure that I am able to find the balance between work and personal life without missing things.

Our calendar isn't as full now with conferences, which is nice, so work is going to be accomplished. It is now time for me to go back and check the calendar to see what I should be working on.