How to organize your calendar

Watch Over Your Calendar and Schedule

The most successful and productive people keep close watch over their calendar and schedule. We can’t always control everything, but with a carefully guarded calendar, we can plan and organize our time, increase our efficiency, and maintain our sanity! That sounds like a good start to 2021, right?

Today’s checklist:

1. Take a “before” picture of your calendar/planner.
2. Decide on your 2021 calendar. Will it be paper, a wall calendar or Google’s calendar. Pick ONE single calendar, then stick with it so nothing gets lost.
3. Assess your priorities. The most important things in your life should have the most time allotted.
4. Clear out people, groups, meetings or activities that are no longer essential or align with your priorities.
5. Make a list of the things you want and need to do – be as specific as possible for each day. Gather all scraps of paper, such as notes or appointment cards into ONE central location so that they can be documented in your 2021 calendar.
6. Block out time on your calendar for each activity with an estimated time to finish.
7. Maintain and update your calendar at the end of each day. Move any incomplete items forward and review time estimates for tomorrow.
8. Toss or shred scraps of paper, appointment cards that have now been documented.
9. Take an “after” picture of your calendar.

Share your progress!

Use your “stories” in Facebook or Instagram if you’d like to share your before and after pictures with me. Just remember to tag me so that I can see them. Also feel free to comment on this post and ask any questions you have regarding planning.

Tomorrow we will talk about the Address book.