Life is busy…. it’s a circus. But there is one thing that can bring some clarity to your life, some grounding, some focus – and that’s the calendar.
In biblical times, back when people used paper to write things down, there existed a phenomenon called ‘diaries’ and people would map out their day’s appointments, meetings and tasks in this ‘diary’ to keep on top of everything. Today, we have similar technology, but it’s widely available online.
The Modern Tool of Choice
Google Calendar is one of the best places to start, simply because you can plug it into nearly any app and make it more suitable for your needs. I use my calendar in two places: my laptop (Calendar for OS X) and my phone (Cal by Any.Do). Google Calendar integrates with these well, and I’m synced up everywhere, so I’m always on the ball… well kind of.
It’s all about habits… And R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
Living your life by a calendar is no easy task (no pun intended). The thing with a calendar is that you have to respect it. It’s great that you have a calendar, and you spend time punching in your time slots on it, but if you don’t abide by it, you’re wasting your time.
You have got to get into the habit of checking it, updating it, and abiding by it. If you’re like me and have a lot of things on your plate, a calendar can help you balance everything and seem to do it gracefully.
I have a lot, but what I’ve recently started doing is calendaring my appointments and meetings, and using a separate calendar to “block” my time (how much time for work, how much time spent in traffic, how much time to blog, time to eat, clean, etc). Blocking out my time helps me plan a little better – so exercise is at 6pm, dinner is at 7:30pm, which would mean that I have to get back from exercising by at least 6:45pm to get dinner organised… And for me to get home by 6pm to exercise, I have to leave the office by 4:45pm for the very latest… You see, with a little planning, you can see what time you need to do certain things by.
My entire life is in a calendar, because remembering to take out the trash and finding time to write this blog post is not so easy when you have a hectic life and a demanding job. It really helps you prioritise and that’s golden in life.
