How to Organize Your Calendar

Whether you are dedicated to digital or holding onto your paper planner, a calendar has enormous potential to help you stay organized. I have been a religious user of both physical and digital calendars and to-do lists for my whole life – they are absolutely essential to my productivity and sanity while trying to juggle everything. Being organized is not something innate to one’s personality, but rather the result of effective implementation of systems that help you solve the problems in your life. 

Check In With Yourself 
As with any organizing project, this process is very personal! Start by asking yourself what you are hoping to accomplish with an organized calendar. Understanding your own needs is the first step to feeling more in control of your time. This will also help you make the right choices to implement a system that works for you in the long term. 

Choose Your Medium 
Calendars come in many forms. You may have seen a white board calendar above a colleague’s desk or glanced at a friend’s meticulously color coded iCal app. Some people prefer to keep their calendars physical because it remains front of mind and the tactile experience of writing helps them remember their tasks better. Others prefer a digital calendar that can be synced to their email address, easily shared with friends or family and never lost. 

Physical Calendars We Love:
Desktop Calendar Pad
Monthly Dry Erase Board
Every Day Entryway Organization System
NYTimes Favorite Paper Planners for 2022

Digital Calendars We Love 
Almost every email service comes with a calendar app. iCal (Apple), Google Calendar, and Outlook Calendar are some of the most common. Once you choose an app, stick with it! It can be confusing to have to update your calendar in multiple places, resulting in missed appointments or double booking. 

Personal vs. Work 
Another question to answer for yourself is if you would like to have a combined personal and work calendar, or if you’d rather keep them separate. I personally prefer a calendar that allows you to filter in multiple types of events – that way, you can add to just one place but still have the option to separate out your personal and professional events. I use Google Calendar and have both my work and personal emails attached to it. 

You can also separate your personal and work calendars completely. There are a few apps that you can use to cross reference your calendars if you would rather keep them separate. Calendly is a great tool for scheduling with multiple calendars. 

Keeping Your Tasks Clear
There are a few ways that you can set up your calendar to make it easy for you to see what’s on your plate at a glance. If you read our blog regularly, you know that we love to categorize – break out your calendar into categories and standardize your events or tasks based on these categories (ie, work vs. social vs. kid’s activities, etc). 

Color coding is another great way to quickly see what you have on your plate on any given day. For example, you could use red for urgent tasks, yellow for due dates of longer term projects, and green for appointments. Pick colors that are distinct from each other, but not in a way that feels overwhelming. If you aren’t sure where to start, stick with the rainbow. Your most important category can be red, followed by your next priority in orange. ROYGBIV your way through your calendar needs! 

Try Not to Overthink It
Anyone who knows me would laugh at that heading – I overthink everything. But when it comes to managing your time, you need to follow your needs and impulses. If you want to buy a cute planner because it’s cute, but know that you will never be able to find a pen when you need one, stick with the digital option. If you can never remember any of your passwords, maybe a paper planner with lots of space to jot notes is just right for you. Don’t be afraid to try something new in your effort to get organized. Every “failed” organizing project is an opportunity to better understand yourself and your needs – what a gift! 

Looking for more help setting up a digital calendar? Give us a call and we’ll do it all for you!