January is "National Be On Purpose Month", which is further outlined at http://bit.ly/eCj4Ts, and I firmly believe your calendar solution can help you stay on the path of your selected purpose, especially when that tool is utilized to its fullest.
Many available calendar solutions walk you through how to select your own specific purpose, determining how you want to be remembered and what kind of footprint you'd like to leave on the people you know, the world you've lived in and the future of our society. Almost any Franklin Covey option, whether paper or electronic, is a great example of calendar solutions that enable future planning, mission / vision development and analysis of your personal or professional goals. Have you used any such tool for your own future planning and, if so, what level of success did you experience or do you recommend one tool over another?
Whether you've selected a paper or an electronic option, your calendar helps you see how much time is available each day and, then, allows you to determine how best to fill your available time. When faced with more than one appointment option occurring simultaneously, you have to deliberately determine which opportunity is more in alignment with your own specific purpose, making a conscious decision as to how you'll spend that available time. Do you have a clear purpose and, if so, what questions do you ask yourself when determining if an upcoming opportunity aligns with that purpose closely enough to be added to your calendar?
That same calendar solution often allows you to manage tasks on your to-do list. If you are using Outlook or another electronic calendar solution linked to your email, you can actually add the associated item to your to-do list as the email containing the action item request is received. If you are using certain paper or electronic calendar solutions, there are tools included for prioritizing such tasks on your to-do list. However, there are limited hours in each day, and one person can only complete a certain number of tasks, especially when intertwined with scheduled appointments. Do you delegate or discard tasks unrelated to your own specific purpose?
Still, enabling your selected calendar solution to be a tool in your staying on the path of your selected purpose depends on whether you take time to fully learn the bells and whistles of what that calendar solution offers and, then, keep the solution where you'll reference it frequently to fully utilize all of those available bells and whistles. Are you aware of all the options offered by your electronic calendar solution, like scheduling repetitions of activities at whatever might be your desired intervals, programming audio, text or email reminders of upcoming events / celebrations and easily updating directly from existing email applications? Are you aware of all the options offered by your paper calendar solution, like sections for meeting notes, built-in holiday notifications, areas for tracking expenses, auto service or medical records and references for toll-free numbers, weights and measurements?
Which calendar solution are you using for 2011 and how is it helping you stay on the path of your selected purpose?
Showing posts with label planner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label planner. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Paper, Plastic or Reusable?
Okay... So we don't ask ourselves the same questions when picking out a calendar solution as we are asked in the grocery checkout line, but there are plenty of questions necessary for finding the calendar solution right for your unique needs. Are you struggling to pick your new calendar solution for 2011? Or had you previously selected a solution and are now finding that solution isn't really working for your current style and commitments? No problem... Let's evaluate your personality and scheduling needs to see what might be a better option.
QUESTIONS TO USE IN SELECTING CALENDAR FOR YOU...
Do you have tons of appointments each day? If so, a monthly view might be too overwhelming and might not allow enough space for all your commitments in each day's block. On the other hand, a daily view might make long-range planning more difficult since you won't be able to see the big picture of a week- or month-view to know all that is going on. Plus, if you don't have many appointments each day, a daily view might be way too much paper or
Do you know what size spacing works best for you and how it impacts which solution you should get? For paper planners, is your handwriting larger or do you prefer to write very small? For electronic planners, can you see your appointments in the program's available font sizes?
Do you spend more of your day sitting at a desk or moving around? If at a desk, can you keep an electronic program easily accessible and open on your computer's desktop throughout the day or would you have space atop your physical desktop to keep a paper planner visible, like maybe setting on a cookbook stand or one of Franklin Covey's Compact-Classic Planner Holder with Paper Storage? If more mobile, do you carry items in a briefcase big enough for a larger paper planner, do you need something smaller for a purse / shirt pocket or do you have a portable electronic device that can provide access to the electronic solutions available?
How many people need to have access to the selected calendar solution at any one moment in time? Are you the team's Chief Operating Officer, making you the only one that needs to access this calendar, keeping track of others' activities amidst your own as needed? Will all members of the office team and / or family be adding, subtracting and referencing this calendar equally? A personal paper planner versus a larger, wall-hanging calendar versus an electronic option will all offer differing levels of access, all depending on many variables.
How much time can you commit to maintaining your selected calendar option? Appointments must be added, regardless of whether the option is paper or electronic. Paper calendars need to be referenced since there aren't email or auditory reminders. Electronic calendars often need to be synced, particularly between team members' computers or your own devices, and always need to be charged or "powered up" to work.
Do you remember things better when you write them down? Can you look at a computer screen and memorize what's on tap for the day, visualizing that image throughout the day as a reminder? When you read a book, do you turn down corners of pages to mark content that needs to be referenced later? Do you enjoy the feel of flipping planner pages as the year progresses? Are you comfortable with tech gadgets? When you ask for directions, do you prefer a map drawing or turn-by-turn navigation provided by a GPS?
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF AVAILABLE OPTIONS...
Paper calendar solutions work well for visual folks who process information by writing it down, often more "global thinkers".
--- Always on and ready: there's no on / off switch to make sure is flipped in the right direction, no battery to charge and no syncing to occur.
--- Often less expensive, keeping track of appointments, big events, annual celebrations, to-do items and addresses in a cost-effective way.
--- Since a paper planner can't "crash", the only way to lose your data is to lose the entire system itself.
--- Offers sharing between team or family members with a larger, wall-hanging option, but that is not as mobile as a personal planner.
Electronic calendar solutions work well for detail-oriented folks who remember things without really looking at them all at once, often keeping track of tons of appointments by focusing on one day at a time.
--- Includes options like scheduling repetitions of activities at whatever might be your desired intervals, programming audio, text or email reminders of upcoming events / celebrations and easily updating directly from existing email applications.
--- Offers sharing between team or family members with web- or server-based options, but requires additional devices for mobility.
A hybrid solution that is often ideal for groups or individuals encompassing both personality types would be to enter things electronically and, then, print the daily, weekly or monthly calendar to carry with you or post on a wall, which is especially important when info must be shared.
--- Requires training yourself to always add data to the electronic solution, using the paper portion simply as a printout of what's in electronic
THE BOTTOM LINE...
There is no "right" or "wrong" answer to which calendar is best for you. In fact, when selecting a calendar solution, there really is only one "requirement" per se... Pick only one tool that will hold everything in it. That means all your personal and professional commitments are noted on that one calendar, not bouncing between different solutions. People that use more than one calendar have a much greater chance of something falling through the cracks, and we really don't want that to happen. Along those same lines, though, I do recommend incorporating color so different facets of your life or different projects in process have different colors, making it easy to see what's happening with each at a glance, and that tip is easy to utilize in any calendar solution, regardless of whether your chosen option is paper or electronic.
Then, once you have settled on the calendar solution deemed best for your unique style or personality and current commitments, I highly recommend allocating time to really get to know all that is offered by that particular option, training on its associated tools and applications so you take full advantage of what is available in getting and staying organized for your ultimate success.
What type of calendar solution do you use? How well is it working for you right now? What do you like best and what would you change?
QUESTIONS TO USE IN SELECTING CALENDAR FOR YOU...
Do you have tons of appointments each day? If so, a monthly view might be too overwhelming and might not allow enough space for all your commitments in each day's block. On the other hand, a daily view might make long-range planning more difficult since you won't be able to see the big picture of a week- or month-view to know all that is going on. Plus, if you don't have many appointments each day, a daily view might be way too much paper or
Do you know what size spacing works best for you and how it impacts which solution you should get? For paper planners, is your handwriting larger or do you prefer to write very small? For electronic planners, can you see your appointments in the program's available font sizes?
Do you spend more of your day sitting at a desk or moving around? If at a desk, can you keep an electronic program easily accessible and open on your computer's desktop throughout the day or would you have space atop your physical desktop to keep a paper planner visible, like maybe setting on a cookbook stand or one of Franklin Covey's Compact-Classic Planner Holder with Paper Storage? If more mobile, do you carry items in a briefcase big enough for a larger paper planner, do you need something smaller for a purse / shirt pocket or do you have a portable electronic device that can provide access to the electronic solutions available?
How many people need to have access to the selected calendar solution at any one moment in time? Are you the team's Chief Operating Officer, making you the only one that needs to access this calendar, keeping track of others' activities amidst your own as needed? Will all members of the office team and / or family be adding, subtracting and referencing this calendar equally? A personal paper planner versus a larger, wall-hanging calendar versus an electronic option will all offer differing levels of access, all depending on many variables.
How much time can you commit to maintaining your selected calendar option? Appointments must be added, regardless of whether the option is paper or electronic. Paper calendars need to be referenced since there aren't email or auditory reminders. Electronic calendars often need to be synced, particularly between team members' computers or your own devices, and always need to be charged or "powered up" to work.
Do you remember things better when you write them down? Can you look at a computer screen and memorize what's on tap for the day, visualizing that image throughout the day as a reminder? When you read a book, do you turn down corners of pages to mark content that needs to be referenced later? Do you enjoy the feel of flipping planner pages as the year progresses? Are you comfortable with tech gadgets? When you ask for directions, do you prefer a map drawing or turn-by-turn navigation provided by a GPS?
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF AVAILABLE OPTIONS...
Paper calendar solutions work well for visual folks who process information by writing it down, often more "global thinkers".
--- Always on and ready: there's no on / off switch to make sure is flipped in the right direction, no battery to charge and no syncing to occur.
--- Often less expensive, keeping track of appointments, big events, annual celebrations, to-do items and addresses in a cost-effective way.
--- Since a paper planner can't "crash", the only way to lose your data is to lose the entire system itself.
--- Offers sharing between team or family members with a larger, wall-hanging option, but that is not as mobile as a personal planner.
Electronic calendar solutions work well for detail-oriented folks who remember things without really looking at them all at once, often keeping track of tons of appointments by focusing on one day at a time.
--- Includes options like scheduling repetitions of activities at whatever might be your desired intervals, programming audio, text or email reminders of upcoming events / celebrations and easily updating directly from existing email applications.
--- Offers sharing between team or family members with web- or server-based options, but requires additional devices for mobility.
A hybrid solution that is often ideal for groups or individuals encompassing both personality types would be to enter things electronically and, then, print the daily, weekly or monthly calendar to carry with you or post on a wall, which is especially important when info must be shared.
--- Requires training yourself to always add data to the electronic solution, using the paper portion simply as a printout of what's in electronic
THE BOTTOM LINE...
There is no "right" or "wrong" answer to which calendar is best for you. In fact, when selecting a calendar solution, there really is only one "requirement" per se... Pick only one tool that will hold everything in it. That means all your personal and professional commitments are noted on that one calendar, not bouncing between different solutions. People that use more than one calendar have a much greater chance of something falling through the cracks, and we really don't want that to happen. Along those same lines, though, I do recommend incorporating color so different facets of your life or different projects in process have different colors, making it easy to see what's happening with each at a glance, and that tip is easy to utilize in any calendar solution, regardless of whether your chosen option is paper or electronic.
Then, once you have settled on the calendar solution deemed best for your unique style or personality and current commitments, I highly recommend allocating time to really get to know all that is offered by that particular option, training on its associated tools and applications so you take full advantage of what is available in getting and staying organized for your ultimate success.
What type of calendar solution do you use? How well is it working for you right now? What do you like best and what would you change?
Monday, March 29, 2010
Organize Your Home Office
Whether your home office is simply where you take care of the mail and pay each month's bills or is the spot in which you complete all the tasks of your full-time occupation, having an organized environment in which you can find anything needed at the exact moment you need it is extremely important. Such an environment can be good for your mental and physical health, can lower your stress, can improve your efficiencies and can provide you with extra time for doing the things you really enjoy in life, rather than just the things you "have to do" in life. Here are a few tips for achieving that environment:
Clutter is the result of postponed decisions... Whether it is paper, an electronic file, a tool used to perform your job, postage to mail checks in paying your bills or the information that fills your home daily, give items a "home" so you will know the answer of what to do with them upon receipt and after each use.
Use just one notebook for recording all messages (phone, exchanged face-to-face, transferrred from email or snail mail...) and for keeping all your notes together, rather than posting sticky notes everywhere.
Keep email manageable by retaining only those necessary and dealing with action items as quickly as possible, wether creating a task assigned to a specific time or completing the necessary action immediately. If the requested action takes less than 5 minutes, do it now; if longer time is required, schedule accordingly. Then, since the most recent message of a back-and-forth conversation usually includes the content of all previous messages, keep only the most recent and adjust each subject line to better indicate the content for easier locating later.
Make sure to keep only one calendar / planner... Anything more leads to forgotten commitments, appointments falling through the cracks and unnecessary stress... Plus, incorporate color whenever possible. For example, add items from the same area of your life in the same color of ink to show they are of the same facet in your life.
When naming paper and electronic files, balance carefully between generic and specific. You want each item to be filed fitting within one fo the files available, but you do not want any item to be filed abled to fit in multiple file options. Furthermore, be certain to use the same names in both paper and electronic filing systems, streamlining things.
These are just a few ideas to get you rolling along, but what are some of your favorite techniques? How do you organize your home office? Can't wait to hear all your ideas!
Clutter is the result of postponed decisions... Whether it is paper, an electronic file, a tool used to perform your job, postage to mail checks in paying your bills or the information that fills your home daily, give items a "home" so you will know the answer of what to do with them upon receipt and after each use.
Use just one notebook for recording all messages (phone, exchanged face-to-face, transferrred from email or snail mail...) and for keeping all your notes together, rather than posting sticky notes everywhere.
Keep email manageable by retaining only those necessary and dealing with action items as quickly as possible, wether creating a task assigned to a specific time or completing the necessary action immediately. If the requested action takes less than 5 minutes, do it now; if longer time is required, schedule accordingly. Then, since the most recent message of a back-and-forth conversation usually includes the content of all previous messages, keep only the most recent and adjust each subject line to better indicate the content for easier locating later.
Make sure to keep only one calendar / planner... Anything more leads to forgotten commitments, appointments falling through the cracks and unnecessary stress... Plus, incorporate color whenever possible. For example, add items from the same area of your life in the same color of ink to show they are of the same facet in your life.
When naming paper and electronic files, balance carefully between generic and specific. You want each item to be filed fitting within one fo the files available, but you do not want any item to be filed abled to fit in multiple file options. Furthermore, be certain to use the same names in both paper and electronic filing systems, streamlining things.
These are just a few ideas to get you rolling along, but what are some of your favorite techniques? How do you organize your home office? Can't wait to hear all your ideas!
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