2008 Calendar Time

Now is a good time to purchase your 2008 calendars -- not only is January just around the corner, but surely things for the next month are popping up that you should record.

You might also consider how you keep track of appointments, to-do tasks and events. I usually recommend that you have no more than 2 calendars -- one large calendar for everyone's schedules/events, and one personal planner that you can carry around. (Otherwise you do a lot of transcribing and duplicating information).

The large calendar provides an overview for everyone at-a-glance and incorporates each family member’s priorities. If you have kids, you can consult your school calendar and transfer all important dates onto the calendars to cover holidays, school activities, etc. You can also color-code the items you write in according to type of event or by family member.

Your personal or work planner can be a paper planner or PDA that you can take with you. Carry your planner/calendar system at all times. By having your system on hand, you'll review before you commit and remember events when the time comes. Some options to check out are Franklin Covey, planners at Staples, and electronic PDAs at Palm's website.

Remember that you can use your calendar both for events/happenings AND tasks/to-do items. This ensures that you will do things on the day they should be done.

The most important key to success, though, is to synchronize the 2 components, which isn’t difficult but it is something you have to remember to do. My husband and I both have electronic PDA's so we're able to 'sync' our calendars by beaming events from handheld to handheld. Then I upload the PDA's info to our computer so I can print out 8 1/2 x 11 sized calendar printouts to be viewed in the kitchen.

The more you write down, the less you have to remember and the more that will get done. Here's to a more organized 2008!