Calendar Basics

Getting and staying organized is usually a top priority, but it doesn't have to be that difficult. Utilizing a few simple time management tools, you can regain control of your schedule.

No matter how busy your schedule or job, someone somewhere makes a calendar or organizer that will meet your needs. Taking the time to learn how to use either of those tools, will give you the opportunity to reclaim your ability to manage your time.

Calendars and planners are loosely organized into different styles.  Here's a quick discussion of those styles:

Calendars/planners - Calendars and planners come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.  They can be as small as a pocket model or as large as a wall model. However, calendars are only effective for organizational purposes if they are utilized. Dates, times, appointments all have to be recorded in the calendar for it to serve it's purpose. My personal favorite is a desktop calendar as it's in the location where I spend most of my time: at my desk. I record everything on that calendar and it's ready whenever I need it.  A quick glance tells me when and where I need to be somewhere. Like many other organizational items, most calendars can be refilled from year to year.

Telephone Books - Also called Address books, these are specifically designed to store contact information including name, address, telephone, e-mail, etc. Most calendars don't have this capability, so address books work well for this purpose. I prefer address books over an all in one type calendar as an address book gives me the ability to record a substantial amount of information about each contact.

Appointment Books - Unlike a calendar, appointment books are designed to organize a day in much greater detail.  These are great if your day is filled with meetings as a calendar won't offer the flexibility to manage your time at that level. As an added bonus, once you find a particular style appointment book that you really like, you can continue using it through yearly refills.

The first step to becoming organized involves taking command of your schedule.  Any of the organizational products above will help in that area.  Once you've taken this step, you can move on to other areas of your life that need to be organized.