Untangling Your Messy CalendarÂ
Calendar organization will ensure you don't double-book yourself ever again. How many appointments and events are you trying to keep track of? Do you have multiple calendars to juggle?
Keeping appointments and deadlines in a calendar is essential. Without one, unless you’ve got a fabulous memory (I don’t), things go bad quickly!
Unfortunately, many people still struggle with electronic calendar setup, something I see daily with clients. This is how it usually happens:
~~ They have a job before they start their business, and they use a calendar associated with their personal email for their personal life. That makes perfect sense.
~~ They start a business and decide to separate business and personal lives (just like when they had a job). So they get a new email account for work, something like a mybusinessname@gmail.com
account. Now there are two calendars.
~~ Then (sometimes), they get a “paid domain” email account (e.g., yourdomain.com ). Then they get a calendar with that, and there are now three places to log into and three places to track.
I was one of these people until I decided it was time to consolidate everything in one place.
If there is resistance to this idea, it’s usually from people who want to keep their “work-life” and “personal life” separate. I understand, but since there is only one you and only one place you can be at any one time, it makes more sense to keep everything in one place.
You can even have other people’s calendars show up (with their permission, of course). For example, I can toggle on and off some clients’ calendars. This way, we can schedule meetings more efficiently, reducing confusion.
Sorting this out can take a little time, but I guarantee it’s worth the effort.
Here’s how to start:
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1. Decide which calendar you’re going to use. Open the other calendars, transfer your appointments manually, or hire someone to migrate them for you. Be sure to look a year ahead so you don’t miss any recurring events, like anniversaries and birthdays that might be months in the future.
2. Make sure all calendar invites sent and received are done using the email address tied to this calendar.
3. Ask other calendar owners, like your children, significant others, and select clients, to “share” their calendars with you. If you use Google calendar, click here for step-by-step instructions; click here if you use Outlook.
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When you’re finished with the consolidation, you’ll be able to access your calendar across all your devices, knowing that everything you need is in one place.
Things I Can't Live Without: Toggl
If you’re in a business where you need to track your time – check out Toggl.
I can track billable and non-billable hours, and different rates per client or project, and keep all the details straight no matter where I am.
And the reporting feature is awesome if you’re wondering where you’re spending your time.
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