Discussion Forum > Appointments / Calendar
Marco,
interesting question. I use calendar only for real appointments/fixed scheduled events. Usually, I do not have more than 5 appointments/events for the day (even with very busy day). I view many advantages of defining "today tasks" in a list (e.g. ordered by importance, by context/project or by time of the day) to fixed schedule in calendar. Too many tasks in my calendar is distracting for me, that is why I try to minimize them (instead, I often group my "today task" by approximate time of the day when I would like to do them)
To be specific: I use calendar (iCal, synced with google calendar and iPhone) for:
- appointments and events (no mark)
- important deadlines and "last possible days to..." (mark =, e.g. = send application)
- events which I might attend, bud I am not decided yet, or I just want to be informed (mark [], e.g. [concert XY], [mother coming to my town])
- appointments with myself, which I use when I definitelly want to block a day (or part of it) in advance for some activity, I use it rarely (once per week or so) -(mark >, e.g. > trip to city XY)
For all other dated tasks or tasks with start date/reminder date, I use my Things app, which has the same function as any task calendar or tickler calendar - I schedule task for particular day and every day I review tasks scheduled for that day, deciding what to do: 1) make it "today task" 2) postpone 3) delete or make it normal/unscheduled task.
interesting question. I use calendar only for real appointments/fixed scheduled events. Usually, I do not have more than 5 appointments/events for the day (even with very busy day). I view many advantages of defining "today tasks" in a list (e.g. ordered by importance, by context/project or by time of the day) to fixed schedule in calendar. Too many tasks in my calendar is distracting for me, that is why I try to minimize them (instead, I often group my "today task" by approximate time of the day when I would like to do them)
To be specific: I use calendar (iCal, synced with google calendar and iPhone) for:
- appointments and events (no mark)
- important deadlines and "last possible days to..." (mark =, e.g. = send application)
- events which I might attend, bud I am not decided yet, or I just want to be informed (mark [], e.g. [concert XY], [mother coming to my town])
- appointments with myself, which I use when I definitelly want to block a day (or part of it) in advance for some activity, I use it rarely (once per week or so) -(mark >, e.g. > trip to city XY)
For all other dated tasks or tasks with start date/reminder date, I use my Things app, which has the same function as any task calendar or tickler calendar - I schedule task for particular day and every day I review tasks scheduled for that day, deciding what to do: 1) make it "today task" 2) postpone 3) delete or make it normal/unscheduled task.
June 24, 2013 at 9:27 |
Daneb
Daneb
Hi Marco, I use a text calendar and just type in whatever it is I want to remember. I put in reminders of things that happen on that day (eg a domain expires, a subscription is due), appointments (eg 1400-1500 meeting with Joe) and sometimes general reminders around an approximate time of the year (eg are we organising a team night out?)
I made the blank calendar available a few weeks ago if anyone else might find it useful. It goes from now to the year 2020.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32392336/calendar.txt
I made the blank calendar available a few weeks ago if anyone else might find it useful. It goes from now to the year 2020.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32392336/calendar.txt
June 24, 2013 at 10:14 |
Chris
Chris
My calendar consists of sheets of A4 paper on a clip board. Each sheet contains one month. The blank is printed out from Outlook Calendar.
That means I only have a space about the size of a rectangular postage stamp for each day.
I record only the following:
1) Public holidays and the like in block capital letters.
2) Appointments and events which I am attending with the time and place when known. I add (tbc) if it awaits confirmation.
3) Appointments and events which I am not attending but which I need to know about are recorded in brackets. This also applies to events which I will attend if another event falls through.
4) Real deadlines (i.e. not self-imposed ones).
5) Holidays and other periods away from home.
6) Other people's movements if relevant to me.
7) Reminders for tasks which can only be done on a certain day.
That means I only have a space about the size of a rectangular postage stamp for each day.
I record only the following:
1) Public holidays and the like in block capital letters.
2) Appointments and events which I am attending with the time and place when known. I add (tbc) if it awaits confirmation.
3) Appointments and events which I am not attending but which I need to know about are recorded in brackets. This also applies to events which I will attend if another event falls through.
4) Real deadlines (i.e. not self-imposed ones).
5) Holidays and other periods away from home.
6) Other people's movements if relevant to me.
7) Reminders for tasks which can only be done on a certain day.
June 24, 2013 at 19:23 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I keep a "page-a-week" calendar in my purse with the information Mark puts on his. I'd prefer "page-a-month", but it's too crowded, and a larger book would mean it doesn't fit in my purse. Knowing that everything I need for most situations is in my purse is important.
The family calendar is a large (similar to FlyLady's) "page-a-month" on the kitchen wall, which we sync manually. It only has things that affect more than one person (including driving and reminding the kids of things), or that are low-worry and therefore easy to forget.
I have a large weekly milestone chart, described in more detail in another thread. It's a table in Word, and prints (a bit small) on a single page. Each week gets a row. Each column is a project, or group of similar projects. One column is "presents", another is things that affect the week-length (eg long weekends) or others' schedules (don't expect feedback in late December). After adding the deadlines, I count back and add milestones, then do a sanity check. Quite often, milestones get moved earlier to smooth out the workload.
Creating that chart is similar to GTD's Weekly Review, but happens much less often. A quick look at the chart tells me how I stand on my longer projects, so there's no need for a weekly brain-dump.
Every week, I create a week page, which stays on top of my desk. As long as I check this single page frequently, things get done on time. It has the hard landscape from the calendars, plus milestones and deadlines from the chart, and recurring tasks. (One is "check the monthly list".) It also has meal-planning. (Cook the roast tonight, since we're busy for the next 5 nights.) If the week is busy, especially the later days, I schedule important tasks. (Last Tuesday I wanted to let grocery shopping slide, then looked at the next few days. Eeps!) It also includes daily routines that aren't firmly established.
Creating this week page is not the same as GTD's Weekly Review. It goes into a lot less depth, and much more breadth.
Far-future events can in the back of either calendar, or the weekly milestone chart, or on a back page of my AF list. I trust all three places, so go with the most-convenient at the time.
Hope this helps!
The family calendar is a large (similar to FlyLady's) "page-a-month" on the kitchen wall, which we sync manually. It only has things that affect more than one person (including driving and reminding the kids of things), or that are low-worry and therefore easy to forget.
I have a large weekly milestone chart, described in more detail in another thread. It's a table in Word, and prints (a bit small) on a single page. Each week gets a row. Each column is a project, or group of similar projects. One column is "presents", another is things that affect the week-length (eg long weekends) or others' schedules (don't expect feedback in late December). After adding the deadlines, I count back and add milestones, then do a sanity check. Quite often, milestones get moved earlier to smooth out the workload.
Creating that chart is similar to GTD's Weekly Review, but happens much less often. A quick look at the chart tells me how I stand on my longer projects, so there's no need for a weekly brain-dump.
Every week, I create a week page, which stays on top of my desk. As long as I check this single page frequently, things get done on time. It has the hard landscape from the calendars, plus milestones and deadlines from the chart, and recurring tasks. (One is "check the monthly list".) It also has meal-planning. (Cook the roast tonight, since we're busy for the next 5 nights.) If the week is busy, especially the later days, I schedule important tasks. (Last Tuesday I wanted to let grocery shopping slide, then looked at the next few days. Eeps!) It also includes daily routines that aren't firmly established.
Creating this week page is not the same as GTD's Weekly Review. It goes into a lot less depth, and much more breadth.
Far-future events can in the back of either calendar, or the weekly milestone chart, or on a back page of my AF list. I trust all three places, so go with the most-convenient at the time.
Hope this helps!
June 27, 2013 at 20:11 |
Cricket
Cricket
I had a tie in conversation on these boards which I think is worth a revisit here.
I use my calendar space for all the same reasons listed here, however I do not use the space for commitments to my self, so to speak. So to answer your question, I have a "data" calendar which is a simple run of elective, matter of fact information: x-mas day, gallery opening, etc. These include ticklers to ticket ordering, facebook events in an RSS feed, and meet-ups that I can always join. etc. I turn the reminders off on this list. Passing them up routinely, or not associating an action with them, I don't want my alerts to cry wolf every week.
And yes, I too have a delegated calendar, or you could call it agendas, for when other's commitment and accountability to me will require tracking.
The blind spot of all planning systems, I believe, aside from networking follow up, is running dates. For this, I use a task with a question mark, as Mr. Forster has enlightened me to. Cirque du Soleil? as a task means "decide on whether you are getting tickets for the circus while they are in town. The question mark doesn't mean, buy the ticket, nor does it mean this place saver is for knowing when to go, but it could mean inviting your friends, checking the bank account. The question mark is for evaluating as an agenda item. Try not to let the decision go beyond that, howeever-you really want to get most things done with "single touch"
You could get fancy, and use the "decide on" task with a start date rather than an end date, as you would in a project planning environment. You could exclusively use reminders in a calendar, or the new evernote reminders, or a dedicated app like Due for this exclusive status-making decisions on opportunities in a timely manner.
Then I use events for Due dates, as you would expect. These could also be tasks with a due date or an all-day banner. Important then that you distinguish them from all other tasks, which do not get a due date. Again, you do not want to go numb to otherwise arbitrary alerts going off. Silent countdown while you work your discretionary tasks. But there is the element of Priority A as it is defined in Coveyville-you want to be aware of those items which will deminish in value if they are not met by a certain, deliberate time.
All this comes from Mark's approach, in fact. I take the notion of "calendar as sacred space" quite seriously, which is why he has you seriously evaluate the meetings you are getting yourself into, etc. By definition then, I consider any calendar event as implying participants. And a time and place, of course. But this is why I don't use it for "block this time out, Moneypenny, while I check my email"
This has gotten much more popular-using the calendar to grey out time for routines, or scheduling appointments for what would otherwise be considered events with one's self. A writing session, recording in the studio, etc. In my experience this is more a calendar hack than supported functionality.
I have a problem with this-it doesn't mean that I have the correct way of thinking about it-I just know that there are other pitfalls to taking events with one's self without a grain of salt. I do think routinized commitments do need to be scheduled and communicated. I just think there is a different complex of consequences for honoring such commitments than those which you have agreed upon with another person. Why not put them into your deadline calendar banner? What happens if you show up to work 10 minutes late, and that eats into your "email" time? Do you want to beat yourself up? If you don't beat yourself up than what should the consequencese be? For every time opportunities arise, would you cling to your "email block?" Are these the necessary boundaries to get other people to respect your space and housekeeping? And if exceptions aren't tied to consequences, than have you upheld the sanctity of the space/time that you sculpted in your calendar? The priority A status might clean up this confusion. I don't have an answer for this, but maybe the one tool that I haven't exploited above would be timers.
I use my calendar space for all the same reasons listed here, however I do not use the space for commitments to my self, so to speak. So to answer your question, I have a "data" calendar which is a simple run of elective, matter of fact information: x-mas day, gallery opening, etc. These include ticklers to ticket ordering, facebook events in an RSS feed, and meet-ups that I can always join. etc. I turn the reminders off on this list. Passing them up routinely, or not associating an action with them, I don't want my alerts to cry wolf every week.
And yes, I too have a delegated calendar, or you could call it agendas, for when other's commitment and accountability to me will require tracking.
The blind spot of all planning systems, I believe, aside from networking follow up, is running dates. For this, I use a task with a question mark, as Mr. Forster has enlightened me to. Cirque du Soleil? as a task means "decide on whether you are getting tickets for the circus while they are in town. The question mark doesn't mean, buy the ticket, nor does it mean this place saver is for knowing when to go, but it could mean inviting your friends, checking the bank account. The question mark is for evaluating as an agenda item. Try not to let the decision go beyond that, howeever-you really want to get most things done with "single touch"
You could get fancy, and use the "decide on" task with a start date rather than an end date, as you would in a project planning environment. You could exclusively use reminders in a calendar, or the new evernote reminders, or a dedicated app like Due for this exclusive status-making decisions on opportunities in a timely manner.
Then I use events for Due dates, as you would expect. These could also be tasks with a due date or an all-day banner. Important then that you distinguish them from all other tasks, which do not get a due date. Again, you do not want to go numb to otherwise arbitrary alerts going off. Silent countdown while you work your discretionary tasks. But there is the element of Priority A as it is defined in Coveyville-you want to be aware of those items which will deminish in value if they are not met by a certain, deliberate time.
All this comes from Mark's approach, in fact. I take the notion of "calendar as sacred space" quite seriously, which is why he has you seriously evaluate the meetings you are getting yourself into, etc. By definition then, I consider any calendar event as implying participants. And a time and place, of course. But this is why I don't use it for "block this time out, Moneypenny, while I check my email"
This has gotten much more popular-using the calendar to grey out time for routines, or scheduling appointments for what would otherwise be considered events with one's self. A writing session, recording in the studio, etc. In my experience this is more a calendar hack than supported functionality.
I have a problem with this-it doesn't mean that I have the correct way of thinking about it-I just know that there are other pitfalls to taking events with one's self without a grain of salt. I do think routinized commitments do need to be scheduled and communicated. I just think there is a different complex of consequences for honoring such commitments than those which you have agreed upon with another person. Why not put them into your deadline calendar banner? What happens if you show up to work 10 minutes late, and that eats into your "email" time? Do you want to beat yourself up? If you don't beat yourself up than what should the consequencese be? For every time opportunities arise, would you cling to your "email block?" Are these the necessary boundaries to get other people to respect your space and housekeeping? And if exceptions aren't tied to consequences, than have you upheld the sanctity of the space/time that you sculpted in your calendar? The priority A status might clean up this confusion. I don't have an answer for this, but maybe the one tool that I haven't exploited above would be timers.
June 27, 2013 at 23:03 |
James
James
Hi! For managing your schedules and appointments, you can use this helpful web app. Skedly is a scheduling system that is created for professionals and entrepreneurs that has recurring appointments and returning clients. To know more details, visit http://sked.ly Don't worry, its free!
September 2, 2013 at 8:07 |
Nicole Rivers
Nicole Rivers
James:
>>What happens if you show up to work 10 minutes late, and that eats into your "email" time? <<
You jump into your schedule were you are and add another 10 minutes email block either at another place in your calendar or as a must-do task in your lists.
>>And if exceptions aren't tied to consequences, than have you upheld the sanctity of the space/time that you sculpted in your calendar?<<
In Coveyville, as you put so niceley, these appointments with self are tied to highest-level goals and not to mundane routine tasks like checking email. So, the consequence of not reaching your life's most important goals? We are mere mortals, so much we figured out by now, didn't we?
Other than that, as I wrote above, the normal consequence is to catch up ASAP. This principle was told in ye olde days by: well, then you will go to bed without having dinner.
This knowledge stems from those times when the clear schedule stated: either you OR the mammoth 's gonna have dinner tonight.
Sounds so harsh doesn't it? But I believe (at least for now) it's the logic of the game.
Thoughts?
>>What happens if you show up to work 10 minutes late, and that eats into your "email" time? <<
You jump into your schedule were you are and add another 10 minutes email block either at another place in your calendar or as a must-do task in your lists.
>>And if exceptions aren't tied to consequences, than have you upheld the sanctity of the space/time that you sculpted in your calendar?<<
In Coveyville, as you put so niceley, these appointments with self are tied to highest-level goals and not to mundane routine tasks like checking email. So, the consequence of not reaching your life's most important goals? We are mere mortals, so much we figured out by now, didn't we?
Other than that, as I wrote above, the normal consequence is to catch up ASAP. This principle was told in ye olde days by: well, then you will go to bed without having dinner.
This knowledge stems from those times when the clear schedule stated: either you OR the mammoth 's gonna have dinner tonight.
Sounds so harsh doesn't it? But I believe (at least for now) it's the logic of the game.
Thoughts?
September 12, 2014 at 16:09 |
Christopher
Christopher
Follow Jordan Peterson's advice to create a schedule you LIKE. Make it a friend. Make days that would be good for you. I use google calendar app because it shows events near me that I can add reminders for in calendar. Add fun. Add pleasure. Add adventures. Add what you VALUE! No arbitrary responsibilities/duties/tasks.
July 17, 2019 at 17:14 |
michael
michael
Christopher
There's some genuine life lessons in your reply, so I'll have to move cautiously here.
>>What happens if you show up to work 10 minutes late, and that eats into your "email" time? <<
Email was never on my calendar. It's an appointment with myself, which to me doesn't make sense. Calendar is sacred space for when space time has to be intersected with someone else or some other event happening. I'm not making an event of email that needs more expanding than a point on a list. Email is more like triage for me, only I leave the dead where they lay.
>>And if exceptions aren't tied to consequences, than have you upheld the sanctity of the space/time that you sculpted in your calendar?<<
No, and I'm rather terrible at this, Christopher. That's what the pint of ice cream in the freezer is for: to placate all the things I did wrong and to make every day about as meaningless as the next despite whether I was true to my values or true to my goals. Some have a wank. Some hit the booze. Some turn on the tele. Some forgive and remember we're still mortals. And some genuinely can't eat as a consequence of a wrong move.
But I still can't justify "appointments with self" as something that goes on a calendar, unless that appointment is an airplane ticket or some other time-released event. It does put into question where do dreams go to shatter? The question then isn't "How do I make dreams come true?" It's more "Who knows how to bring this dream a little closer to reality" and to then make an appointment with them.
Nor can I manufacture urgency as long as the ice cream is in the fridge. I cannot manufacture fear of a sabertooth. I can answer "what do I want to do now" by stating "I want dinner tonight" or "I want to face my fears" or "I want to make my partner proud" or "I want to survive this hostage negotiation" but by your logic I would have to frame it as such "I want to skip dinner tonight because I said I was going to call that commercial agent and I didn't" And if I am indeed so broke that I'm not eating dinner, then, yes, I would make other decisions. Most people who are achievers are thinking about how much they've saved up for retirement, not so much about what's for dinner, unless they truly are going to bed hungry, which does include billions of people every night. Even their mammoth looks far more complicated these days.
There's some genuine life lessons in your reply, so I'll have to move cautiously here.
>>What happens if you show up to work 10 minutes late, and that eats into your "email" time? <<
Email was never on my calendar. It's an appointment with myself, which to me doesn't make sense. Calendar is sacred space for when space time has to be intersected with someone else or some other event happening. I'm not making an event of email that needs more expanding than a point on a list. Email is more like triage for me, only I leave the dead where they lay.
>>And if exceptions aren't tied to consequences, than have you upheld the sanctity of the space/time that you sculpted in your calendar?<<
No, and I'm rather terrible at this, Christopher. That's what the pint of ice cream in the freezer is for: to placate all the things I did wrong and to make every day about as meaningless as the next despite whether I was true to my values or true to my goals. Some have a wank. Some hit the booze. Some turn on the tele. Some forgive and remember we're still mortals. And some genuinely can't eat as a consequence of a wrong move.
But I still can't justify "appointments with self" as something that goes on a calendar, unless that appointment is an airplane ticket or some other time-released event. It does put into question where do dreams go to shatter? The question then isn't "How do I make dreams come true?" It's more "Who knows how to bring this dream a little closer to reality" and to then make an appointment with them.
Nor can I manufacture urgency as long as the ice cream is in the fridge. I cannot manufacture fear of a sabertooth. I can answer "what do I want to do now" by stating "I want dinner tonight" or "I want to face my fears" or "I want to make my partner proud" or "I want to survive this hostage negotiation" but by your logic I would have to frame it as such "I want to skip dinner tonight because I said I was going to call that commercial agent and I didn't" And if I am indeed so broke that I'm not eating dinner, then, yes, I would make other decisions. Most people who are achievers are thinking about how much they've saved up for retirement, not so much about what's for dinner, unless they truly are going to bed hungry, which does include billions of people every night. Even their mammoth looks far more complicated these days.
July 17, 2023 at 15:38 |
James
James
I want to also concede that there is very good reason to schedule time for one's own projects, whether its when you are always at your typewriter or rehearsing your part for the orchestra, or even in cases where your day is at other people's behest, blocking in your shift as a barista. I guess I see this more as blocking or greying out parts of the schedule.
July 18, 2023 at 13:24 |
James Louis
James Louis
James:
What I was trying to convey was the simple fact that if you break your commitments, then ultimately you will end up broke.
There is no system that will make you do what you have aligned for doing for yourself, be it a calendared item or anything on a list.
If you do not follow your system, there is no difference between "todo-items" or "scheduled items", you are breaking your commitments.
And that leads, in ultimate consequence, to being broke.
Very broadly speaking.
That's what I was trying to say.
Now, regarding the difficulties of making appointments-with-self work in practice, I largely agree with you. I observed all the obstacles you mentioned as well.
One can use Covey's "A" or not, that would just codify another set of rules consisting another sort of commitment.
The answer to your original question remains the same. You either do what you said you would do or you don't. If you don't, the negative consequences arise – outside of your system.
If you work your system, the system will work for you. (In both senses…)
What I was trying to convey was the simple fact that if you break your commitments, then ultimately you will end up broke.
There is no system that will make you do what you have aligned for doing for yourself, be it a calendared item or anything on a list.
If you do not follow your system, there is no difference between "todo-items" or "scheduled items", you are breaking your commitments.
And that leads, in ultimate consequence, to being broke.
Very broadly speaking.
That's what I was trying to say.
Now, regarding the difficulties of making appointments-with-self work in practice, I largely agree with you. I observed all the obstacles you mentioned as well.
One can use Covey's "A" or not, that would just codify another set of rules consisting another sort of commitment.
The answer to your original question remains the same. You either do what you said you would do or you don't. If you don't, the negative consequences arise – outside of your system.
If you work your system, the system will work for you. (In both senses…)
July 27, 2023 at 20:34 |
Christopher
Christopher
How do y'all keep your calendars / appointments / scheduled tasks?
Seems like we (justly) spend most of our energy creating ways to do unscheduled tasks. Is everyone just using a basic scheduling calendar for time sensitive things, or is there a better way?