Scheduling life is difficult. Appointments, classes, projects, tests, rehearsals, dates, birthdays, events, blog posts and so much more. How do you do it?
I use many things.
My Post-it Note calendar schedules when each assignment for school should be done, my Assignment Schedule ensures that I never miss a due date, and my day planner keeps track of all of those, and more.
But what about when I’m on the go?
I’m not at the point where I want to have to whip out my day planner every time I go make an appointment at the doctor’s office, or when I need to check which scenes we are rehearsing for my musical that night. And sometimes, you just need something built in to automatically remind you that you have something to do.
Now what never leaves our side? Our electronics.
Phone, tablet, computer.. I guarantee that you almost always are in reach of one or more of them. So use that to your advantage!
What I recommend: Google Calendar. Even if there’s only one thing that you use to organize your life, use Google Calendar.
1) Make multiple calendars, and view them all together or separated.
I’ve created multiple calendars. One just labeled with my name for personal things: dates, events, appointments.
One labeled with the name of my school for my classes, other school events, days off, and big test dates.
One labeled with the current theatre show I’m working on for keeping track of rehearsals, performances, and conflicts.
One labeled work to keep track of my ever changing work schedule and my days off.
I’ve made them different colors to stand out and I’ve stuck with it.
2) Make events repeat without having to rewrite them.
I have my classes in my school calendar scheduled to repeat every day that I have those classes so that it’s easy to know at a glance what I have to schedule around without having to think about it.
3) Set reminders.
For the first week of classes I had a reminder set to remind me 10 minutes before each class started so I could get used to my schedule. I always have a reminder set 10 minutes before each appointment I have.
You can even set email notifications if you really don’t want to miss that Tuesday meeting again.
4) Connect to any device.
For putting in repeating events or a large amount of events I tend to use my computer, as I am faster at typing on my computer than my phone or iPad. But I do have it connected to my Android phone and my iPad (there are many apps that can do this, but you can also do it inside the provided calendar app that comes with the phone.)
I’ve included pictures of the different views that each format has below. Click on the images to see them in a larger view! (I did blur out, smudge, or cover some of the events because a lot of them had names of people on them.)
When you connect them, then any changes that you make on any device saves throughout all of them through internet or data connection.
5) Share your calendar.
I stage manager for theatres, so this trick is my favorite one. The easiest way to make sure everyone is on the same schedule, even when those schedules change, is to share a google calendar. Everyone who gets the invitation will have the ability to add the calendar to their devices, receive notifications if they want to, and view the events.
For theatre I use this to schedule what scenes we are rehearsing at what times, who needs to be where when, what everyone’s out of town conflicts are, costuming appointments, and much more.
This is great for teams, classes, groups, casts, families, and practically everyone.
6) Color code.
Of course, this is one of my favorite features. In my mind everything is color coded, I know that seems weird. Numbers all have colors to me, as well as days of the week, and every event. You already know that I color code my classes for my post-it note calendar and my daily planner, so of course I repeat those colors here to keep things consistent.
I’ve also assigned specific colors to each calendar, I match my school’s colors to every school related event, use a certain color for my work schedule, and a different color for each theatrical show I’m working on at the time.
I’ve gotten so used to using this system to keep track of everything, I really enjoy it. What do you use?
Your post has convinced me to give Google Calendar a try. Loved the example calendars. Looks like a great tool that can be accessed anywhere!
That’s great! I hope it works well for you 🙂 Let me know if you have any questions about it, I might be able to help.
I LIVE for my Google Calendar. Everything is logged in there and color coded. I have no idea what I’d do without it. I love that you showed it for iPad/Android too. Great post!
xo,
Dezzie | dezziedarling.com
I completely agree! I love it 🙂 Thanks for checking it out, it means a lot!
Dani
I’ve never really thought about google calendar! I use a planner but badly! I forget to write things in it and then it’s useless! This does sound good! You’re inspired me to try it! 🙂
Reblogged this on Bee Organized and commented:
Here’s a blog post all about Google Calendar! On Sunday, I’ll be posting about how to use Outlook Calendar!
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Great post! I love, love, love my Google Calendar as well. I use it much like you do, even with the color coding and with 4 kids in the house I even set up the reminder to text me. I may not always be at my computer but I almost always have my phone and need an extra reminder! I switched from Outlook to GC a little over a year ago and I’ve never, ever looked back.
WHAT APP ARE YOU USING FOR THE CALENDER FOR ANDROID
Hi! I use the basic calendar app that came with my android phone (I have an older LG Android phone) but lately I’ve also discovered the Sunrise Calendar App. It’s a lot prettier!
I started really using Google Calendar about a year ago and it has been a lifesaver. I wish I had been using it all this time. I also use the Todoist app and these two things have really helped me keep track of what I have going on. This is a great post!
Hi I’m new to all this how and where do I find the calendars? That’s my first problem, then I will have to go from THAT!!!! Thank You LOVETHE SITE
You can find Google Calendar right here: calendar.google.com/calendar/
And the “Calendars” are on the bottom left hand side under the “My Calendars” tab!
Terrific blog Dani, I had not thought about using it before but now I will definitely give it a go.
I like my Google calendar until it deleted all of 2017s appointments disappeared never to return. Need something I can count on.