Today’s installment of Managing Calendars ends this 3 part series and is on beginning a new calendar. I prefer a June to July also known as an Academic calendar, so I’m finishing my old calendar this month and prepping my new 2017-2018 calendar. Some people prefer January- December and there is NOTHING wrong with that and the same principles apply no matter when you start a new calendar.
SYNC
Syncing your calendar is the first thing you should do. I load up my iCal on my computer and write in all birthdays, anniversaries, and significant dates already set that I don’t have in my paper calendar because the time is past my paper calendar’s expiration date.
Things to Sync:
- Birthdays
- Anniversaries
- Meetings
- Vacations
GOALS
Since I use a July- June calendar, I typically write all my goals in my journal in January. So when I start a new planner, it’s vital that I transfer that info from my journal (& previous planner) to my new one. This is also a great time to refresh what I hoped to achieve and take steps in crossing more off the list. For example I wrote: Dance like no one is watching, go to the dentist, take brave steps & believe in your talents. I’ve done a few of those, especially the dance one at Kendra’s wedding but I haven’t gone to the dentist. It’s now on my calendar and I’ve set an appointment for August, ok, yes I’ve been putting it off. But they seriously didn’t have an opening until the END of August. #ihatethedentist
COLOR CODE
If you know me personally, you probably know I love to be organized. If my spirit animal could be organization, it would be. I have a set of Paper Mate Flair pens, in a variety of colors. Each one is something specific and I use them 90% of the time in my planner alone. I have one for: Travis, Me, Friends, Work, Meals, Errands, Fun
Each pen has been labeled via sharpie and sits in a cup on my desk. If something doesn’t fall into a category then I use black or pencil. #OCDmuch?
Everyone organizes their new planners differently, these are just the first few steps I take in going from my old paper planner to my new one.
What is the first thing you do when you get a new planner?
I mean, that is after you, flip the pages past your nose and suck in the new paper smell.
Stylishly Shelby 