Stop burying yourself in Post-It® notes

This week, I want to talk about another way to remember to do those things that need doing. This is an idea that does not involve Post-it® notes decorating your desk, computer, refrigerator, or… your face!

It’s called...
wait for it...

The calendar.

I know!
It's rrrrrevolutionary!  

If you want to be sure something gets done, you have to schedule it. Yes, schedule it! I schedule everything…!  The gym… laundry… important phone calls… even TV shows!

Here’s a small sampling of some items in my calendar this week:

• Mon 12:00–1:00pm  Stephanie (lunch)
• Mon 6:15–7:30pm  Yoga w. Elizabeth
• Tue 12:00–12:30pm  Sign up for new 401k
• Tue 3:00–3:30pm  Routing Forms (work meeting)
• Tue 5:30–5:45pm  Grab olives from office fridge (to take home)
• Tue 6:30–8:00pm  Laundry
• Tue 9:00–9:15pm  Take Isabella gift to work tomorrow (to remember to put it by the front door for the morning)
• Wed 1:00–2:30pm  Birthday lunch for Isabella
• Wed 6:30–9:00pm  Dinner w. Nancy & David
• Thu 11:00–11:15am  Library (to pick up a Harry Connick Jr. CD)
• Fri 12:00–12:30pm  Taco truck!
• Fri 1:00–5:00pm  Window guy (Oh, how I hate those 4-hour-window appointments!)
• Sat 1:00–1:30pm  Call grandpa
• Sun 8:00–9:00pm  Season premier of Once Upon a Time (Priorities, baby, Priorities!)

Why is this so important?

Using a calendar reminds you that there are only so many hours in a day, helping you be realistic about what can (and will) get done.

And when you have a million Post-It® notes surrounding you, your brain tends to shut down. Maybe it’s over-stimulation. Maybe you end up taking the Post-It® notes for granted. Either way, they tend to become invisible over time, don’t they?

And while I love a good Post-it® reminder (I mean, five years ago my desk and computer screen were littered with ‘em!)—I’ve now converted to the electronic calendar—I prefer google calendar… but there are many out there.  

This method of scheduling your day works on paper too! If you’re still using a wall calendar, dry-erase board, or Filofax (the page-a-week format was always my favorite), write it in: 2:30—Make dentist appt.  It may not send you a “fancy” email reminder like my google calendar does, but if you COMMIT to checking your calendar at certain intervals throughout the day... it will get done!

Here I go…

EXPERIMENT TIME!!

Try it for one week.

Then come back here and let us know, in the comments below, how it suits you!

Do you feel like you accomplished more this week?

Did fewer tasks slip through the cracks?

Or did you flat-out forget to look at your calendar? ;)

—
I would like to thank my editor, Nikki Garcia, who helped me shorten my long-windedness this week. I appreciate her graciousness as well as her willingness to be paid in squares of dark chocolate and spinach, poblano-pepper omelettes.