Along with using Leonie Dawson's
2014 Create Your Amazing Year Calendars and Workbooks, I have implemented my own calendar system to keep my life organized and all of my due dates on track. Actually, this calendar system is one that I've used off and on over the years, but lately I've had so many new things popping up so that I've decided to renew my calendar program.
To start with, I keep copies of my calendar in my Amazing Year Workbook binder. I happened to already have a full year of monthly calendars printed out prior to starting Leonie's program. So, I just added these into my binder. I also have a large deskpad type of calendar (that I hang on the wall rather than putting it on my desk).
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| January 2014 |
Before the start of every month, I take my large calendar and the next month's calendar from my binder, and I mark them all up. To get your calendar organized, you'll need:
- a large deskpad type calendar (I got mine at Staples, or maybe it was Office Max.)
- a set of highlighter markers
- a regular ball point pen
- monthly printed calendar pages for each month of the year
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| My Amazing Year binder, calendar, and supplies. |
First, figure out what categories you need to include on your calendar. Second, assign a color to each category (sometimes I forget my colors and end up with new assignments each month! As long as you are consistent within the month, it's not a big deal.). My categories and colors are:
- orange - bills
- pink - job #1 (emergency department scribe)
- green - job #2 (tutoring and some child care)
- blue - freelance writing assignments
- purple - personal and family activities (so far nothing listed for February yet)
Once you've got categories and colors figured out, start filling in your calendars! I usually work on one category at a time so I don't mix up my color assignments:
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| My blank calendars with a few things that I filled in a few weeks ago. |
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| All of my regular monthly bills (orange) filled in. |
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| Adding in my scribe job shifts (pink). |
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| Tutoring and childcare (green). |
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| Freelance writing assignments (blue). |
Once you've filled it all in, pop your small calendar back into your binder or planner, and rehang your big calendar on the wall. I carry my planner with me almost everywhere, and I keep the big calendar on the kitchen wall so I see it every single day.
