Calendaring

  In my last article I talked about calendaring. When I was eleven years old my brother gave me my first Franklin Covey planner. At the time I thought it was the oddest gift to give to an eleven year old, especially to me—since I didn’t deem myself a very organized person. But I decided that since I had it, I would use it. That planner has proven to be the most impactful gift I had ever been given. It became such a tool to me that I soon began referring to it as my “life.”

I organized everything from homework to activities. It taught me to use a calendar, which to this day seems to be the most effective way for me to manage my time. I have moved from paper to digital and I love it! Since my schedule is right on my phone, it makes taking it with me a lot easier—not to mention entering recurring tasks and events is a dream comparatively. 

There are so many options for calendaring, from your typical day planners to online calendars. In another article I’ll review some of the calendaring apps and tools out there and rate them, but really, it doesn’t completely matter. I believe that the most important part is that you write things down. “The faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory,” as the Chinese proverb goes. 

So, how do you use a calendar effectively? How do you get your work stuff done and have time with your family and friends? Most importantly: how do you balance writing with everything else in between? Here’s a basic breakdown of how I do it. I’m sure there are other ways to make calendaring a beneficial experience, but this may be a good starting place.

Set a designated day and time to fill out and review your calendar 

(add it to your calendar as an appointment if you need).

• On Sunday evenings I go through emails and fill in my kids' school events, deadlines, and other appointments, typically focusing on the entire week at once. Throughout the week I add things immediately after I set them up—otherwise I tend to forget. 

• Each night I review my schedule for the next day and line things up if needed so I'm ready for the morning.

Schedule in all of the “must do’s”

• Start with work, school, meetings, and appointments. Take into account travel and prep time.

• Add in meals and important chores.

• Using the gaps, fill in your writing time.

Schedule in the “want to’s”

• Plan time for the people you care about.

1. I’m going to spend time on this one, because I think it’s important and it’s where I’ve had to do the most work personally. 

I’m constantly diving into one project or another and my husband loves nothing more than sitting down, watching TV with a big bowl of popcorn, and just enjoying time with me. Luckily he’s a good communicator and I’m a fairly decent listener. He told me that he was missing that time with me, so I made him a deal that I would watch TV with him one night a week, no distractions, if we danced to a song after every show we watch (since we met Swing dancing and I never want that to stop.). So every Monday night we have a special little night where we watch a TV show and dance to one song. We call it, “Do Nothing Night” and it’s something we both look forward to every week. 

We also have a slated Date Night for either Friday or Saturday night at about 6:00pm, depending mostly on our older kids’ schedules for babysitting. 

It may not be spontaneous, but it will happen more often than not if you have the time allotted—and that is what’s most important.

• If you have other hobbies that you want to explore, schedule time for those.

• Leave open spaces in your schedule. This way you’re prepared with time for “other” things and emergencies. Also it gives you flexibility and you’re less likely to experience burnout. It’s good for your brain to see and experience down time.

The biggest benefit of calendaring is the ability to see, at a glance, how busy you are and where you have writing time. 

Even if you only have a fifteen minute time slot (typically me), that is time that can be well spent. A calendar can help you make and keep your appointments, especially the writing appointments you make with yourself. Try it out! Who knows, it could be the most important skill you’ll ever acquire. You’ve got this! 

What type of calendar do you use to manage your time? Do you have any tips on calendaring that I didn’t cover? I’d love to hear from you! Leave me a comment.

Baby Steps

      Now that we’ve committed to doing better with time management, the key is getting consistent. I’ve written an article about this before, but it really is tricky, especially with outside forces working their way in. Although, in some people’s cases it could be that there aren’t enough outside forces and we think all day, “I have plenty of time to get to my writing. I will do it later.” Both of these scenarios make for a difficult time with getting consistent and in both cases boundaries are important. Boundaries with others and boundaries with ourselves. As well as taking advantage of our pockets of time.

     When I talk about boundaries I am referring to drawing the line between needs and wants and how to make this work for you in your writing. This book, Boundaries: When to Say Yes When to say No To Take Control of Your Life by John Townsend and Henry Cloud, is really good. Be aware that if you read it, you'll see who is taking your time, who doesn’t respect your boundaries, and who does. It changes the way you see people, but it also does a great job of teaching you how to work with those people. Mainly, I find, the best way to set a boundary with my writing is to use a schedule and stick to it.

     Scheduling writing time is important for a few reasons.

It makes it feel more important.

     Like a doctor’s appointment, don’t schedule something during your writing time. This is set aside for work. Make sure to talk to others like it is an appointment also. If someone asks you to do something during your writing block of 10:00-12:00, simply say, “Sorry, I have an appointment from 10:00-12:00, but I can meet you before or after that.”

It helps you focus on your writing.

     This way your life isn’t taking over your writing. Sometimes the guilt factor sets in when we are in charge of our own schedule. We feel bad for not spending time with our kids, significant other, work, other talents, etc. But the writing needs to be done. If we have a set timeframe on when to write, we know that we will get done eventually and we can take care of our other obligations when the time comes. The guilt basically melts away.

It helps you turn it off.

     This way your writing isn’t taking over your life. Do you ever get into the guts of a scene and not want to stop? I hate to crush a creative moment when my time frame is coming to a close, when everything feels right and I’m in the groove. But typically this groove happens when everything is going right. The scene is working, the tension is amazing, it all is flowing. I suggest that stopping in the middle of a scene like this is the best thing to keep that momentum going the next day. It gives you something to look forward to tomorrow. 

     In brackets, write what you’re imagining will come next in brief summary, so you don’t forget, and turn off the computer or typewriter or scribbling pen. You can continue to think about it during your pockets of time, since brainwork is important work, but focusing on the rest of your life is also important. Believe me, your family or day job will thank you. This may be the hardest part for most of us, but with practice you will see the benefits.

      Now that you've got some tips under your belt go ahead an put them into practice. Of course, these are just suggestions. You know yourself best and if your system is working--keep going! Good luck with managing your writing time. I know I'm still working on balancing creative writing versus non-fiction, but it's something that will come with time and practice. 

     What are some basic tools you use when you are managing your time? Leave a comment below!