Before you say anything, yes, yes, I know--I'm the last kid on the block to take advantage of this small-time wonder. Let me have my fun. It's neat, okay?
For those of you who are like me and have dwelt in ignorance for far too long, let me explain. Google Calendar essentially does what most of us did on our own, but makes it look much cooler. Meaning, it takes the "Monthly" page from those old-fashioned planners you find at Office Max (which are so last millennium, by the way), and allows you to customize it to fit your needs. You can add events that can occur once, twice or even weekly or daily--all at the touch of a button. No more handwriting those monthly office meeting dates over and over again, kiddos! With Google Calendar, you just enter in the information one time, and it's all done for you.
And here's my absolute favoritest favorite part: You can have multiple calendars side-by-side and color-coordinate all of them to tell them apart! Eeeek! Back in my perfectionist high-school days, I used to color-coordinate everything in my planner just like this, except I used highlighters and multicolored pens. Oh, but this is so much better! Sheer awesomeness.
While I still use my regular planner for my day-to-day scheduling, Google Calendar is great for helping me establish and maintain certain routines (i.e., taking daily walks with the hubby or setting aside regular writing time), which is exactly why I find it so ingenious. I'm a tad embarrassed to say it, but I'm actually looking for things to schedule into the calendar now just because it looks so darn cute. We'll see if I still feel this way a month from now. Perhaps it won't help me become more organized at all. For the time being, however, I plan to revel in the novelty of yet another web application.
Time to share now, boys and girls. How do you keep your crazy schedules straight? Any technology involved? Or, are you still searching to find a method to the madness?
I confess, I still use a large wall calendar. I have one in my room and a dry erase calendar in the office. I also have a calendar on Windows that pops up to tell me I should have cleaned the refrigerator out yesterday.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I love color coded events, the ability to look ahead 6 months to see what's scheduled and to check back to see when I sent that query or planted those seeds.
I am going to check out google's calendar now.
I've got the old fashioned calendar method and I love it. I have one on my wall that I mark up with certain things (and it's a Daniel Craig calendar so I pay lots of attention to it) and then I have a desktop planner. :-)
ReplyDeleteWritermomof5,
ReplyDeleteOoh, you just reminded me I need to clean out MY fridge! I guess that just goes to show Google can't make you remember everything, lol.
If you get a chance to try it out, let me know how you like it. Of course, since you have 5 kids, I should probably be the one asking YOU for organization advice ;-) I can barely function with one!
Whenever I schedule family activity items (lessons, sports, trips, etc.), I say, "Just let me get my Blackberry." And then I pull out this enormous calendar we keep on the laundry room wall...it really is the easiest way for the whole family (2 parents, 4 kids and 2 pets)to know what's what.
ReplyDeleteMelissa,
ReplyDeleteHey, if you have a system that works, more power to you! Different strokes for different folks. Who knows--maybe if I had sexy Daniel Craig on my wall, I'd get a lot more done myself ;-)
Anita,
ReplyDeleteLOL @ the Blackberry comment! I bet you get more done with that calendar than most folks get done on a "real" Blackberry, too. Like I told writermomof5, I'm in awe of anyone who can function with more than 1 child. Mine is almost 2 and I still don't know what I'm doing!
I am clearly old hat myself. I prefer pen to paper, and vie for finding those flip calendars that are both portable and user friendly! I tend to 'journal in' the days as they go by, which is supposed to off shoot a proper journal to supplement it, but I still haven't entered that stage of the project! Nine years later and all! Technology is nice, but I tend to detech my life whenever I get the chance, because somethings are simply better the way they've always been. I adore wall calendars to the mothers' who have mentioned them! Nothing beats a proper theme to keep your attention on the things that are popping along! As far as balancing motherhood with life,... if your child's needs are met first, it gives way to more personal time lateron.
ReplyDeleteMotherhood is a shoot from your hip experience. Each day constantly changes from the one beforehand, and you never know what to expect, (always staying two klicks ahead!) but the rewards outweigh missing a few things or not finishing a few projects. If your child is regularly napping at one hour, than that gives you a bit of leeway too!
Anon 11:56,
ReplyDeleteOh, don't get me wrong--I'm all for using the good ol' pen-and-paper method to get things done, too. As I said in the post, I still use my handy-dandy notebook planner for all my daily scheduling; Google Calendar is just for the more constant parts of my routine.
All in all, I think both organization styles have their merits, and that's why I wanted to discuss it. It was very interesting to see everyone's responses. Makes me wonder about how writers as a group tend to approach technological changes in the publishing industry (i.e., ebooks, Kindle, etc.)... But that's another post for another time ;-)
Need it Need it! I am so disorganized and that is fine with I'm "just writing" but lately, my chaos isn't working...eek...want it want it! google calandar!
ReplyDeleteKathryn,
ReplyDeleteHehehe! Boy, do I know what you mean! No matter how organized I try to be, I always FEEL like I'm still a mess. Maybe that's a natural part of being creative? I hope so.
Anyway, I hope Google Calendar helps you bring order to the chaos. Let me know how it goes!
Hon, you're going to be over the moon about iGoogle then! My husband just introduced me to it - you can pick your apps to put on your very own personal iGoogle home page. I have weather reports (and DOPPLER, baby!), moon phases, hangman (for those creative times), and even Magic 8 ball. :)
ReplyDeleteOoh, iGoogle... Never heard of it, but it sounds fascinating! I'm going to go look it up right now. Great, just what I need--yet ANOTHER techno distraction, lol!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info, Lori!
I came back to bookmark the google calendar link! I couldn't find it -- :-)
ReplyDelete