Organizing Your 2014 Calendar

By now you either have your new calendar for the upcoming year or are seriously thinking about it (if for no other reason than you are tired of sticky notes or crunching notes on that small one page planner for the next year in your old calendar). Sometime between now and the new year take the time to really set up your 2014 calendar. I really enjoy this annual ritual. I sit down with some nice pens and a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. I put on some holiday music and take my time to reflect and plan.

1. I review my current calendar. Month by month I note birthdays, anniversaries, and standard meeting times (networking meetings, weight watchers, etc.). I also note medical appointments that are already set for the upcoming year.

2. I transfer these dates onto the new calendar in red. I want them to stand out from all the other appointments and meetings that will crowd my calendar as the year goes by.

3. At the top of each month I note what zone I am going to work on in my house (see former blogs on my zone plan). January will have “office zone”, February will have “spare bedroom zone”, and so forth throughout the year. In the margin of the calendar I will write in actions that I usually do in that month. For example, in January I have “clean out birdhouses.”

4. Also in the margin of each month I keep track of when I pay yearly obligations, renewals of subscriptions, donations, or memberships. Then when I start getting letters to “renew” something 4 months in advance, I can easily flip through my calendar and see when they are really due.

5. Finally, I write in any known scheduled events for the upcoming months such as client appointments, presentations, and upcoming adventures (Carnegie Hall in May, Paris in June).

Once I have the known events in place, I feel ready for what the new year is going to bring.

Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer

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