Casual Fridays - Managing Time
Posted by Lisa Hendey in Just me on Friday, January 08, 2010 11:30 AM
Welcome to another installment of our Casual Fridays series, where we take a balanced look at faith, family and career issues. This week, in a conversation with my sister, she commented that someone had recently said to her, “You can do it all, just not at the same time.” I think this is a sentiment that relates to many of us - we want to give our very best to every facet of our life: our prayer lives, the love we give our family and the care with which we perform our work.
Part of what enables moms to do so much is our ability to multitask. It never ceases to amaze me what one mom with a babe in arms and two at her feet can do with one hand around her house! But another critical aspect of “doing it all”, or at least attempting to, is having good systems in place.
This week, I’d like to talk about time management systems, and particularly calendar systems. During these first few weeks of the new year, we are all likely using new calendars and planners around our homes and offices. I wanted to share with you my approach to scheduling and solicit your ideas and input too! I use a two pronged system - my paper calendar is the Busy Body Book Personal and Family Grid Organizer. I have used Busy Body Books for three years now and absolutely LOVE the grid system for managing multiple priorities in my life. This calendar system also works well for big families, with space to track each person’s activities.
Along with my Busy Body Book, I use Google Calendar. I actually have multiple calendars on Google - one for my personal appointments, another to manage columnist contributions on my website, and others for other purposes. I love that the Google Calendar will send me timed email alerts and that I can easily access it from my iPhone. I can also share calendars with others who are working on projects with me, or with my husband or sons.
What calendar system do you use? Do you maintain separate planners or calendars for work and home? Do you prefer a paper calender, or have you gone paperless with your planning?
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