make over your CALENDAR A 7-DAY ONLINE COURSE by CRYSTAL PAINE
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Day One Introduction...4 Day Two Write Everything Down...6 Day Three Assign Everything To A Specific Day....8 Day Four Why I Use Google Calendar...9 Day Five Consult Your Calendar Every Day and Make A Time Blocked To-Do List...12 Day Six Rewrite Your To-Do List Halfway Through The Day...14 Day Seven How To Actually Finish Your To-Do List and Defeat Procrastination...15
1 a DAY One Introduction welcome! Do you feel unorganized and frazzled, have a difficult time gaining traction towards your goals, or feel that procrastination is holding you back? If so, this 7-Day course is for you! I m going to be walking you through my process to organize my brain, my day, and my life so that ultimately I can experience less stress and more joy. As we get started, I wanted to lay the foundation for the next 7 days. The key to success is knowing what you want, setting a goal, breaking it down into bite-sized pieces, and then creating an action plan to make it all happen. Without a plan, it is very easy to fail. Life is extremely busy, and we have what feels like a hundred different responsibilities weighing us down at all times. It seems there is always something to be done, and it feels like we can t ever catch up. It can become very overwhelming, and that is why I think planning is so vital. priority or we can choose to make letting life hit us as it comes a priority. Planning begins with a simple daily routine and schedule. If we don t decide ahead of time our intentions for the day, in almost every case, the day will fill up. Details matter. If you don t plan out the details, it is very easy to let important tasks slip through the cracks, forget an important date or appointment, procrastinate and put something off until it s too late, or lose your momentum. Over time, I have found a method of daily, weekly, and monthly planning that has worked wonders for my life. I want to share it with you, in hopes that it will transform your life as well. My hope is that you will feel a sense of direction each day as a result of being organized, a sense of accomplishment that you are progressing towards your overall goals, and a sense of peace that your life and priorities are in order. We all have priorities whether we ve pre-determined them or not. We can choose to make living with intention 4
DAY ONE Project What would a calm and organized day be like for you? Write down a paragraph that describes what this day would look like, how it would make you feel, and how being more organized could make a difference in your life. Put this paragraph in a prominent place on your fridge, at your workstation, on your car s dashboard, or as your phone s lock screen. Remind yourself of your why to motivate you to follow through with the next 7 days. 5
2 DAY Two Write Everything Down If I could only give you one tip on time management and planning, it would be this: write everything down. Our brains can only hold so much information. You can try to convince yourself that I won t forget it, but you just will. Unless you re some amazing person with a photographic memory, there s no way you can remember all of the important dates, appointments scheduled, things to do, tasks to complete, and extra thoughts to remember for later. The truth is that you will forget something if you don t have a system for writing it down. In fact, you ll probably end up forgetting lots of somethings over time, Don t do this to yourself! Instead, do yourself a favor and write it down. I ve found that if I don t write things down, my mind becomes a swirling unorganized list of ideas, thoughts, and things to remember. I quickly become overwhelmed and feel as if my life is chaotically spinning out of control. Writing it down brings you peace of mind. When you write it down, you no longer have to think about it or remember it until the time comes that it is necessary to do so. Get it out of your brain and into a secure, safe place where you will be reminded of it when you need it. Put it in a place you won t lose it. When I take it out of my brain, I am intentional about not just scribbling it down on a piece of paper that I can potentially lose. It is so important to break the habit of writing things down on scrap pieces of paper or loose sticky notes. They will get lost, and you will not be able to find them when you need them most. Put it in a place you won t forget it. When you find a safe place to write things down, you want to be sure there is a way that you will be reminded of it later, when you need to be reminded of it. In this way, you can get it out of your brain but you know that you don t have to worry about forgetting it. It s fruitless to write something down if you will never see it later on when you need to remember it. 6
I use Google Calendar to write everything down (which I will later go into more detail about). As I think of things I need to remember an appointment I need to make, an email I need to write, a task I need to accomplish, I add it to my Google Calendar as an all-day event. It s out of sight, out of mind, but in a safe place with a deadline. my inbox frequently, so I know that if I e-mail it to myself, I will not forget to add it to my calendar. This one tip has revolutionized my life. Writing it down helps me be so much more productive, because I know the day has exactly what it needs. If I m not at a place where I can get to my Google Calendar, I e-mail it to myself to remind myself to add it in. I check DAY TWO Project Make a commitment to yourself to start writing everything down. As you think of a task or to-do you need to accomplish, write it down in a secure, safe place. Get it out of your mind and into a system. For now, you could just write it down in a notebook or on a running spreadsheet or document on your phone. We ll talk more about how to assign tasks and to-do s to specific days tomorrow. 7
3 DAY Three Assign Everything To A Specific Day 8 As you are writing it down and getting everything out of your brain into a safe, secure place, it is also important to assign everything to a specific day. As I mentioned yesterday, I use Google Calendar to write everything down by assigning all-day tasks as reminders for myself. Assigning a task to a specific day helps give yourself set deadlines and reminders to ensure you do not forget anything. If it s an appointment or an event that needs to be scheduled, simply create a time slot on your calendar for the appointment or event on the day and time you need to be there. If you have a task that needs to be done within the next 5 days, add it to the day that has the most breathing room within that 5-day window. If it s a larger project with a deadline that is far off in the future, use daily planning to help you reach that goal slowly over time. I divide big tasks into bite-sized pieces and assign each one to a specific day. This helps me to not forget anything, but it also helps motivate myself to not procrastinate and wait until the last minute on big tasks. I like giving myself deadlines so that I can be sure I m making steady progress and not putting important tasks off until later. In this way, everything in my brain is assigned to a specific day with a deadline. DAY THREE Project Sign up for a Google account (it s free), and explore the Google Calendar feature. Familiarize yourself with it and maybe play around with adding tasks to different days. You can learn how to get started with Google Calendar here. You may also want to check out some easy-to-follow tutorials on the basics of Google calendar here.
4 DAY Four Why I Use Google CALENDAr If you are hesitant about using Google calendar or going electronic, I want to encourage you to give it a shot. For years, I was a strict pen and paper gal. I was resistant to switching over to an electronic calendar because I thought it just wouldn t work for me. My husband gently coaxed me to at least give it a try. Calendar I finally gave in, and I don t know why I didn t do it sooner! I now love Google Calendar! It has so many features and benefits that help me streamline my life more easily. Today I want to talk to you about the benefits of Google Calendar, why it works for me, and why I think it can work for you too. 9 Weekly View of my Google Calendar
Key Benefits of Google Calendar 1. It gives you a place to brain dump all the details of a task in one place. As I ve already mentioned, writing everything down is vital, and Google calendar is where I do that. When I add an appointment or task to my calendar, I use the description section on Google Calendar to add all pertinent details: time, place, any information I need to remember or bring, directions to the location, and/or a phone number for who I m meeting with. Putting all these details into one place saves me so much time and headache. Instead of having to scour through my phone or email inbox to retrieve these details if something comes up, everything I need for that particular task or event is right there in one place where I need it for the day. 2. It sends you reminders. This is what makes Google Calendar such a great place to brain dump. You can get it out of your head, but know that you will be reminded of it later when you need it! You can set up and customize reminders any way you d like. You can choose the time frame of when you d like the reminders to pop up. You can even choose if you d like the reminder to pop up on your phone, through your e-mail, or both. 3. You can share your calendar with others. You can choose to allow viewing or editing access to others in your life by sharing your calendar. Likewise, they can share their calendars with you. This is great if you re on a business team, and it s also wonderful for families! I love being able to look at my husband s calendar and know if something important is going on the following day that I need to be aware of. 4. It syncs across all devices. You can log-in from any device, and it syncs across all of your devices. Why is this so important? It s virtual, so you will never lose your calendar. It will always be there when you need it, wherever you are, and you can access it from any device. I also love that it syncs with your phone, because that means you can take your calendar and virtual to-do list with you anywhere you go. It doesn t weight you down in bulk, and you never forget it. You can even update it through Siri when you re driving if something pops up in your head that you need to remember. 5. You can set up recurring tasks. If you have a task you do every month, every week, or even every day, you can set up recurring tasks on Google Calendar. This takes out so much of the work when adding tasks to your calendar. It s so easy and convenient! 6. The drag and drop feature makes your calendar flexible to your life. Life throws curveballs and sometimes our days just don t go as expected, no matter how perfectly we plan them out. This is why I adore the drag and drop feature on Google Calendar. 10
If I don t get to a task, or I realize it doesn t quite need to be done yet, I will simply drag the task to another day. It is so easy to do, and keeps things nice and organized. One of the reasons paper calendars and planners were a frustration to me was because they would get messy from all of the scratch-offs, re-writes, and scribbled side notes. DAY FOUR Project Keep exploring the features of Google Calendar. Practice scheduling recurring tasks, using the drag and drop feature, and syncing your calendar to your mobile device. Read the following two posts: 18 Google Calendar Tricks and Tips and 30 Google Calendar Hacks & Tricks to learn more how to use the various features of Google Calendar to make your life easier. If you re ready to fully dive in to Google Calendar, go ahead and start transferring all of your information into Google Calendar to get set up and ready to go! 11
5 DAY Five Consult Your CALENDAr Every Day and Make A Time Blocked To-Do List 12 You can t just write your tasks and to-do s down and assign them to a day. You have to develop the habit of consulting your calendar. I do this before I go to bed each night. I look at my Google Calendar for the next day, and I write a handwritten to-do list based off what s on my calendar for the following day. This is the only part of my calendar process that is still pen and paper. I ve found that if I don t write down a to-do list on paper, I don t feel like it gets cemented into my brain. I have to write it down to visualize it and process it fully. Everything else is virtual, but the act of writing down a daily to-do list for the next day the night before helps me think through my day and have a plan of attack ready. I love a daily handwritten to-do list. It keeps me focused on just the few things I need to do for that day, and I know that it all fits into the bigger picture of my entire calendar that is neatly organized. My biggest trick for success with following through with my to-do list is to make it Time Blocked. It s so easy to write down a massive to-do list that is unrealistic and overly ambitious. There are only so many hours in a day, and making your to-do list time blocked helps ensure that you will actually have enough time to accomplish what is on your list for the day. Here s how it works for me: 1. When making my list, I also consult my calendar for any time specific tasks, appointments, meetings, or obligations. 2. Then I look at my All-Day Events for that day in Google Calendar. 3. Based upon these two things and how full my day is, then I write out my to-do list with Time Blocks. For instance, it might look something like: Run/Shower/Dress Blogging Work Breakfast and Reading And so on... 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.
My Time-Blocked To Do List on Google Calendar I don t always follow these specific times to a tee, but by taking the time to write specific time blocks for all of my tasks, it helps ensure that that I don t try to cram 36 hours worth of tasks into a 24-hour day. I usually factor in at least 2 hours of margin time, so that when unexpected situations come up I can move things around as needed and still get everything done. Even though I never stick to my time blocks perfectly, the exercise of creating a Time-Blocked To Do List helps me stay more focused and on task throughout the day, it helps me prioritize the most important things, and it helps me not bite off more than I can chew. DAY FIVE Project Look at your calendar tonight before you go to bed. Create a Time-Blocked To Do List based upon your priorities and plans for tomorrow. If you re new to this, be sure to allow a lot of extra wiggle room and don t be frustrated if things don t go according to plan. The fact that you have a good plan in the first place will start your day off world s better than if you don t have a plan at all! 13
6 DAY Six Rewrite Your To-Do List Halfway Through The Day Once you have your to-do list in place, it is important to rework it often. This may sound like a lot of work, but it s really not as hard as it sounds. And it makes such a difference that it is so very worth it. If I m feeling overwhelmed or like the day is spinning out of control, I will stop and take 5 minutes to rework my afternoon to-do list. Usually I take a few things off or change the time blocks around. This helps me start fresh instead of feeling out of control instead of trying to keep charging ahead even though the train has gotten off track. This is when that drag and drop feature on Google Calendar becomes so useful! If you realize you ve put too much on your to-do list, examine it and decide what can wait until tomorrow or another day. Drag and drop it on your Google Calendar so you don t forget to revisit it when the time comes. If I get to the end of my afternoon and still have a lot to do, I usually decide to roll a few things over to the next day. In this way, you gain back control of your day and set yourself up for success for the remainder of the day. This is also why I think it is important, when making your to-do list, to be sure and put the highest priority tasks at the top of the list. If you do this, you can be certain you ll be getting the most important things done first, leaving the less important tasks unfinished at the end of the day if you can t get to everything. DAY SIX project When you start feeling overwhelmed today, stop and take a breath and then take a look at your todo list and examine whether or not it might need to be reworked or shifted around. If you did not get to everything today, practice dragging and dropping tasks to another day on your Google Calendar. 14
7 DAY Seven How To Actually Finish Your To-Do List and Defeat Procrastination Throughout the previous DAys, I have given you tips on how to make over your calendar and set yourself up for success on a daily basis. If you go a couple of weeks trying this method and it doesn t seem to be working for you, I want to offer these reminders and suggestions on how to make this method work for you. Tips on How to Actually Finish Your To-Do List 1. Keep it short. I aim to only write down 5 to 8 tasks per day on my todo list. If you make your list too long, it will continue to overwhelm you and you will never cross everything off each day. 2. List the most important things at the very top of your list. As I mentioned yesterday, you want to be sure you are crossing off the items of top priority each day, so that you feel a sense of accomplishment and are getting the most important things done. 3. Make it time bound and add in margin time. It is important to keep your to-do list time bound so that you know you have enough hours in the day to successfully tackle your list. If you continue to try to cram too many things in your day, you ll keep feeling like you re falling short. Also, don t forget about the importance of margin time in case unexpected events come up throughout the day. 4. Rework it often. Over and over again, as many times as you need to. If it isn t working, stop to look at your list and reflect on what you need to change to set the rest of your day up for success. 5. Defeat procrastination. Many of you have expressed that you have the best of intentions, but you always end up procrastinating and not even coming close to tackling your to-do list each day. If this is the case for you, it is important to ask yourself why this keeps happening so that you can address the issue. Some possible questions to ask yourself may be: 15
Is it something you simply don t want to do? Are you experiencing a lack of energy? Do you need to make a doctor s appointment to check on your health? Are you feeling a lack of enthusiasm? Do you need to set up a rewards system for yourself as motivation? Do you need accountability to keep you on task? Your project from here on out Take it one step at a time, day by day, following the tips and tools in this course. It will propel and launch you to successfully reach your goals over time! Here s to your organizational success. I m cheering for you! 16