Scheduling - I've Gone "Retro."
I have been using "electronic" organizers for about four years. In 2008, I got an iTouch from the Apple Store, and immediately switched to using it as my daily planner. Then three years ago, I finally got the iPhone. And my world was revolutionized with 3G. I swore I would never go back to being a commoner with phones and organizers.
Well, now I have changed my mind.
Yes. I have reverted back to a simple planner in which I write all my non-work appointments.
Why?
Well, I really don't want every part of my schedule accessible to those I work with. I have already shared my calendar in Outlook with them. So I really don't want to take it back. But I also don't want to write all the personal things that I need to remind myself to do in it, or the things I need to track for personal health.
Like what?
Um... Okay. Like:
- Juice Fast - Remember to pick up beets!
- 6am Barry's Bootcamp
- 7:30am Blowout at Drybar
- 2pm Gyno Appointment
- Ovulation Day (Left-side Pain)
- Menstrual Cycle start
- 5:30pm Eyebrow waxing at Brow Bar
Really... Do people I work with want to know all of that?
Plus, I like writing things down, and then checking them off. You don't get to do that with your schedule on an iPhone.
I also find that keeping everything electronically makes it too easy for me skip out or "delete" something. When I write things down, I tend to actually follow the order.
Comments
The first is that I work in an environment where I constantly get questioned about my availability. I service a great number of teams in the agency I work within. And so they are always poking around I my schedule. Regardless of whether or not a notation or appointment is marked "private", I get asked, "Whatever it is, can you move it? My thing is more important."
Even though it is most certainly not.
So it is best to just keep all private things put of it... And simply "decline" with a reason when I get asked why I can't be there.
Additionally, I don't really want everything I am doing in my work calendar, period. Because it is company email/calendar, they have every right to ignore your privacy and read through it.
Again, best just to keep it out of there.
In 2007 I actually wrote a yelp review for my paper day planner:
My At-A-Glance Planner (5/5)
Seattle, WA
5/31/2007
I have no idea what I would do without you. The mere absence of your presence has triggered near-panic attacks.
Thank you for hanging onto my favorite pen so I don’t have to dig around in my purse. Thank you for giving me a section for gifts lists and sizes, favorite restaurants, books to read and music to buy. Thank you for having enough note pages in the back for me to budget my paychecks for the next year and a half and to make notes when I’m drunk and someone says something that I want to remember.
Even though I may ignore half of the things I schedule, you will never make me feel bad about flaking.
You rock.