Building a Better Morning January 24, 2012

I wish I could find you all a copy of this article I read the other day. It was a list of things we can learn from 20 big name CEOs who get up really early. For each person, there was a description of what time they get up and what they do with the time between then and when the rest of the world gets in to the office.

What I learned was that they all work too much. Most of them got up at like 4AM to check email, read reports, etc. Some did this while on a treadmill, which apparently makes it ok. A lot of them followed this up with working incredibly late, leaving the office at 8 or 9 PM. Apparently, the lesson is that if we all get up before the sun, we can overwork ourselves to death and burn out as quickly as humanly possible.

I’ve actually become quite a fan of getting up a little earlier in the morning, despite years of decidedly being “not a morning person.” I’m not alone in this – I’ve seen it written about on Time Management Ninja, Zen Habits, and other great blogs. The difference, with both my mindset and theirs, is that we’re not advocating getting up insanely early in order to squeeze in as much work as possible. There are better ways to use your time in the mornings.

First, and I have written about this before, don’t sacrifice your sleep. If you want to get up half an hour earlier, try to get to bed half an hour earlier. The importance of getting a good night’s sleep is well documented and I’m not about to tell you to sleep less so you can do more. Get enough sleep.

OK, so now that we have that out of the way…

I am not going to tell you to wake up at four in the morning, unless you’re already waking up at four thirty. I’m advocating getting up half an hour to one hour earlier than you usually do. In that time, you can:

- Get a sense of your day. Use the time to take a look at your calendar and to-do list, check out what’s going on with your friends on Facebook and Twitter, check the weather report. See what lies ahead and plan for it instead of reacting to it.

- Read or watch the news. Find out what’s going on in the world, and take time to do more than just read the headlines about the parts you are interested in. This ties in really well with actually enjoying your morning coffee and not just chugging it down while running out the door.

- Read a book or magazine. Again, with the morning coffee. Enjoy the silence before the rest of the house wakes up.

- Eat breakfast. A real breakfast, that involves cooking. And a plate. And sitting down.

- Get outside. Remember when you got your place and imagined yourself sitting on the back deck, watching the sun come up (or set)? Now is the time to live out the dream.

- Get a workout in. It doesn’t have to be anything dramatic or high-impact if your body is not up to it yet. Take a walk, do some yoga, stretch, hit the treadmill.

- Pray. Meditate. Read a devotional. Whatever it takes for you to spiritually and mentally center yourself and prepare yourself for the day, do it.

- Spend time with your partner. If you can convince them to wake up early with you, you can use the time to catch up on each others’ lives. Especially if you have hectic schedules – kids, multiple jobs, etc., you can end up feeling like strangers passing in the night. Wake up a little earlier and tell each other about your days, discuss the latest Hollywood gossip, pore over the stats for your fantasy teams – whatever makes you happy. Reconnect.

More bang for your calendar buck January 9, 2012

In the last post, we talked about setting up a calendar, either paper or online, to help you manage your schedule and your family’s schedules. Besides birthdays, anniversaries, and appointments, there’s a ton of other information you can put on your calendar, keeping it all neatly in one place:

• Medication reminders – if you have a medication you have to take biweekly, or a heartworm pill to give to a pet once a month – basically anything that’s not daily, you can put a reminder on your calendar so that you don’t forget it.
• Your work schedule – if you don’t work standard hours, you can put your work schedule on your calendar. This is especially useful if you have a family calendar – it lets everyone know when you will and will not be home. It’s also helpful in setting up appointments for yourself. If you work a regular schedule with unusual days – 4 days on, 4 days off or something like that – you can write in your working days so that you know in advance what your availability is. Trying to count forward every time you want to schedule something is a pain in the neck and an opportunity for error.
• Work events outside of regular hours. You may not use your personal/family calendar to keep track of your workday meetings, but if you have a business trip, after hours meeting, or work dinner to attend, you can put it on your personal calendar, since it eats into your personal time.
• Time you need to get something done. If you need time to work on a work project, a freelance project, costumes for the school play, etc. write it in on the calendar. It will ensure that you actually have the time to do what you need to, and if you are sharing your calendar it lets everyone else know that this is a time when you cannot be disturbed.
• Appointment reminders. Make notes in your calendar one month ahead of when you need to schedule appointments at the dentist, pediatrician, etc. if you can’t schedule the appointment at the time of your last visit so you don’t forget to call and set something up. If you need to make separate appointments for sports physicals or something like that, add those reminders in as well.
• Your to-do list. Some online calendars, like Google Calendar, will integrate your to-do list with your calendar, so that if you assign a due date to something, it will show up on your calendar that day. This is particularly useful for reminders to get cards in the mail, pick up dry cleaning, etc.
• Errands. If you have a particularly busy schedule, use your calendar to block off time to run errands, go to the grocery store, etc. so that it gets done before an emergency hits.
• Chores. Similarly, if you have a busy schedule or an event planned at your house, block off time on your calendar to get some cleaning done. It’s much easier to make sure chores are accomplished if you make a point of setting aside time to do them.
• Family time. When things get crazy, block off a night and write “NO ONE MAKE PLANS.” Then make plans together.

Setting up a family calendar January 3, 2012

Particularly when you are managing schedules for more than one person, having a good calendar system is essential for your time management, planning, and overall sanity.

Setting up a good calendar can be time consuming, but once you are up and running, you’ll find it to be one of the most useful tools in your organization arsenal and will wonder how you ever lived without it.

The first choice you have is whether to use a paper or online calendar. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. A paper calendar hung prominently in your home can be like a command center for the house. Everyone can look at it and see what they have planned for the day, where other people are and when they can be expected home, etc. Everyone can add or change appointments easily, and children will find it easier to use. On the downside, you can’t take it with you and will probably end up supplementing it with a day planner or notebook, and you will have to transfer any changes to the paper calendar when you get home. Since you don’t have your calendar with you at all times, you may end up doing more rescheduling as you discover conflicts when you do get in front of the calendar.

An online calendar’s main advantage is in its portability. You can view it online or on your smart phone, and set it up so that everyone in the house can view/modify as you allow. You can take the calendar with you anywhere, making it easier to make appointments and commitments and check your schedule while you are out and about. The downside is that you have to have some electronic device available in order to use it, so if you find yourself with a dead battery or away from a computer, you can’t get to your information. Online calendars are also not as easy for small children to use and navigate.

The best of both worlds is probably the day planner, and if you’re only managing your own time then this is definitely the way to go. You can bring it with you anywhere, and updates and changes are a snap. The downside is that only you can see it, so if you need to share your schedule with a spouse or other household member, or you are making appointments on their behalf, that’s a challenge.

There are a lot of options out there for calendar systems. If you like a paper calendar, check out these offerings from Post-It; and Real Simple;. They both offer lots of space to write, color coding for different family members or categories, and easy changes and updates.

If you’re more into the idea of a digital calendar, check out Family Time Planner and Google Calendar (which is what my family uses). These calendars have the advantage of mobile access, shared ownership, color coding, and reminders. They also tie in to-do lists and messaging if you choose to use those options.

There are more day planner options than I could ever hope to list here, so shop around and find something that works for you. Look for something durable, with a strong cover, and portable. You may also want to consider one that holds your money, cards, etc. and therefore performs double-duty as a wallet. Some day planners also have address books built in, which can be a useful function.

If you’re managing calendars for more than one person, assign each person their own distinct color – either a different pen or a different color on the calendar app. You’ll also probably want to set aside a color for group or family events and one for holidays, birthdays, etc. Keep in mind that colors like yellow and orange can be hard to see, but colors like black and navy can be hard to distinguish from one another. Try to keep everyone’s color visible, but unique.

Once you have your calendar and your colors, grab every other calendar that you use – your company’s holiday schedule, the kids’ school calendar, your book club’s meeting schedule – anything else that lists dates and times that you need to know. You’re going to take all that information and consolidate it into your new calendar so it’s all in one place.

OK, so you have your calendar, you have your colors, you have your information…you’re ready to go!

The first step is the easiest – use last year’s calendar and write in all of the birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays.

Next, write in recurring appointments – practices, rehearsals, meetings, classes, etc. I know that you know that you have Girl Scouts every Tuesday at 6, but write it down every Tuesday, anyway. This way you don’t have to remember it, and you won’t run into a situation where you make a conflicting appointment because you forgot it was Girl Scout day when you were checking out at the doctor’s office. When in doubt, write it down.

The third step is to take all of those other calendars in your life and add that information to your calendar. Write in the days your office is closed, the days your kids have half days of school, the days you are scheduled to volunteer someplace. Write in the school concerts, picture days, bake sales, etc. All of the stuff you have to know about or prepare for. You can leave out the stuff you’re not going to do. If you never go to the YMCA’s movie night, don’t clog up your calendar with the information.

Last, add in any upcoming appointments that you already know about – play dates, doctor visits, promises to pick a friend up from the airport. Take this opportunity to add in reminders for appointments you need to make in the future, as well – notes early in the month that the family is due at the dentist or you have to make a well-baby visits, or that registrations are due.

If you are working with a paper calendar, show the end result to your family. Hang it in a prominent location and set ground rules about who can make changes to whose schedules. Introduce everyone to their colors and make sure they use them. If you’re going digital, set up permissions for what other people can see and make changes to, and make sure they know the color system as well.

Calendar setup is only step one – you still have to maintain and use the calendar in order for it to be effective. It may take you a couple weeks to figure out the systems that work best for your house, but once you do, you will find that a good calendar is something that no house can run well without.