I’ve been on a calendar,
but never on time.
-Marilyn Monroe

Here are some great tips that I have learned using my calendar for scheduling appointments and events. Since I have only ever used an electronic calendar (first Outlook, then Google Calendar and most recently the Lightning extension for Thunderbird), these tips cater somewhat to these types of applications, although there is no reason why they could not be equally applied to physical day timers and appointment books.

Tip 1: Use Only For Time Or Day Specific Items

Of all you need to do, some things need to be done at a specific time or on a specific date. For example, you may have a department meeting scheduled for Monday from 11 AM to 12 PM, or you may have made a commitment to follow up with a client on Tuesday. David Allen, in his book Getting Things Done, calls these types of things the hard landscape of your schedule. There are, however, a lot of things that might need to be done sometime, or even as soon as possible, but they are not truly time or day specific.

The problem is that there is a temptation to use your calendar as a to-do list and to include items in it that you would like to do on a certain date. In reality these items do not have to be done at a specific time or on a specific date. As Allen says, your calendar should show the hard edges of your day, and the things you would like to do can take place around these edges.

Tip 2: Use The Location Field

Often, we are tempted to only put in the title or name of the appointment or event, for example: “Call Mary at ACME”. I have found it very helpful to always make sure I use the location field, which is usually the one just below the title or name in the new appointment/event form. The contents of the location field will differ based on the type of appointment/event:

• Phone Call: I will put in the number of the person I am supposed to call. I can’t tell you how many times I have been busy right up to the time of the scheduled call, and I have to quickly fumble to open up my contact manager or email application to find the number.
• Physical Meeting: If the meeting is at a different geographical location, put in the full address. If it is in your own building but not in your office, put in the meeting room or physical place where the meeting is taking place. For offsite appointments, this also helps you cut and paste the location into Google Maps if you need directions.
• Virtual Meeting: If the meeting is a conference call or web meeting, put in the conference call number and participant code and/or the url.

This practice can be a godsend if you find yourself out of the office and you are accessing the event details from a mobile device or from a reminder received via email or sms.

Tip 3: Use The Notes Field

Use the Notes or description field to put in the main topic to be discussed and an agenda. It is a best practice for pretty much everything to have an agenda. It may also be useful to put in some relevant background material so you have access to the main facts at your fingertips exactly when you need it. Just like the use of the location field, this practice can be crucial if you find yourself out of the office and you are accessing the event details from a mobile device or from a reminder received via email or sms.

Tip 4: Use The Invitation Feature

If you are initiating the meeting, and using an electronic calendar, use the calendar’s invitation features if they exist to send out invitations. You probably need to send out a confirmation email anyway, and by doing this, you pretty much have the best chance of the appointment getting on the calendar of those you have invited (lest they don’t show up and you are looking for them at the appointed time).

Tip 5: Set A Reminder

It would be great if we all reviewed our calendars at the beginning of each and every day, but the reality is that it is probably best if we are able to set it and forget it, when it comes to adding appointments to our calendars. To make sure we keep our appointment once it is set, make sure you send an automated reminder of the appointment at a set time before the scheduled event. Most calendar applications will interrupt you with a popup dialog, or can email or sms you before the appointment (these later methods being important if you are away from your computer).

Tip 6: Block Your Golden Time

Yes I know I said to only put the hard landscape of your schedule into the calendar. But why not make your most productive, heads down, working period a time specific event? Protecting your golden time like this ensures you will schedule around it and that it will occur everyday without any scheduled interruptions.

I would love to know what tips others have when it comes to using a calendar. If you have any, it would be great if you could share them in the comments!

Thanks

• To Pieter Ouwerkerk: for the great photo of the iPhone.

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