Dear FlyLady,

Do you have tips in your archives for keeping a better, neater calendar?

Thanks,

Carol

Dear Carol,

It is our perfectionism that keeps us from using our calendar.

We all live such cluttered lives. We think that we do our best work under pressure. That is not and will never be true! This is just one of those lies we tell ourselves because we don’t know how to stop the merry-go-round.

Have you been trying to juggle all those commitments in your head? We think we are so good at this! Why do we put ourselves through this day in and day out! We can learn how to handle our cluttered schedules by just looking at them on your calendar.

Oh you don’t use a calendar because you are good at keeping all this information in your head. Or if you have one, you don’t want to use it because you are afraid you will mess it up. This is our perfectionism reaching out to make the merry-go-round go even faster so we can’t get off and take a break.

Seeing what is on our calendar is the first babystep to realizing that we have over-scheduled ourselves and our family. The second step is to learn and practice saying, “NO”!

I have a couple of tips when it comes to not being afraid of using your calendar.

1. Use colored pencils to write in your activities.

2. Use small address labels to write your activities on and then put that sticker on your calendar.

3. Use the same address labels to cover up any boo-boos or changes in your schedule.

4. Keep Post-It Notes handy to transfer information to your calendar.

5. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. More problems come from an activity not calendared than from one written down in a messy way!

Have you been procrastinating about purchasing your new calendar? Why are you waiting? You can help to stop the spinning Merry-go-round by seeing exactly what you have scheduled for yourself.

I promise as each little habit becomes part of your routine; then you will begin to slow that chaotic ride down. It just takes a willingness to let go and grab for the golden ring of peace and quit whining that you don’t have time!

Are your ready to FLY with your calendar helping you?

FlyLady