Maintaining Organization as a CIO - Managing The Calendar

Annual Review?

My calendar starts from an annual review. This is a little ethereal, but over the last year I have found it to be the best part of the calendar management process. I use the annual time block calendar that Michael Hyatt outlines in his article at http://michaelhyatt.com/annual-planning-calendar.html. The only changes I have made to his spreadsheet are limiting the number of colors and topics that I use for specific events. I have broken it down into four different categories and colors. The categories are: Work, Family, Church, and Classes. (I teach a Lego Robotics League class to kids who love technology - my future replacement - and teach as well as guest lecture at local universities).

I put everything that is critical, that will impact the entire day, on the annual time block. If I have a go-live at work, it's on the calendar. If there is a camping trip, it's on the calendar. If there is a birthday, that is NOT on the calendar unless we are going somewhere or having a party. It is not a reminder system, it is a planning calendar. When you use a calendar for this purpose you can quickly see what is taking priority in your life. That calendar has changed the way I deal with vacations and ensured that I take time with my family. It has caused me to say "no" more often because I have blocked off time with my family. The time block is posted on our refrigerator at home so it also keeps me accountable to days I say I am going to take off an my kids can see what Dad is up to the entire year.

The Electronic Calendar(s)

I have one electronic daily calendar that synchronizes to all of my devices (iCal, iPhone, iPad). I have a my work Calendar (Exchange) as well as my personal electronic calendar (Google Calendar) and I try to keep them as separate as possible. In all of my electronic views I see everything together, but they feed off both work and personal calendar systems. When I schedule an appointment I choose which calendar it gets placed in, which is then color coded appropriately. While I have tried to use one calendar system in the past for both personal and work, it just does not work.

My calendar at work is entirely open for people to query. If there is a free spot a customer can send an invite to me which I normally approve. My admin assistant has full capability to place whatever is needed in my calendar. There is no approval system or hoops to get to me. If my door is always open, as the saying goes, why wouldn't my calendar be open as well?

The Process

I review my calendar in a weekly view on Sunday evenings to look for items that may need to move, or meetings that may overlap. This takes about 10 minutes at most. Before I go in on Monday morning my weekly calendar is clean - there are no questions about which meeting I'll be at. Things obviously change, but Monday is the wrong time to fiddle through conflicts that you knew already existed. I check the calendar daily for changes and updates.

My calendar serves me well and helps to keep me on track and in the right location at the right time. A great music director told me years ago that being on time was late. To be early is really to be on time.

My next post will outline how I deal with my todo list.....