Day 82: Color Code Your Calendar

I have an iPhone, but I am not a fan of electronic calendars. I don't like things beeping at me all the time, reminding me of what I need to do in an hour. ;) Plus, I don't really like seeing only ONE event or ONE day at a time. I like the big picture. And that's why I actually have two calendars. Paper calendars. One is specifically for work items, due dates, meetings, phone conferences, etc., and I keep it on my work desk. The other is a small calendar I keep in my purse. I write down lunch dates, doctor's appointments, practices, parties and other events, and I use it almost like a journal to keep track of what I have done, not just what I have to do! For instance, if the family stops to catch a movie, I'll write down that movie title in my calendar. If we eat out, I'll list that restaurant, too! That way, I can look forward to what's coming up, but I can also look back and see some of the fun things I did!

Either way, folks have asked me about how I use color coding in my calendars. Admittedly, I mostly use the coding for work items, so I can glance at the calendar and immediately get an idea of what I'm going to be doing. But it can certainly be useful for the family calendar, too. You can assign each member a certain color, and then see who's got the most lined up for the month! ;) Or, you can assign colors to different kinds of tasks. For example, as I mentioned in my last post, an orange highlighter alerts me to approaching deadlines and due dates; blue signifies upcoming meetings; green highlights work-related events; pink shows my family and personal events; and yellow…. well, the yellow highlighter is my go-to highlighter for just about everything else!

And HERE is what is COULD look like, if you're curious to see color coding in action!

I see mostly pink for February... and if this were a REAL calendar, that would mean a LOT of family items. And since there's only a little bit of orange, there are not many due dates. See? I didn't even have to look at the actual items. The color coding by itself is enough to get a good idea of the goings-on for the month!


Now, THAT's neat!