By Janet Barclay, MVA
For decades, there have been a multitude of options when it comes to paper calendars, from the full year on a wallet-size card to a zippered binder with two pages for each day and additional sections for other important information. You have probably found a format that suits your needs and lifestyle, and purchase a new calendar or refill each year, but if you’ve noticed that more and more of your colleagues have switched to an electronic calendar, you may be wondering about the advantages of doing so.
One benefit of an electronic system is the ability to copy and paste information from emails, websites, and documents directly into your calendar. This is particularly useful for meeting agendas and driving directions, as it not only saves paper (good for the environment) but it means the information is right at your fingertips when you need it. It also saves you the time of writing out the details by hand, and reduces the risk of taking something down incorrectly.
Another advantage is that when an event is rescheduled, you can simply change the date and / or time. In addition to being quicker and easier, it is also neater, as you no longer have to put up messy planner pages where things have been crossed out so many times that you can’t tell when you are actually available to book an appointment.
Many systems offer the option of sharing your calendar with your assistant or work team, even from a remote location, whereas paper calendars can only be shared by photocopying (wasting more paper), and if the individuals are in different locations, faxing it to them.
One of the most powerful features of an electronic calendar is switching between daily, weekly, monthly and yearly views, with all of your information intact. Paper planning systems generally offer multiple views, but you need to enter your appointments on each version to get the complete picture.
As you may have guessed, I have converted to an electronic calendar system, but I realize it is not for everyone. Without a portable device such as a Pocket PC, the benefits will be overshadowed by the fact that you can only access your calendar when you are at your computer, unless you print out calendar pages as needed.
If you’ve decided you are ready to make the plunge, you are probably wondering what choices are available.
I highly recommend a program such as Microsoft Outlook or ACT! which integrates your email and contacts with your time management system, but if you are trying an electronic calendar for the first time, you may not wish to spend any money in case you find it’s just not for you. Fortunately, there are many alternatives.
Time & Chaos is an inexpensive yet highly acclaimed contact manager and time management tool which allows you to share your data with everyone on your network. A 21-day trial of Version 6 may be downloaded from www.chaossoftware.com, and Version 5 is available as freeware. Additional software may be purchased that will allow synchronization with a Palm Pilot or Pocket PC.
If you don’t always work from the same computer, you may find an online calendar more convenient, as you will be able to access it from any location.
One such calendar is offered by Yahoo! The Yahoo! Calendar offers many features you would not expect to find in a free product, including the ability to synchronize data with Outlook or your PDA. Your calendar may be private, public, or viewed only by people you specify. You can also give certain people access to edit your calendar - an ideal set-up if you would like your virtual assistant to schedule appointments on your behalf. Event reminders may be sent to you by email or Yahoo! Messenger, or even sent to your pager or mobile phone. For more information, visit calendar.yahoo.com.
The Hotmail Calendar offers similar features, but it does not allow you to grant others the ability to modify your calendar, nor can you synchronize the information with other programs or devices. It does, however, accept Meeting Requests from Microsoft Outlook users. This means that if someone sends an appointment from their Outlook calendar to your Hotmail account, you can add it to your calendar and send them a reply with just the click of a mouse. Check it out for yourself, at calendar.msn.com.
One of the newest on the scene is the Google Calendar. Google has taken some of the features of the above two calendars, and added a few of their own. Although you can’t synchronize your data with other programs or devices, you can import information from other calendar programs. You can even create multiple calendars within one account. This innovative feature allows you to create one calendar for your personal use, and additional calendars for posting online. This can be very useful if you manage a sports team or other organization and want to post the schedule online. You can even set it up in such a way that others can add the schedule to their own Google calendar. To learn more about the Google Calendar, go to calendar.google.com.
This is just a small sampling of the electronic calendars available, and new products and services are introduced on a regular basis. If you’re trying it for the first time, check out one or more of the freebies described above to see how it feels and which functions you will need to make the system work well for you. Who knows? It might even change your life!
About the Author
Janet Barclay, Organized Assistant, offers a variety of professional quality services to support entrepreneurs and other individuals who are overwhelmed by the demands and technology of the 21st century. For further information or to request a subscription to her monthly ezine, The Organized Assistant Resource, please visit her website at www.organizedassistant.com.