Schedule with Style (and with colour!)

Today, I'm going to share with you how I make my calendar as helpful to me as possible.  Be forewarned, the images below are not small, but they are useful.  I utilize a highlighter method of scheduling so that I can literally glance at my planner and tell people when I have available.  Because I don't feel like taking a million pictures, I'll be using a digital calendar to do what I did with my January calendar weeks ago.  I highly recommend doing at least 3 months ahead of time so that you never have to worry about where your free time is.

Step 1:  Get a planner or print your months off from any one of these sites:

• Calendar Labs
• Printable Calendars
• WinCalendar

Any of these sites will let you download a calendar to print off, but you can get a professional-looking planner from anywhere.  I even got one from Dollar Tree!  Personally, my favourite comes from Party Plan Divas and I feel like it's worth every penny!

Step 2:   Get some highlighters.  I'm hoping that, by the end of this post, you understand why I colour-code my calendar.  For now, just trust me.  I bought a pack of highlighters in 6 different colours when I did this.

Step 3:  Decide which days you want to work.  Seriously, sit down with either your significant other, or your pragmatic self and say, "I cannot do this 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.  Everyone else gets days off from their 'normal' jobs, I should get days off from my fantastic one!"  Look and see if there are consistent days each week where it just doesn't make sense to work and look for a day that you get to really rest.  For me, I work Tuesday and Thursday nights and all day Saturday and Sunday.  Celestia has gymnastics every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights, so it makes sense for me to try to not work those nights.

Step 4:  Determine colours to meet your needs.  This is what my list of obligations looks like.  And, yes, I put it on the right side of each month in my planner.
Family - For notes on family goings on.  Not that I have to do anything, but I should know
Jamberry - Parties, events, meetings, etc.
Gymnastics - I make a mark for every day my daughter goes to gymnastics.  I make a note for meets and Parents' Association events.
Appointments - To keep track of hair appointments, etc.
Personal - Times I have something planned that I can't schedule around.  I need to know that.
Available - Days that I can and am willing to work.

Step 5:  Go through your calendar and write down each item you already have scheduled for the month.  I usually do it in my own hierarchy of importance.

As you'll see in the following picture, I did not have the super-duper colour-coded planning calendar going when I started making appointments.  I'm currently figuring out this scheduling error.

Step 6:  Go through and mark any of the days you said you were willing to work that aren't already booked (remember, you can do 2-3 parties in a day) with your available colour.

Now, when you sit down with party guests who want to book a party with you and see what's available at a glance!

Homework:  Take a picture of your newly-organized calendar and post it to the team page.  Due tomorrow.