Paper or electronic? Wall or planner? Desktop or cloud? Julian or Gregorian? Choosing a calendar isn’t as easy as it used to be. While digital choices abound, plenty of people still like putting pen to paper. What’s your planning preference?
Kayla Pickrell
founder and lead designer
Designs by Kayla
Because I’m in the business of stationery, I consider myself a paper nerd so I’m always obsessing over paper planners and calendars. However, I use a few digital calendars to mesh with it. I use a bullet journal to do all of my daily, weekly, monthly and yearly planning and to set my goals and expectations and daily to-dos. I use digital calendars, primarily Google Calendar, to set up meetings with vendors and clients, which is integrated through Calendly. I also use the “notification” part of Google Calendar to set up alarms for when a meeting is 30 minutes out.
Through Calendly, I send the link (and have the link set up on my website) to clients and vendors, which pops open my availability and allows them to pick a time, date and location to meet or talk on the phone. This then connects to my Google Calendar. Whenever I need to create an event, I always tag the person I am working with, which sends them an email and connects with Calendly and blocks out the time.
I’m a sucker for all of the new apps, and I at least try them out. My bullet journal, Google Calendar and Calendly are my main calendar apps that I always come back to. However, I have tried and love Trello (I use this for client management) and Wunderlist (I use this for notes and tasks I can easily enter if I’m on the go).
In the business world, you need to be organized and manage time well. As the well-known quote goes, “Time is money.”
Amanda Hacker
professional photographer
Amanda Hacker Photography
www.amandahackerphotography.com
I use both, but my paper calendar is my favorite. It’s easier for me to get to when I need to add something to my calendar before I forget. But my electronic one is great when I don’t have my paper calendar around and I am able to book sessions while I’m out and about for the day. I also use my paper calendar for my personal life as well (doctor visits, my son’s schedule). For me it would get too confusing to have another calendar. I’m a very organized person: I keep a wall calendar in my office to set a schedule and plan for each session I do. I stick to what works and using my good old paper calendar is what I will continue to use. I will say that Google Calendar is great and when I get time, I do go on there and update my calendar for the month of events. It sends me notifications, which I love.
Being a business owner, life can get crazy. While I manage to be a mom and wife, I’d be lost without my calendar. I think everyone should have a calendar. It keeps us organized, on top of things, professional and the list goes on.
Kevin Wathen
partner/creative director
Big Echo Creative
As a company, we use an electronic calendar for all scheduling. We are a Mac-based company, and we found the one that came with our software when we purchased the computers (Apple Calendar) works best for us. It allows us to view our schedules and deadlines on our personal computers at work as well as our phones when we are out of the office. We have it set up to give notification alerts and remind us of daily activity. Our calendar is like a fourth partner that keeps us organized and on task.
Our type of business is very deadline oriented. If we are not checking the calendar hourly, then we are lost and our clients depend on us to not get lost. Our electronic calendar is shared officewide, and we encourage all activities to be posted so we know what tasks, meetings and deadlines are happening each day of the week. This prevents double booking of appointments and keeps us focused on current assignments as a group. Our calendar is used only for dates and times. We have other systems for note-keeping.
There are so many productive apps out there for everyday life, but we tend to stick to the tried-and-true for keeping track of our daily events. It’s simple and effective. Sometimes in our fast-paced world of marketing and advertising, simple is better. BL