Your Long-Term Planning Calendar
It’s not necessary for you to construct your own calendar, though
it’s certainly the least expensive alternative. There are ready-made
wall and desk calendars available in a variety of formats for your
convenience, including magnetic and erasable. Your local art supply,
stationery, or bookstore will have a selection of them. I suggest at
least a three-month calendar. You could certainly use a six-month or
even a yearly calendar.
You will not be filling this calendar with a great deal of detail, so the
spaces in which you will write do not have to be humongous. This
calendar is the overview of your schedule, a kind of “life-at-a-glance”
summary of those items and appointments occurring more than one
week in the future. (If they are happening this week, they will be in
your daily calendar, but I’m ahead of myself.)
So start by entering the date for every major test, when papers and
projects are due, future appointments (yes, this isn’t just for school-
work), and anything else that you must remember. I have reproduced
a single month from a typical calendar on page 94. Notice that there
is little detail. It’s a snapshot, remember?
Your Daily Calendar
This is the most essential tool you can utilize, and one you absolutely
must. Find a format that works for you. I prefer one like that repro-
duced on pages 96–97, with Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday on a
left-hand sheet and Thursday through Sunday on a right. Whether in
a notebook or spiral-bound, this format gives you the entire week
at a glance andmore than enough room to write in great detail. I find
that reason enough to avoid those appointment books that give
you one day per page. You may get a lot more room to write, but
you’ll find yourself doing a lot of flipping around just to see what’s
happening tomorrow or the next day.
Chapter 4 ■How to Organize Your TIme 83