Help me unclutter my calendars...

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Help me unclutter my calendars...

(7 posts) (6 voices)

Started 2 years ago by robhixkg
Latest reply from Lori Paximadis
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robhixkg
Member

Hey all,

I need help unlcuttering my calendars. I actually keep three calendars and try to keep them all in sync. Here is how things are set up:

Calendar 1: Franklin Covey paper-based calendar. I need this for when I am away from my computer which is sometime the case in my job. I need to know when I am available for another meeting.

Calendar 2: Google Calendar used for family calendar.

Calendar 3: Outlook Calendar at work.

Obviously I really need all of these calendars to reflect the same information. I am finding it very difficult to pull this off. Currently when appointments are set up on either of the computerized calendars we send invitations to the others. This helps a little, but sometimes this get fouled up. The paper calendar is hardly every close enough to correct.

I would really like to have fewer calendars, but I think I am at my minimal number of calendars, unless someone has a better idea. I cannot automatically sync my Google calendar and my Outlook calendar because we cannot install software on our work computer, and that program would NEVER get approved.

I really have a feeling that the correct answer is in my daily routines. Just making sure I am able to synchronize all the calendars together once every day.

If anyone has any ideas, please share,
Rob Hix

Posted 2 years ago #
Zora
Member

I'm hazy about this solution, not having used any of these programs, or a smartphone, but ... perhaps the answer would be something like a Blackberry or iPhone that could go online and sync with Google docs. You could carry it around like the planner, but sync it with the Google calender that you are already using.

Posted 2 years ago #
bandicoot
Member

i was going to suggest the iphone too.
portable and sync-able.
with the iphone, you could cut out the paper calender and do it all on google calender....but you'd still have to manually sync with outlook.

committing to a daily morning and evening sync would be the icing on the cake.
even just once a day would be enough probably.

it's a shame you cannot download the google-outlook sync thingie....that would streamline things beautifully. it's the perfect solution, really.

Posted 2 years ago #
nellieb
Member

My solution is an e-calendar at work which has only work related projects on it. Then I use a paper calendar for everything else so I have it with me and can make commitments on the spot. Less follow through and keeps life simple.

My feeling is that if I ever lose it...oh, well, an email to those with whom I might be meeting will take care of the issue, they can let me know what we had planned. And I make a lot of arrangements via email so I could always go back and reference.

I sometimes think what it would be like to not have to keep a calendar for anything! I've been using one for over 35 years...wow, that's a lot of recorded information, most of which is no longer meaningful or relevant! LOL!!!

Posted 2 years ago #
robhixkg
Member

When we were due for new phones, my wife and I both tried Droids, but we took them back for the simple fact that they were too much phone. At first I thought I would like being internet connected all of the time. In reality it was driving me nuts. We went back and go simple phones.

Now I am thinking about an iPod touch as a PDA. From my poking around on the net it looks like I am not the only one that has had that thought.

Thanks for the ideas, now let's see what I can come up with.

Rob Hix

Posted 2 years ago #
Another Deb
Member

I was also thinking about buying an IPod Touch for my portable music and applications. I didn't go for the IPhone because of the subscription cost, but am wondering if anyone out there has any thoughts on the product and its usefulness for things like video and other apps.

Posted 2 years ago #
Lori Paximadis
Member

I was a longtime paper calendar holdout, but I finally moved to all electronic at the end of last year. It was a rough adjustment, but for the most part I'm pleased with how streamlined it's made everything.

I use iCal on my Mac and have an iPhone. I publish a couple of different calendars (but keep them password protected): one for my stuff, one for stuff my husband & I do as a couple, one for birthdays, etc. My husband & I both can then subscribe to the relevant calendars and set it up for automatic syncing every half hour or so, and everything is always up to date.

I'm not at all familiar with Outlook, but if it has publish/subscription capabilities, you might be able to do something similar. Publish both calendars, and subscribe the Outlook calendar to the Google calendar feed and subscribe the Google calendar to the Outlook calendar feed. I use
http://www.icalx.com/
to handle the publishing when I first set this up a few years ago, although there may be better options by now.

As for being away from the computer, if a smartphone or PDA is not an option, is there a function in Outlook to have it print a list of your appointments for XX days into the future? Rather than carrying your planner brick around (been there, done that), you could simply take a printout snapshot of your calendar with you for as far ahead into the future as is likely that people will want to make appointments. (The list format will save paper over calendar format.) The key then is to make a habit of entering appointments into the electronic system as soon as possible.

Posted 2 years ago #

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