I'm a very techno-geeky person. I love gadgets. I love software. I love networks.

So I started putting all of my appointments, events, schedules, etc. on MS Outlook (so I can send invites to other people using MS Outlook), synced with my Incite phone (so I know my schedule when I'm not at my laptop), and synced with Google Calendar (in case I lose my laptop and my phone in a tragic fire started by a freak tornado spawned by global warming).

Has it made my more organized? More aware of my schedule? More punctual? Nope. In fact, I honestly don't know what I'm doing for more than a couple days ahead of time because I don't have it nicely posted on my refrigerator or laid out in my household notebook. I can only see one week at a time on my computer, and one day at a time on my phone, so that's all I know.

I had to visit my doctor again, this time for a UTI. Not fun :-( And my doctor asked a very simple question that any person might have asked, "What are you doing this weekend?" I had no freakin' idea what I was going to do even though the weekend was only a couple days away. I wasn't even sure if I was camping or not or lighting fireworks or not. It wasn't one of my most "I'm an organized, intellectual person" moments. Why? Because I never saw it on paper.

I'm a very visual person, but my brain only seems to remember things as they fit within larger things. I remember directions if see them on a map, not a little map, a big map. I remember lectures if I see the notes, not just about the single lecture but the whole course thus far. And I remember my calendar if I see the whole calendar, not just a day or a week at a time. (I can access electronic organizers for scheduling things, setting up appointments, shuffling things around, etc. I did it all the time when I was working in offices and answering phones, but I can't remember it after the electronic organizer is turned off.) Maybe my brain just is old fashioned that way, like the grandparent who can't set the clock on their VCR or DVD player.

I may not need to remember everything. I may not need to remember appointment schedules for clients, directions to a place I will only visit one time in my life, or formulas for calculating astrophysics (even though I've had to do all of those things before). But I do need to remember my calendars and schedule for my personal life, family life, business life, vacation time, etc.

So I went back to my good ol' paper calendars. I'm still using Outlook (so I can send event info to other people), my phone (so I can look up schedules on the go, such as for making appointments on the spot rather than having to go home and call back to make it), and Google Calendar (as a backup). But I have to plan things out with my paper calendars, post the current ones on a bulletin board, file away past or future ones in my household notebook, etc.

I thought that if I just printed out my electronic calendar, I'd be fine. But it doesn't print out in a way that works well. Words get chopped off. Everything looks the same. You can't control formats. Blah blah blah. I have to use one of the calendars I've designed myself.

It's really not that big of a deal. I'm using my paper calendar as my primary calendar. The electronic organizers are just a convenience. It only takes a few seconds to copy one to the other.

Problem Solved

Labels: Goals, My Life, Problem Solved