Start with the Calendar…

I keep finding new starting points with this blog, or at least, restarting with the same goal; to inspire others to learn, explore, and create. It all has to be through my own experiences, and written in the form of concept and purpose. I wish not to be a teacher, while others already teach and do it well. My role has always been to help get started, and start with curiosity.

When I first started Blogging about organizing, it was directed towards folders and files. But like any subject organizing can include events and everyday activities. To anyone truly looking for creating purpose with a computer or smartphone, one of the most available and useful app or program is the calendar.

Calendars come to mind when it comes to remembering birthdays, anniversaries, events and occasions. They can also be used in the form of ledgers, diaries, and recorded activities (as they occur). The best part of using the calendar App or program is that the concept and purpose is already self evident. It is when making it purposeful in your everyday life that it becomes somewhat a hassle to build that self discipline to maintain, update, edit, and remove expired information.

Birthdays and Anniversaries

Making a record of family and friend’s birthdays and Anniversaries can be a project, and the thought of seeing it through to completion may make you choose to wait until you make time for such a huge project. But, I am trying to get the use of the computer, smartphone, and their programs to be used throughout your everyday activities, and not make the use of a computer a hobby or project.

The best and easiest (or manageable) process, is to record these events as they happen. Thanks to such social networking’s such as Facebook, My Space, AOL,  MSN, Google, and all they others, many of these activities are added by the individual user themselves. It is simply available by being associated on the network with them. Now, as their birthdate or anniversary comes up, you can record it on your own calendar. Why if it is already on the network? First, you may not always have a network connection; and secondly, when later reviewing you calendar of upcoming events, they show up in your own calendar, which you would use on a daily basis for personal and business reasons.

Appointments and Schedules

I could simply have made a list of possibilities for a Calendar, but much here was always self evident, and easily dismissed. Remember, I started this Blog article expressing your plan to give your device or machine more purpose. It challenges us all towards discipline, as well as expressive and detailed. And, it truly is a challenge to keep updated…unless you make it an everyday activity.

When it comes to Appointments, this is using the Calendar for a future event, and most of us already do that…just not through the smartphone or computer. Again, it is giving that device an advancing purpose. Schedules also can be done, whether it is your school class schedule, or your billings. Almost all calendars allow you to make these type of “data entries” a reoccurring event; and still allow you to use the comment on any given date to describe a transaction or study (homework) course for that specific date. Other calendars would need you to add in changing comments separately, because what goes in the comment may follow through all reoccurring comments. So, if scheduling, make it an “All Day Event”, then when you need make a comment, add it with the same subject title (with your remarks), but as a time frame of when you did it (i.e., 9:00 AM Homeroom; Reminded teacher of planned absentee date for doctor appointment).

Private and Sync

Much of what you start recording is for your eyes only, but should you wish to share certain events with parents or sibling, many calendars allow you to build two separate calendars. The main can be private, and never shared, while the second can be shared through networking services, such as AOL, MSN, and Google (provided who you are sharing it with uses the same Internet service provider (Again, Google, AOL, MSN, etc.). The last option is to make it public, which then, anyone can see. Whatever you choose, syncing to the network takes a few setting configurations, but now what you sync is not only available on your smartphone or computer, but also accessible by you through any computer, by signing into that service with your account. So, if the smartphone battery losses its charge, you can use another device to see you calendar.

Calendar Sharing

I like using Google Calendar. It allows me to simply share a specific event or share the whole calendar with family. Businesses favor this for their employees. No reason the same concept could be used by family and friends. Of course, all involved would desire this type of communication.

Example: Your Son or Daughter will be going to college. Without constant calling to make sure everything is alright, a shared calendar can be used to know where they are (or should be), and depending on their willingness, they can describe how the session went, homework, and even the course issues. At the same time, you might share them a calendar, so they know when the can call you, for advice, encouragement, and sometimes more money. Having a shared Calendar showing your in a meeting from 2:00 PM until 2:30 PM, means don’t call. If it is money, expect a call at exactly 2:31PM.

Record of events

As a truck driver, any work done, traveled, stopped, and off duty, on what is known as a Driver’s Daily Log. It is done daily. Well, that is also a calendar. It is used by many, besides the driver, to verify where they were, the hours they did (so they know how many hours they have left), and the remarks can include in detail any issues or additional work that occurred. At a personal level, it is documenting you activities that could come in handy later, and without knowing what for. “Where were you?”, “What did you do?”, and “Did you you have?”

For me, the calendar can be a record of what Blog I wrote, to help prevent writing about it again, or even referring back to the original writings, and by date.

It’s about routine

Nothing about these machines and devices is something you are born knowing. It takes curiosity, experimentation, study, and learning. Building a routine so it is second nature is also an ongoing achievement. This routine is an ongoing exercise…even for me. Many other bloggers have something on a daily, weekly, and even monthly basis. When you look at my timelines, well, it looks more like a “mood thing”. Unfortunately, it has to do with not specializing in computers, or just truck driving, nor did I just stay with working with spreadsheets. I am constantly working on my own daily routines, and Blogging is supposed to be my “close second” priority…which means that first priority keeps me away. In short, routines vary for all of us. But starting out with the use of a calendar, building any type of routine would be a good starting point. It is like any routine where maintaining it is where we all for short.