You Can Never Have Too Many Calendars

I’ll start this off with a story.

The woman I work for sent me a couple upcoming dates asking if I was still available to babysit. Two worked and the other didn’t. As the dates are coming in, I’m wondering how I possibly could double book myself. I’ve been sitting for her for almost 2 years now, so she knows my schedule. She asks me months in advance because she knows I fill up fast for weekend babysitting. (I should start another blog…The Diaries of a College Nanny. That one would certainly be a great read!) She sent me dates in January from then through the end of the summer (weddings, trips, petsitting, etc.) and I wrote them all down…in my beautiful and brand new floral desk calendar from Staples (on sale, too, I must add because I bought it after January had started). Then I circled all the dates on my at-a-glance calendars so that I knew I had something that day and not to plan things on it. I hadn’t filled my planner throughout the summer yet, so it was just a quick way to get all the dates in.

So she sends me a few dates and I see that they’re circled but I have nothing written on them. And then it occurs to me. I spilled coffee on my desk calendar and had to throw it away…with all my future babysitting dates on it. Even thinking of this happening is giving me anxiety. It was a nightmare. Months of babysitting dates gone.

It ends up that I never double booked myself, I just didn’t know who I was babysitting for on the dates that I circled.

Moral of the story though, you can never have too many calendars. Write down your dates everywhere you can. And make sure you do more than just circling dates (note to self). Even if you’re not 100% sure something is going on. When you open up your planner to see what’s going on, you’ll know that something will be happening that day that you’d already committed to.

I’m planning on going to TJ Maxx or Marshalls to look for a super cute dry erase hanging calendar for my new office. I have one in mind, I just hope they still have it in stock. Who doesn’t love seeing everything they need to do at a glance?

Happy Planning!