You may think of your calendar as only a time management tool, but it is also an important organizing tool. Barbara Hemphill, author of “Taming The Paper Tiger at Work”, teaches an organizing method called the Magic 6™, which we use at Living Orderly. The calendar is number three of her Magic 6™. You can eliminate a lot of incoming paper and computer files by using your calendar. 

When you are going through your inbox or email, the key is to take the information you need from a document or email, enter it in your calendar, and ditch or delete the original. If there are details, that are too much to enter into your calendar, keep it but file in a Pending File, Action File or a Tickler File. (I will write more about using a Tickler File later. I use a Tickler File called the Swiftfile, and it is absolutely one of my most essential tools.) Depending on your filing system, you may want to note on your calendar where you filed the document with the details.

The most important thing is to get the information into your calendar, so you can see it on your schedule. If it lands in a pile on your desk, you may not shuffle that pile again until the event has passed…and it goes down as another missed opportunity. If it is information about a seminar or a workshop, enter the deadline for registration and the date of the event in your calendar.

Now, you have gotten rid of paper that would otherwise be cluttering up your desk or email cluttering your inbox, and you have taken steps to schedule your time. As you get information about other events or meetings, you will already see the ones scheduled on your calendar. At this point you can make a decision as to which one you have to or want to participate in, instead of being surprised when something happens to land on the top of the pile and you haven’t planned for it. This will help cut down on over scheduling yourself or giving your self time to get from one event to another.

Your calendar is also a good tool to use for follow up. If you need to follow up on a phone call or letter, note in your calendar the day you want to follow up. You may be waiting for someone to follow up with you, note that date in your calendar as a reminder. You should be looking at your calendar daily, so it is a great place to have these reminders. Don’t rely on your memory for follow up, instead free it up for other things.

Being organized is about being in control. Use your calendar to help control the clutter as well as your schedule.