A New Year, A New Daytimer Calendar
/One of my favorite things to do at the end of each year is to pick a new daytimer calendar for the coming year. I will spend up to an hour in Office Depot, comparing Daytimers, weighing the pros and cons. "Hmmm....leather is nice, but this one has pockets to hold scraps of paper. But ooh, look! A map of time zones and area codes. Niiiice."
As you can see, I'm not an early adapter and shun all modern technology when it comes to my schedule. Friends with Blackberries have tried to convert me to the cause but I just don't get it. I love being able to flip open my calendar and see all my appointments and notes spread out before me. Having to press multiple screens to see my schedule would be enough to land me in a mental institution.
Which brings me to today's topic of a new daytimer. This is a scary time for me. Since college, I have carried the "month-at-a-glance" calendar. I like being able to see what I've got going for the entire month. That way, if I'm swamped one week, with just a glance I can see that I might need to take it easy that following Monday and not schedule a lot.
But I have stepped off the beaten path and for 2006 I have selected a "week-at-a-glance" daytimer. As I start penciling in dates for January, it's freaking me out that I can't see my full month at once. But I've decided I want to start scheduling my day hour-by-hour and this new daytimer gives me that option. So, come January, I will know exactly how long I have to exercise, check e-mail, do fiction writing, journal, meditate, do non-fiction writing, etc. The "plan" is to spend a few moments the night before, penciling in my schedule for the following day. I'm such a list freak that there's a good chance if I see "novel writing" from 10 am - noon, I'll do it, just so I can cross it off the list. And since it's written down in the 10 am - noon spaces on the new daytimer, it's like a law. It must be done.
Either this new system will be a raving success or I'll rebel on Day 3 at adhering to such a tight schedule and will spend an afternoon in a corner creating paper confetti out of the daytimer. But I have high hopes for the new system.
And if anyone needs to talk to me in the New Year, call now. I'll do my best to pencil you in.
