Choose Your Calendar Colors
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Don’t think, Just do!
Pick one or do both!
- Decide which digital calendar you wish to use as your primary calendar.
- Download this Color Code WORKSHEET to document your calendar color choices
GUIDE VIDEO: Join me as we Work on this Game Challenge Together.
Simple Setup for this Game Challenge
Decide which calendar you will use as your primary calendar, your body’s calendar.
- Once you have chosen your primary calendar start consolidating if you can. You can invite “yourself” to events in other calendars.
- Go through about 6 weeks and add the things your body needs to attend. (meetings, calls, butt in seat)
- Remove things you do not need to attend. If it is a task that is not date and time specific add it to a task list, or separate calendar.
Choose fun colors for your body’s calendar
Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar offer fun color options within each calendar. Apple calendar does not. Each calendar can only have one color (so annoying)
- Download this Color Code WORKSHEET to document your calendar color choices
- Think through your calendar colors. Start with your Solid time and your Flexible time.
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Deeper work and Strategy for this Game Challenge
Can you glance at your digital calendar and know exactly how your week is laid out? Do your new appointments pop out for you to notice? Did you schedule enough client appointments? How about social events and time to focus on the important things you need to get done?
Establishing a consistent code for the colors you use in your digital calendar will enable you to take control of your time. You will know when you have enough balance in your schedule and where you need to focus your energy.
Resist the temptation to choose too many colors. Between 6-8 colors will give you enough options without being overwhelming. More than that will be difficult to remember and maintain.
STEP 1: Choose your Default Calendar Color
To start your color-coding process, choose the default color of your calendar.
Choose a color that annoys you the most because this color will be used to identify your new and unevaluated appointments. Once you have evaluated your appointments you will change them to a color you like better.
Guide Sheet: Your Calendar Color Code
STEP 2: Choose your First 2 Colors
Knowing the calendar entries that are truly time specific and the entries that are flexible can be extremely useful in planning your day. You know that you need to take breaks now and then, but the time is not locked. Take a quick glance at your colorful calendar, it’ll tell you if you can accommodate a specific time request.
- (Solid Time) Choose a color for set appointment times. This is time that you have arranged with other people or appointments that cannot, nor should not happen at any other time.
- (Flexible Time) Choose a color for appointments that can be adjusted. This is the time that you will want to accommodate, however it is not important if it happens at that specific time.
STEP 3: Refine your Colors
Everyone has different responsibilities and requirements for their time. After you have identified your Solid Time and your Flexible Time you will notice the need to refine further. In addition, specific categories will arise for you as you work. Feel free to choose a color and try them out to see how it affects your system. Does the new color add useful information? Does it allow improvement to your timely decisions?
Here are a few of the most common categories that provide useful information in a colorful calendar system:
- Professional Appointments (Solid Time)
- Professional Focus Time (Flexible Time)
- Personal Appointments (Solid Time)
- Personal Time (Flexible Time)
You may also want to identify colors for:
- Drive Time (Solid Time)
- Client Work (Flexible Time)
- Client Appointments (Solid Time)
- Optional Meetings (Flexible Time)
Also, resist the temptation to choose too many colors because the more colors you use, the more difficult it will be to maintain your system and unlikely you’ll use them. It’s most likely not useful if you don’t use it. Firstly, start with two colors and test them out for a week or two and then add more colors as you need.
For more specific strategies on choosing colors and how to identify your categories, check out the BLOG POST: The Color Coded Calendar
The Different Digital Calendar Systems
Each calendar system has a different set of colors available and they use them in a slightly different way. Furthermore, Google/Gmail/Gsuite system and Microsoft Office/Outlook systems allow for the best use of colors. To use colors in iCal you will need to create a separate calendar for each color because this is less than ideal for organization purposes and the overall use of the calendar. These separate calendars make it mostly difficult for scheduling programs, other systems that integrate with your calendar to connect and capture all of your accounted time.
Resources Associated with this Game Challenge:
BLOG POST: The Color Coded Calendar
GUIDE SHEET: Your Calendar Color Code
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