Warning: wall of text incoming

Schedules, bah!

I make GLORIOUS schedules. I don't use them. The more time I spend making a schedule, the less time I will use it.

Calendars Yes, I did have invisible calendars too, but I finally found something that works for me!

I used to not use calendars until it hit me that my grandmother's calendar was how she always remembered people's birthdays. I mean, duh. So I started using a calendar. I tried digital--failure. I tried desk calendars--failure. I tried small calendar books for purses and spiral-bound planner calendars--failure. I tried normal calendars with too small boxes for each day--failure.

After years I started doing this:

• I go to Barnes and Noble in August. That's when they have their largest selection of calendars. Find one you like, but my preference is to have big squares for every day.

  Here's what mine looks like:

  

  When it folds open, half a month is on each side instead of having the top half be a picture of something. It comes with stickers and junk, but I don't use them.

• Go to August and mark "Buy next year's calendar". The calendar doesn't run out in August, but the supply of good calendars does.

• Put the calendar where you will see it multiple times per day. The Dutch are known to keep their calendars in the bathroom. That works. I'm American and I keep mine next to the fridge, because...well, I'll see it many times per day. Shut up.

• Find a way to have a pencil or pen near the calendar at all times--clip, string, whatever.

• Mark everyone's birthday. If a birthday falls within the first three days of the next month, mark it a week in advance so you don't miss getting a card out in time (if you do cards).

• If you need to put something on the calendar and you aren't near it, send yourself a text to do it. When you're home and see the text, you know what to do. "Was man schreibt, bleibt" is a German saying that roughly translates to "what you write down, you remember." The act of writing it down does help. Digital calendars on my phone aren't helpful to me. If I need to know what my calendar looks like when I'm not home, I just take a pic of the month I need on my phone's camera.

• When you get a new calendar, take your old calendar and mark everyone's birthdays and other annual things you'd like to remember, like "sign up for summer camp" in March. Of course throughout the year, if something sounds cool or you forgot something you want to do in the future, make a note in the margins and mark the new calendar appropriately.

• Tell anyone who shares your household to use the calendar too, so you can remember if they're going to an event (so you won't schedule something then) and also, when they get used to it, maybe they can help you remember too ("Hey, are we taking X out for her birthday?" or "Do you have everything you need for Y?")

• Sometimes I highlight a box if it's really important or lasts a whole week (like a summer camp), but that's something I tend to switch up every year.

Good luck. If you need me, I'll be reading everyone else's tips, ha ha.