Posted by Jessica Ward on 11/27/12 11:07pm
Msg #444839

Calendar management question--what do you use?

Do you use paper/pencil or some electronic calendar?

I have been merging four Gmail accounts into Outlook but less and less happy with it all of the time. Looking for something with a little more seamless updating into my phone (iPhone).

Wondering--what are you all using?

For what it's worth, I used to be a Franklin Covey calendar devotee, but couldn't handle the paper calendars anymore, I love having access on the phone, and the computer, and my family being able to check the calendar for me.

Thoughts?

Reply by Shoshana/AZ on 11/27/12 11:25pm
Msg #444840

I just have a plain, old fashioned week at a glance pocket calendar. For me, it's faster than getting out the phone and trying to find the calendar! It's my responsibility to keep my calendar.

Reply by Priscilla Witman on 11/27/12 11:34pm
Msg #444841

My husband and I use Cozi. He has an iPhone, I have a Droid. It's fantastic.
I also have a paper planner that I use for more details.

Reply by Gregory/CA on 11/27/12 11:50pm
Msg #444843

I have GMail for Business which allows the use of MS Outlook which syncs to my iPhone calendar. I can enter information in the iPhone calendar or in MS Outlook and it will sync both ways (bi-directional). For me, it's very convenient.

Reply by HisHughness on 11/28/12 12:30am
Msg #444851

There are calendars on Smartphones? Where do you keep the pencil? Do you write directly on the screen?

Reply by Gregory/CA on 11/28/12 12:46am
Msg #444854

Hugh, I always get a kick out of your emails. The only pencil needed is the finger, but not for the calendar, but for the clients paying me for my notarial service through SquareUp. :-)

Reply by MW/VA on 11/28/12 6:34am
Msg #444863

LOL, Hugh. :-) It's a stylus now, not a pencil. ;-) n/m

Reply by bagger on 11/28/12 6:35pm
Msg #444981

Your problem Hugh

Is that you have to be smarter than the Smartphone.

Reply by Jessica Ward on 11/28/12 12:38am
Msg #444853

On your gmail calendar

I've been keeping my calendar in Outlook (connected to my gmail accounts) but it hasn't been updating automatically, despite a MULTITUDE of efforts.

If I could get this to update dynamically, that would be enough for me. Do you plug your iPhone in to sync with outlook, or do you have some settings that allow it to sync automatically (I'm sure it used to do this once upon a time, but it stopped, and I haven't gotten it working again).

Also, how do you tackle duplicated e-mails in Outlook and on your phone?

I'm going through one of my four email accounts today and have 1,600 "urgent" unread messages. (no, it's not my work account).

Reply by Gregory/CA on 11/28/12 1:00am
Msg #444855

Re: On your gmail calendar

Jessica, it was so frustrating having Outlook pull my emails from GMail, but not indicate they were Read when I went to my online gmail account. It still reflect unRead when I check online, yet my Outlook was cleared out.

So, I now use the paid service of Google Apps for Business (http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/pricing.html). With this service there is a synchronization program that runs in the background so my content is dynamic. I can create multiple folders in Outlook and it will sync up and create the folders to my online account.

Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync)

I then had to set-up Outlook to process via IMAP and used a site similar to this for assistance.
http://www.lytebyte.com/2009/08/11/guide-to-setup-gmail-imap-in-outlook-2010/

It took about 20 minutes to get it set-up, but works great.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 11/28/12 5:19am
Msg #444858

I have gmail...I use the google calendar there

have it synced to my phone so if I enter events on my laptop it updates on my phone and vice versa. I've also set up my google calendar as my internet home page so when I get online every morning my agenda is the first thing I see.

I'm still a paper appointment book person and much prefer that but am getting used to seeing my appts on my phone. At the Dr yesterday scheduling my next appt a paper book would have been so much quicker than tap this, then this, then that and I'm there...maybe I just need practice.

JMO

Reply by Julie/MI on 11/28/12 6:08am
Msg #444862

100% paper sorry won't be helpful to you :)

I have been using the same size At-a Glance since I started in 2000. Also, my need for readers (glasses) has really creeped up on me this year and I need a panaoramic view so my brain can register the week,not just the day.

Like monday, I had 9 closings, that means I'll have a lot of "busy" work on Tuesday, so if I had a well check dr. appt. for the 10 month old on that Tuesday I know I would have to pull an all nighter on Monday to be free for Tuesday's appt.

Or if my son has hockey practice and my husband is coaching his and another family cannot take or drop off, I need a quick visual if a company calls for a closing. I don't know how I could exclusively use an electronic means as when I'm in the car and get an appt. i just circle the time and fill in the company, city borrower and borrowers' address and/or file number in case I need to call title on the road. i don't ever print the paper confirmations, I would be lost without my paper planner.

Also, I must have fat finger pads as i detest trying to type on those small "keys" on my iphone. It has voice activation, but I must be a crappy vocalist as what I say isn't necessarily what ends up in print.

I know I would forget to mark an appt. if I was only using the computer. Plus i have a baby to hold and she would grab for the phone anyway.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 11/28/12 7:57am
Msg #444871

Julie - I'm with you - though I DO use my phone....I don't

rely on it - paper is the better way for me for all the reasons you stated (panoramic view, at a glance schedule in my face, etc etc).

Old habits die really really hard - if at all

Reply by jba/fl on 11/28/12 9:06am
Msg #444875

Paper and memory....I never forget money stuff. n/m

Reply by MW/VA on 11/28/12 6:36am
Msg #444864

Great question, Jessica. I use an At-a-glance now, but

biz has gotten so hectic that I know I need a calendar on my phone (Droid). This was a helpful discussion. Thanks. ;-)

Reply by BrendaTx on 11/28/12 7:06am
Msg #444867

Kind of off the topic that is going here, but I am on an Outlook Exchange account at the office. At work, I like to observe 11 calendars before I make appointments for myself so I don't "miss" anything that is going on in the office, I manage a couple, and in order to do that on the IPad, I use a wonderful lilttle app called LookeeLoo.

After IPad's OS update (6, I think), we had a barrel of fun. If anyone opened any meeting appointment with an IPhone or IPad, the I-device was able to hijack the appointment and send cancellations out to all invitees. Talk about a lot of angry birds squawking about people messing up their calendars. We all were paranoid. Son's gf shared a memo from her big company employer about the issue. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Reply by BobtheElder on 11/28/12 9:48am
Msg #444879

I use gmail and google calendar.
Use the same for my home computer and iPhone so everything is in sync.

But I still haven't thrown out my day-timer...... keep reaching for a pen every time I schedule something.

Reply by ananotary on 11/28/12 11:11am
Msg #444891

I have decided to go back to an at a glance

for next year. I have gone "digital" over the last few years and find that it is too hard to see my schedule at a glance while driving or in a hurry. This way I can have my schedule open on the passenger seat and literally know "at a glance" what I have going on for that week. It's too hard to pull up the phone calendar and search or God forbid, try and remember what I have going on. lol It seems that I am always driving when I get a call!

Reply by CJ on 11/28/12 11:29am
Msg #444902

I use At A Glance.

I have the one that has 1 page per day.

When I get an appointment, I circle the time, write the signing company, the borrower's last name, and the zip code (or city). Then if I don't get the work order, I know how to get it. I can also tell, at-a-glance, how my route is shaping up for the day, or if the next appointment is close or far to the one before it and I can take that into consideration when accepting a job.

When I call to confirm, I write "C" for confirmed, or "LM" for left message. Then I can see at-a-glance, whom I have spoken with. When the signing service calls, "Did you confirm?" I know if I have or not.

When I have the printed docs in my possession, I circle the whole appointment. Then I know, at a glance, who is ready to go. (I put all the docs-to-be-signed on the floor of the front passenger side, and all the signed docs in the back seat. Then I don't get them mixed up. And since I circle them in my calendar as I print, I don't have to dig through the stack to see what I have and what I don't have.)

When the day is over, I throw out the page.

I have a purse/backpack that has a pocket in the front that is the perfect size for my at-a-glance, so I can always grab it.

Reply by Jessica Ward on 11/28/12 11:55am
Msg #444911

The reason I'm looking to change

In the course of a day I use the following items:

1. A Desktop PC-my primary machine
2. An android Tablet (I use instead of a notepad/paper)
3. An iPhone (my primary phone/calendar)
4. A Laptop computer.

I really need my email, calendar, and everything to look the same across all of those platforms. I can't handle duplication, things that haven't updated (yesterday I arrived for a Dentist appointment that I'd rescheduled for two weeks from now), and while I had changed it on my calendar, the deleted appointment didn't go away on all platforms (for reasons I've yet to discern).

My computer's time zone was set to Tijauana (that's the right time zone, I'm in Seattle), but when Daylight savings time came around, two weeks earlier than it does in the USA, all of my calendar appointments moved. when I fixed the time zones again, they moved again--but this time, two hours behind where they actually were.

I fixed this by changing my computer's time zone to Baja, CA but everything was already %)#*%'ed up.

Anyhow, ultimately I need something WILDLY more reliable, but I need to be able to find it from ANYWHERE, and I need my husband to be able to check it--just a safety thing, I want him to know where I'm at (I also use Google Latitude to show where I actually am in real-time).

Thanks all for the ideas.
Jessica

Reply by pat/WA on 11/28/12 12:44pm
Msg #444922

Re: The reason I'm looking to change

I use my Iphone and notary express

Reply by HSH/WA on 11/28/12 1:00pm
Msg #444928

Re: Low teck - but easy

I use a printed calendar off the net with boxes for the days and write in pencil the name and time of the appt. Fold it in thirds and it fits in the pocket. Phone rings I've got it out and ready before the caller gives their info. Erase cancellations etc. Old school but works well for me.

Reply by Budman on 11/28/12 2:03pm
Msg #444939

I use paper and a pencil or pen.

Reply by Yoli/CA on 11/28/12 3:31pm
Msg #444950

All this posting got me thinking. Already have a gmail account. Looked into it. Set up Google Calendar. I like! It coordinates with the 'Droid and immediately transfers info.

Thanks for pushing me in the right direction!

Reply by CopperheadVA on 11/28/12 3:52pm
Msg #444953

I use Google calendar and

I allow my best clients access to it so they can schedule around my existing appointments. I also print out a copy and take it with me every time I leave the house so I have easy access to it in the car. Requires discipline keeping it updated but it works well for me.