Have you ever thought about useful a Calendar can be?

Calendars are one of the most interesting ways that we mark time. Calendars can tell us the past, the present and the future. I keep three calendars in our house besides those on my desktop computers. There is something about a physical calendar with its pictures and permanence that computer programs seem to lack. Granted, there are many virtues to Outlook and other software calendar programs. However, I still like to put my post-it notes on one calendar, mark my bills on another calendar and on the third calendar, I mark the time and type of exercise that I have done each day. At the end of the month, I sum my bills and my exercise time and put them in an Excel spreadsheet. I use these various tools as a way of tracking and keeping on track with the most important things in my life.

My calendar with post-it notes is almost a duplicate of my desktop calendar but I still like to look at this calendar each day. With the post it notes, it is very easy to simply take an appointment with me or move it to another day. My “post it notes” calendar helps me keep track of what I want to do now and in the future. I put appointments, planned trips, ideas for things to do and future vacations on this calendar. Thus, while two calendars track things I have done, my third calendar tracks things I will do. Each year, I love to go out and buy interesting calendars. I usually buy three or sometimes four calendars as I like turning them each month and seeing the new pictures or sometimes the information that is on calendars. This year I have a Lonely Planets travel calendar, a fantasy calendar by Luis Royo and a calendar with pictures of butterflies. The Lonely Planet calendar has over 200 pictures of different places and countries and provides a way to dream about new places to visit and see.

My calendars are a very active part of my life and I don’t mind spending thirty or forty dollars on them each year. I can also deduct some of them as a business expense. Calendars can be depressing if all they do is mark the passing of time. Calendars can be very helpful when we are counting the days to the beginning of a new event or something we are eagerly looking forward to. Do you have a calendar? How do you use your calendars? Do they help you to manage your life, look forward to exciting times or simply mark the passing of days?