Occasionally I have my calendar open on my PC when people walk over to my desk. Actually, I ALWAYS have it open, because my calendar is my compass and my brain. Sometimes when people wander over with some information or news, they stare at my calendar in horror. But my calendar is not horrible.

It just looks horrible. (Don't judge a calendar by its colour-coded boxes).

But there's a good reason!

I once read, somewhere, that many high level executives don't work off a to-do list, but rather their calendar. Because a calendar is finite. You have 24 hours in a day. You cannot make more or less just by turning a page in your notebook and adding more tasks to complete. Your calendar, if managed correctly, CARES about how much time you actually have to do all the things you have to do. As far as I'm concerned, my to-do list has no more love for me than a woollen scarf on a hot day.

This morning inside my calendar my first task for the day is an hour of returning calls. Yesterday I went through my email and notebook, and categorised everything that would require a returned phone call. Now I'm making those calls. Next, I have an interview, and the 30 minutes beyond it to catch up, create a profile, and start the process of ensuring a job seeker can get into the temp market as fast as possible, where they can add value to the hiring manager’s business. I use my calendar not only to track what I want to do, but also to tell me how much time things actually take. So if my calls take me an hour and a half, I'll change the allotted time to reflect that, going forward, I know my return calls will typically take me 90 minutes. Suddenly I know I don't have the time to do everything I have planned for the day, and tomorrow, things will have to change.

Tomorrow, I will frighten someone else with what's inside my calendar.