The “Perfect” Calendar for Entrepreneurs

I use five calendars. Seriously.

The first is my Google Calendar which has 5-in-1 because I like to see work-personal-client-media-finance separately, but still in one place. I won’t even attempt to describe my color coding to you.

The second calendar is a printed 11×14 hard copy from the Implementation Coaching Event I sponsored where all my marketing is spelled out for the coming year. And yes, color coded.

The third calendar is the giant picture frame I repurposed for launch planning – it’s where all the details of those 2015 launches go during planning sessions and then stays on my office wall until the launch is done.

The fourth calendar is our editorial calendar which documents blog posts, newsletters, media contributions and social media strategy throughout the year – that one is hosted in Backpack by 37Signals.

And finally, I have a sticky calendar on my fridge that tells me what to eat for breakfast, since I forget approximately 6 days a week.

But you know what? None of these calendars is “the perfect calendar” – neither for me nor entrepreneurs in general. Right now bloggers are releasing their own custom planners, Kickstarter campaigns are raising money for passion planners and every store has a stack of calendars featuring bridges or landscapes or hot men holding baby animals. You think I’m kidding? Here.

The point is, no calendar is going to meet the need of every entrepreneur because gasp entrepreneurs are wildly different.

See, we tend to think of entrepreneurs like Oprah or Mark Cuban or Richard Branson. We think of the big personalities who easily take the stage and eagerly grab the microphone. But you know who else is an entrepreneur? The guy in the back of the room running sound. And the graphic designer who made that banner on the backdrop and the florist who brought in those beautiful flower arrangements.

We tend to identify the author promoting their latest book as an entrepreneur. After all, they’re jet setting around the country for appearances. But the book coach who helped refine and clarify the manuscript is an entrepreneur. As is the VA who arranged those flights, the accountant who tracks books sold, and the lawyer who submitted the copyright.

The challenge is in identifying the type of entrepreneur you are and not fitting into an elusive mold.

One of the hallmarks of a “successful entrepreneur” is someone who can master their time and if you waste yours chasing after everyone else’s model of what works then you’re likely to be disappointed and frustrated.

Instead of chasing an ideal that some else has created, try out a lot of different methods. I always start with the ones that are cheap or free (so cost isn’t a barrier to saying “that didn’t work” and moving on) and ones that can be adopted easily.

Action Step: Answer the following questions to help narrow down what kind of calendar you need most for 2015:

I’d rather go digital or hold the calendar in my hand
I like to see everything in one place or keep separate certain things
My team really needs to see everything or mind their own business
Auto-scheduling software is awesome or too impersonal for me
Calendar reminders are annoying or essential to my easily distracted mind
I really want my calendar to be simple or endlessly customizable

Circle or jot down the type of calendar that fits your personality the most and then go shopping with that in mind. For example, I love a digital calendar where I can separate out business and personal events, my team needs to see everything (business related), and we love auto-scheduling software. Those reminders are essential and I like a simple calendar that I can color coordinate because yes, I am a nerd.