Mark Your Calendars

I remember my boss stopping by once saying he had some good news. What could it be? Are they giving me a raise? Letting me hire another staff member? Painting my office?

“We’ve decided to send you the Franklin Covey time management class!”

Oh. Wonderful. Thanks. I didn’t actually have to say those things out loud, because I’ve always had a tough time working the poker face. He seemed disappointed that I wasn’t excited.

I rallied. “No, that’s great. Who couldn’t use some instruction on how to write things down on a calendar?”

When someone sends you to time management class, they’re trying to tell you something. It’s like sending you to anger management class. It’s not because you’re great at managing your anger.

So I smiled and thanked him, all the while thinking, “Yeah, right. Like I can’t keep my calendar straight.”

So maybe a month rolls by, and one day I’m sitting at my desk. Suddenly I jumped up in the air. “Holy, sh*t! The Franklin Covey thing!”

I dug through the papers on my desk and found what I was looking for, a flyer about the class. Not only was it that day, but it had started two hours earlier.

I didn’t tell anybody that I’d missed my $200 training, but instead quietly rescheduled for another date. I eventually took the class and learned to be a highly effective time manager.

Now it’s time to share with you the secret: write things down on a calendar and look at it all the time. There. I just saved you $200.

21 thoughts on “Mark Your Calendars

  1. Better yet: Get one of those programmable gizmos that beeps at you and won’t stop until you look at it. Old fashioned paper calendars can be ignored, or lost under piles of junk. Don’t ask me how I know this.

  2. Classic. Definitely sounds like something I might have done… once upon a time. Now I have my written desk calendar as well as my Microsoft Outlook. If I can’t keep my crap together then I have failed my species and there’s no hope for me…. well, except a time management class. LOL.

  3. Who said “grits”?? Where are they??? Mmmmmmmmm . . . . salty corn kernels with their skin blanched off by lye, dried, ground, then boiled and reconstituted, seasoned with more salt and butter and maybe some bacon and cheese (but never, EVER sugar) . . . that’s good eatin’!!!

    I have to have a Blackberry these days, alas. Work uses shared Outlook calendars for all scheduling, so most days, I just go where the machine tells me to go, when it tells me too.

    Saves paper, though my sense of free will is greatly diminished . . .

  4. Eye,

    Looks like your boss enjoys stake-horsing Conservatives.

    Per OpenSecrets.org, here’s a list of campaign contributions made by the employees of FranklinCovey:

    Contributor
    Address
    Occupation
    Date
    Amount
    Recipient

    COVEY, JOHN M MR
    PROVO,UT 84604
    FRANKLINCOVEY/ADMINISTRATOR
    10/5/04
    $300
    Republican National Cmte (R)

    COVEY, JOHN M MR
    PROVO,UT 84604
    FRANKLINCOVEY/ADMINISTRATOR
    8/9/04
    $200
    Republican National Cmte (R)

    DAY, TRISH
    BROOMFIELD,CO 80021
    FRANKLINCOVEY COMPANY
    3/6/03
    $300
    National Republican Congressional Cmte (R)

    EVANS, MARGUERITE
    CEDAR HILLS,UT 84062
    FRANKLINCOVEY/EXECUTIVE
    1/18/08
    $250
    Romney, Mitt (R)

    EVANS, MARGUERITE
    CEDAR HILLS,UT 84062
    FRANKLINCOVEY/EXECUTIVE
    5/15/07
    $250
    Romney, Mitt (R)

    MARGUERITE, EVANS
    CEDAR HILLS,UT 84062
    FRANKLINCOVEY/MANAGER
    6/29/07
    $250
    Romney, Mitt (R)

    MCCHESNEY, CHRIS N
    CUMMING,GA
    30041
    FRANKLINCOVEY/GENERAL MANAGER
    10/13/08
    $500
    National Republican Trust PAC

    SIMPSON, MICHAEL MR
    PROVO,UT 84604
    FRANKLINCOVEY/MANAGEMENT & LEADERSH
    6/1/07 $250
    Romney, Mitt (R)

    WHITMAN, ROBERT A
    ARLINGTON,TX 76016
    FRANKLINCOVEY/CHAIRMAN & CEO
    2/20/07
    $2,300
    Romney, Mitt (R)

    That’s just individual donations. If you want 527s or 501(c)4s, I’ll need a bit more time.

  5. ErinsMom (a 2 time attendee) has the FC Binder and Laminated Time Management Cards, yet is still 15-20 minutes on up to several days late for nearly everything. Sometimes, the training just doesn’t take hold.

    1. I probably spent $150 on the FC binders and related paraphernalia before I figured out it didn’t work for me. I looked very well organized, though…

  6. We have more to do! Hair, makeup, nails, and the shoes and purse have to match the clothing… all of that stupid uncomfortable s**t. Believe me, I’d rather be comfortable, especially after that wedding I attended last weekend. Turns out I needed to be able to handle some drunken punks, which would have been easier if I weren’t wearing a dress and sandals.

    Still got the better of them, though. I hate kids.

  7. Hey Rob! Just sat down to catch up on your blog after a busy summer… of living under a rock apparently. I’m a fan- and wish you and your family well.
    (By the way- if memory serves me correctly- you did kinda suck at time management.)

  8. Grits: I’m sure your husband will be happy that you shared that!

    Hopeful: I’m with you, but lets start with the afternoon meetings. I have a hard time staying awake during those.

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