Calendars are great.

The Faculty Handbook is an online course for new studio leaders who want to be effective educators and who want to hire teachers who are effective educators.

In it, the idea of keeping a calendar is lauded. But what does it mean to keep a calendar?

On November 7th, I purchased a blank, year-long laminated wall calendar. It’s giant. It takes up an entire wall in my office.

This is probably one of the best purchases of my recent life.

When I plan workshops, seminars, and consultations, I like to be clear on my time availability. I first filled in the days off.

Let’s take some time with this:

I first filled in the days off because this is where, as a business owner, we tend to short-change ourselves. You are now reading the words of a person who takes her own advice—the entire first chapter is on health and wellness of the teacher, and I spend a substantial portion of that talking about rest.

Rest is a biological imperative. Not a single person in hospice says, “I wish I had worked more”.

So, taking the time to mark off days I know I am not going to work is one of the most life-affirming things I can do.

I took off:

My birthday
My brother’s birthday
My mom’s birthday
The day my father died
All federal holidays
Spa days

Spa days are what I call “mental health days”. They are days I take off for no reason at all. I might go to the movies that day. I might stay in my pajamas and watch reruns all day. I might schedule four dates that day. Who can know?!?

Days off are important, and knowing that I have scheduled time off—time that is set aside on the calendar—helps me work harder, actually. I know I have the time to rest, I know when it’s coming, so I can work as hard as I can up to that date because I know I will get my rest.

My calendar is my rest hack.

After listing my days off, I listed my appointments, then birthdays, then fencing competitions, then savings/investments/bill payments.

Then I sighed the sigh of deep contentedness. I can see the ebb and flow of my life, and I can adjust accordingly.

I’m a mathematician, so I know how small events can yield tremendous results. This calendar is already yielding benefits because I have altered my physical workouts. For example, I don’t have to go s.o. hard in today’s work-out; the next competition is on January 11th. I can ease back a little and play the long game successfully, thus minimizing risk of injury.

With this giant calendar, I can plan internationally. For example, nobody wants a meeting on Wednesday, November 27th.

Here in the US, that is.

November 28th is not a holiday, however, in, for example, Arusha, Tanzania. Teacher training occurs all over the world, and my calendar helps me see such things in a more objective way.

The calendar is in my office (as opposed to the living room or bedroom) because I only go in there when I need to do business. This means that my calendar is not hovering over my head all the time everywhere I go (like it would be if it were in the living room or bedroom). This is why I have difficulties with keeping a calendar online; I’m never free from checking the obligations. Even if you turn off all notifications, somehow one or two slide in and suddenly I’m down a rabbit hole of, “Did I finish this?”.

My wall sized calendar cost about $24USD, but it has already yielded much in the way of peace of mind and a sense of being able to control some of the events in my life.

What works for you?

Please share any solutions to maintaining your appointments. The beauty of The Faculty Handbook is that is updated and reissued every six months. The main question we ask is: does this solution work and can the results be replicated?

What works for you?

The Piano Instructor Consulting helps pro musicians and new studio owners become effective educators. 100% of our staff are certified teachers, and 100% have Masters degrees in education. Please subscribe, and for more information and for a 12 minute consultation, email us thepianoinstructorconsulting@gmail.com. Please put “12 Minutes” in the subject.