I’m sure you have realized at this point that I am an avid supporter of agendas. Many people have a difficult time figuring out what to use it for to make it worth carrying around everywhere. After countless years of using agendas, these are my top ten ways I use my agenda that have significantly improved my personal and professional life!
10. Sales at stores
If you like to get ridiculous deals, this is a life hack for you. Just this week, I went to Ulta for a Clinique product that retails for $25.50 and bought four of them for $12.25 each (50% off). The only reason why I got this steal is because three weeks ago they announced their daily deals on skincare. I looked through the sales until I found something on sale that I needed then I wrote the deal down. For that reason, I saved $52 on products I would have purchased anyway. While I recognize beauty products don’t apply to all users, this concept can be used in countless other ways!
Semi-annual sales, for example, can be amazing as long as you get there early. If you come a few days into the sale, the selection will probably be extremely picked over. Big purchases, such as tools, electronics, and even furniture can be worth waiting for that huge sale. Don’t forget to write it down to save yourself that money!
9. Notes during meetings
Almost all agendas have a “notes” section in them. This is the perfect place to write notes throughout a meeting especially if computers and tablets are not appropriate. Additionally, your agenda can be a great safety net if you want to look busy or engaged during a particularly boring meeting. This happens to me all the time and I am very thankful for the distraction of writing notes!!
8. Cleaning reminders
Have you ever been sitting at work or school when you remembered that random chore that you keep putting off? Whether that is vacuuming before family comes over or cleaning out the fridge, your agenda has your back. The fulfillment you get when you cross things off your agenda will make you do crazy things, like clean the toilet or take out the bathroom trash before it overflows. I’m not joking when I say that this tip has helped me live a significantly cleaner life.
7. Vacations
Planning vacations well in advance can be extremely helpful with getting a good deal! Many companies offer an early-booking discount, which is why it’s important to check out your agenda way in advance! You don’t want to get to the end of the year and realize that you took none of those road trips or vacations that you were dying to experience in 2019. Plan them ahead of time, put them in your agenda, and put in for time off way in advance before any of your co-workers even think about it. Not only does this save you money, but this also makes it more likely that you’ll get those vacation days guaranteed before anyone else!!
6. Meetings
Sometimes I get meeting invitations days, weeks, or even months in advance. That’s not a problem with my agenda. I have meetings scheduled all the way into May and I know that I will remember to make every single one of them because of my agenda!! That gives me so much security and drastically improves my reliability as a professional. Missing meetings is a problem of the past if you write them down (no matter how far out they are) in your handy dandy agenda.
5. Medical/Beauty appointments
When I show up to the nail salon on my day off and I have to wait for an hour I want to pull my hair out. This is why I make appointments well in advance to ensure a minimal wait. Yes, I am that person who pulls my agenda out at the nail salon to schedule my next appointment! Who’s laughing at me when I skip the line when I show up for my 2 PM mani-pedi? Exactly!! Have no shame. Time is precious. Every minute you spend waiting to get your nails done is a minute taken away from spending time with your friends and family.
On the other hand, medical appointments can have huge fees for missing them and can be a hassle to reschedule. Especially if you are going to a specialist, the wait list can be tremendously long, making these appointments precious. Put those appointments in your agenda and avoid the stress of forgetting medical appointments.
4. Birthdays
This is one of my favorite ways to show my friends (and co-workers) that I care about them. At the beginning of each year, I go through all of my friends birthdays on Facebook and supplement with my personal list of birthdays to put them in my agenda. This is a very time consuming task but it is incredibly worth it. You would be blown away to see how much this little act of kindness means to people, especially if they don’t make a huge deal out of their own birthday. There were days when I was the only person to wish an individual happy birthday. That’s powerful.
Take the time to do this one. It’s very impactful, which is why it’s #4!!
3. Goal setting
One of the amazing things about a good agenda is that has a daily view, monthly view, and “notes” section. This allows you to physically write down your daily goals, such as going to the gym, your weekly goals, such as finishing a book and working out 5 x this week, and even your annual goals in the “notes” section, such as reading 10 books! Another awesome perk of your agenda is that you can actually keep track of those goals throughout the day or week. Once you work out for the day, you can feel the satisfaction of crossing off “work out”. Then, you can put a tally mark beside your weekly goal “work out 5 x this week”!! Once you finish that book, you can put a tally mark beside your annual goal in the “notes” section. This is helps us hold ourselves to the fire and actually follow through on those goals.
If you want to learn more about goal setting, read the post below!!
“How to Set Goals that Stick!”
2. Due dates
This is normally why people get agendas in the first place, which is why it is ranked #2. Not only does keeping track of due dates relieve stress, it also makes you a reliable professional. Relying on my memory for important deadlines has failed me more times that I would like to admit, which is why using my agenda to keep track of them is a must.
1. Important events in the lives of others
The absolute most important thing I use my agenda for is being a good friend. Remembering baby due dates, anniversaries, tough tests, and even doctor’s appointments can show your friends that you genuinely care about big events going on in their lives. Writing those events down can even remind me to pray about them before they happen, which is extremely important for me. Praying for my friends and family around important life events is one significant way I demonstrate my love for them. Because of the tremendous impact this has had on my friendships, this easily ranks as the #1 way I like to use my agenda.
Even if you just use a few of these ways, I can guarantee that they will have a positive impact on your professional and personal life. I can’t wait to hear your agenda success stories!!
XOXO,
Kay
