Should You Merge Personal and Work Calendars?

Undeniably, calendars are an important part of our daily lives. We set appointments and meetings, schedule personal events, and plan celebrations all around our calendars.

Calendars, like clocks, provide order and structure to our lives in a uniform way. In short they tell us what is going on as well as the where and the when.

However, in the not too distant past, most people used large, bulky day planner style calendars to keep track of their work and home lives. Fortunately, many of us now have the option of setting up our calendars online. This is a much more convenient way of keeping track of our lives.

That being said, some people still maintain two or more calendars in order to stay on top of everything going on in their lives. If you are one of them, perhaps you have considered merging personal and work calendars.

Here are a few reasons why you should merge personal and work calendars.

It Saves Time

The time and effort that goes into making duplicate entries in two calendars can be exhausting. Therefore, one of the first and most obvious benefits you could gain if you merge personal and work calendars is saving time.

It’s More Convenient

It’s more convenient to have only one calendar to look at when you are scheduling events rather than two.

For example, flipping back and forth between two different calendars to set up appointments while you are talking on the phone is not easy to do. There is a greater likelihood that you will end up disconnecting the call which is a waste of your valuable time.

It Helps You Stay Organized

Another reason you should merge your personal and work calendars is that it helps you stay more organized overall. If you are trying to coordinate two different calendars you may lose track of appointments and meetings in one of them and end up missing important events. Or, you might even end up double booking yourself.

In addition, when your work and family lives get crazy, having only one calendar to refer to can really help. You will able prioritize what projects must be done first.

It Allows You to Plan Ahead

Have you ever gotten to work just in the nick of time only to find out there was a meeting scheduled and you are late for it? You could avoid that if you merge personal and work calendars.

When you have calendar access any time with the touch of a few buttons, you can plan ahead for the next day. The next time you have an early morning meeting you can arrive early, prepared, and with enough time to grab coffee and a donut before the meeting starts.

It Prevents Rescheduling

Nobody likes to reschedule meeting and appointments. If you merge personal and work calendars you can eliminate having to do it as often. You won’t be over-booked, thus causing you to need to reschedule your events.

Scheduling and rescheduling meetings is not only annoying but very inefficient. When calendars are shared, there is less likelihood that meeting will need to be rescheduled.

Calendars have definitely evolved over the years. Whether you should merge personal and work calendars is up to you. But, there are clearly many benefits of doing so.