Completely Using Google Contacts

I feel like I'm giving away one of my biggest organizing/networking secrets, but it's so exciting I have to share. 

Google Contacts is an amazing feature that is so often underutilized by Google users. You can store more than just the basic name and phone number which helps not only with keeping the information at your fingertips, but making your brain more efficient since you don't have to remember certain things when shopping for gifts or planning for topics in networking meetings. 

I have created a fake contact to the left, but the information looks very similar to what I have for every contact in my phone. 

1. Always include a picture, this helps you to put the name with the face, especially if a majority of your contact is over the phone/email you want to be able to easily recognize the person when you see them in person. Also, make sure it's just a picture of them, having other people in the picture can be confusing. 
2. Include their company and job title. If you know their middle name, include that too. 
3. Always label the phone numbers properly so you don't mistakenly call their personal number when you were trying to reach their office. 
4. Make sure if you list an address, which is a great idea especially when it comes time to send Christmas cards, you have the full address including zip code. 
5. There is also a section to list relatives. There are 2 ways you can do this, you can link people in they're both in your phone, for example, my married neighbors are both in my phone under separate contacts, but are linked through the relatives option. If you don't have the information you can just list their names and relationship in the phone. I also add birth dates next to the names if I find them out in passing conversation. Even if you just have the month/year that's helpful to use as a conversation starter, or just the age and approximate year to help with relating topics to them. 
6. Always include any dates you have, birthday, anniversary, work anniversary, etc. Anything that is special to them. 
7. Finally, the most important section in my opinion, is the notes section, here I make notes about things the person likes, doesn't like, favorites, etc. If it's a close friend I'll do the same for their children in the notes section (clothing sizes, current likes, etc.). In the example above, John is  a Ford fan, but hates Dodge, loves Star Trek and the Raiders and his favorite food is candied bacon. Anytime I have a conversation with someone and likes/dislikes or hobbies come up I try to make a mental note to add it to their contact note in google so I have it for later reference and don't have to try to remember it. 

One great thing with the dates section is those will automatically transfer over to your Contacts Calendar that was discussed in my post on My 12 Google Calendars. 

Just remember, with planning and organization, you CAN do it all.

My 12 Google Calendars

I'm a digital girl, all the way. We have been a paper-free house for nearly 3 years, no binders, no planners, no notebooks, etc. Today, let's talk calendars and planning. We'll touch on meal planning and such but I'll get more in depth in a couple weeks. 

Google Calendars are AMAZING! I have 12 of them. I know that sounds like a lot, and like it's hard to manage, but in reality it couldn't be easier. All 12 calendars are shared with my husband (including my personal one) with Edit access so we easily know what is going on with each other when trying to plan things.  In order, they are:

1. Heidi Pope - my personal calendar for my appointments (doctor, hair, paydays, time off etc.)
2. Activities - this is for anything and everything I have found within a decent driving distance (usually 30 miles) that sounds remotely interesting. This calendar is shared with about 2 dozen people (read only) in my area to share ideas about what is going on.
3. Adam Pope - a calendar for my husbands appointments, work time off & paydays, this is actually his google calendar, but shared with me with edit permissions so I can add/edit things on his calendar as well as see what he has going on. 
4. Budget - every bill we have due is on the calendar, this allows for a quick glance on when things need paid (even if it's on auto-pay) 
5. Contacts - this auto-fills from my Google Contacts which I use for all the information about my friends/family to keep me on top of things. I'll share more about what all goes into my Google Contacts in a later post. 
6. xxx Elementary - this calendar is for everything related to my daughters school. Days off, half days, PTO meetings, fundraiser information, special days (hat day, sports day, etc.) etc. I keep this separate from her calendar because I share this one with a number of other parents in my daughters class/school. 
7.  Gwen - this is my daughters calendar for her appointments and after school activities.
8. Heidi School - I'm still a full time college student so I use this calendar to track projects due, mid-terms, finals, start/end of semester, submission dates for reimbursement from work, etc. 
9. Holidays - ALL holidays, both major and fun holidays (i.e. Dr Seuss' birthday, National Watermelon Day, etc.)
10. Household - filter changes, loofa changes, regular home maintenance, etc.
11. Meal Planning - Here I keep our meal plan, the calendar event not only includes the name but the recipe as well. Each month I'll look at the previous and drag and drop the event if I want to reuse it, or I will create a new one for new recipes.
12. Reminders - this is for reminders that are created through Google Keep (a lifeline for me)

Having all the calendars open at the same time can be a lot to look at, but the great thing is you can turn them on and off for viewing. I usually keep meal planning, household, budget, and activities turned "off" for viewing because the reminders/notifications will still pop up, but I don't have to see them when I open my calendar unless I want to. This is my calendar with all 12 turned on:

With only the "major" calendars on (those needed for new appointment decision making), it is much cleaner and less overwhelming.

One of the best parts of this, aside from it being super organized and easy to see just what you need, is that you always have it on you. Whether your phone, tablet, computer, or any other device you can access your calendar to look and update immediately. 

Some tips:

• When making an appointment (like a follow-up with the doctor) put it on the calendar immediately, don't even take a reminder card from them, just put it on the calendar so you can't forget to put it on there later and you're saving paper (double win). 
• While 12 calendars work for me, you may need more, or less, use what works for you. 
• If you have multiple children, you'll want a calendar for each of them, as well as a calendar per school if you have kids at different schools. 
• If you have animals, give each their own calendar or make 1 calendar for animals and before each activity put their name, i.e. "OSCAR - vet appointment" "LUCY - heart worm medicine" for quick understanding.
• Changing the color of the calendar also allows you to see at quick glance who has activities planned for which day. 
• Make sure you share your calendars with people who need to know what is going on, it's so much cleaner and easier than "inviting" them to activities. 
• To create your additional Google Calendars, go to Google Calendars on a PC and click the elipses next to "Add Calendar" and select "New Calendar" 

Hope this was helpful for you! Check back soon for information on Google Contacts, Google Keep, Meal Planning, OneNote and other ways to be a "Working Supermom". 

Just remember, with planning and organization, you CAN do it all.