We need to rethink our calendars

Photo by Rohan on Unsplash

As somewhat of an early adopter, I tend to download a lot of apps. Alphas, betas, production versions…you name it. Thus, I sometimes notice software trends. Last year was the year of note-taking apps. Notion, Roam, Obsidian, Mem, and Craft offered us a million ways to write, store, and connect our notes.

Two months into 2022 and seems like this might become the year of the calendar. While apps like Outlook and Fantastical are still going strong, there is a steady stream of new entrants saying hello. Apps like Cron, Daybridge, Mayday, and Magical are all promising to reinvent the calendar. Since many of these apps are still in private alpha or beta, the jury is still out on whether they’ll become promise keepers.

Having downloaded many of the above mentioned apps, I’ve spent way too much time thinking about calendars. And while each shows signs on improving how we keep track of our day, I can’t help but wonder if they’re trying to improve on something that’s already outdated.

With most people still working from home due to the never-ending pandemic, the lines between work and personal life has forever been blurred. The balance is gone (if there ever was balance). The reality is that it’s now just life.

To that end, how we manage our days has shifted away from 9 to 5 being work and everything else being personal time. Personal time bleeds into work time and vice versa. The faster we all realize this, the better we’ll get at figuring out how to best make this work for everyone.

So what does this mean for calendars?

It means that having your work calendar and your personal calendars separate doesn’t work anymore. There’s too much overlap.

Taking the kids to the doctor? Where does that go? Going to the gym? Hmmm…where do I input that? Having lunch with your wife? You get the point.

Sure, you could put everything on your work calendar and keep the private events private. But then, is that then still your work calendar if it begins to get filled with personal items? You could also continue to keep two calendars, but will your coworkers see when you’re busy?

The solution is probably to stop thinking about a work calendar in the traditional sense. Much like work life and personal life has become just life, the work calendar and personal calendar need to become just your calendar. As made famous by the classic 90s television series, Highlander, “There can be only one!”