How to Start Using an Electronic Calendar

Much like a paper calendar, an electronic calendar is going to help you organize your day. The big difference is that once you go electronic you can manage your calendar so much easier! 

If you are wanting to use an electronic scheduler such as Dubsado, Calendly, or Acuity then you have to make the leap from paper to electronic. 

Don’t worry I am going to be here each step of the way to help you with this transition. Are you ready? Let’s go! 

Benefits of an Electronic Calendar

• You can easily move events around. With a paper calendar, you waste time writing and rewriting events. With an electronic calendar, you are able to drag and drop items from one-time slot to another. Making canceled plans or rescheduling is not as much of a headache. 
• You can add more to the event with an electronic calendar than you can with a paper calendar. Simply click on the event and add as many details as you would to know about the event. You can take notes in it during the meeting, you can make notes prior to the meeting, the world is your oyster!
• You can share your electronic calendar with others. This allows you to easily determine availability and if it is within your family, easily manage your family operations.
• You can connect your electronic calendar to an electronic scheduler allowing people to easily book you without you having to get involved! Don’t worry, this control freak has one you can too! 

How to Set up An Electronic Calendar 

If you have a Google Workspace account, I have great news. You already have your main calendar! You need only select it from the nine dots next to your name and logo in the right-hand corner. 

If you don’t have a Google Workspace and are still using your personal Google email address. I highly recommend setting one up. I provide step-by-step instructions in my blog, How to Set up a Professional Email Address.

There are a few key terms to know:

• Main Calendar – your main calendar which houses all of the sub-calendars
• Sub-Calendars – additional calendars that you can create within your main calendar in order to provide color coding and filters to the types of events. 

For example, I have one main calendar – Ashleigh Foy for Creatives. I then created two sub-calendars: Ashleigh Time and Foy Family Operations. 

When I schedule an event I place it into one of the two sub-calendars or my main calendar. I am able to turn all three of these on or off depending on if I want to see them all in my electronic calendar view. 

To set up sub-calendars within Google Workspace follow these steps. 

1. Open your Google Calendar from any Google page by selecting the nine dots next to your name and then finding the calendar. Make sure that the name shown is your Business account prior to selecting the calendar. 
2. Hover over the name of the Main Calendar found on the left-hand side of your screen then select “Settings”. 
3. From the top left-hand corner select “Add Calendar” then select “Create New Calendar”
4. Name the calendar then select the timezone you want it to follow. When done hit “Create Calendar”
5. Repeat these steps until you have established as many sub-calendars are you need

There you have it! You now have one Main Calendar and sub-calendars to help with organizing your events. 

Electronic Calendar |  Best Practices 

• Keep to your color coding. Don’t add events to your Main Calendar when you wanted it to be in one of the sub-calendars and vice versa. 
• It is best to keep the sub-calendars to a minimum. Try to roll these up as much as possible. 
• You are able to share access to sub-calendars! This is huge for family calendars where more than one person is managing the calendar. 
• This is the central location for your schedule. If you are busy – add it to the calendar. No matter how small if your time is not available (during business hours) then make sure it is blocked off on THIS calendar
• Download the Google Calendar app so you can see your availability on the fly as well as make any updates. 

Now that you have an electronic calendar set up, you can link it to any electronic scheduler. My go-to is Dubsado cause I love all things Dubsdao but I recognize that it is not the perfect solution for every business. 

Check out my blog how to link a Calendar to Dubsado, Calendly, or Acuity if you are struggling with this step. I also include ways to determine which one is best for your business.