Despite my best efforts to
get ahead of what I call "the fall event fury," every year at this
time I find myself in the same spot-I have more events than I have days/time. I
have come to the conclusion that everyone waits until the exact same time of
year to plan all of their events, and here in Houston the event window seems to
be from September 15th to November 1st.
Granted, I get that the weather is magical in the fall in Houston, but do we
really have to pile 45 events in a six week period? I have surveyed friends
that live all over the nation and they seem to face the same dilemma. Don't
believe me, browse the Facebook events page of some of your friends and you
will quickly see, I speak the truth my friends.
I personally think November or even early December when everyone is in a
festive mood, make great times to have events. Unfortunately, I am not
the ruler of the nation's social calendar so we all have to just accept the
realities of the infamous "fall event fury" and move on.
We are all about solutions here SWS and below are a few suggestions that I
think will help you maintain your sanity while keeping your schedule this fall,
well for the next 6 weeks...
1. Use one master calendar-record all events in one place and set reminders
when possible. How many times have you missed or almost missed something
because it was on your cell phone calendar, but not in your Outlook or your
written calendar?
2. Don't double book or over commit- some people/organizations plan further in
advance than others. That said, the chances that you will be invited to two (or
maybe even 3 or 4) events on the same day are high. As tempting and it may be,
do not over commit your time. As much as I like to plan, I have learned (the
hard way) that things pop up, meetings run late, tires go flat, kids get sick,
etc. The more things you have on your calendar on a given night the more
"I'm so sorry, but I can't make it..." emails and text messages you
have to send and the more guilt you may feel about having to decline at the
last minute. I know you think the party will not go on if you are not there,
but it will, I promise :-)
3. Be realistic with your time- you cannot get from Fall Creek to downtown
Houston in 15 minutes without speeding (I have timed it multiple times at
different times of the day). Be sure to build in the appropriate travel time to
and from your engagements and decide, before you arrive, how long you plan to stay,
especially if you are going to more than one event in an evening. This prevents
you from arriving to one event late and not being able to enjoy yourself
because you are stressed and thinking about the next event you have to attend.
Do you have any tried and true tips that help keep your social calendar in
line? Please share them in the comments section below!
Being on time and fresh (not frazzled) for your events this fall is very
stylish!
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