Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

[Lisa Lane-Collins]

I had a few near misses so I started keeping a diary, that works pretty well, except sometimes I stop checking it (in times of not much work and therefore no point). And sometimes I say yes to something and then don't put it in the diary.

A few days ago I was offered a small job for tonight. Said yes, rearranged my week to fit it, and then, instead of going, I sat around and twiddled my thumbs and didn't even realise I had forgotten until 15 minutes after it had ended. The client tried to contact me when I was 40 minutes late but I am so so very used to not working Wednesdays, my head was far away from work mode I didn't respond to the beep beep of the phone.

There's nothing I can do to fix today but I am terrified of it happening again, what can I do to better safe-guard?

 

[Tim McCulloch]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

I had a few near misses so I started keeping a diary, that works pretty well, except sometimes I stop checking it (in times of not much work and therefore no point). And sometimes I say yes to something and then don't put it in the diary.

A few days ago I was offered a small job for tonight. Said yes, rearranged my week to fit it, and then, instead of going, I sat around and twiddled my thumbs and didn't even realise I had forgotten until 15 minutes after it had ended. The client tried to contact me when I was 40 minutes late but I am so so very used to not working Wednesdays, my head was far away from work mode I didn't respond to the beep beep of the phone.

There's nothing I can do to fix today but I am terrified of it happening again, what can I do to better safe-guard?

Use the calendar function on your mobile phone. I use Google (yeah, the great Satan of IT) Calendar so I have the same calendar on all my devices - tablets, laptop/desktop, and phone. Update on one device and it propagates to all devices. You can set multiple reminders, both device notifications and emails.

 

[Mitch Miller]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

Ah man, that stinks.

I have a Google Calendar that is specifically for my gigs and every event gets added to the calendar when I commit. It synchronizes with my phone and is shared with my wife. And I watch my calendar daily, looking in advance a couple of weeks to see what's coming up.
I also keep a spreadsheet with gigs, when, where, the referral, and notes about it so I can review motes from the past.

 

[Brian jojade]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

Wow. That's quite embarrassing. Not showing up for a scheduled event is a huge problem, and there are no excuses for 'forgetting' a job. A simple calendar appointment on your phone takes seconds to create, and that's it. It can then remind you the day before, or hours before, or any combination of before. All you have to do is put EVERY appointment in the calendar.

 

[Steve Kirby]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

I also share the layer on my Google calendar that I use for gigs with people I often play with or do sound for. That way they can already check if I'm booked. I'll duplicate personal events on that layer if I want to black out a time.

This can be really handy. We use multiple layers or calendars in the calendar ap at work (which happens to be the company that does it so we know just how evil it really is or isn't, although we're not allow to speak for the company in public) to tell who's going to be traveling, who's in what office, who's in meetings, and so on. Makes catching up with people you need to talk to much easier.

 

[Riley Casey]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

Diaries are great, computer calendars are great, telephone beep reminders are superb, right up to that point where they aren't. Sounds like you need, more than a new tool, a new perspective on what you're doing. This sort of work really is an avocation more than its a job or good way to get a bit of return on the investment in the band PA. To do this well you really want to feel good about making a client happy, making a crowd of people happy regardless of whether its a few dozen fans of a local a band or a few hundred thousand fans of a particular political cause. That kind of fire in the belly is what makes you want to check your choice of calendar every morning before you have your coffee and makes you want to start thinking about how to fill the calendar up when work is slow. The Google calendar is an excellent choice particularly when you get to the point of having even one person helping you, its a great bridge between the paper diary in your back pocket and dedicated business software but its all only as good as the click between the ears that gets your fingers to open the window.

I had a few near misses so I started keeping a diary, that works pretty well, except sometimes I stop checking it (in times of not much work and therefore no point). And sometimes I say yes to something and then don't put it in the diary.

 

[Mitch Miller]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

Everything I can think of will require a (or only be as good as your) commitment to documentation of some sort.

Another one that I use regularly (besides the shared Google calendar) is followupthen.com. You can send an email to [email protected] and it will send the email back to you on the date you selected.

So, I often send various reminders there for things that are off in the future that I'm afraid of forgetting about.

Try it. Send an email to [email protected] and you'll get a reminder email in 10 minutes.

It also works great when sending emails to people. I can bcc followupthen and the recipient will get my email and I simultaneously scheduled a follow up reminder.

 

[John Roberts]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

There is no excuse for not showing up without notice. Bad Lisa... :-(

Perhaps get an old school paper calendar that you will walk past and see every day.. mark up gigs on the calendar with a red pen.

At the end of the day it comes down to you caring about not missing a gig. I used to wrestle with an employee who chronically showed up late. One day every couple weeks could be explainable by stuff happens. Being late every day is a cognizant decision to not bother to arrive on time.

You are working in an industry where reliability matters and you have burned that bridge with at least one customer. Posting about it on the WWW may inform others.

Bad Lisa...

JR

PS: Writing down paper lists of pending tasks is an old technique to involve both sides of your brain. Making a list at night before you retire will help focus your efforts for the next day. Not sure how smart phone calendars work, probably don't involve either side of the human brain.

 

[drew gandy]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

PS: Writing down paper lists of pending tasks is an old technique to involve both sides of your brain. Making a list at night before you retire will help focus your efforts for the next day. Not sure how smart phone calendars work, probably don't involve either side of the human brain.

Hardy har har!

Just before John's post I was thinking about how the old guys did it in the old days. I indeed lived before the age of the smart phone and generally didn't miss appointments. I remember using paper calendars. But having used a google calendar and a few other technical digital techniques for awhile now, I don't really remember what the workflow was back then. I do believe that I am far more taxed mentally (at least with regard to appointments) than I was 20 years ago. And I can say that it takes a certain amount of "fear" to make sure that my current workflow is followed despite distractions.
On the topic of being late.... In the past when I would sometimes arrive late for something, I would rationalize it by saying "I couldn't leave my previous task until it was done correctly. And now that I'm here, this task will get the same level of attention and thoroughness." Unfortunately this ignores the concept of prioritizing those tasks! In the end though, there are only so many tasks that can be completed correctly in a day.

 

[Mike Brown]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

The technology you use is a red herring here. It doesn't matter what you use... paper... a phone... whatever. All that matters is that you get into a routine.

EVERY GIG

EVERY TIME

EVERY DAY

Every gig gets marked down. Every time, no exceptions. Checked everyday.

I use GCal and I check it every morning when I get up and every night when I set my alarm.

 

[Robert Lofgren]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

I don't know how it works on android but on iphone/ipad I just love Siri. The speech-to-action is amazing and you set a complete calender event in five seconds with just your voice. And since I use google calendar it syncs to all of my computers/devices as well.

 

[John Roberts]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

Hardy har har!
Unfortunately this ignores the concept of prioritizing those tasks! In the end though, there are only so many tasks that can be completed correctly in a day.

I forget the name of the book but it was one of those self improvement "just use these secret techniques" books. I think the author's name was Covey.

The author's secret technique for prioritizing tasks was the analogy of the glass jar filled up with big rocks, pebbles, and sand.

If you empty it out and try to fill up the jar again by putting in the sand and gravel first, the big rocks will never fit. So the message here, is focus on the big tasks first that you must fit into today's jar. If some of the sand and pebbles don't make it, it doesn't matter because they are sand and pebbles. However if you let the sand and pebbles control your attention the big tasks don't get done.

Sorry about the veer...

For bad Lisa, "80% of success in life is just showing up" (Woody Allen). Not that Woody Allen is my go-to guy for behavioral or moral advice. He was was probably talking as a movie director about actors in his movies that need to just show up.

JR

 

[Max Warasila]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

I forget the name of the book but it was one of those self improvement "just use these secret techniques" books. I think the author's name was Covey.

The author's secret technique for prioritizing tasks was the analogy of the glass jar filled up with big rocks, pebbles, and sand.

If you empty it out and try to fill up the jar again by putting in the sand and gravel first, the big rocks will never fit. So the message here, is focus on the big tasks first that you must fit into today's jar. If some of the sand and pebbles don't make it, it doesn't matter because they are sand and pebbles. However if you let the sand and pebbles control your attention the big tasks don't get done.

Sorry about the veer...

For bad Lisa, "80% of success in life is just showing up" (Woody Allen). Not that Woody Allen is my go-to guy for behavioral or moral advice. He was was probably talking as a movie director about actors in his movies that need to just show up.

JR

That would be the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. He makes a lot of good points but I think most of it can be summarized by the list of the habits alone:

 

[John Roberts]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

That would be the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. He makes a lot of good points but I think most of it can be summarized by the list of the habits alone:
View attachment 13045

Yup that's it. As I recall a pretty short book, and while pretty much common sense there were several bits of wisdom in there. Can't say that I even recall the list, and don't worry about it.

JR

 

[drew gandy]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

I forget the name of the book but it was one of those self improvement "just use these secret techniques" books. I think the author's name was Covey.

How 1989 of you!

The author's secret technique for prioritizing tasks was the analogy of the glass jar filled up with big rocks, pebbles, and sand.

If you empty it out and try to fill up the jar again by putting in the sand and gravel first, the big rocks will never fit. So the message here, is focus on the big tasks first that you must fit into today's jar. If some of the sand and pebbles don't make it, it doesn't matter because they are sand and pebbles. However if you let the sand and pebbles control your attention the big tasks don't get done.
JR

I've seen that analogy as a physics/geometry thinking question besides a life lesson one. The thing that has often challenged me is when a "big rock" task depends on a couple "small pebble" tasks which although small, may not be trivial. It's one thing when all the rocks and sediment are not interconnected. But attach a few strings and, watch out!

 

[Rob Gow]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

I put all dates into my phone on the calendar app. And then a master list in Note. I set the first alert to the day before and the second alert at noon the next day.

 

[John Roberts]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

How 1989 of you!

I've seen that analogy as a physics/geometry thinking question besides a life lesson one. The thing that has often challenged me is when a "big rock" task depends on a couple "small pebble" tasks which although small, may not be trivial. It's one thing when all the rocks and sediment are not interconnected. But attach a few strings and, watch out!

To continue the veer and analogy (sort of), computers with project management software can do a super-human job of keeping track of dependent critical path sand and pebbles. While the computer can organize and keep track of it, a human still has to crack the whip to make sure the critical path tasks actually get accomplished. I recall once a week meetings to discuss and deal with all the exceptions that the computer identified that needed a swift kick to stay on track.

My worst problem with project management systems was a boss who reserved the right to keep changing the product definition on every whim, completely blowing up the project time-line. It got so bad that he refused to attend meetings I would schedule to nail down definitions so we could organize the rocks and pebbles so they all fit. :-(

JR

PS: at one new job I noticed a co-worker who's idea of personal time management was to sit at his desk with a cup of coffee and wait for the phone to ring, about some task he hadn't finished. It seems his phone would ring every morning like clockwork. I only found out a few weeks later when he quit, that I was supposed to be reporting to him... I don't think he read the Covey book, or any management book.

 

[Timo Ulkuniemi]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

Hello

Some 30 years ago I was working with a national act band - steady job, all their gear was in my van or in my house between gigs - about 100 gigs / year. They all lived in Helsinki and I live/d in Tampere - a good 180km/112mls distance. Things were usually going swell - depending of direction of gig they came to me per train or I drove to pick them up.

I was working with another band, too, so I had two sets of backline - one in van and one in my house.

So this one cold winter evening at 7.00 with hefty snowfall I was at my girlfriends ( now my lovely wife ) place laying in warm bath up to my neck thinking to myself : "Aahh - sooo nice to have night off - gig in Helsinki tomorrow" ....

She opens bathroom door and with this VERY serious expression on her face says : "The leader of the band is calling and says you were supposed to be in Helsinki at 6.00..." She later commented that she had never ever seen me move so quickly..

I drove to my place - switched backline and started driving with my ancient MB508D van - made it to Helsinki, hauled the stuff in, did very quick line check - and we started the show ONLY 15 mins late.... Upon leaving the manager of the place - we were regulars and good friends - said to me : "Now - if you drive fast enough, perhaps that water has not gotten too cold yet."

Luckily this one had no bad consequences - I worked with that band some more years and that club still welcomes me - later in my carrier there has been one occasion, which I personally screwed up totally, and was never ever forgiven - I am first to admit I deserve it. Those days everything was in paper-calender...

Now I have stuff in my computer-calender, which is cloud-copied into two other computers plus two pads and phone - if they all decide to break down same time, then let it happen - first reminder two days before, second one day before - on day of action I am good to go....

 

[frank kayser]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

All during my regular career, I never kept a calendar. Mind was sharp enough to keep all that sorted.
Now that I'm retired, I LIVE by my calendar - Google. It does take discipline to put the stuff in PROPERLY (another issue altogether)...
I was able to make the transition.

Riley Casey had some very good points points about being more an avocation and the fire in the belly to do the right thing all the time.

We all make mistakes... something just did not set right in your mind...

The story that JR mentioned I've shortened to "the big rock theory". One must absolutely identify every big rock, and get it in the jar.

I know you have the fire - and the organizational skills. Unfortunately for what we do, reliability is THE needed attribute - after that, quality.

Fire up the google calendar, and get all your devices working - set "day ahead" and same day reminders. Most importantly, it has to be key to your workflow, not an add on.

I went through the scanning compliance issues when our company was starting using the bar-code - and we struggled with getting folks to do scans when they should and on the pieces they should - because we were not using the barcodes to drive the business. Once the systems were deployed that fully integrated bar codes into the actual sorting and delivery process, the scanning compliance took care of itself.

Google calendar has to drive your business - an integral, indispensable part, or you'll never enter the dates in the app, and you'll be no better off than you are now.

good luck, Lisa.

 

[Jason Lavoie]

Re: Forgetting gigs. How do you not?

Now I have stuff in my computer-calender, which is cloud-copied into two other computers plus two pads and phone - if they all decide to break down same time, then let it happen - first reminder two days before, second one day before - on day of action I am good to go....

I had that setup, except when my kids use the ipad to play games they are very efficient at dismissing popups so my reminders would be dismissed before I had a chance to pull my phone out of my pocket
Had to disconnect the two.

Jason