Did you know that some of the world’s most successful individuals use calendars to increase their productivity and success? It’s true! In this blog post, we will walk through several ways to do the same for your business.
A wise man once told me “everything is about priority. If someone tells you they don’t have time to do something, what they’re really saying is, it’s not important.”
It’s critical that you use your online calendar (which we’ll just call your calendar from here on out) to plan your schedule to ensure you remain focused and productive. Your schedule creates a framework for your day-to-day, so it’s important that you use it to your advantage.
Step 1: Use Reminders To Your Advantage
Your calendar can be used to set reminders for both big and small tasks. These reminders can help you stay on top of deadlines, meetings, and more. To set a reminder, simply create an event and then add a reminder. most calendars will allow you to choose how far in advance of the event you’d like to be reminded (e.g. 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, etc.), and you can even choose to have the reminder sent to your email or as a text message.
Step 2: It’s OK to Say No to Meetings
To maintain focus, use your calendar to schedule time for NO meetings! That’s right, you read that correctly. It is perfectly acceptable and even encouraged to schedule time on your calendar where you are unavailable for meetings. This time can be used to catch up on work, return emails, or anything else that requires your undivided attention.
Step 3: Schedule Breaks
It’s easy to get caught up in tasks and projects and before you know it, it’s been hours since you took a break. Scheduling breaks into your calendar can help you stay refreshed and focused throughout the day. We recommend taking a break every 90 minutes or so, for about 15-20 minutes.
Step 4: Quick Add is Your Friend
The only way to flex those productivity skills is to use tech to your advantage. When you think of something, anything, that needs to be done, whip out your phone and add a reminder via your calendar app’s Quick Add function. Your brain is made for doing, not remembering, so use that computer in your pocket to get things done!
Speaking of Getting Things Done, none of the above steps will help if you don’t have your own productivity system in place. Sometimes it’s as simple as “First In, First Out” but sometimes you’ve got too much going on and a slightly more elaborate system is required.
There are three books we’d recommend you check out in regards to personal productivity. They’re life-changing in the sense that even if you already have a personal productivity system, these books will help to define its gray areas and make you even more productive.
- Getting Things Done by David Allen
- Do More Better by Tim Challies
- What’s Best Next by Matthew Perry
We also provide customized productivity training, whether that’s one-on-one or in a group setting. Could you or your organization benefit from getting organized? If so, simply fill in your name and email address below and we’ll be in touch!
