Managing your calendar can be stressful, especially if juggling multiple schedules - personal, family, and business. Finding effective ways to manage your calendar can be time-consuming and frustrating. Fortunately, as technology evolves, multiple online calendar providers offer new features and apps to help automate and streamline your scheduling needs.
Here are some suggestions to help you make the most of your calendar and remain as productive and stress-free as possible:
1. Let People Know Your Working Hours
Having access to work emails and calendars on our phones often makes us feel obligated to respond during evenings and weekends, which should be our personal time. Many calendars allow you to set your working hours, alerting people when they send you invitations outside your specified hours. Additionally, setting up an ‘out of office’ response when you plan to be unavailable clearly states your working hours and when to expect a response, helping to manage people's expectations.
2. Block Time for Your Work
It’s crucial to block out time for your tasks. If your calendar is only filled with meetings others have scheduled, you’ll spend all day working on their priorities. Create appointments and block out time for your projects and priority tasks to ensure you dedicate time to your work.
3. Click ‘Decline’
Meetings without a clear agenda or purpose are often unproductive. Keep your calendar free of time-wasting obligations by declining meeting requests lacking detail. If someone cannot specify the meeting's purpose, it likely isn’t a valuable use of your time.
4. Automate Your Scheduling
Automation can significantly ease calendar management. Here are a couple of useful tools:
5. Control When You Send Emails
Boomerang Email helps you take control of your email timing. With Boomerang, you can write an email and schedule it to be sent at the optimal time. This is particularly useful if you find yourself writing emails late at night. Boomerang will also archive your message and bring it back to your inbox at a time you choose, marking it unread, starred, or even placing it at the top of your message list.
By implementing these strategies, your calendar can become a powerful tool for managing your time effectively, boosting productivity, and reducing stress. I’d love to hear how you make the most of your calendar and if you have any other suggestions!
Here are some suggestions to help you make the most of your calendar and remain as productive and stress-free as possible:
1. Let People Know Your Working Hours
Having access to work emails and calendars on our phones often makes us feel obligated to respond during evenings and weekends, which should be our personal time. Many calendars allow you to set your working hours, alerting people when they send you invitations outside your specified hours. Additionally, setting up an ‘out of office’ response when you plan to be unavailable clearly states your working hours and when to expect a response, helping to manage people's expectations.
2. Block Time for Your Work
It’s crucial to block out time for your tasks. If your calendar is only filled with meetings others have scheduled, you’ll spend all day working on their priorities. Create appointments and block out time for your projects and priority tasks to ensure you dedicate time to your work.
3. Click ‘Decline’
Meetings without a clear agenda or purpose are often unproductive. Keep your calendar free of time-wasting obligations by declining meeting requests lacking detail. If someone cannot specify the meeting's purpose, it likely isn’t a valuable use of your time.
4. Automate Your Scheduling
Automation can significantly ease calendar management. Here are a couple of useful tools:
- Calendly.com: This tool simplifies scheduling meetings without requiring numerous emails. It's easy to set up and use.
- Doodle.com: Great for scheduling meetings with multiple participants, Doodle allows everyone to select their preferred times, making it easy to choose the best option for all.
5. Control When You Send Emails
Boomerang Email helps you take control of your email timing. With Boomerang, you can write an email and schedule it to be sent at the optimal time. This is particularly useful if you find yourself writing emails late at night. Boomerang will also archive your message and bring it back to your inbox at a time you choose, marking it unread, starred, or even placing it at the top of your message list.
By implementing these strategies, your calendar can become a powerful tool for managing your time effectively, boosting productivity, and reducing stress. I’d love to hear how you make the most of your calendar and if you have any other suggestions!
RSS Feed
