09/22/2016
Never neglect the importance of keeping a calendar. Even if you remember all of your appointments without ever having to be reminded, you are still not being as productive as you could be with your time if you are not keeping a calendar accurately.
So how do you manage a calendar so that you are making the most of your time? Follow these simple steps and you will be on your way to making the most of your day.
First, start keeping track of how long it typically takes you to complete tasks and put it in an spreadsheet or document. Then, when you know you have that task coming up, you know how long to schedule it. Knowing that you only have the next few minutes or couple hours to finish this task creates expectation and keeps you on track. It also allows you to know how long of a window you have between tasks (maybe schedule a smaller task between meetings).
The next step is schedule everything... even your free time! If you plan all your tasks and have two hours at the end of your day, you need to be marking that as time you are unavailable if you want to work on brainstorming or personal things or as available for meetings, etc. If you do this one simple thing you will know if you have time to meet with a client or team member at the spur of the moment. It also helps you to make time for yourself, which is always important but often neglected.
Another vital step in keeping your schedule is creating recurring events. If you know that you have the same report to run every month, a meeting every Monday, or a quarterly organizing of your office... schedule it in your calendar and select how often it needs to occur. This way you won't ever forget to schedule it and it saves you time. You can set reminders to pop up to remind you the event is getting close so that you are always prepared.
Do you feel like you are so lost in your appointments and meetings you don't know where to begin? Let us help you. We are great at managing schedules and calendars for our clients. It is as simple as a phone call or email listing all your upcoming appointments, recurring events, and even personal appointments and free time. We can put them in your calendar for you, saving you time and energy while getting you organized and more productive.
