How to Manage Your Calendar (literally)

November is here. Which means that holidays are coming. Which means that time is of the essence more than ever. The more you can have a structure around the things you have to do, the more freedom you have to do the things you want to do. Last week, we talked about how to attune your schedule to your body. So this week, we’ll talk about the next step, after your body is attuned to your schedule: the action steps of how to manage your calendar.

The key to manage your calendar is that this isn’t just when to schedule things; it’s truly about managing. Meaning: are the appointments in your calendar and tasks on your to-do list, moving you forward? In our business, each week when we review our annual strategy project plan, Tammy, our Outcomes Champion, pushes me to consider: are we doing the right things? It’s the key question that we often forget to slow down and ask.

Here’s my daily organization routine that helps me maximize my time with the right activities…

Pre-step: Whether you use a digital or paper calendar, draw your chronotype blocks onto it.

When you get your chronotype test results, they’ll tell you exactly which times of the day correspond to your peak time for the various work styles. Here’s an example of what mine look like:

1. Start each day with a time block to get organized. 

Annoyingly meta, isn’t it? “Schedule time to make your schedule.” It’s tempting to dive right into those emails that came in overnight or head straight into your first morning meeting or class, especially if it’s an early one. But try blocking out 30 minutes before your first commitment every morning to review what you didn’t get done the day before, and prioritize for the day ahead. This is step 1 to you controlling your day vs. the day controlling you.

2. Make a list of today’s 3 priorities, then the other stuff.

This takes some self-honesty, as many of us will quickly retort: “Everything is a priority!” But it’s really not. (See Tammy’s question above: “are these the right things?”) Pick the top 3 things that you must do before the end of the day. Focus your productive energy on these 3 priorities before being distracted with the other stuff on your list or reacting to new things that pop up. If you leave the day having completed your top 3, that is success.

Some days, getting through your top 3 will be a struggle. Other days, there may not be time-sensitive priorities (I said, “some” days!). And yet, on other days, you’ll whiz through your priorities in an hour. When this is the case, I number all my other to-dos so that there’s no distracting myself with internet-browsing or chitchat when trying to decide what to do next. It removes the choice and dilly-dallying: don’t think about it; just move onto the next number.

3. After you have your priority and task list, label each to-do: analytical, impression, task or insight.

Analytical. Requires sharpness, vigilance, and focus.

For me, this is mostly made up of super-detailed client work, business planning, composing recaps, or interpreting financial reports.

Impression. How you or others come off is important.

Think: prospect and client meetings, presentations, interviews, etc.

Task. Those things we cannot avoid like, expense reports or miscellaneous emails.

I do my logistics planning, emails, and proofreading during this time.

Insight. Requires innovation and creativity.

This is when you need your creative juices flowing – in whatever way creativity applies in your line of work. I also use this time to have more casual catch-ups with people, especially with referral sources and business partners who already know me. People with whom letting my analytical guard down is safe, and my propensity to get a little philosophical and not so serious will be appreciated. During this and impression time is also when I do employee 1-1s.

4. Schedule each to-do onto your calendar, according to work type. And add a buffer. manage your calendar

Transpose your list onto specific times that you’ll do each thing. I also strongly, strongly recommend buffering your meetings, classes, and appointments. I always over-schedule time when meeting with other people, as well as make myself a 15 minute buffer between meetings (even if on Zoom). Sometimes you’re not in charge of the meeting or schedule, so I know that this isn’t always possible. But if you are the person setting the meeting, do this! Having a buffer will allow you (a) to not be in a rush and (b) give you a few minutes to take care of any quick follow-ups or preparation required for what’s next.

5. Use a system to finish off the day.

This is a tip I got from Whitney English, the inventor of Day Designer. Unfortunately, life is full of half-completed items, follow-ups, and waiting on others to fully complete a task. Try this:

• If you’ve completed your part of the task but are waiting on someone else to mark it 100% complete, circle it. This trains your eye to not re-read the things you can’t actually do anything about quite yet.

• If you have to carry over an item to another day, mark it with –> so that you can easily spot it when you sit down tomorrow morning, to prioritize.

• And the most satisfying: when you are done, you are done. Smugly jot down that big, fat check mark and move on!

I realize that having a plan for your plan can sound a little crazy. But this really is the next level of organization that can change your day (and dare I say: life). I think most of us don’t realize how much time we waste. Or more importantly, energy we spend on things that aren’t adding real value to anyone.

How to manage your calendar is definitely a practice and muscle to build. But I promise: it is a life and work game changer.