Managing tasks and deadlines may feel like a circus act amidst the daily hustle at work. A busy week can easily become disorganized, and distractions are always guaranteed. It’s critical to be strategic about your schedule and how you complete tasks.
While improving your productivity tactics, use everyday tools to your advantage. Calendars used to be limited to pen and paper, but they’ve become all the more powerful in the digital landscape. If you incorporate the right calendar features and time management strategies, you’ll become a taskmaster in no time.
Choose the Right Calendar
Your options with your calendar highly depend on which platform you use. Some calendars are more simple, while others leave lots of room for personalization. Features like color coding and synchronization work differently across options. When choosing a calendar, reflect on your needs and what matters most. Note how these calendars differ to assess which would work best for you.
Most platforms allow you to connect other calendars seamlessly, giving you access to all appointments in one space. Combining your personal and professional Calendar reduces stress and helps you focus on all the important details in your week. Importing other information to your calendar transforms your experience as well. If your office has its own calendar, adding that to your view will provide you with important dates, like office closings or deadlines.
For calendars with mobile capabilities, downloading the mobile app can make your schedule more available when away from the computer. Mobile calendars prevent you from missing out by letting you join meetings from your phone. This gives driving more flexibility during the workday, as you won’t need a computer to participate. You can even manage your schedule away from the desktop by setting up mobile reminders.
Efficiency Techniques
Once you’ve chosen and installed the right calendar, it’s time to incorporate task management strategies. Using the right strategies along with your calendar will help you maintain your workload and productivity:
Calendar Blocking
Meetings, while important to collaboration, may derail your productivity. If group work is swallowing up your day, calendar blocking can be your key to reserving time for work. Start by blocking off times when you are most motivated. This helps you save time for tasks and be in the best mindset while completing them.
You may find that an hour or two isn’t enough during a busy month. When you’re starting a new project or facing a challenge, you need to give yourself enough time to dive in. Blocking off the entire morning or afternoon will prevent potential distractions and allow you to be more efficient. You can even take it a step further and incorporate a specific method like the Pomodoro or Pareto techniques. These methods help you plan out your time working to the minute.
The act of calendar blocking encourages you to say no to those who are requesting your time. While you may owe others time for collaboration, you want to do so without sacrificing productivity. It may not feel good to reject an invite, but it’s important to respect your time and manage your work this way.
Prioritization
Prioritizing your tasks is essential in meeting expectations and doing your best work. Start this strategy by creating a list of your upcoming tasks for the next week. Having this visual of the work on your plate can motivate you to move through your workload. Crossing items off this list is rewarding in itself. You’ll be able to leave your desk feeling accomplished when you can mark your list complete.
Furthermore, organizing your task list by deadline will encourage you to put more effort into tasks that are due sooner. This strategy will keep you accountable and is helpful in a deadline-heavy role. For example, if you have something due today, you don’t want to become distracted by a project due next week. This type of prioritization prevents you from losing sight of the more urgent projects in your week.
Prioritizing how important the project is is also crucial to your productivity and success. In collaborative situations, it’s best to communicate with your project manager to understand the team’s priorities. You may be advised to finish tasks that affect your team first. Projects that significantly impact the company are often seen as more important as well, and should be prioritized over personal goals.
Automation
Tools available in today’s technology remove manual work in scheduling and completing tasks. One way to automate your workflow is by setting up calendar reminders. This feature is useful when you have recurring tasks that show up regularly. It’s also practical for tasks that must be completed by a specific time. For projects that need your approval by the end of day, setting up a reminder gives you an extra nudge before the deadline.
While trying to automate your week, digital calendars make it easy to set up recurring meetings if you have weekly or monthly stand-ups. This feature prevents you from having to remember to schedule those types of meetings on a regular basis. Recurring meetings can also reduce schedule conflicts since calendars can schedule far in advance.
New Artificial Intelligence technology has given a boost to automation efforts as well. This tech gives support by automating tasks, providing recommendations, and suggesting events for your calendar. A.I. can also schedule meetings for you, saving you time when analyzing others’ calendars. Gone are the days of rescheduling because you planned a meeting over someone else’s full day.
Manage your Time
To improve your productivity, you need to organize and implement the preceding strategies. The discussed methods aren’t magic and require effort to get the ball rolling. For this reason, you need to make time for yourself to preplan. You could give yourself 30 minutes at the beginning of the week or at the end of a workday. During this time, you want to look through your calendar and other resources to understand the priorities for the week. This is when you’ll choose those appropriate times to calendar block, create lists, and automate.
It’s equally important that you take breaks during your workdays. While you want to dedicate time to finish all projects, you don’t want to end the day more stressed. If you have a day where there’s no time for lunch or meetings that bleed into overtime, communicate with your peers. Most meetings are not high-priority and can be rescheduled. The time you dedicate to rest during the day will help you stay on top of your game during working hours.
These tips may seem like common sense, but it’s easy to get lost in the details of a busy week. Managing your time to include pre-planning and breaks allows the other strategies you’ve learned to fall into place. Stay on top of your week by giving yourself space to breathe and look at the big picture.
Use Resources to Your Advantage
Digital calendars can be a superpower when you’re ironing out the kinks in your schedule. Using the right calendar in combination with tactics can boost your efficiency and productivity. It can additionally pave the road for success and better organization over time.
Featured Image Credit: Kampus Productions; Pexels; Thank you!
Angela Ruth
My name is Angela Ruth. I aim to help you learn how Calendar can help you manage your time, boost your productivity, and spend your days working on things that matter, both personally and professionally. Here's to improving all your calendars and becoming the person you are destined to become!