Calendar management is an art form. It requires proper care and maintenance to ensure you’re setting up your days for success. It also requires diligent editing as appointments, meetings, and reservations shift or are canceled altogether. While allowing others to put time on your calendar may seem the easiest option, it can lead to others dictating your day.
When it comes to scheduling, some common mistakes can actually put you behind. These mistakes may seem innocent at first, but they can add up over time and cause more harm than good. Keep reading to discover these five scheduling mistakes and how to avoid them best.
1. Having Multiple Calendars
The more digital calendars you have, the easier it is to forget an obligation or double-book yourself. After all, work obligations, family events, social commitments, and personal appointments are a lot to keep track of. While it may seem easier to have separate calendars for work life and personal life, it can actually lead to calendar overload. This occurs when you constantly refer to several calendars, leading to visual overwhelm and the inability to plan effectively.
A centralized digital calendar, whether it’s Google Calendar, iCal, Outlook Calendar, or Calendar.com, can streamline your life. You can set different colors for different events, such as blue for work and green for family. This minor adjustment can allow you to see what you have on tap for the day quickly. If you have multiple calendars, you can sync them with a central main calendar to make scheduling easier. Just be sure they are synced across all your devices, including your smartphone, laptop, and tablet, to avoid overbooking yourself!
2. Not Stacking Meetings
Bouncing from one meeting to heads-down time to another meeting can be an inefficient use of time. How often is that 30-minute window between meetings actually productive? While you may intend to start on something, you’ll likely distract yourself by reading emails or Slack messages. To avoid this trap, look to stack meetings so a chunk of daily time is reserved for meetings.
Rearranging your schedule can be a lot of work, but the payoff is worth it. Look at your calendar and see if you can shift your schedule to allow for a larger chunk of productive time. For example, if you lead a team, try to schedule your one-on-one meetings back-to-back. This will put you in “meeting mode,” allowing you to concentrate on the discussion with your team rather than being pulled in another direction. It will also allow you to be more efficient regarding your productive time, avoiding interruptions with a Zoom or Microsoft Teams call.
3. Not Adding Breaks
While creating blocks in your schedule for meetings and productive time is important, so is scheduling actual breaks. Nobody is a machine, and sitting at a desk and working eight or nine hours straight isn’t healthy — unless you take off a large chunk of time during the day to break and rest. Taking breaks can boost productivity, increase creativity, and improve overall well-being. Studies show that daily diversions can enhance your focus levels, especially when working for prolonged periods.
Look at your weekly calendar for the best time to squeeze in a break. If you have a large town hall meeting, giving yourself a few minutes ahead of time to prep may be ideal. Or, perhaps, you see that you are in several meetings one day. You’ll need to take a more extended break at the end to go outside and clear your head.
What you decide to do on your break is up to you. Breaks can fulfill different needs. A lunch break can help nourish and encourage you to connect with coworkers if you eat together at the office. A walk around the block can energize you while also lifting your spirits. Taking a few minutes to meditate between meetings can center and ground you, preparing you for whatever the rest of the day throws your way.
4. Overstuffing Your Calendar
Do you feel like you never have a break in your day? Are you rushing from one thing to the next, forgetting to pause or eat lunch? If that’s the case, you may be a victim of overstuffing your calendar. This can lead to feelings of overwhelm, exhaustion, and eventually burnout. Finding a bit of balance in your schedule may be the best kind of medicine.
It starts with identifying your priorities and acknowledging what really needs to be accomplished on a given day and what can wait. Every morning, jot down the top 1-3 items on your to-do list that you want to achieve. Don’t put a massive project on this list, such as writing a final year review; instead, break it down into smaller, more manageable tasks. From there, look at your current schedule and see if it aligns with your priorities. If something can wait until another day, cut it or reschedule it.
Another habit that can help is glancing at your calendar on a Monday morning. You’re more refreshed at the beginning of the week, and a fresh set of eyes can have a more realistic perspective. See if work meetings need to be moved based on where the team is on a project. Or determine where you can shorten or cut out meetings altogether. It may take some time for you to get used to this new pared-down schedule. However, you may also find that your streamlined schedule allows for more productivity.
5. Not Updating Your Calendar
Schedules are constantly changing. A client meeting intended for last week has been pushed to this week due to a conflict. A dentist appointment you made for your child six months ago now overlaps with their soccer game. A dinner with friends needs to change locations and times to accommodate everyone better. Things change, for better or for worse, and you need to be able to rely on your calendar with these changes.
Even if you are mentally keeping track of these new times, you need to update your calendar to avoid confusion. When a meeting, event, or appointment changes, update your digital calendar ASAP. This will ensure that you don’t accidentally overbook yourself. And if you’re sharing your calendar, then it also accurately represents when you’re free and when you’re not.
Takeaways
To fully control your calendar, you need to establish some boundaries. If there are set working hours in which you are available, make them readily known. Allow for breaks throughout the day, not just at lunchtime, to give yourself some respite. Manage your priorities and set realistic expectations for yourself to avoid overstuffing your calendar.
Treating your calendar as sacred instead of an open invitation for others to fill in with their priorities for you will take some work on your part. However, establishing a set schedule and routine can boost your productivity without feeling run down and completely overwhelmed. Ensure your calendar is working for you, not against you, to get the most out of it while giving yourself some breathing room, too.
Featured Image Credit: Photo by Vitaly Gariev; Pexels
Abby Miller
Student at UC Berkeley, currently working on a degree in Electrical Engineering/Computer Sciences and Business Administration. Experienced in CSX, productivity management, and chatbot implementation.