Tips for Calendar Management

What is calendar management?

It’s difficult to prioritize your schedule and manage your to-do list in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Learning how to manage your calendar successfully is possible with great tips, calendar hacks and most importantly, an open mind. Calendar management is using your calendar and the time you have as a tool to be productive and to get everything done. It is a strategy to arrange your appointments, meetings, and tasks based on the level of importance.

Managing your calendar can benefit you in tremendous ways, especially if you utilize the calendar as a resource and a guide. It can help you become more organized, time efficient, and more productive in your work-related tasks. Learning how to use a calendar effectively can have a great impact on your time management skills and can help you learn to shift gears easier. Having great time management skills is an immense quality to have and can show others that you prioritize the most important things and take the time to strategically plan out your workdays.

What are things to consider before mapping out your calendar?

There are some things to consider and take into account before penciling in your important tasks, especially if you do it without a plan. There needs to be a method for how you go about this project because without a plan or an agenda, there may be some confusion down the road. Here are some things to remember when blocking time on your calendar:

• Think realistically: Whether you use a large desk calendar or a planner with pages for individual days, be honest with yourself about the number of tasks you can actually get done in one day. By planning for too much to get done each day, it’ll stress you out or cause burnout.
• Be organized: Organize your tasks in your head before writing them down, and make sure they are all possible to be completed. If it sounds overwhelming, take a few items, and push them for the next day. Everything will get done, but they all take time.
• Time it out: Give yourself the time to complete each task and don’t overload yourself. Put the most important things on the top of the to-do list and aim to cross them off first.
• Switch gears: If a task is going to take you an extensive amount of time to complete, be realistic and accept the fact that you either have one thing on your list for the day, or that you need to break up the project and work on it a few hours per day.
• Plan for the unexpected: Instances may come up where you need to step away from your computer and attend to something else. Whether it’s talking with a co-worker at the office about a project, or an abrupt fire drill that may take time away from work.

What are the top tips for managing your calendar?

Calendar tips are important to keep in mind both before and as you are scheduling and marking down essential work tasks. These scheduling tips and tricks can be very helpful to know as you are mapping out your work calendar. Here are some of the critical things to acknowledge as you are mapping out your calendar:

• Make a to-do list every day and try to stick to it. Make it reasonable and only put tasks on there that are realistic and are able to get done within the time you have. To-do lists can be very helpful because it keeps you accountable and organized. They are quick and easy to make, either on a House of Doolittle desk calendar or in a planner. Since there are multiple lines on the calendar, be sure you can fit all of your tasks in each square for the day.
• Mark down the set-in stone plans and meetings first. Writing in weekly or daily tasks that are always going to be on your calendar first thing will help you determine what comes before and after those tasks when planning. For an example, if you have a few weekly meetings to attend, write those down before work tasks that might have more flexibility. That way, you can prioritize other things based on the unchanging events that will be happening that day.
• Use specific words when writing down all your tasks to reduce confusion later on. If you like to make to-do lists for the whole week, make sure you are specific with your choice of words, especially if you have a lot of similar tasks your plate. That way, you can remember on Friday what you wrote down on Monday without having to think too much about it.
• Have separate planners for work tasks and everyday life events. This can be very helpful to reduce stress and separate the work tasks and the life tasks. If having two planners or calendars is too much, color code the tasks to distinguish between work and life duties.
• Give yourself enough time for each task, and don’t overwhelm yourself and cram your calendar every day. Map out your calendar with intention and remember to take breaks and do something for yourself during your lunch break.
• Make it your own! Using a House of Doolittle planner makes it easy for you to customize every day. The simplicity of the pages makes it, so you have the freedom to plan your days however you see fit. After all, writing things down helps to remember things better, so why not utilize your planner to the best of your ability?
• Block off time. Use your calendar both online and in front of you to block off time if you need concentration and no interruptions. This lets co-workers know not to bother you or request last minute meetings.
• Be mindful of vacation times and holidays. As soon as you have plans for either of those things, submit your potential days to your manager, and mark them on your calendar. That way, any work that needs to be completed before your departure can get done and you can visually see how much time you have left until your vacation.

Why is calendar management important for business?

By using the calendar management tips, you are taking control of your work time and efficiently planning out your days, weeks, and months strategically. Being organized and on top of your personal schedule is very important in business, and in other fields as well. Teachers and educators need to map out their calendar, medical professionals need it as well, and so do tradesmen with all of the jobs they do per day. Learning to be efficient with your time and know how much time to dedicate to each task is critical to business.

The House of Doolittle calendars and planners are the perfect tool and a blank canvas for you to easily fill in with your specific tasks. These tools are to ensure that you are productive, stay on top of your work and become more organized. Everyone loves a good organizational tool, so why not get your hands on calendars and planners from House of Doolittle and see how they can change your life? It might be your new year’s resolution.