7 Calendar Features You May Not Be Using — But Should

The world is busier than ever — hustle and bustle are the secret — and it may be laborious to maintain up with all of it. To assist, most individuals use a calendar in some kind or one other; certainly, many individuals have a number of calendars. From a big desk planner to the lovable designs you possibly can hold in your wall, calendars assist maintain you on observe.

Solely within the final decade or so have an increasing number of individuals come to make use of a digital calendar, which might act like your private assistant. Nonetheless, so many options of the digital calendar go underutilized when utilizing them may dramatically change your workday and even your life.

1. Syncing

Should you’re utilizing a digital calendar like Calendar, Google Calendar, or Microsoft Outlook, you most likely have a number of variations arrange for various areas of your life. The obvious are household, private, and work. You want to bear in mind your child’s soccer sport, your afternoon yoga class, and that massive assembly after lunch. All of that is nice except your entire calendars aren’t synced.

Syncing your varied calendars will make sure you don’t overextend your self. It’s going to additionally enable anybody else including objects to your calendar — your assistant, your partner, or a crew member — to keep away from double-booking you. You’ll be able to sync your calendars each inside a single utility or throughout your units. So, when you have Google Calendar for work however use Microsoft Outlook for your loved ones, you may get them on the identical web page. Syncing your calendars requires a step-by-step process, however when you’ve executed it, your life will doubtless really feel far more streamlined.

2. Reminders and Alerts

Gone are the times when you possibly can merely schedule one thing in your planner and belief that you’d bear in mind it. Possibly you’d evaluate your day prematurely and lock it into your reminiscence. No — now you’ve got dozens of to-dos all in at some point, and lacking one may very well be catastrophic. Everybody has executed it. You missed your child’s efficiency within the play since you acquired caught up in a gathering. You have been late to your assembly as a result of your focus time ran lengthy.

It occurs, however it doesn’t must. Set reminders for your self in your calendar to keep away from these frequent mix-ups and errors. You’ll be able to alert your self the day earlier than, an hour earlier than, and 10 minutes earlier than. Why not do all three? Lacking the important issues in life and work doesn’t imply you don’t care; it simply means you’re not ready. Set reminders and alerts and purpose to by no means miss one other necessary a part of life.

3. Sharing

If you’re on any crew, try to be sharing your calendar. Most individuals are on a number of groups. Give it some thought — you’ve got your loved ones, workers, coworkers, pals, and perhaps even prolonged household. All of those small teams make up groups, and also you doubtless have duties, gatherings, and conferences to carry out and attend collectively. One of the vital essential facets of a robust, cohesive crew is getting everybody on the identical web page.

You don’t need to have a social gathering and neglect to ask one among your pals. Likewise, you possibly can’t successfully lead a undertaking with out conserving everybody conscious of the benchmarks and deadlines. Calendar sharing is good for conserving everybody on observe of what’s occurring. Everybody on the crew can add objects, and everybody will get alerts after they’re added. Then, in the event you’ve synced your calendars, you’ll ensure to not overbook your self — it’s a win/win.

4. Particulars for Conferences

Whereas many groups have conferences scheduled on the calendar, not all groups add particulars. You’ve doubtless heard the jokes and sarcastic remarks about how “this assembly may have been an e mail.” Most individuals don’t get pleasure from ineffective conferences or feeling like their time has been wasted. In addition they don’t like feeling blindsided.

To assist get your crew on board and even excited concerning the upcoming assembly, embody detailed notes. Identical to if you have been at school, the instructor typically gave you a heads-up about what was to return. You had studying to do, notes to evaluate, and many others. If you embody ample notes within the calendar for an upcoming assembly, you give this advance discover to your crew. They’ll come into the session centered, ready, and engaged.

5. Reserving Assembly Rooms

Bear in mind, individuals are already busier than they’ve ever been. So, everytime you’re tasked with main or scheduling something for others, make it as straightforward as potential on them. One of many craziest components of becoming a member of a gathering is making an attempt to get there within the first place. Once more, again to the varsity reference, your first time on campus, racing to discover a classroom you’ve by no means seen is irritating. You arrive stressed and flustered.

The identical nervousness happens when workers members try to get to a gathering — be it digital or in particular person. Should you’re scheduling a digital assembly, embody the Zoom or Google Groups hyperlink within the calendar occasion. Should you’re gathering in a bodily location, guarantee all the main points for the house are included within the occasion. And, after all, be sure to’re booking facilities like a pro. Your crew will thanks for it.

6. Out of Workplace

One of many best options for these with full lives is the “Out of Workplace” possibility. Should you’re not utilizing this function but, you most likely have to enter your calendar and tick issues off individually. You’ve canceled every assembly, rescheduled every appointment, and despatched your apologies. It’s time-consuming for you and certain annoying for anybody hoping to get your time.

As a substitute of this grueling method, you possibly can merely go into your calendar and schedule your self out of the workplace forward of time. As soon as you intend a trip, let your calendar know. That approach, you and anybody else who provides objects to your days might be alerted to keep away from planning at the moment. You’ll be able to schedule your self out of the workplace for every week or two or simply a day. And also you received’t must disappoint anybody with last-minute cancellations.

7. Focus Time

Talking of day trip, you can too take time in. Time blocking isn’t a brand new phenomenon in calendars, however it’s getting extra consideration these days. Time blocking happens if you block time in your calendar for productive “deep” work, relaxation, and even play. If you schedule this manner, you pressure your self to do what must be executed. Much more necessary, you prohibit your self from performing different unrelated duties throughout that point.

Focus time is without doubt one of the greatest time blocks you possibly can plan for your self. Schedule it in your digital calendar, sync it, and share it with everybody. Focus time is the block, perhaps two hours, if you don’t reply calls or emails, you shut your door, and also you, sure, focus. Select the time when you understand your mind is firing at its greatest, schedule focus time, and get your work executed.

In the end, these calendar instruments are value the additional time it might take you to learn to use them. They’ll make your work time extra productive, your playtime extra relaxed, and your life simpler to handle. And don’t neglect to make use of your calendar’s insights on the finish of every week and month to look again and replicate. Discovering what works and what doesn’t will enable you to transfer ahead extra successfully. Quickly, your schedule might really feel extra manageable, and also you may discover your self respiration extra simply.

Featured Picture Credit score: Photograph by Antoni Shkraba; Pexels

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