Too Much To Do - try using a Smart Calendar!

How often do you find yourself feeling frustrated because you don’t seem to have enough time to get everything done? Have you caught yourself staring off into space overwhelmed by not knowing what task to tackle next?

You’re likely familiar with the phrase “time management”. Maybe you’ve read articles or even taken courses to learn how to manage time…and yet time is still managing you.

A while back, I was introduced to something called a Smart Calendar. Like so many things, I listened, I even heard and committed to adopting its principles. And then it happened – I was right back doing things the same old way.

Again, feeling weighted down by the papers on my desk and the list of undone tasks rambling through my head, I remembered what I had been taught and figured I was already under water so why not give it another shot? I have to tell you – this time, engaging the concept full-force, I have been amazed at how helpful using a Smart Calendar has been.

The best part is that it is NOT complicated! 

Like most business owners, I am responsible for a lot of different things and while they are diverse, I can generally sort my tasks into just a few categories. I started by creating a list of 5 or 6 top level categories that most everything I do can fit into. Then I estimated how much time each category requires of me each week. Looking at my calendar, I began to block out chunks of time and reserve that time for a specific category. Because some tasks are time sensitive, I had to block out more than one block of time for a couple of categories but I was careful to make sure the total time allocated to that category matched my estimate.

Once I had my time reserved (be careful to not reserve your full calendar because you still need flexibility to operate) I began to list the tasks I needed to accomplish within that reserved space. I have increased my efficiency and lowered my stress level by a ton!

I did discover that in addition to the Smart Calendar schedule, I needed a good way to organize the tasks that had to get done since those were still rambling around in my head. I’m testing a paper as well as an online planner right now to see which works best for me. I’ll share my thoughts on this in another Tip for Your Business!