Tool 1: Your Calendar

Love them or hate them, calendars are going to be a big part of your life as a manager. Your calendar is the de facto record of what you are doing with your time. You should live your day by your calendar. Every meeting that you need to go to needs to be in there, otherwise how else are you going to remember to go? You should also ensure there are plenty of free spaces in your calendar that others are welcome to book if they wish.

So far, so good. Since there’s a strong possibility that you already use calendar software in your work, it’s likely that nothing in this paragraph has been much of a surprise. However, you can use some additional techniques to keep your calendar as organized as possible.

What is your calendar for?

Firstly, only use your calendar to organize your time. Your calendar is not your to-do list. Keep tasks off of your calendar and use a to-do list instead. To-do list software is much better suited to that kind of thing, and it prevents your calendar from looking like a panic-inducing jumble.

Only put the following things in your calendar:

• Meetings with other people
• Activities that indicate that you are busy (for example, lunch, out of office, doctor’s appointment)
• Blocks of time to prevent others from booking over them (for instance, when you need to focus)

Book time for yourself as well