Calendars
The second productivity tool we will focus on is calendars and schedules. Calendars project into the future, and you can track results relative to time. They are time-focused and show you where and when you should be at the right place.
Milestone Driven
Calendar things that need to be done on date and time, everything else that needs to be done immediately or discarded.
Organize your Important task list in your calendar
Integrate thoughts with action by putting your list within a calendar. To write a list, you must think and write; now it’s time to interrogate and discover. It’s time to put everything you’ve learned into motion. Go ahead and develop your calendar for next year, doing one week at a time.
The point is not just to think the thoughts but get them down on paper for later use. Look for the pattern between your calendar and what you write down, and you will notice patterns emerging from the data.
Manage personal and professional in one calendar. Manage one thing, not two.
Visual and Spacial
A performance week is about setting weekly goals and getting them done. A week is the only common thing in all calendars, and we can make a list for them. The list needs a sense of Pre-attentive Data Visualization. I have a more detailed explanation of this here. The calendar spaces out events so we can visually see how many days on the runway we have before the milestone.
Block Time
How you calendar tasks and spend time tells what is important to you. Organize your task list in your calendar and stick to it. Timing is everything, so start with your most significant priority, e.g., family time.
To manage meetings, put them in your calendar and block time. To prevent distractions, block your calendar and use the excuse that you have an appointment. This will keep ad hoc work from popping up and taking over planned work.
Use the calendar creatively by setting realistic due dates to inspire action.
As your calendar fills up, you have a new problem to address: who and what will fill my calendar. This takes us to our next productivity tool. PRIORITY is about time and, more importantly, our choices to use it.
