Calendar Management: Streamline Your Schedule

As a business owner, calendar management, on top of all the other matters you are handling, and creating a work/life balance can feel like an impossible task. Previously, I shared the basics of calendar management: using one calendar, color coding your calendar for visual clarity, adding everything to your calendar that you need to get done, and scheduling time to do the work to meet deadlines. You can revisit my previous newsletter on the subject here.

Let’s explore the challenge faced by many business owners when managing their calendars: the overwhelming volume of appointments and meetings. This can lead to a cluttered schedule, making it difficult to prioritize tasks effectively and maintain a healthy work/life balance. Balancing client meetings, internal discussions, personal commitments, and unexpected tasks often becomes a juggling act that requires careful planning and time management strategies.

Here are some practical tips to help you navigate your calendar more effectively:

1. Audit Your Calendar. Regularly review your calendar. Do you have frequent meetings that don’t need to be meetings? Or meetings that are longer than they need to be, i.e., a 90-minute meeting that could be scheduled for 30? Determine which meetings are essential and which can be consolidated or canceled. Don’t be afraid to put a time limit on meetings or say no when a meeting doesn’t align with your priorities or add value to your schedule. Not everything needs to be a meeting. You’ll be amazed how much time you can free up in a given week. 

2. Prioritize Meetings. Categorize your meetings by priority. Focus on high-impact meetings and delegate or defer less critical ones. Use color coding to visually differentiate meetings on your calendar. For example, you can make discovery or networking calls green, client calls blue, board meetings red, investor meetings yellow, 1:1 meetings pink, etc.

Pro Tip: Consistency is key. Stick to your chosen color to train your brain to recognize what each color represents at a glance.

3. Implement Buffer Times. Schedule buffer times between meetings to avoid back-to-back meetings whenever possible. This gives you a chance to breathe, stretch, recharge, and prepare for your next meeting. Back-to-back meetings, while unavoidable at times, are not sustainable and lead to careless mistakes and burnout.

Pro Tip: If you have a meeting out of the office, be sure to include travel time to and from the meeting on your calendar.

4. Delegate and Outsource. Buy back your time by delegating meetings, projects, or tasks to team members or outsourcing to a specialized freelancer or virtual assistant, which will free up your time to focus on higher-priority activities.

5. Regularly Review and Adjust. Make it a habit to review your calendar at the end of each week (or whatever day works best for you). Reflect on what’s working and what isn’t. Adjust your approach as needed to optimize your productivity and maintain balance.

Streamlining your schedule is an ongoing process. Take the time to give your calendar the attention it needs so that you can achieve a more organized and balanced work life.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further assistance, happy to work together to make your calendar work for you!

How beautiful is this orchid? It was a gift from my son and daughter-in-law for my birthday two years ago, and it brings me such joy!

In addition to joy, this orchid represents beauty, love, patience, and gratitude. I’ve always loved orchids but never really had much luck keeping them alive. When I received this as a gift, I was determined to care for it (and not love it to death, which I’ve been known to do with house plants). It wasn’t looking well upon arrival, yet two years later, she’s in full bloom in my home office. I get to see her every day. Whether she’s in bloom or not, I adore her.

Thank you to my son and daughter-in-law for gifting me such beauty and to my good friend, Nikki, for giving me tips on how to lovingly care for orchids.

Do you have orchids? If so, I’d love to see them. Send me an email here.