You can use the following steps to do so:

1. Choose Your Planning Tool

Your first task is to select the planning tool you will use to organize and manage your time. You have two options:

  • Traditional tool: Use a paper planner. You can easily find one in a stationery store.
  • Modern tool: Opt for an electronic calendar.

It’s important to note that there is no right or wrong tool. The key is to choose one you feel comfortable using. However, I strongly recommend using an electronic calendar because it offers more features than a paper planner and will save you time in the long run. Plus, you don’t need to buy one.

If you have a smartphone, regardless of its operating system (Apple, Android, Windows), it comes with a built-in calendar. You can also install calendar apps like Google Calendar or Apple Calendar, which are excellent and often used by default by Android and Apple users.

Personally, I use the built-in calendar on my Samsung phone and have synchronized it with the Google Calendar linked to my Gmail account. This allows me to access my appointments and planned activities on both my phone and my computer.

2. Choose a Task Management Tool and Link It to Your Planner

You don’t necessarily need this, but it’s an option you can consider. Depending on the task management tool you choose, it can also help you break down your project into activities and tasks.

There are many task management apps you can download on Android, Apple, and Windows platforms. Most of them allow synchronization with your electronic calendar. Here are a few sync-compatible tools you can use: Todoist, Trello, Asana, Nozbe, etc.

Personally, I use Todoist because it allows me to create projects, break them down, and then plan tasks that I sync with my Google Calendar. This way, I don’t lose track of them. In fact, working jointly with your calendar and task manager will enable you to always have a global view of what needs to be done, helping you manage your time better.

3. Create Categories in Your Calendar

To better organize the information displayed in your calendar, you can create different categories based on whether they are appointments or tasks related to your projects. You can assign a different color to each category. For example, blue for appointments, green for Project 1, purple for Project 2, etc. This way, you can immediately see what is displayed in your calendar at a glance.

For a broader organization of your calendar, you can also create more general but useful categories like “home,” “leisure,” “family,” “volunteering,” etc. You can use these to plan everyday tasks.

4. Set Up Recurring Events

This step will save you a lot of time and is one of the main reasons I strongly recommend using an electronic calendar. It allows you to plan an activity just once, which will then repeat weekly or monthly. This eliminates the need to plan it every week or month.

For example, you can use this recurring event feature for:

  • Gym sessions: If you go 2–3 times a week, you can plan them recurrently for several months or even the whole year.
  • Picking up your kids from daycare or the babysitter: Create a recurring task and place it in your calendar for the days you need to do this.
  • Weekly work meetings: Block the time slots in advance for the relevant days.
  • Daily task reviews and planning for the next day: For instance, block 15 minutes in your calendar at the end of each day.
  • Weekly project reviews: Block 30 to 45 minutes at the end of the week for this review. (We’ll discuss this in detail on Day 5.)
  • Planning the week ahead: For example, block 45 to 60 minutes on Sunday to plan your upcoming week.

This text is an excerpt from the book 7 DAYS to Become a PRODUCTIVE Person by Henri M. Missola.

We invite you to read the following article: NUTRITION FOR STRONG PRODUCTIVITY.

Comments (0)


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

EUREuro