Build more effective calendar habits

- If you want to manage time well, you have to be realistic. And the first step towards being realistic is acknowledging that there's many constraints in our time. Usually we don't get to decide when a meeting is or the deadline for a team project or even a dentist appointment. These are obligations, and that's exactly what a calendar is for. It alerts us to commitments and deadlines on the horizon. Remember what we discussed earlier, the schedule is about what you want to do. The calendar is about what you need to do. Now let me share a few practical tips. First, let's talk about different views. One of the key differences between a calendar and a schedule is the timeline. A schedule is weekly. A calendar is monthly. And here's a tip. I always set my calendar view to four weeks instead of the default monthly view. Why? Because I always want to be able to see what's coming in the next four weeks, not just until the end of the month. You can set the four week view as the default view like this. Second, develop the habit of daily horizon scanning. At least once a day, check what's on your four week horizon. This is crucial because if you do it daily, you'll always be able to see things popping up four weeks ahead of time, giving you ample time to prepare. No more being blindsided. Third, be explicit in your labeling. Let me tell you about a colleague who once labeled an event simply as deadline. A few months later, he looks at his calendar for the next day, sees an event that just says deadline and has no idea what it's for, and naturally, he panics. The whole point of calendars is to offload this kind of information so you don't have to keep mental notes, but that only works if you're thorough. A good rule of thumb is to label calendar events as if a stranger needs to understand them, with clear titles, location, and any crucial details. Fourth, and this is the most important tip, keep your schedule and calendar separate. Let me show you how to do this in Google Calendar. You want a separate calendar for your schedule and one for your actual calendar events. Why? Because when you switch to that four week view we talked about earlier, your schedule would otherwise crowd out your calendar events defeating the purpose of easy at a glance visualization of commitments. Here's where visualization becomes everything. When you're in your weekly view, keep both schedules and calendars active. This prevents double booking. But when you're in the four week view, only activate the calendar layer for optimal viewing of commitments. Think of it like layers. You can turn different layers on and off depending on what you need to see. Your schedule and calendar works symbiotically to give you a complete picture of your time. These might seem like small tweaks, but they make a huge difference in practice. In our next video, we'll look at how to create realistic to-do lists that compliment your calendar and schedule. But for now, take a few minutes to set up these calendar views and layers. Your future self will thank you.