Calendar
The calendar section is about your time plans.
Transfer appointments from your other diaries and calendars into this section by synchronising Outlook and Google in your profile preferences. This will display the daily schedule on your phone and bring your mobile items into the Practical Manager.
The structure of the calendar
section
The calendar section is intended to
keep track of all appointments, meetings, trips, tasks, etc., which are
currently planned.
Most people need both an overview and
details in their current planning, and the ability to see several time periods
at a glance. The Calendar section meets these needs. The calendar section is
the planning tool that provides a complete overview of the month, week, and
day.
The quarterly plan can provide the
necessary long-term overview. The weekly and daily views can contain all the
details you need in the short term.
The calendar section is organised so
that you can work with all planning periods – the quarter, the month, the week
and the day.
The quarterly planner is, in fact, a
set of monthly plans; it shows the meetings, appointments, and tasks that have
already been planned and that you need to take into consideration each month
and week when planning the next week.
Every day when you need to make a plan
for the next day, you can collect information from your weekly plan and/or your
monthly plan.
You can work with all 4 views or only
some. Depending on the situation, you can select the views that suit your
particular purpose and the tasks you are working on.
It is, however, recommended to work
with at least one long-term plan (quarterly or monthly) and at least one
short-term view (weekly or daily), so you have both overview and details.
Quarterly planning
At the end of each quarter, set aside
one day to make a plan for the next quarter. Create an overview of the
available time – months, whole weeks. Decide which lengthy periods you wish to
reserve for projects, major tasks, travelling, holidays, social life, etc.
Decide whether you wish to set up a fixed work pattern for doing certain things
at certain times.
This view will show you at a glance all
the forward commitments for the quarter and the month, such as meetings,
travel, holidays, anniversaries, periods reserved for special commitments,
projects, etc. They provide an overview of the days already booked and make it
easy for you to see the extent and composition of your available time and to coordinate
your key areas with your annual time use.
This view shows all-day events, and further
details for a day are available through the indicator. Switch to the monthly
view to see the details for each day.
How to use the quarterly view
Most people realise how useful monthly,
weekly, and daily planning is. You also need a facility for long-term planning,
such as a quarter. Making New Year's resolutions is not enough. The Quarter
view provides an overview of the year's major tasks and events.
Monthly planning
At
the end of each month, set aside 1-2 hours to plan the next month. Create an overview
of the remaining time – weekdays, weekends, evenings. Decide how to spend the
available time and reserve time for your major tasks. Prepare the month's activities:
reservations, meetings, invitations, messages, information gathering, learning
and development, shopping, etc.
The
monthly view is your diary for making notes of appointments and meetings. It is
your appointment book. The
monthly view is designed to track current meetings, journeys, commitments, and
fixed appointments. It is not intended to contain a mass of detail about tasks
and activities, which would impair the overview. Such details belong on weekly
and daily views. All details, such as venue information, participants, and the agenda,
should be stored in activities and tasks within the key areas section.
How to use your monthly view
Get
used to writing appointments into your monthly planner immediately. Then you
will not forget them or double-book appointments.
When
you plan next month and know how much time you have available, you can pull
tasks from your key areas and reserve time for them.
Also,
go through your schedules for recurring tasks, birthdays, and anniversaries,
and check them in the monthly view – for example, enter a symbol or a reference
to a name, and add activities. Do this every month or so.
Enter
the elephant task(s) of the month, both private and work-related. Set time
aside for these elephants. Also allocate time for other things you want to do
during the month, e.g. "meeting with myself" (see section "Good
advice"), reading, preparation, time for family and friends. Include
evenings and weekends in your plans.
Hints
and ideas:
- Use abbreviations, keywords, and symbols
- Indicate the estimated length of appointments
- If you have many appointments on one day, you can fill in a
daily plan for the whole day to indicate that on the monthly planner and write a
separate plan for this day in the description.
Weekly planning
Every week, set aside 10-15 minutes for planning the next week. Find out how you wish to spend your available time – mornings, afternoons, evenings, hours. Decide what you wish to get done during the week and reserve time for meetings and tasks. Prepare the tasks of the week: make detailed programmes, plan shopping and bookings, check appointments, equipment, materials, etc.
The weekly view includes details for meetings, appointments and tasks of the week, unlike the monthly view, which is mainly meant to show appointments, etc., planned well in advance. The weekly plan links to the long-term planning with the specific details in the daily plan.
This view contains a weekly overview with a daily plan for each day of the week. It can be used for appointments and weekly tasks and can occasionally replace daily plans. You can even disregard the daily view with hours and use this view for weekday notes and checklists.
How to use the weekly view
At the end of the week, your monthly view will show what has already been arranged for the next week.
Based on your overview of the week's available time, you can now plan what you wish to get out of the week, in addition to the appointments and tasks already planned. Collect data from your key areas and schedules, and check your Don't forget section.
Remember to enter the elephant task(s) of the week (see section Elephant tasks) and reserve your "elephant time".
Make it a habit to consider every week how to make your mornings, evenings, and weekends more worthwhile.
Daily planning
Every day, take stock of what you have done and spend just 5-10 minutes making a detailed plan for the next day. Decide how to use your available time tomorrow. Prepare the day in detail. Get everything ready: papers, tickets, keys, clothes, etc. Decide what to say, do and achieve.
Drag and drop tasks and activities that you want to book time for from the right-hand side onto your daily calendar.
Enter appointments and commitments at the appropriate time on the left-hand side. The right-hand side serves as a structured "to-do" list for those things that you believe you can manage in the time not already committed.
The day as a planning period
The days are the most important of all planning periods. Day planning determines whether your plans are translated into reality. Daily planning is a question of definite action "right here and now", not just thinking about goals or good intentions. In other words, the only job you can do anything about is the one you decide to do something about today. The day is vitally important because the overall result at the end of the year is the sum of the results of each day.
Make tomorrow's daily plan before you finish your work today.
This is probably the best advice you will ever receive.
By keeping a close eye on immediate details and not allowing too many loose ends to accumulate, you will gain several advantages.
- You will have a feeling of overview and control, which will boost your energy and performance. This, in turn, will lead to more enjoyable evenings, greater energy, a better social life, etc.
- With a clear awareness of the tasks and problems of tomorrow, you can put your subconscious brain to work. It will start to produce ideas and solutions – even while you sleep. You will arrive at work the next day with your mind prepared and with a store of ideas and possible solutions.
- With clearly defined plans for the time of day at which the events will take place, it is easier to avoid being sidetracked. You will also find it easier to work off interruptions. In fact, you will find you use your daily capacity – the hours and the minutes – much more efficiently. The fact that you have prepared and planned all your tasks enables you to accomplish the results needed to achieve your goals. Your colleagues will find it easier to communicate with you and coordinate their time with yours. This strengthens your self-esteem and reduces stress.
All these advantages are self-evident for daily planning. However, most of them also apply to the planning of all other periods.
The day is the most important of all planning periods. If you are not in control of your day, you are not in control at all.
The daily plan is meant to keep track of your day and provide an overview of your daily activities, however large or small. It helps you use every hour and every minute effectively.
How to use your daily view
At the end of each day, finalise a daily plan for the next day. This will make you feel more relaxed and give you a better start the next day.
Daily planning is best done in 3 steps:
1. Check your booked time
Verify that all appointments and commitments are current and correctly inserted. Add anything relevant from your monthly view to the left-hand side of the daily plan.
2. Get an overview of your available time
Mark an estimate of your booked time by editing the appointment details as you expect them to be required. This allows you to see the extent and composition of your available time. Be realistic in your estimate of the time you need. Allow some extra time as a "buffer".
3. Make good use of your available time
Looking at the available time, realistically consider how many major and/or minor tasks you can fit into the day and when to do them.
Transfer tasks and activities from the Key Areas section and the Don't forget section to the daily plan's to-do list. Any unfinished tasks can be transferred from the previous daily or weekly plan.
Red and green times
Arrange for your own "red" times when you should not be interrupted. Also, arrange for "green" times each day when you will be available and can be contacted. Make sure that people know when these times are.
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