6 Ways to Organise your Digital Calendar

One of the best ways to organize your time, whether for personal events or work, is digital calendars. Some of us may use the built-in digital calendar in our phones, while others may have different calendars for work, leisure and personal events. A few may even have preferences in terms of what type of digital calendar they use.

Whichever digital calendar you use, you need it to be less complicated in order for it to work for your needs. But where should you begin?

Here are 6 ways we recommend you try to keep your digital calendar as organized and effective as possible.

1. Use Categories And Colour Codes

As you sort out your schedule, you will see a pattern where certain events and meetings fall into certain categories. If you want to differentiate it in your calendar, use categories like “work”, “medical”, “personal” or “home” or make your own. You can also assign them to colour so you know exactly what is upcoming and prepare accordingly. Colour-coding the categories can also make your calendar more vibrant and engage you.

2. Prioritise Essential Meetings And Appointments

Each calendar can vary in how full or light it can be. However, when you sort out your calendar, it is best to prioritize your meetings and appointments and mark them accordingly. To make it easier for you, you can temporarily hide your other events or use a daily agenda notification highlighting the important events you need to remember.

3. Use The Right Calendar View

Depending on your platform and calendar, it may have a preferred calendar view that will make it easier to view or customize. You can pick from a daily, weekly, monthly or 4-day view format and use the one you find more comfortable.

Here’s an in-depth look at how to use the right calendar view:

Daily View:

When to Use:
The daily view is ideal when you have a busy day with many time-sensitive tasks and appointments.

Advantages:
It provides a detailed breakdown of your day, allowing you to plan and allocate time for each activity. You can see your schedule hour by hour.

Use Cases:
Use this view for managing deadlines, tracking hourly tasks, or when you have a lot of meetings in a single day.

Weekly View:

When to Use:
Weekly view helps get a broader overview of your week and for planning across multiple days.

Advantages:
It allows you to see your entire week at a glance, making it easier to spot patterns, identify gaps in your schedule, and plan your workload.

Use Cases:
Use this view for balancing work and personal commitments, setting weekly goals, or when you need to schedule tasks over several days.

Monthly View:

When to Use:
Monthly view is suitable for long-term planning, tracking significant events, and identifying trends over a month.

Advantages:
It provides a high-level view of your month, helping you avoid overcommitting and ensuring you allocate time for important events.

Use Cases:
Use this view to set monthly objectives, track bill due dates, or plan vacations and holidays.

4-Day View:

When to Use:
The 4-day view balances daily and weekly views, focusing on your immediate priorities.

Advantages:
It helps you concentrate on your most critical tasks for the upcoming days while maintaining a broader perspective.

Use Cases:
Use this view to maintain a short-term focus, especially if you have a busy workweek or need to prepare for an important event.

Custom Views:

When to Use:
Some calendar apps allow you to customize views. This is useful if you have unique scheduling needs.

Advantages:
You can tailor your calendar to your specific preferences and requirements, combining elements from various views.

Use Cases:
Create custom views for specialized needs, such as project-specific calendars, fitness routines, or meal planning.

Choosing the right calendar view is about finding the balance between a level of detail that suits your needs and a broader perspective that allows you to plan effectively. Experiment with different views to determine which enhances your productivity and organization the most.

4. Sync Your Multiple Calendars

Syncing multiple calendars is pivotal in streamlining your time management and ensuring your schedule remains coherent. Syncing multiple calendars, whether for work, personal, or other commitments, allows you to access and manage all your events in one centralized location, reducing the need to switch between various calendar apps or platforms.

Firstly, syncing calendars helps prevent scheduling conflicts. Having all your appointments and commitments in one place allows you to identify overlapping events and avoid double-booking yourself easily. This is particularly beneficial for individuals with busy schedules, as it ensures that you can allocate time effectively and honour all your commitments without any unexpected clashes.

Secondly, syncing calendars enhances efficiency. You won’t need to remember which calendar to check for specific events or constantly switch between apps. This streamlines the process of planning and reviewing your day, reducing the risk of missing critical appointments or tasks. It simplifies your organizational strategy, allowing you to focus on your priorities rather than the logistics of managing multiple calendars.

5. Send A Daily Agenda Or Notifications

Whether you use one calendar or multiple, it is best to sort out the daily agenda or notifications so you don’t get interrupted during your work or event. Check the notification settings of your chosen calendar and adjust it to your preference.

6. Have An Offline Option

It is a fact that you won’t be online all the time. With this in mind, you need to ensure that you still have your digital calendar available even when offline. Check the offline version of your calendar or see if it has an offline mode that will sync your calendar and make it viewable even if you are offline.

With how fast-paced life is nowadays, it is best to have a visual reference on hand at any time to help us plan our schedule accordingly every single day or week. Digital calendars can help you stay on track no matter how busy your day or week. Use the tips above to make your digital calendars more reliable and see the difference from when you first used these calendars.

Be productive. Stop wasting time. Finish work early. Here are some more productivity tips:
Best Technology Gadgets to Boost Our Productivity and Comfort when We Work from Home
How to Make the Most of Your Day When Working Remotely
Timetable Of A Work-From-Home Mother
How to Use Your Morning Commute to Be Productive?

Can’t get enough of MiddleMe? You can find me sharing my thoughts here as well: 
Instagram @kallymiddleme
Twitter  (MiddleMe_net)
FaceBook (MiddleMe.net)
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kallytay