Do you wonder if your schedule is more complicated than it needs to be?

Do appointments frequently get moved around, cancelled, or rescheduled?

It is difficult to sit down and do your work for an extended period of time?

It can certainly be frustrating to deal with complex and unresolved calendar issues.

Fortunately, there’s no time like the present to simplify a complicated schedule.

In this post, you’ll find tips to help you trim your schedule and make things more manageable.

Hold tentative appointments for a specific amount of time.

You know that lunch meeting you’ve been holding in your schedule for the past few weeks?

You’ve made all reasonable efforts to get in touch with your contact and finalize everything, but you haven’t heard a peep.

Other meeting requests are quickly coming in…how much longer are you going to hold this space?

While placing a hold in your schedule is normally a good practice to follow, letting things drag on at the expense of other appointments is foolhardy.

Be firm with your appointments. Either hold them for a specific period of time of your choosing (be it a few weeks or months) or evaluate them on a case-by-case basis.

Group similar appointments together.

Suppose you have to interview several people in your office for a project. You have full control over the interviews, and you can hold them at any time you like.

You could interview one person in the morning, then two in the afternoon, followed by two more the next morning…but why not group all of the interviews together in one afternoon?

You can save a lot of time and energy by assembling similar meetings or appointments next to one another in your schedule. Doing so allows you to better focus on your work.

What’s more, there will be fewer interruptions and distractions seeking your attention.

This same “grouping” idea applies to any appointments located within the same vicinity or location as one of another.

If you’re going to be across town for a client meeting and need to meet with another client or colleague in the immediate area, why not make the most of your travels and schedule an additional meeting?

Learn to say “no.”

One of the easiest ways to simplify any calendar is to exercise your right to say “no.”

Saying “no” to something isn’t rude, rather, it’s a way of protecting your time and your schedule.

If you don’t have the time to do something, say “no.” If you can’t attend a function, say “no.”

You can save yourself from a lot of headaches and stressful situations if you learn to use “no” more often in your daily routines.

Color-code your calendar.

No matter how organized a calendar may be, things can sometimes get a bit overwhelming.

To remedy this, you can try streamlining your calendar with a pop of color.

Color-coding will make it easier for you to identify certain types of calendar items, such as events, meetings, appointments, errands, meals, and projects.

What’s more, the beauty of color-coding allows you to code your calendar using any combinations of colors you like, for as many different items as you see fit.

For example, you might decide to choose green for work activities, blue for personal items activities, orange for errands, and so on.

Or, you may simply decide to have a basic two color-scheme in your calendar. You can use one color for work items and another for personal items.  

How about you? What steps will you take to simplify your schedule? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!