The proper way to use a calendar app to increase productivity

When you put a todo in your calendar, a strange thing happens when the time comes to get it done.

You just stare into the void, not knowing how and where to start. You may start fiddling with your phone, check your email, play your favourite music, get coffee… You may think and feel like you’re warming up to do your work. What you’re actually doing is keeping busy. That way you can deceive yourself into thinking you’re making progress. But when the end of the day comes, nothing’s been done. Or very little at most. How do we fix this problem?

Software developers are taught to split a large problem into many smaller ones. That way, instead of wrestling with a German shepherd, you wrestle with a dozen Chiwawa dogs — one at a time.

Think of something you need to get done, like writing a report. That is not actually a task — it’s a goal. It doesn’t go into your calendar, it goes into your inbox along with all the other stuff that needs getting done (and if you don’t have an inbox, you should have one.) When you learn to think with Chiwawas and not German shepherds, you start to see that your goal is actually a bundle of smaller tasks. The overarching goal of writing that report is actually a bundle of smaller tasks: research, compile a list of facts, elaborate the facts…

Now, we have created actionable steps — this is what you put in your calendar. They are manageable enough that you can plug them into a predetermined time slot and be confident you can get it done. Doing this, I found that I manage to get more done in a day even if I’m generous with the time I allocate to each task.

So, take your goal and split it into its component parts, that are small enough to be manageable one at a time. And here’s something to help you out in the process:

Try out Plan&Journal for FREE

If you’re on your iPhone, click bellow to download the app.

Or, if you’re on your computer, open up the App Store and search “Plan&Journal.”