4 Lessons for a Productive Life

It’s pretty safe to say we’re scheduling enthusiasts here at Doodle.

Here’s a collection of some of the best calendar/scheduling hacks we wanted to share with you.

No more back-to-backs

For your sanity, it’s best to avoid running appointments back to back. It may seem unavoidable, but this is why you use Doodle in the first place. If you have the feeling that you’re exhausted moving to and from meetings, try to take back some control and give yourself a break in between. Frequent breaks also help to keep you motivated and performing at your best.

Set up recurring events

If you’re trying to organize recurring meetings you can create a Doodle poll for it. Then, in your calendar, there should be an option to edit your event and have it repeat at any interval. You can have your meeting every week, month or year. Just choose the interval from the pulldown menu.

Creative flow 

When you get lost in your work, time seems to fly past. Psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi called this flow. It’s mental state where your focus is heightened, and you fall under the spell of the activity you’re performing so much so that you lose a sense of where you are and how much time has passed. The trick is, it rarely occurs under time constraints. If you have to get serious work done, especially work where you need to generate lots of new ideas or make real progress, strive for flow. It’s best to block time in your calendar, to account for the time needed to generate ideas and flow.

Take back your time

Don’t just about fill up your calendar with meetings. Productivity is about spending time doing meaningful work. Focus on what matters and ignore the rest. If the meeting isn’t going to generate value for you or your work, don’t add it to your calendar. 

Booking Page is a great way to manage your incoming appointment requests. You can connect your calendar to your booking page to show the outside world when you’re free or busy. Your colleagues or friends can request times to meet based on that information. The offers roll in, and you’re free to either accept or reject.