i-just-do-what-my-calendar-says
If you’re like me, you want to be in control of your week, but somehow it feels as though you never have enough hours to accomplish everything you need to get done. Staying on top of a hectic schedule can definitely feel overwhelming at times, but I've found that planning and scheduling my weeks carefully is the best way to stay productive and make sure nothing gets left out. Here's how I do it.
Week time planning
I'm a big fan of the Calendly app (which works both online and through its iOS app). This tool helps me easily organize set meetings and calls throughout the week and keep track of them using an intuitive calendar view.
For scheduling meetings and day-to-day tasks, I turn to one of my favorite task managers: Fantastical. Fantastical makes it easy to make sure I don't overlook any upcoming deadlines. But even better than that, they have an Apple Watch complication so I can quickly check on what needs to get done next from my wrist!
Following Rough GTD Principles
On top of this, I follow a broad version of David Allen's famous "Getting Things Done" (GTD) methodology when tackling large projects or simply sorting through daily chores. The main takeaway here is that clear goals need breaking down into actionable chunks before getting started instead of trying to tackle overly ambitious tasks at once.
Staying Organized with Things
And last but not least, Things helps me move from planning and organizing mode into actual executing mode – its OS X, iPhone and Apple Watch versions allow me access to my lists wherever I am so that adding items as they come up isn’t a hassle anymore. Plus thanks to its dynamic smart lists feature I am usually able to make good progress on items in my "Today" list without feeling overwhelmed by it being too long or complex.
Together, these tools form the perfect suite: they allow me to plan ahead quickly and easily while providing access to my to-do lists wherever I may be — meaning more time spent on more urgent tasks rather than worrying about what needs doing next!