Make Time: 3 simple Google Calendar tips to bring more ease to your day

Of all the fancy apps I use throughout the day, one of my most used for work and self-care is Google Calendar. Hear me out.

Google Calendar has several simple features that can be used to organise your day, help you focus and carve out time for self-care. (This can be done with most digital calendars).

These 3 tips help me make time, find balance and improve my productivity every day:

1. Make time to catch up

This one might sound a bit boujee but when you want to create some downtime or focus on a project, setting time in your day when you catch up with friends and family can be useful.

Asking people to schedule in time also means that you are not trying to multitask or get distracted whilst in conversation - you can be fully present.

Create a link using the Appointment Scheduling feature and send it to friends and family so they can book in a time that is mutually convenient. My mum often books in with me via a link! She can obviously call me whenever she wants but having that time put aside makes the day easeful.

2. Make time for yourself

Blocking out time in your calendar for yourself, has many benefits. It helps us to plan out our day with our well-being in mind and it is a reminder of the things we want to achieve or that we have achieved.

At the moment, I have blocked out time on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings for Yoga, so that I am more motivated to be consistent with my regular Yoga practice. I don’t always do a full session on those days, or a session at all, but I know that is time in my day I have made to check in with my physical health - even if it is just lying on my mat.

3. Make time to be prepared

One of my favourite features of digital calendars is the notification feature. (Partly because my memory and attention span aren’t always great 😕).

The default Google calendar notification is 10 minutes but you can set notifications for up to 4 weeks. Setting notifications gives us time to reset and prepare in between meetings or tasks, reducing brain fog, meeting fatigue and feelings of overwhelm.

How will you make time for yourself this week?