Manage your time like a Google Pro | Calendar | The Apps Show

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• published: 19 Apr 2016
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In this episode Jenny and Drea talk about time management and explain us the concept of “Make Time”. For that, they decided to get more insights tips directly from the Google employee who forged this time management strategy: Jeremiah Dillon, Head of Product Marketing in Google Apps for Work. Jeremiah published an article last year on time management that quickly went viral (check out : goo.gl/gq8ihC). The article is originally an email sent to his colleagues at Google, in which he teaches them how to block out interruptions and set aside “Make Time." This article comes from the realization that we all struggle and feel frustrated with our time management at work: “People felt the same disruption, even if their calendar wasn’t full like mine, their free time was scattered in 30 minute chunks throughout the day, not giving them enough time to really dive into a project and make progress” To challenge this problem, a change of mindset on how we work is needed. Jeremiah recommends us to be purposeful (“we all need to be makers”). We should define more carefully when and where we need to reserve Make Time for our projects. Managing meetings strategically is key: many of them could be shorter than the 30-minute default length available in Google Calendar. Also, consider including fewer people to your meetings so you can get to an outcome quicker. Finally, don’t hesitate to cancel meetings that don’t need to happen at all : a follow-up email may be enough. You’ll take back those hours for your Make Time instead. Following the interview, Drea shows us how she took these tips into action. She totally redesigned her Google calendar. First, she took into consideration our energy levels throughout the week : according to many researches, our energy levels run the course of a wave throughout the week (we’re are more effective on Tuesdays and Wednesdays are are peak energy days). Second, Drea blocked slots in her calendar for “Make Time”. She created two blocks on Tuesdays and Wednesdays afternoons and marked them as “busy” on Calendar, so they won’t get scheduled over. What about you? if you have some tips on how you organize your day and keep your work-life balance in check, share those in the comments section below! We’d love to hear how you’re tackling this. Finally, don’t forget that there are two other ways to access all The Apps Show episodes: - Through our searchable library: goo.gl/SK6ENo - Through Google Drive: goo.gl/MGJ2Dv. You’ll have access to all scripts and videos in mp4 format, so you can create your own training resources!