How To Use Your Calendar (Barbell #2)

(You can also listen to this article on Youtube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts)

In the previous article, I mentioned the calendar as the separator between your planned and unplanned time.

In other words, only obligations, meetings, booked events, and other routines should be represented to alleviate your mind from the dreaded feeling of keeping track of these. The rest of the time should remain blank to allow for spontaneous time.

However, you need to place the calendar almost in your face every day to become useful. Otherwise, you will forget its existence when you need it the most. By placing it on your home screen, you will have a glance every time you switch between apps.

Calendar Setup

I have written a more thorough guide here, but below are the key actions:

• Step 1: Select your calendar, most likely Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook Calendar and/or iCal
• Step 2: In the Settings app, you go to calendar. Then click accounts
• Step 3: Sign in to your Google or Microsoft account. Allow it to sync and it will after a couple of minutes.

Now the most important part the widget. The widget allows you to be constantly reminded of when your obligations, meetings, and events occur because it is on the home screen.

• Step 4: (iPhone) Press and hold any app in 2 seconds until they start to dance. Then click on the upper right plus-sign. (Android) Press and hold on to the home screen until the widget buttons shows up
• Step 5: Scroll through a list of available widgets until you see the calendar of your choice. For Android users, click here to read my confessions about the best calendar widget that I could not find.
• Step 6: When you click the widget, you scroll sideways until you find the best view of the same app (preferably the one showing spaces in between events).
• Step 7: Click Add Widget and the widget will appear. Place it on your home screen, so it is the first thing you look at every time you check your phone (very important).

To integrate your Google and Outlook calendars, visit this amazing guide.

If you prefer to use a physical calendar, be mentally prepared to carry it around and look at it religiously. Otherwise, use your phone.

How to Input and Adjust Events

Press and hold an empty area on the phone and drag it to the correct time. Name the event and confirm. If a certain event (for instance, daily work tasks) is recurring, you want to repeat the event as well.

If there are many small tasks (in which you use the task manager), I strongly recommend you batch them together in one recurring event. You do not even need to name the event for ease of use. “New Event” means that you check your obligatory tasks and do them.

Whenever you feel you need to input a new event or adjust existing ones, you do it right then. Therefore, you do not need to have a dedicated session to “plan” your day but adjust whenever you need to. The most important is that the calendar reflects your current plan to use your executive time.

In practice, you do not need to adjust your calendar that often because routines and set meetings rarely change.

For example, I write my articles and work at Amazon at fixed times. My workout and bedtime routines are fixed too. I only adjust the repeated events when necessary.

Therefore, you can effortlessly slide into your repeated autopilot schedule and feel a great sense of peace and hyperfocus when the event comes. When the calendar is blank, you can do whatever you feel like in the moment.

If you like this article series, you will enjoy the full e-book (a full expansion on how to use the Barbell System in your daily life). Click here to learn more.