1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:05,039 Speaker 1: You've probably heard the old adage what gets measured gets managed, 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:08,719 Speaker 1: and when it comes to your time, it absolutely holds true. 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: Knowing this, Patrick Lightbody co founded reclaim ai to regain 4 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: control over his own time and to help others do 5 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: the same. So what are some of the most useful 6 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 1: calendar hacks he's come across throughout his career. It turns 7 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: out they're all features on the freely available Google Calendar 8 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: and most similar calendar apps too. Oh and you also 9 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: might want to do a calendar audit, which Patrick explains 10 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: exactly how to do. My name is doctor amanthe Immer. 11 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,160 Speaker 1: I'm an organizational psychologist and the founder of behavioral science 12 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: consultancy Inventium, and this is how I work a show 13 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: about how to help you do your best work. On 14 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: today's My Favorite Tip episode, go back to an interview 15 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: from the past and I pick out my favorite tip 16 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: from the interview. In today's show, I speak with Patrick 17 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:10,560 Speaker 1: Lightbody and we start by talking about little known hacks 18 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,040 Speaker 1: for making the most out of Google Calendar. 19 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 2: Well, one is the free busy time. You know, I 20 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 2: mentioned that it's binary, but a lot of people don't 21 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:20,960 Speaker 2: even know about that. And so if you didn't know. 22 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 2: There's a little setting at the bottom of your events 23 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 2: when you make them, and you can mark something as 24 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 2: for your busy and so if you want something to 25 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 2: appear on your calendar but not necessarily block your availability, 26 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 2: market is free. That's one that we've discovered very few 27 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 2: people know about, which is partly why they also don't 28 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,760 Speaker 2: know where claim's doing the job of changing that value 29 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 2: around at times. But that's probably the least known one. 30 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 2: Another is color coding. I'd say most people know they 31 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 2: can change the color of their calendar. Not as many 32 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 2: people know they can change the color of their events. 33 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 2: And it's a little weird because once you start getting 34 00:01:57,600 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 2: into that, you'll actually have two colors on every event, 35 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 2: funny little stripe on the left side that represents your 36 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 2: calendar color and then the main event color. And oddly 37 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,360 Speaker 2: Google has decided you can have eleven colors for your event, 38 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,360 Speaker 2: but infinity colors for your calendar. Talk to them about 39 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 2: that limitation. But color coding your events can be really 40 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 2: handy because it can help you be a little more 41 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 2: intentional with you know how you spend your time by 42 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 2: category for example, or I jokingly have referred to it 43 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 2: after I interviewed one customer, I need to wear pants 44 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:35,120 Speaker 2: color code because I literally once I was talking to 45 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 2: a customer, I was like, why do you care about 46 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 2: your external meetings with customers? Why should those be colored differently? 47 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 2: I'm assuming it's because you know, you need to be 48 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 2: prepared for the customer call and you got to do 49 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 2: your research so you show up the best poss away. 50 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 2: And he told me, he said, honestly, it's that I 51 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 2: need to shave and wear a nice shirt and have 52 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 2: pants on because you know, if it's just an internal call, 53 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 2: I'm going to wear sweatpants and not worry about that 54 00:02:57,919 --> 00:02:59,959 Speaker 2: as much. So I was like, oh, right, that makes sense. 55 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,360 Speaker 2: So just you know color coding. You can write click 56 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 2: right in Google Calendar if you're on a desktop and 57 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 2: kind of start labeling some of your stuff, And just 58 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:11,920 Speaker 2: recently Google has allowed you to put a label like 59 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 2: words that go with the color, and then that gives 60 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 2: you some nice analytics about where you're spending your time. 61 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 2: So it seems like they're leaning into that even more so. 62 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: Now you've kind of touched on this in some of 63 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: the tips, But can you tell me what a calendar 64 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 1: audit is and how to do one. 65 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of I mean, it's a little bit 66 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,360 Speaker 2: of that ritual I was describing that weekly ritualthough I 67 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 2: did like a mini version of it. But you know, 68 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 2: calendar audits are this basic idea of reflecting on where 69 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 2: you've spent your time, summing up the different categories of time. 70 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 2: The simple way to do it is by type, and 71 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 2: so that could be these are internal meetings, these are 72 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 2: external meetings. I would encourage you, if you're going to 73 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 2: do a calendar audit, to go a little deeper and 74 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 2: try to tie it back to like thematic priorities or 75 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,119 Speaker 2: you know, some sort of some sort of priority or 76 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 2: ok are or you know, guiding principle, whatever system you're using. 77 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 2: That's a little tougher because it means you actually have 78 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 2: to inspect the content of the meeting and and and so, 79 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 2: you know, it requires a little more brain power. I 80 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,159 Speaker 2: would definitely set a little time if you haven't done 81 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 2: this ever before, like give yourself a couple hours. It's 82 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 2: really taxing because it starts stressing you out because you 83 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 2: start seeing how far out of whack. I mean, maybe 84 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 2: you won't maybe you're amazing at time management, but if 85 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 2: you're like most mere mortals like us. I think you'll 86 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 2: find that a ton of your time is not being 87 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 2: spent on the things you wished you were spending your 88 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 2: time on, and that can be emotionally draining. But yeah, ultimately, 89 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,280 Speaker 2: you know, you can use tools, and i'd say over 90 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 2: time whereclaim will help more and more with some of 91 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 2: the stuff. We do mini versions of this with like 92 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 2: weekly reports and whatnot. But the best way to get 93 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 2: start is just open up a little spreadsheet, write down 94 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 2: the things that matter to you the most, and then 95 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 2: you know, maybe a column for every week, and go 96 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:00,479 Speaker 2: back a few weeks. Don't go crazy with it. Go 97 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,359 Speaker 2: back a few weeks and count up the number of 98 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:05,479 Speaker 2: meetings or hours if you want to get a little 99 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 2: more precise, that are in service to those priorities. And 100 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 2: then have another bucket. And almost certainly you will find 101 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 2: the first time you did this your other bucket is 102 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 2: like fifty percent of your time, and that's okay. Don't 103 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 2: feel bad about it. The first step was just acknowledgment 104 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 2: and awareness of it. So yeah, I mean, I'd say 105 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 2: that's the best place to start. But that naturally leads 106 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 2: to the second step, which is a lot of people 107 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 2: have a lot of blank space on their calendar. You know, 108 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 2: it's like, well, I treat my calendars where my meetings are. 109 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 2: That's not where I do my work. And that's understandable. 110 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:38,599 Speaker 2: The challenges how do you know what you did last week? 111 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 2: Some people might be in their task list, But if 112 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 2: you're really focused on trying to manage your forty some 113 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 2: odd hours that you're spending every week in your day job, 114 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 2: then it can help a lot by actually recording what 115 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:56,720 Speaker 2: you did, and so you don't need to use your 116 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 2: claim to do this. You can also just make it 117 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 2: a habit to say, okay, let me just do rough 118 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:04,160 Speaker 2: blocks of time, you know, twice a day, check in 119 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 2: and put a little block down that just says worked 120 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 2: on blah blah blah, you know, and that fills all 121 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 2: that space in Personally, I find it it was valuable 122 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:15,919 Speaker 2: I did this before reclaim to also put down the 123 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 2: personal stuff, you know, took a break to go run 124 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 2: an errand just because it helped me remember what was 125 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 2: going on in these crazy days. And then that makes 126 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 2: a lot, a heck of a lot easier, and it 127 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 2: really starts to you know, I think bend you towards 128 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:30,600 Speaker 2: that intentional planning. 129 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: If you enjoyed this extract for in my chat with Patrick, 130 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:36,719 Speaker 1: you might want to go back and listen to the 131 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: full episode, which you can find a link to in 132 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,840 Speaker 1: the show notes. If you're looking for more tips to 133 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 1: improve the way that you worked, I write a short 134 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 1: fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things that I've discovered 135 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:53,600 Speaker 1: that helped me work better, ranging from software and gadgets 136 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 1: that I'm loving three to interesting research findings. You can 137 00:06:56,839 --> 00:07:01,039 Speaker 1: sign up for that at Howiwork dot code, howork dot co. 138 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing part of your day with me 139 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 1: by listening to How I Work. If you're keen for 140 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: more tips on how to work better, connect with me 141 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: via LinkedIn or Instagram. I'm very easy to find. Just 142 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:18,880 Speaker 1: search for Amantha Imba. How I Work was recorded on 143 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: the traditional land of the Warrangery people, part of the 144 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: Koln Nation. I am so grateful for being able to 145 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: work and live on this beautiful land and I want 146 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: to pay my respects to elders, past, present and emerging. 147 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: How I Work is produced by Inventing with production support 148 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:38,239 Speaker 1: from Dead Set Studios, and thank you to Martin Nimba 149 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 1: who did the audio mix and makes everything sound better 150 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: than it would have otherwise.