How to continue making time for the work that matters most
5 min
Beginner
By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to:
- Communicate effectively with your team about your new way of working
- Continue maintaining your calendar by applying practices from this exercise
Communicate to your team.
Let your team know you’re redesigning your calendar.
Some team members may need a heads-up that you’re trying something new. For example, it might be disruptive to your team to only respond to messages during scheduled times if you normally respond right away. Set expectations with your team before redesigning your calendar.
👉 For example: Megan is a designer who has a big project due at the end of the week. She wants to cut down on the amount of meetings so she can focus on getting the project done. Before she starts editing her existing meetings, Megan lets her team know she’s going to be declining certain meetings or pushing them to the following week. She also tells her team that she’s going to schedule focus time in the afternoons and she might not respond to messages right away.
👇 Click the boxes to see examples of messages you can send to your team.
Implement change to your daily life.
Make redesigning your workweek an ongoing exercise.
Redesign your workweek isn’t a one-and-done exercise. It’s meant to be an ongoing and evolving process. Here are some recommended best practices to implement this behavioral change into your daily life:
- Allow 20 minutes at the start of the week to complete this exercise. It might take a few weeks to perfect it, but that’s OK.
- You don’t have to tackle everything all at once. Start with one change at a time, then introduce more changes as you get the hang of it.
- Find a compromise between your current calendar and your ideal calendar. Make your calendar work for you.
- Don’t be a prisoner to your calendar. Take control and curate your time so you focus on the most important stuff.
What if I can’t structure my calendar in this way?
We understand that work shifts during the week and some of these things might not work for you. Ideally, you want to allocate your time in the following way, but ultimately, you are in control!
Let’s look at a case study.
Kashmira, an instructional designer at Atlassian, brings a unique perspective to the calendar redesign process. While she has some experience with structuring her calendar in the past, it is not extensive.
By working through the redesign your workweek exercise, Kashmira was able to learn how to make her calendar work for her. She implemented small changes like blocking focus time and lunch time. She’s also keeping track of the effectiveness of these new changes and plans to make adjustments to her calendar, as necessary. The types of changes Kashmira made in her calendar could apply to anyone’s calendar, regardless of their role.
Many other Atlassians, like Kashmira, benefitted from making small changes to their calendars:
“It’s been a game-changer for ensuring my focus time stays pure, helping me reduce worries about timelines in responding to colleagues.”Annaliese, a senior researcher
“It gave me the ability to manage my calendar instead of being controlled by it!”Hema, a director
Join Kashmira, Annaliese, and Hema in redesigning your workweek to make time for the work that matters most!
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Take control of your calendar and redesign your workweek
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