Nothing is worse than starting the day overwhelmed by a crowded calendar. Taking control of your calendar is essential for effective time management. 3 tips that will help you:

1. Schedule time for focused work: Schedule dedicated time in your calendar for focused work. Make it a regular occurrence, regardless of the day or time. No distractions, neither emails nor phone calls. By protecting this time for deep work, you can more productive.

2. Optimize meeting durations: Break away from the default 30 or 60-minute meeting blocks. Instead, schedule 25 or 45-minute meetings. This way you create time buffers. Let’s not be lead by MS Office settings.

3. Schedule everything: Every task you have to to or complete needs to be in your schedule. If you need three hours to complete a project, block off that time. If you want a 30-minute break, schedule it. If you leave free time slots, they may fill fast.

Take control over your time management. This is an effective way to hep you manage stress or overwhelm.