Six colors for an effective calendar

Looking to remove noise?

Here's the easiest way I've found to manage my working calendar.

I love this practice because it's resilient. You don't need to retrofit your configuration when a new project enters into your domain, for instance.

The core idea is to break down your activities into six categories.

Then assign a color for each one.

This is my go-to configuration for my working calendar as a consultant:

1. Deep work (i.e. developing a new value proposition)
2. Light work (emails included)
3. Meetings
4. Developing others
5. In person (at the office, face-to-face coffees)
6. Out the office (lunch time and breaks included)

With the practice in place, I then use the calendar weekly view to have a sense of what I'm allotting my time, energy, and attention to.

How to start this practice

Recolor. Observe. Adjust.

1. Go to your calendar weekly view.
2. Review last week events and recolour them.
3. What do you see? Are meetings devouring all your time, energy, and attention?

How to sustain this practice

Protect. Capture. Balance.

1. Create events in advance (i.e. set a frequent event for deep work)
2. Leave room for the unexpected. Assign one color for every new event.
3. Happy with your attention distribution? Tweak things, one week at a time.

How to transcend this practice

Rethink. Rename. Abandon.

Reviewing your last week color distribution will inform your next decision. Don't overcomplicate things. Let the process guide you. It's ok to rename/change categories down the road. It's also ok to stop color coding your events once you tame your calendar. Balance is not perfection.