8 Calendar Mistakes to Avoid (for busy people)!

As a busy working professional juggling a full-time job and a KZbin channel, I actually DO NOT follow many of the “best practices” productivity creators have been sharing.
In this video, I share 8 crucial mistakes to avoid and offer practical tips for effective time management!
For example, learn why I prefer the Highlight Method from 'Make Time' over complex time blocking; and discover shortcuts to quickly create events in Google Calendar, like using 'cal.new' in the browser and integrating with app launchers like Alfred and Powertoy Run.
🌟 Pro Tips Included: Throughout the video, I sprinkle in pro tips to enhance your Google Calendar experience.
THE NO BS PRODUCTIVITY NEWSLETTER 📧
www.jeffsu.org/productivity-p...
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Mistake #1
00:59 Mistake #2
02:45 Mistake #3
04:01 Mistake #4
04:49 Mistake #5
05:02 Mistake #6
06:16 Mistake #7
07:02 Mistake #8
RESOURCES I MENTION IN THE VIDEO
Meeting Audit Spreadsheet - www.jeffsu.org/8-calendar-mis...
Inbox Zero for Outlook - • Achieve INBOX ZERO on ...
MY FAVORITE GEAR
🎬 My KZbin Gear - www.jeffsu.org/yt-gear/
🎒 Everyday Carry - www.jeffsu.org/my-edc/
MY TOP 3 FAVORITE SOFTWARE
❎ CleanShot X - geni.us/cleanshotx
✍️ Skillshare - geni.us/skillshare-jeff
📖 Readwise - readwise.io/jeffsu/
BE MY FRIEND:
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👨🏻‍💻 WHO AM I:
I'm Jeff, a tech professional trying to figure life out. What I do end up figuring out, I share!
PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links I get a kickback from and my opinions are my own and may not reflect that of my employer 😇
#googlecalendar #productivity #timemanagement

[@JeffSu]

What do you think? Are these tips overrated or underrated? TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Mistake #1 00:59 Mistake #2 02:45 Mistake #3 04:01 Mistake #4 04:49 Mistake #5 05:02 Mistake #6 06:16 Mistake #7 07:02 Mistake #8

[@d4rkr0n1n69]

Awesome tips @JeffSu, will save a bulk of time

[@karensings]

Excellent use of my time! Always great stuff, Jeff. Thanks!!

[@jirirohlicek9191]

03:52 Would be really amazing if the phone app allowed me to do this as well. This is literally the last reason why I still use Business Calendar 2. Somebody pitch it in to the UX team? *hint hint* Anyway, great tips as always. Thanks for all your work @JeffSu !

[@polyglotmona]

The tips seem quite useful 👍

[@JeffSu]

No problem!@@d4rkr0n1n69

[@Sllee93]

Idk why, I just love it that you don’t have your intro anymore. No more what’s up ladies and gentlemen etc. straight to the point!

[@JeffSu]

Instant value 😁

[@isobel64]

youre impatient.

[@catiebloom]

The ability to allow the person you are emailing to select a time on your calendar is perfect! Thank you! And thank you for always being a delight and funny.

[@JeffSu]

No problem Catie 😁, my pleasure!

[@jhawar-ji]

the editing is so on fucking point.

[@JeffSu]

Haha thank you!

[@buneechee]

Jeff, just wanted to thank you for your videos. Your resume, cover letter and interview videos helped me land a dream job at NBCUniversal that I'll be starting in a week!

[@JeffSu]

Ok WOW CONGRATS!!!!

[@al3xj]

Thanks Jeff, I use the same, works for me also - deep time x 4 days a week, 4 hr blocks - all else is relatively open

[@JeffSu]

Nice! Glda to hear it 😁

[@AnikaSalsabil-nv3jf]

Your calendar events are making me stop at 2.15 to take a peek 😂😂sad for those who missed the Naughty time with tesla cars event🤣

[@TubeCarlBrenner]

The audit spreadsheet for recurring meetings is gold. Thank you for sharing.

[@JeffSu]

No problem 😁

[@3t3rnalstudent]

I'm so grateful I came across your channel. Thank you for sharing these tips and your wisdom. ☺️ Have a great day!

[@JeffSu]

I'm glad you did as well 😁

[@SeanHerschmiller]

Loved these tips. My productivity really started to take off once I started using the calendar integration of Amplenote to timeblock my tasks. It really works for me.

[@JeffSu]

Nice!

[@hassan_codes]

Thank you, Jeff, for always making your videos insightful

[@JeffSu]

My pleasure 😁

[@jasonj2570]

You are the most brilliant Product Marketing Manager ever!

[@JeffSu]

No arguments from me 😁

[@kristenzavo]

Great topic, book and tips for busy professionals - thanks for sharing your take with examples!

[@JeffSu]

Woohooo glad to hear you liked this Kristen 😁

[@HippieP629]

Really useful tips, thanks JS. I'm constantly pushing things around manually so now I'm going to try reclaim and motion.

[@JeffSu]

Let me know how those 2 go for you!

[@JayeshDhandha]

Your editing is just Awesome, Please please make 1 video about it. Happy New Year Jeff!!!

[@JeffSu]

Haha thank you, you too! 😁

[@gmansi]

Nice pullover. 👕 And great video as always!

[@JeffSu]

Thanks x2!

[@jaarevalor]

Great video, Jeff! Particularly enjoyed your insights on Calendar settings. It's a shame some of these can't be directly applied to Outlook, but I'm sure I can still adapt some of the principles for better time management within the platform.

[@JeffSu]

Yea I wish I knew Outlook better :(

[@TheGenio911]

Thank you so much for this video Jeff, it's very useful and I think it's a good complement to work with the best practices with my favorite app for Amplenotes that has the ability to sync your calendar in the app and is incredibly useful and convenient, and it's allow me to organize my day-to-day😊

[@JeffSu]

Oh nice! I've never used Amplenotes befreo

[@Andrea_Dong]

Love the highlight method! Been using it since you mentioned it in a previous video and I can confirm it's much easier than juggling blocks of time around as things come up. It's a bit shame Outlook doesn't give senders the ability to offer recipients time slots though... Thanks for the video as always. Hope you had a nice holiday as well! :)

[@JeffSu]

Hopefully Outlook will add those features/options soon! Oh and also - Happy Holidays Andrea 😁

[@henri2959]

they can deny the appointment and send an alternative time

[@wendyjiller2548]

Great tips, thanks

[@JeffSu]

No problem 😁

[@craciunlabs]

Great one Jeff!

[@JeffSu]

Thank you my friend 😁

[@MatthewEaton]

One thing I do to help get a better visual on dollars spent while having bad meetings is have a rough total per hour for each attendee (mine is hourly is X, engineering is Y, upper management is Z), then sum up all the money spent to have that meeting. Then, multiply this by three and you can see what potential is wasted in a meeting. In general, a meeting is either supposed to generate 3x the savings of the total cost of the meeting ($500 capital hours means $1500 in cost cutting) or 3x the total cost in sales earnings (closing a $1500 minimum deal, for example). Another thing I will do is go through an actual individual audit of a meeting (I am invited to so few these days per my choice). I will break down everything that happened - what happened, what needs to change, what went well, what I can do in the future - so that I can refer back to these meeting notes the next time this meeting happens. This is also how I determine I don't need to be a part of those meetings if I keep getting the same outcome all the time. Great stuff as always, my friend! Love the tips!

[@JeffSu]

Great points, thanks Matthew!!!

[@AlMiner]

That quarterly meeting audit is brilliant! Going to give it a try this week.

[@JeffSu]

Let me know how it goes 😁

[@michaelfitzgerald999]

Always enjoy a good GCal tutorial

[@JeffSu]

Me and you both 😁

[@Holly-jh4zs]

this is so so nice!

[@JeffSu]

Glda to hear it Holly!

[@klomax7089]

These tips are the bomb! TFS 👍🏽🫶🏽👍🏽

[@JeffSu]

Glad to hear it 😁

[@SindysYoutube]

This is the video i needed. I was “time blocking” and thats hard to keep up with. Will definitely try the highlight method. So i imagine you have a calendar for personal and just schedule time events and a work calendar ?

[@JeffSu]

Yes that's right 😁

[@calebspicer]

Thanks!

[@JeffSu]

No, thank YOU Caleb 😁

[@nanasangsang6511]

I do watch your videos but the most I watch is you bro 😂 And thank you somuch for helping me

[@JeffSu]

Hahaha thank you 😁

[@crazycrypto9454]

Hey Jeff. Love your editing. What do you use for those cool screen recording effects like the zooms and stuff.

[@MikeBrown-mf8ty]

This was great! Would love to see this for Outlook because we all operate on Teams. If you have in the past, let me know and I'll definitely check it out!

[@JeffSu]

Ah I don't have that yet!

[@2troll4]

Amazing 🎉🎉

[@JeffSu]

Thank you!!

[@D33Hustle]

This was amazing! I’m a sales professional with 5 years experience and startup expertise. I would love to join your team Jeff!

[@JeffSu]

Hahahaha I will keep you in mind when I start hiring salespeople!

[@dushansilva1]

Hey man! as always love your videos

[@JeffSu]

I just stick with Google calendar 2. Nope, just Gmail 3. I add my personal calendar to my work calendar (at work)

[@vinaydev437]

Can someone pls explain how can add the shortcut mentioned in #2 to power run ? Thanks in advance

[@travelfoodielove]

I’m even more confused and overwhelmed now 😂

[@JeffSu]

What questions can I help with?

[@crazycrypto9454]

Hey Jeff. Love your editing and videos. What app do you use to edit your screen recordings. Love the effects you put in like the zoom and stuff.

[@JeffSu]

I use final cut pro, you can find everything here: www.jeffsu.org/gear/

[@jessejames4444]

Great video again

[@JeffSu]

Woohoo happy to see you back here Jesse!

[@jessejames4444]

@@JeffSu I never left

[@JeffSu]

😂@@jessejames4444

[@Joe4740]

Love your channel and the value you bring! I was wondering if you differentiated between personal and work (in your case also your YoutTube Channel). With the first mistake for example, do you set a highlight for each of those areas (personal, work, KZbin Channel)?

[@JeffSu]

Nope, I pick a highlight across one of those areas 😁

[@maggiebowman1636]

This is great! And I pre-ordered Laura's book. 😏

[@JeffSu]

Wait Laura has a book??

[@JeffSu]

I just found it!

[@roccovergoglini7670]

Very helpful video Jeff. For the Meeting Audit Spreadsheet, it reminded me of the Google Calendar's "Time Insights" feature (for Google Workspace), which shows you how much time is spent based on event labels (for a certain timeframe). Would this feature be a good alternative to that spreadsheet?

[@JeffSu]

So that feature isn't available to personal accounts and it's a bit "too automated" for us to really take action (in my opinion)!

[@roccovergoglini7670]

@@JeffSu Thanks for replying to my Comment. And yeah, a spreadsheet would allow more flexibility (formulas, tables, pivot tables, etc.) than the "Time Insights" feature. I appreciate your feedback!

[@JeffSu]

No problem!!!@@roccovergoglini7670

[@belkord]

There is a "pro tip" for every pro tip this youtube video gives you 😂 Besides that language tic, super usefull video thanks !

[@JeffSu]

Hahahahahaha so maybe I should stop saying pro tip? Is it overused?

[@belkord]

@@JeffSu Maybe a little bit yeah sorry hahaha The issue with language tic is that once you ear it you can't only ear that ! But either way your videos are top quality and help me a lot in my professional journey ! Thank you so much and keep up the good work !

[@JannisMaiwald]

@@JeffSu I like the occasional "pro tip". I'd say it's part of your brand by now!

[@JeffSu]

Sweeet, that's what I'm going for hahah@@JannisMaiwald

[@alannaoconnell6604]

Hi Jeff, love the highlight tip, but where is that screengrab from? I really like the Highlight/Grateful/Let Go headers and would love to use those.

[@JeffSu]

From my Notion template haha. I'm going to make a 2024 notion daily agenda template soon!

[@Viper.9099]

The editing 🤌

[@JeffSu]

Thank you!

[@tylerchasebusiness1001]

So have you switched from Todoist to Google tasks? Or from Notion to Google Tasks? How does Google Tasks fit in with your system?

[@JeffSu]

Nah I still use Todoist mainly for personal tasks!

[@jonasbingil9670]

Ty

[@JeffSu]

No problem 😁

[@jeremybyte]

That arrow signaling sound makes me believe my chair was acting strange making weird noises, hahahaha. Thanks for the tips.

[@JeffSu]

Keeping you on your toes Jeremy :)

[@kuntalgo]

Never thought Google Calendar is so powerful !

[@JeffSu]

I know right??

[@kuntalgo]

@@JeffSu You are a saviour Jeff. All the best for your 2024 content.

[@JeffSu]

Thank you so much! You have an amazing 2024 as well!!@@kuntalgo

[@Aaden1127]

Do you still use your Daily Agenda to check off all of your tasks? What do you use Google Tasks for?

[@JeffSu]

Yes I do! I use Google Tasks for work tasks, and Todoist for my personal stuff

[@JannisMaiwald]

Thanks for all the great videos Jeff! BTW, I tired to open the "Inbox Zero for Gmail" video linked in the description, but it's unfortunately unavailable.

[@JeffSu]

Yea it's outdated now :(

[@JannisMaiwald]

How come? Are you not using the inbox zero method on Gmail anymore?

[@JeffSu]

I am! it's just a lot of the features / buttons in the original video are outdated@@JannisMaiwald

[@JannisMaiwald]

Are you planing to make an updated video? I'd really appreciate it!

[@JeffSu]

Probably! Nothing planned just yet@@JannisMaiwald

[@TristinaKardashian]

Okay and now the highlighting multiple days thing in gcal officially is the best pick up line.

[@JeffSu]

best pick up line? 😂

[@TristinaKardashian]

@@JeffSu lol you said something about pickup lines in another video. But yeah I would’ve folded 🤣

[@JeffSu]

@@TristinaKardashian OHHHHH 😂

[@TristinaKardashian]

@@JeffSu lol yeahhhhhhhh 🤣

[@brunoalmanza]

Can you do a video with tips to make a curriculum with no working experience?

[@JeffSu]

What do you mean by "making a curriculum"

[@scottdelinger1]

Why do you say time blocks end up being given up on in a couple of weeks? I’ve been doing it for a decade.

[@JeffSu]

Most people don't have your self discipline Scott 😁

[@scottdelinger1]

Ah, okay. If I didn’t block two hours each morning (my productive time), I’d be “invited” into meetings to discuss TPS report design or similar wastes of time. Open calendar space is assumed to be unused, rather than negotiable. Sigh.

[@JeffSu]

Hahaha I can totally empathize!@@scottdelinger1

[@leodwivedi]

Jeff and his 🫡 Important meetings 😂 1- Tell Bob to {*** off on Twitter - oops 2- Naughty time with Tesla Cars 3- DNS - Private Billionaire Stuff

[@JeffSu]

Glad someone noticed!

[@TheRealJohnnyCash]

Hi Jeff, are you familiar with the Motion app that automatically time blocks your tasks for you? If so, what’s your thoughts?

[@JeffSu]

I prefer calendar

[@TheRealJohnnyCash]

@@JeffSu as in google calendar?

[@campbelllendinggroup9218]

Well since my company will only allow me to use outlook these tips don’t really help me. Please help me with outlook!

[@JeffSu]

Dam, I guess I gotta try Outlook sometime

[@grapecrush6496]

@@JeffSu Love your work but TBH your audience would BLOW UP if you offered similar tips in Outlook and other MS products. Many of us in Corporate America have no choice but to use MS products due to company restrictions

[@JeffSu]

Yea I figured 😂@@grapecrush6496

[@maggiebowman1636]

How do you add gcal to Powertoys?

[@JeffSu]

Here you go: github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/6828

[@sujairsuhaim2769]

Wt about notion calendar Would it be better than Google calendar?

[@JeffSu]

Definitely not (yet)

[@dplj4428]

Is this for the workspace accounts and which one?

[@JeffSu]

All of them...?

[@johnmorris4531]

Jeff do you keep all your tasks in the Google ecosystem? Dont use any 3rd party app?

[@JeffSu]

I use Todoist + Notion for personal, and Google ecosystem for work 😁

[@johnmorris4531]

I use Todoist for personal use but wandering if Google adequate for my uses. Im fully invested in the Google ecosystem already for pers use and thinking of subbing to your newsletter if I give Todoist up. Thanks

[@JeffSu]

I would say there's still a feature gap between Todoist and Google Tasks to be honest@@johnmorris4531

[@DrXJ]

Totally unrelated question here: What's the font you used on your cover letter template? I couldn't get a copy and so had to ask 😂

[@JeffSu]

I think Verdana...?

[@BigSmoke-99]

How do you make your g cal have that dark look?

[@JeffSu]

I just changed the calendar color to a darker color 😁

[@BigSmoke-99]

@@JeffSuThanks Jeff, appreciate you taking the time to respond.

[@leearnie]

Hey Jeff, could you slow down a bit on the video? It's like a high-intensity workout, and I'm missing some great info. Need time to pause and catch up. Thanks!

[@JeffSu]

Thanks for the feedback! So other people have told me I speak too slowly haha

[@JeffSu]

😂@@3t3rnalstudent

[@gabriellama8851]

0.75x works wonderfull, actually sounds normal when you do it jajaja

[@JeffSu]

Hahahahah@@gabriellama8851

[@TerryBenzie]

Please DON’T slow down. I like that you don’t waste your viewers time.

[@dlocostributo]

What about working with notion ?

[@JeffSu]

What about it

[@GeetMadan]

I wish you used office 365 instead of google's suite. All these features are so cool but I don't even know if office 365 can do any of this 😢

[@JeffSu]

I wish I tried M365 too haha

[@akhilachanta805]

I was going to comment that google should hire you, then I realized that they already did 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@JeffSu]

Hahahahah 😂

[@dontaetitta]

🎉🙌🏾🔥

[@JeffSu]

😁

[@isobel64]

Not Elon Husky lol. You're amazing and I especially appreciate that you dont add multiple ads in between like others, very distracting

[@JeffSu]

Hahahaha no problem 😁

[@isobel64]

@@JeffSu quick question jeff, I watched your "where do you see yourself in 5 years" video from 3 years ago. what would be a good chat gpt prompt for such questions? should i include my resume for it to use ?

[@JeffSu]

Yes!@@isobel64

[@isobel64]

@@JeffSu yes you;ll do a video on chatgpt and types of prompts for that question? :)

[@jerry716]

YAYY

[@JeffSu]

Woohoooo 😁

[@feuillemorte]

Not sure if it's important for you or not, but you had been masking the google sheet link all the time and exposed it in the last frame on 1:47 :)

[@JeffSu]

Oh great catch haha

[@niigakiseiji]

So, where is the in-box zero for google?

[@JeffSu]

It's outdated now :(

[@niigakiseiji]

@@JeffSu =(

[@LisaGelhaus]

So many great tips, thank you! You should write a book…. Your videos fly by too fast for my slow, idea-creating brain….

[@JeffSu]

Haha thanks for the feedback 😁

[@mihab980]

Project plan in Google sheets? Have you lost it?

[@JeffSu]

? What do you mean 😂

[@Bigimotena]

The only tip I need is how to prevent others from creating Google Calendar meeting events without a 5-10 minute break after the previous meeting or before the next one. I think this is the most painful experience for everyone.

[@JeffSu]

Hahaha true!

[@ayoubsabounji6590]

i don't us google calendar i use morgen it the best ever

[@JeffSu]

What's your favorite feature from Morgen? 😁

[@trevordallas]

Before watching your videos: I'm a focused professional who aspires to be and executes at a level of efficiency that is worthy of acclaim. After watching your videos: Reality check. I love how you are "in the zone", on command, and at will. You are about as close to the ideal target for efficiency as can currently be expected of human beings. Having said that, I was disappointed that you manually write out all of your past recurring meetings to get your % of time spent in meetings. I mean, dude! I bet if you hold alt and select all the meetings that you could then copy paste those into a spreadsheet, such that you don't have to type them all out. If that's not possible, then you work at the right place to submit user reqts to make it possible. 😅

[@JeffSu]

Thank you for the kind words! I don't think Google Calendar allows that bulk action though?

[@bakhiman]

я б не сказав, що це полегшує управління часом, навпаки.

[@user-uj5nn6cr3q]

You are very fast you said very very important things but you are very fast i understand some things only thankyou

[@JeffSu]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@thisalalwi]

please we want to talk about google meet

[@JeffSu]

I might do videos on that in the future!

[@thisalalwi]

@@JeffSu future long time 🤣

[@vusheth]

There's no option to search tasks

[@JeffSu]

Yea unfortunately :(

[@vusheth]

@@JeffSu Can I share Google keep folders? Can I have links to other keep notes in a single note?

[@JeffSu]

@@vusheth I don't think there are Google Keep folders. You can add notes to Google Docs from Keep directly though

[@Abdullah-zl9ub]

I think you assumed everyone uses google calendar….

[@JeffSu]

Yea :(

[@Spud_E_Buddy]

Awesome video! Pro Tip: Stop saying Pro Tip 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@JeffSu]

Wait why 😂

[@Spud_E_Buddy]

@@JeffSu Lol, because 2002 says they want it back 🤓

[@JeffSu]

LOL@@Spud_E_Buddy

[@Please_give_me_a_PC]

please help me with something on my google account bc you are a tech guy🙏

[@JeffSu]

Ok what's the question?

[@Please_give_me_a_PC]

@@JeffSu it is not a big thing but when i try to download extention it says i need to ask a parent for permision but i dont have family link or anything like that, i am 13 and the only botton is ask in person and when i press it it says something went wrong, it is fine if you can't help but if you can that would be really nice.

[@vidform]

"Elon Husky."

[@JeffSu]

Glad someone noticed 😁

[@cLokXde]

These are tips for Google calender only.... You should add this to the headline

[@JeffSu]

Thanks for the feedback! 😁

[@wazaahat]

You were too fast I couldn't get anything 😭

[@JeffSu]

Dam I'm sorry :(

[@RainRay1]

Is it just me, or did this video just seems so rushed.

[@JeffSu]

Oh no I'm sorry to hear that. Which part(s) were rushed?

[@RainRay1]

@JeffSu it's all good I just slowed it down and watched it a trillion times because I really enjoyed it. You just talk and go extremely fast. 😉

[@JeffSu]

Hahaha thank you!@@RainRay1

[@tanmayroy6372]

Thumbnail can be improved

[@JeffSu]

OOoooo thanks for the feedback! What do you recommend?

[@GoodLifeGlow]

I agree. Video looks great, but the thumbnail has too many focal points.

[@supercoolmunkee]

Lol, working for KZbin is a full time job? That's a joke. I have an actual 8am-5pm office job.

[@JeffSu]

Wait what 😂, I have a full-time job in addition to my part-time hobby as a youtuber haha