Setting Up The Day With Intention

A critical part of my morning routine is organizing my meeting schedule. Some days I have 7-15 meetings scheduled. It is the nature of the work. To be on time and on task I organize my meetings in Workflowy under Today > Events. If Workflowy had an API to automate this, I would not use it.

I set up the day manually so I can prepare for each meeting with intention. I like to think about where (out in the world or which software platform) and what time each meeting takes place. More importantly, who will be there, what the goals and objectives are and what notes / documents I have that support the meeting.

This 10-minute process is where I bring it all together. When I’m done I schedule time in and around these meetings to get my work done.

Here is my process:

1. Review the “Daily Agenda” email I receive from my Google Calendar. I have this set to send 7 days / week at 5am.
   1. Gmail buried this setting. To receive the daily agenda email goto: Your Calendar in Gmail > Select your primary calendar in the left column > Other Notifications > Daily Agenda
2. Copy the agenda and paste it into Workflow > Today’s entry > Events
3. Clean up and format the meetings making sure to note the location
4. Locate other projects, notes, and documents I want to refer to during the meeting and link them to today’s meeting. This gives me quick access to all previous information while I am in the meeting.
5. Schedule work I need to get done for the day around the open meeting slots.
6. During each meeting, I take notes in the event in Workflowy.
7. After the meeting I move the I either move the meeting note (large project) or leave the notes in the event (small / one-off project.)

I have found that this method grounds my day, increases my productivity and keeps me focused.