As well as email management you can never forget diary management. They are both as equally important as each other but without one or the other, it could all go a bit sideways. With inefficient diary management, you could have double-booked meetings, missed appointments, and unhappy customers…

The best way to avoid this and this may be hard to hear but is to get rid of the book in your van.

Having a diary in your vehicle may feel easier but it really isn’t. Can your diary remind you of your appointments the day before without you looking through it? Can your diary invite other people to the meeting/event? No.

Your best option is to go digital, it has been proven to make your working and personal life a lot easier. You can set up repeating meetings without having to put it in each time, you can even set up reminders and there is no limit to how many reminders you can have, can be a day before and a week before and it does not need to be a notification, it can also send you email reminders.

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Tip No.1 - Always give yourself a buffer time before and after appointments, this may be for travel time, meeting preparation or you just fancy a lunch break

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Tip No.2 - Set reminders for all appointments, this can be anything from 1 hour before or even 3 weeks before, whatever or how many you may need to make sure you are prepped and ready for the appointment.

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Tip No.3 - Colour code your meetings! This is so super useful when you carry out lots of different types of meetings or appointments, if you’re in a rush this is a great way to take a quick glance and know exactly what you’re doing.

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Tip No.4 - Back up your diary! Once you implement all of your diary management tips, you’ll realise just how useful your diary is. In fact, most entrepreneurs and professionals would struggle to operate without an efficiently managed diary so it is vital that you backup your diary.

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Gmail and Outlook have the most efficient diary management softwares to help avoid double bookings and missed meetings and lost appointments. You can also look at other softwares such as Calendly or acuity scheduling if you want to give your customers the option to schedule appointments.

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