How to use Clockwise: 5 killer time management hacks from users

Great time managers aren’t born, they’re made. Anyone can learn to get more done on their big goals in less time. One big secret of the super-productive: They find tools that help them automate busywork so they can focus their time on what matters most. 

Clockwise is a time orchestration platform that helps you find more time in your day so you can make more time for what really matters. Here are five ways Clockwise users supercharge their workday. 

1. Protect Focus Time

When it comes to getting real work done, the number-one tool in your toolbelt is Focus Time. Context-switching decreases productivity and makes you more likely to make mistakes. That’s why it’s essential to set aside two-hour or more blocks of time in your day to work on heads-down projects without interruption. 

Clockwise will automatically move your meetings to open up the most Focus Time for you and your team. Imagine not having to get real work done in the 30 minutes here and an hour there in-between interviews, team syncs, and lunch. To make it happen for you, just download Clockwise, set your meeting preferences, and then make your meetings flexible. Clockwise will take your working hours, meeting hours, lunch, travel time, and more into account when choosing the best time for your meeting.

Nate Smith is Wealthsimple’s Principal Software Engineer. Wealthsimple is one of Canada’s top financial technology companies. “I find it difficult to hold big chunks of time for the Engineering work I have to get done, and Clockwise just makes that an automatic thing,” Nate told us. 

2. Automate scheduling

When it comes to busywork, an often-overlooked culprit is scheduling meetings. Going back-and-forth to find a time that works for everyone and rescheduling once a conflict arises is such a waste of time and talent. 

Clockwise users skip the grunt work. When you schedule a meeting in Clockwise, we’ll automatically suggest the best times to meet based on everyone’s Focus Time and meeting preferences. Or, just send everyone your Clockwise Link. Then they can then pick the best time for them based on our smart suggestions. 

And when conflicts inevitably arise, meetings marked flexible will automatically reschedule. No more unnecessary, manual calendar management. 

Abbie Kouzmanoff is a Senior Product Manager at Amplitude, the world’s most popular Product Intelligence platform. She knows the pain of manually scheduling a lot of meetings. “I often joke to people who want to become a PM, ‘Do you like scheduling meetings? Because that is a big part of it,’” Abbie told Clockwise. She loves that Clockwise automates the process for her. Her colleague Shintaro Matsui, Head of Product Operations at Amplitude, agrees. “It takes something off of your plate which can be really time-intensive and not necessarily high-leverage,” Shintaro said.

3. Time block in one click

Time blocking is a tried-and-true time management technique where you schedule your tasks on your calendar. This lets you know ahead of time what you’re supposed to be working on and when. It’s also great for getting better at estimating how long tasks will take and timeboxing your work so you don’t end up spending too much time on any one task. 

Clockwise integrates with Asana, making it possible for you to schedule a task on your calendar with one click, without ever leaving Asana. Stacy Michaelsen, Director of Operations, UX Design at video production and design firm Pusher, uses Clockwise to time block her calendar. (Check out these great free time blocking apps!)

4. Stop manually updating your Slack status

Slack statuses are great for letting your colleagues know when you’re in a meeting, doing heads-down work, our OOO. But manually updating them is kind of a pain. Clockwise users sync Clockwise with Slack to let Clockwise update their Slack status automatically based on their calendar. We’ll also automatically turn on Do Not Disturb during your Focus Time so you can really get into, and stay in, the zone. We also offer a daily forecast so you can see what you’ve got scheduled for the day at a glance. And we’ll send you a message when your meetings move so you’re always up-to-date. 

Stacy has connected Clockwise to Slack so teammates know her status without her having to update it manually. 

5. Sync your work and personal calendars

Time management pros don’t miss meetings or show up late because their appointments didn’t show up on their different calendars. Especially with hybrid and remote work, it’s essential to keep your various calendars in sync. 

There are multiple ways to sync your work and personal calendar. But the easiest way is to use Clockwise. Personal Calendar Sync from Clockwise automatically syncs events from your personal Google Calendar account to your work calendar, so you never miss a doctor’s appointment or an important delivery.

Many of us make our work calendar visible to colleagues. Personal Calendar Sync leaves out the details, so personal information stays personal. For every personal event, your work calendar will simply show a time-block with the label “Busy” — no further details needed! 

Stacy also Clockwise to sync her personal Google Calendar with her work one. "Before Clockwise, I was having so much trouble flipping back and forth between the two calendars or forgetting to update my work calendar with personal appointments and unavailability,” Stacy said.

Time management tips

To summarize, save time and get more done by:

1. Protecting your Focus Time automatically

2. Automating scheduling instead of doing it manually

3. Quickly and easily time blocking your calendar

4. Automatically updating your Slack status

5. Syncing your work and personal calendars