Reducing the costs of doing business can increase the net profits of that business. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways to go about lowering costs.

Cutting down on the amount of supplies a business uses is one way is to lower costs. Another is to stretch the length of time between purchases of business assets, such as computers, furniture, and other high dollar items.

Increasing productivity is an additional way to reduce costs no matter what type of business you are in. The question is how do you increase productivity?

The answer is to cut out the activities that are time wasters, of course. For instance, limiting cell phone use, reducing the number of meetings, and eliminating office gossip will all eliminate wasted time.

However, a calendar can also be utilized to increase efficiency. Modern calendar apps can be downloaded right onto your phone and synced with your computer. This allows access to your calendar at the touch of a few buttons.

Just being able to see your calendar can help with productivity. But calendars have other helpful tools also, such as reminders.

Can calendar reminders increase efficiency and, therefore, lower costs?

1. Set Meetings

One of the first things that comes to mind when talking about the use of calendar reminders is setting meetings. You can use reminders to act as a warning bell and give you ample time to finish up tasks and get to meetings on time.

Not missing meetings can reduce the amount of time wasted through rescheduling. This is true not only for you, but for other meeting attendees as well.

2. Block Time

Calendar reminders increase efficiency when you use them to block time in your schedule. You can block out time to work on projects with your office door closed.

As an example, when a project requires intense concentration you can block time out of your schedule for it. Set reminders to go off both at the beginning and the anticipated end of your project.

Once your reminder goes off, shut your door and work until the next reminder goes off to open it again. If you choose to, you can reset the ending reminder if you aren’t quite done within the time you allotted.

As you can see, using reminders in this way can reduce the number of interruptions you get which increases your productivity.

3. Make Recurring Events

Recurring events are another use for calendar reminders to increase efficiency. Use them when you are out of the office at regular times or for appointments and meetings.

Break times are another recurring event you could schedule using calendar reminders. Many people don’t take breaks when they should.

However, taking a few minutes to get away from your desk allows you to work more effectively. Using a calendar reminder can ensure that you do stop for a few minutes to refresh and avoid exhaustion.

4. Schedule Appointments

Everyone has appointments from time to time that must be schedule during the work day. Another good use of reminders is to set them ahead 10 or 15 minutes.

Using reminders for work or personal appointments allows you to work right up until the reminder goes off. Then you still have a few minutes to finish and make it to your scheduled appointment on time.

The alternative is wasting time looking at the clock every few minutes. Or, worse, missing your appointment altogether.

Exploring ways to lower business costs is important if you want to maximize profits. As you can see, increasing productivity is one way to do that. Use calendar reminders to increase your efficiency and get more accomplished in your day.