How I’m Reworking My Calendar Habits for 2025
Learn how I’m reworking my calendar with the Ideal Week and Big A## Calendar methods to align my time with my goals.
Last year, I fully embraced my crazy calendar lady tendencies, meticulously tracking almost every aspect of my life. But after a year of documenting my personal and professional time down to the smallest details, I found a few workflow habits that weren’t sustainable. For 2025, I’m shifting gears and implementing new strategies to better manage my time and align my calendar with my goals.
Here’s what I’ve learned—and how I’m doing things differently this year.
2024: The Year of the Multi-Calendar System
Before 2024, I never tracked my time or daily activities.
I just worked.
But it became clear I wasn’t spending time on anything really outside of client projects. To fix this, I created a multi-calendar system that color-categorized my activities into buckets like admin, planning, content creation, project management, and meetings, as you can see below.
This system works well, helping me visualize my time in real-time, reflect & review easily every week, and shift as needed. However, this year I am focused on carving out more personal time, and reduce focus-shifting.
The Two Methods I’m Using in 2025
Crafting My Ideal Week
Inspired by a video Ali Abdaal shared about managing his time using the Ideal Week method, I set out to create a calendar layout that balances productivity with personal priorities.
Here’s how I’ve implemented it:
Time Blocking / Schedule
I noticed three key areas I neglected in 2024—working out, learning, and personal reading. To fix this, I’ve blocked out time for these activities in my ideal week; scheduling them during periods when I know I won’t be interrupted.
Deep Focus Blocks
After reading A World Without Email by Cal Newport, I revamped my approach to do deep focus work. These blocks are 2X a day, and start with max 10 minutes for emails or Slack, followed by uninterrupted work.
To keep myself accountable, I’m pairing these blocks with my #WorkWithMe livestreams, reducing distractions.
New Engagement Boundaries
Calls and events overtook my life in 2024, so this year, I’ve limited them to specific days:
Tuesdays: Client strategy sessions (4-hour blocks).
Thursdays: Sales, consulting, and other meetings.
Events: only attending things that I can specifically attach to a goal I’ve set or attending do not interfere with my workflow.
Even after just two weeks, I’ve stuck to my Ideal Week about 95% of the time. The key takeaway: It’s ideal for a reason—aim for it, but be flexible.
The Big Ass Calendar (BAC)
This 3-part method comes from Jesse Itzler. I’ve adopted this strategy by using my primary Google Calendar to track it all. Spending just two hours inputting known events has already made my year feel more manageable.
Planning the Year Ahead
Write down everything already planned for the year, like travel, conferences, and vacations. This helps avoid double-booking and makes it easier to say no to new commitments that interfere.
Choosing a Culminating Event (Misogi)
Pick one major goal or event to define your year. For me, that’s attending the Create & Cultivate Festival in July.
Mini Adventures
Schedule one day every six weeks for fun, memory-making activities. These don’t need to cost money—something like Austin’s New Year’s Polar Bear Plunge fits the bill.
Additional Calendar Habits for 2025
Beyond these two methods, I’ve added a few habits to streamline my workflow:
Client Deliverable Due Dates
Adding project phase due dates at the start of every project helps me proactively schedule tasks in my Deep Focus blocks.
Recurring Reminders
I’ve set reminders to maintain habits, like updating my finances bi-weekly.
This might sound like overkill, but I’ve realized I need structure to align my time with my goals. Every block of time I’ve scheduled brings me closer to the life and work I envision for 2025.
Revamping my calendar habits has been a game-changer for how I approach both work and life in 2025. By implementing the Ideal Week and Big Ass Calendar methods, I’ve created a system that prioritizes what truly matters while maintaining the flexibility to adapt when needed. Whether it’s making time for personal growth, deep work, or meaningful experiences, these changes have already started to pay off. If you’re looking to take control of your time and align it with your goals, give these methods a try—you might be surprised by how much they transform your routine.
Written By: Sara Loretta
👋🏼 Sara Loretta is the Chief Digital Architect & Founder @ _systms™ — she’s also the 10th US Certified Notion Consultant, and 1st Certified Paperform Expert. Through her work and creatorship, Sara is focused on connecting and educating teams on tech, workflows, and all the ways they can optimize their business to scale.
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