Think ahead
Don’t just look at today, or this week, look at the whole month and think big; are there travel plans which means you might want a later/earlier start? Do you have a big deadline that needs an uninterrupted afternoon to do your best work… To make sure you plan your time well, you need to take a holistic view of your to do list, your inbox and your diary to make sure your time is planned effectively.
Have a contingency plan
We’ve all had those days; you open your laptop to find an urgent email or meeting that needs your attention. You don’t want to keep delaying meetings and if you have two urgent meetings at the same time; what do you do? Try keeping one hour a day spare for ‘In Case Of Emergency’ sessions, so you can always make time for those important and urgent sessions. To be able to prioritise effectively, you need to be a bit flexible; be ready to be both proactive and reactive.
Be (a bit) selfish
Especially when you run your own small business, but equally so when you run a large department, you can’t be everything, to everyone, all the time. You need to eat, sleep and do your own work, as well as answer emails and attend meetings. If you work better after a morning walk, block out that time every day and be strict with it. If you prefer no one book meetings after 4pm, spread your rule around your department and be clear it is a firm rule. If you start letting in exceptions that aren’t absolutely crucial, everyone will start sneaking in meetings under the radar.
Be pragmatic
You need a sense of realism. You can’t do everything, so this is where prioritising becomes incredibly important. Everything links in with company and department goals; if you need to know which meeting to attend and what area to dedicate time, think backwards. What will contribute the most to these targets, what activity is the most valuable and which will have the biggest impact? If you find you’re constantly putting off meetings and emails that have no involvement with these KPIs, then take a step back and consider if you need to be involved or if it belongs to another department’s remit. It is human nature to want to get involved with things that have even the vaguest connection with your role and purpose, but you need to be pragmatic with your commitments so your time can be spent where it is most needed.
For (even) more insight into the world of diary management, read our 15 useful tools for successful diary management.
Common mistakes here are often centered around trying to be everything to everyone and being too fixated on your inbox when working remotely. The world we live in currently means that methods of communication have had to change, and as a result conversations are turned into email chains and unnecessary meetings are booked in daily for something that could be a 5 minute chat while making tea in the office. As we say above, you need to be a little bit selfish. You have a job to do, a business to run, a department to manage, so being clear in your boundaries and making sure you have the tools and the time necessary to perform to the best of your ability is absolutely crucial. Learning to prioritise means you spend your time on things that make the biggest impact on performance.