This was a busy week. In fact, there were several times this week when I looked at my calendar and saw that people were trying to double and triple book meetings with me. I was having to tell new requests that they would need to look at next week.
The bigger issue was that I wasn’t sure how I was going to get any work done when I was completely locked down in meetings.
However, as the week progressed, I found that I did have time to get important things done.
This was because I had blocked time on my calendar for those important items.
Make Appointments With Your Work
Yesterday, I looked at my calendar first thing in the morning and saw that I was booked all day. I mean really booked.
I had 10 meetings between 8AM and 6PM. (Yes, many were short, and others overlapped!)
So, how do you get things done when you have this much on your schedule?
Upon closer inspection of my calendar, I was relieved to see that two of the larger appointments were meetings that I had set up to get project work done. Yes, I had scheduled meetings to do nothing but work on important projects that were due.
Two full hours were reserved in the AM to work on a major initiative that needed to be launched soon. In-between all the other scheduling chaos, myself and a colleague used those two hours to accomplish the important work that needed to be done.
Meet With Yourself
Don’t be afraid to make time for your own work. If you let your calendar be totally at the mercy of others, you will find that they will take all your time.
Schedule meetings on your calendar with yourself, even if it is to just get some planning and organization done. Make appointments with your “must get done” projects so that they do not get pushed aside by other less important commitments.
Even with a packed calendar, you will find that you still get your stuff done. 🙂
Do you make appointments with yourself? Do you Block Time on your calendar for important work?
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The Secret of Today Versus Todo
The 5 Best Ways to Defend Your Time
Photo credit Hey Paul
Sometimes, making “meetings” for when the work gets done is the only time it does! Great tip.
Great tips!
Excellent advice. I've been doing this for years. Some days it's the only way I get any real work done.