I can’t keep up! Six principles for using your calendar to get more done

Throughout my years, I have seen many leaders at all levels struggle to get things done, whether from having to work late nights and on weekends or missing due dates entirely. Since I’ve talked to these leaders, they just consider it part of the job, they can’t or won’t do anything about it. Early in my career I found myself doing exactly the same thing; setting unrealistic expectations and committing suicide to try to meet them, only to have a limited success rate in delivering on time. I hated that hamster wheel.

The good news is that you don’t have to accept this as the status quo. Here are six simple principles to better control your work and be more deliberate about what you do:

1. Make your to-do list a list of “facts” – It is common to have a to-do list. My approach is to apply four changes to the prototype task list:

  • Express what needs to be done in terms of the final product, not the action to produce it. – For example, instead of saying “Find hotels in Venice”, say “Decide and book a hotel in Venice”. The writing focuses on a definite end of the activity, as opposed to something that does not have a definite end.
  • Add a date when the task is due – When adding the due date, by default you prioritize when something needs to be done, which is the same as prioritizing the list.
  • Add an urgent / non-urgent flag – By adding the urgent / non-urgent indicator, you are forced to think not only about those things that need to be addressed immediately, but also those that are important but not immediately required.
  • Subdivide tasks into deliverables that can be completed within a normal work week: For larger deliverables that may take more than a week to produce, divide the deliverable into smaller deliveries that can reasonably be completed in one week. For example, if you have a fact called “Produce Competitor Report”, break the deliverable into smaller installments that align with the report’s table of contents, that is, “Create a strengths and weaknesses analysis for each competitor.”

2. Make sure your calendar includes everything that consumes time in your day, not just meetings – I’ve seen countless examples of people just putting meetings with others on their calendars, making their days cluttered with meetings, and then burning midnight oil to get work done outside of meetings. Any time-consuming activity in your day – meetings, work time, personal time, professional development, or other activities – deserves a scheduled time on your calendar.

3. Schedule a regular planning and progress meeting on Friday afternoon with yourself: Near the end of your day on Friday, set aside 30 minutes on your calendar to do three things:

  • Review what you promised to do – For the items you promised to do the week before, look at what you actually did. For items you did not complete or took more than the allotted time to complete, ask yourself why. Were you too optimistic? Did you allow yourself to be distracted? Was there a higher priority legitimate activity? Doing a retrospective analysis of your planned vs. The actual activity carried out will help you to be more realistic in future planning.
  • Plan your calendar for next week – This is the time to review your “to do” list for urgent and non-urgent deliverables that need to be completed and schedule the working time to produce the deliverables on your schedule. It’s important to be realistic with yourself about how long it takes to complete the deliverables and not set yourself up for failure. Remember to make sure your calendar includes all time-consuming activity in your day.
  • Document what you plan to do for the following week: For the items you commit to do, update your Friday planning meeting for next week to include the facts, which you will review in a week.

4. Make tough calendar choices: If there just aren’t enough hours in the week to get things done, see what needs to change. Maybe it’s a change in the due date or altering or deferring other items on your calendar that are taking time. Whatever the case, be willing to make some decisions about what you do and who you meet with.

5. Find the hidden time on your calendar: Are there meetings that you don’t need to attend? Are there one-hour meetings that can be done in 30 minutes? Can the frequency of regular meetings be reduced? Can some things be done through offline communication i.e. email? Ask yourself where meeting time can be reduced or eliminated without materially adverse business impact.

6. Remember that you own your calendar, you don’t own you – Certainly, things can happen during the week that could alter what you do (or when you do it). Don’t punish yourself if it happens, just look at the frequency and reasons behind the changes. If they are happening exceptionally due to unforeseen work hitting your plate, then accept it as part of the job. If they happen frequently, then it could be that you are unrealistic in your planning or are allowing yourself to be distracted. It is up to you to decide, just be honest with yourself.

A common thread through these principles is discipline. You can implement the best-intentioned techniques, but if you don’t follow them, you’re condemning yourself to getting emails at midnight. Take the principles seriously, turn them around, and put them into action.

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