[Good translation] protect your calendar

Translation

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Protect your calendar

Your available time can be a critical killer of your productivity. in large companies, my customers often share calendars to help others see when they have "free time" to schedule meetings. there, people found that they had been fully occupied by meetings all day, and they had no time to handle their work at five o'clock P.M.. This situation was not new. in small companies, or those who are bosses, there is a consensus that they must be free to handle and respond to everything and everything. as a result, they can be hijacked by others for a certain day, week, or month, the purpose of hijacking is to meet the needs of the hijacking or because the hijacking itself lacks flexibility and good schedule.

Your calendar can be your best productivity tool, but you must protect it.

1. For your purpose, the project or task is literally scheduled for a specific minute or hour.

Many people work on a list, but the list gets longer and longer, because they never make an appointment and needDoTime of the event. on the contrary, they discovered that they had been eaten by other people on work days. when setting your work plan, you need to take some time to deal with your work.

2. The reality lies in your time.

Some people really think that the workload of a day is equivalent to 18 hours. however, when our customers use their daily experiences in practice, they can actually estimate the workload they can accomplish in a day. all of them are aware of their own capabilities and the workload they can afford. in this way, they can delegate tasks to others, reject things, and discard things so that they can accept new tasks.

 

3. Say no.

People who have been promoted often think that they can get there because they say "yes" to others ". however, at a certain stage, if yes is entered, it will not work. to protect your calendar, protect your productivity, and protect your current value, you need the word "no. if someone has a meeting in the gap between your calendar and you need to do something else, you have to reject the meeting. if you click "no, today I cannot attend this meeting" or "No, I don't have time", there is no problem. protect your schedule and time. If you don't do this, no one else will do it for you.

4. Operate your protection strategy in your team.

If you have an assistant who will help you arrange the time, make sure that he or she will not overoccupy your time. talk to your team about how to use their calendar to schedule their work hours, not just the meeting time. you may need to set up a team rule to lower the meeting priority, or leave at least one hour between two meetings. only you know what is reasonable for you and your team. the important point here is that reasonable boundaries are important. if people (higher or lower than you) think they can get your attention at any time, they will not hesitate to do so. if they understand that you establish boundaries for your productivity, they will understand, respect, and cooperate with you, especially when they begin to see some results.

Efficient managers must reserve time for three things in their calendars to protect them.

1. One-on-one interview with your team members.
2. think creatively and decide the time of the specified strategy for the sake of importance.
3. Exercise, lunch, and regular breaks. You need these times to protect your eating habits and energy.

 

Note: You can quickly browse your calendar this week and ask yourself this question: Who is this? If your calendar does not serve you, you need to manage it again. If you need help, call the author of this article.

 

Original

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Defend your calendar

Availability can be death to productivity.In big companies, my clients often use shared calendars that give other people access to see where they have "free time" to schedule meetings. it's not uncommon for people to find themselves booked in meetings all day and unable to get to their own work until 5: 00 pm. in smaller operations, or for self-employed people, there's often a sense that they have to be available to respond to anything and everything. as a result, their agenda for the day, week or month can get hijacked by other people's demans or by their own flexibility and lack of structure.

Your calendar can be one of your best productivity tools, but you have to defend it.

1. Literally block off time-real minutes or hours-for goals, projects and tasks.Lots of people work from lists that just get longer and longer because they never block off the time it takes to do things. instead, they find their days get eaten up with other people's agendas. when you set your work plan, literally block off the time in your calendar to do the work.

2. Be realistic about your time.What some people think is a day's work is more like 18 hours of work. when my clients get real about using their calendars, they also get real about what they can accomplish in a day. as a result they know their capacity. they know what they can take on. and they get real about having to delegate, defer or dump something in order to take on something new.

3. Say no.People who have moved up the ladder often feel like they got there by saying yes to people. but at a certain point, that doesn' t scale. defending your calendar, your productivity and ultimately your value now requires the word no. if someone books a meeting into a slot in your calendar when you need to do something else, decline the meeting. if someone pops by or callyou, it's OK to say "No, I can't fit in a meeting today," or "No, I don't have a minute right now. "Defend your agenda and your time. if you don't, no one else will.

4. Engage your team in your defense strategy.If you have an assistant scheduling appointments for you, make sure he or she knows not to over book you. talk to your team about using their calendars to schedule work time, not just meeting times-you might need to set team rules about not scheduling meetings first thing, or always leaving an hour between meetings. you know what's reasonable for you and your team, the point is, boundaries are important. if people (below and above you) think they can have your attention any time they want, they'll take it. if they understand that you are setting boundaries to improve performance, they'll respect that and get on board-especially when they start seeing the results.

3 things high memory Ming managers must block time for in their calendars-and defend!
1. One on one's with your team
2. white space to think creatively and strategize for big decisions
3. Exercise, lunch and regular renewal breaks-you need to protect the habit of eating properly and managing your energy.
Action: take a quick look at your calendar for the week and ask yourself this: "Who's agenda is it serving? "If your calendar isn' t serving you, you need to manage it. If you need help, give me a call.

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