Taking Control: Strategies for Busy Days?

Share strategies that have helped you regain control on days filled with meetings, calls, and unexpected challenges. How do you ensure that your time is well-spent?


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Comments

[Dan Bailey]

I preemptively have two hours blocked out each day specifically for work, and I defend it viciously. I literally will not even accept meetings at that time, unless it's something called by a member of the C-suite. If it's VP level, I make a judgement call on accepting. Director level and below can kiss my ass, that's my time. Also, I am fortunate enough to work at a company that has a culture of "keep it short and sweet" where meetings are concerned. I've had meetings that are booked for half an hour get done in 8 minutes. (Come to think of it, people could be better at estimating time.)

[Joe Mainwaring]

• I would typically pull a power move by being the first person in the office. By arriving before anyone else, I had time to get focused and tackle tasks prior to being disrupted by others upon their arrival
• As others would arrive in the office (8-10am) I would have my headphones on and grind away at my tasks for the day
• I would add hard blocks to my calendar for breaks, typically a 30 minute block in the morning and a second block early afternoon. I would use the morning block to take a break and go for a walk, and the afternoon block for lunch.
• Afternoons were typically spent handling unexpected things like ad-hoc meetings or customer calls.
• Since I arrived so early, I would typically leave the office around 3:30pm, and work from home that evening if I had any remaining tasks that needed to be complete before the following day.

[Stefan Moore]

I take it as it comes because the next day is going to be different in how I feel like dealing with it.