15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management pdfdrive com

–Dave Kerpen is the NY Times bestselling author of three books, the co-founder & chairman of Likeable
Media, and the founder & CEO of Likeable Local.
The best habit is to automatically respond to unanticipated requests that
conflict with your calendar by saying something like, “I have an important
appointment on my calendar from 4:00 to 5:00. Is there any chance we can talk
after 5:00, or can it wait until the morning?”
You’ll be surprised at how frequently the unanticipated item can then be
scheduled in an open block. Sure there will be times when an important person
—a boss or spouse, for example—needs our attention, and it really is more
important than our time block activity. But we can always ask to fit it in
elsewhere as a first reaction.
Jeff Weiner Time Blocks Buffer Time
The CEO of LinkedIn, Jeff Weiner, wrote a blog post describing how he time
blocks “do nothing” time on his calendar. He wrote:
If you were to see my calendar, you'd probably notice a host of time slots
greyed out but with no indication of what's going on. There is no problem with
my Outlook or printer. The grey sections reflect "buffers," or time periods I've
purposely kept clear of meetings.
In aggregate, I schedule between 90 minutes and two hours of these buffers
every day (broken down into 30-to 90-minute blocks). It's a system I developed
over the last several years in response to a schedule that was becoming so
jammed with back-to-back meetings that I had little time left to process what
was going on around me or just think.
At first, these buffers felt like indulgences. I could have been using the time to
catch up on meetings I had pushed out or said "no" to. But over time I realized
not only were these breaks important, they were absolutely necessary in order
for me to do my job.

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Design Your Ideal Week with Time Blocks
Another way your calendar can become a powerful life-guiding tool is by using
it to design your ideal week.
Think about what your ideal workweek would look like.
If you’re a freelancer, consultant, or coach, it might include focused time to
work on client projects, but also time to learn new skills or to be inspired by
others’ work, or to work on your own marketing initiatives.
If you’re a mid-level executive, your ideal week might include one-on-one
coaching time with some of your team members, time for a team meeting, as
well as time to sit alone to think strategically about the year ahead.
Regardless of your professional role, you may also find that your ideal week
—and even ideal day—has some recurring personal things: exercise, time with
your family, time to relax or to pursue hobbies.
Mapping all of these items onto your calendar—and making them recurring
appointments—is the right way to design your life. It’s a powerful way to stay
consistent to those activities that give you the most return, and the most joy.
My own calendar reflects many of my values:
•
I value health, so I time block 60 minutes each morning for
exercise.
•
I value coaching my team members, so I time block one-on-one
meetings with each direct report on Mondays as a way to kick off the
week.
•
I value team alignment and breaking down silos, so I time block
a weekly full-team meeting.
•
I value writing so I have two to three blocks of time scheduled
each week to write uninterrupted.
•
I value my children’s education, so I time block evenings after
dinner to help them with their homework.
•
I value recharging and new experiences, so I block off long
weekends or entire weeks—sometimes a year in advance—for
vacations, even if I don’t know yet where I’m going yet.
Remember that the key point is not to use a to-do list as your primary time
management tool. Items on a to-do list can sit there forever, constantly getting
bumped by things that seem urgent in the moment. And having this list of things
that still need to get done is the root cause of our underlying stress.
When you master the practice of time blocking—using your calendar

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instead of your to-do-list—you can literally see your life’s priorities by
looking at your weekly calendar.
How Does This Apply If You’re A(n)...