Third, don’t cancel goals; reschedule them if necessary. For example, if
you normally work out every day from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.—during your lunch
hour—but you have to be on an airplane on Monday traveling for work at noon,
you would reschedule the exercise appointment for earlier or later in the day.
In Their Own Words… Get one of those big blue calendars. Planning your life on your phone is fine, but it doesn't give you the same perspective. –Will Dean is an Olympic rower for Canada and competed in the London 2012 Olympics. He is currently training for Rio 2016. Fourth, treat your time-blocked calendar entries as if they were appointments with your doctor; they are that important. Most of us cave in
on our self-scheduled appointments too easily. If we time block 4:00 to 5:00
p.m. to work on an important report at the office, and then a colleague asks for
15 minutes of time because “something has come up I need to run by you,” we
reflexively say “sure,” thinking we’ll finish the report in only 45 minutes, or
we’ll stay 15 minutes later or adjust in some other way.
But imagine if instead of working on a report you had an appointment with
your doctor or dentist. Would you still agree to give away that time and show up
for your doctor 15 minutes late? Of course not.
In Their Own Words… What I found to be the most effective way to manage my time was to buy an agenda with a big calendar. I handwrite what topics I need to cover and how long I need to be studying that topic each night.
–Caitlin Halewas a straight-A student in college and currently attends the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. If it's not in my calendar, it won't get done. But if it is in my calendar, it will get done. I schedule out every 15 minutes of every day to conduct meetings, review materials, write, and do any activities I need to get done. And while I take meetings with just about anyone who wants to meet with me, I reserve just one hour a week for these "office hours." People can schedule time at http://ScheduleDave.com.
