As a leader and people manager, the key to my workload has been ensuring that the short blocks of time I have between calls and meetings are maximized as much as possible. I've tried many different methods, time blocking, checking emails at set times, and more, yet I've found that using Francesco Crillo's Pomodoro technique has been most effective in ensuring my productivity is as high as possible day to day. The main objective of the technique is to take short bursts of time to work on a set task, then take a break (make a coffee, context switching, etc.) before the next short burst. I try to use a productivity planner, yet allow myself flexibility so not to get frustrated if a certain day does not go to plan. Working for a quick paced organization means that flexibility is needed regularly.
As a remote-first firm, I always seek tools to help keep the Reimagine Talent team communicative, connected, and engaged. One of the bottlenecks we experienced in our early startup days was excessive team meetings. Over time, it became clear that there are more thoughtful ways to keep the team informed and drive forward priorities beyond formal meetings. Loom, the fastest, easiest way to record content on the go and stay connected with teams, has been a game-changing resource by helping us save time and leverage meetings for brainstorming and strategic planning, which require conversation. Since the start of the year, Loom has helped me save 30 hours in formal meeting times and expanded outlets to communicate with my national team. Loom is now a central part of our business, helping also to support onboarding, business prospecting, and client success.
Business Coach | Executive Coach | Mentor | Founder at Julia Ngapo Business Coaching
Answered 3 years ago
Get rid of that "Open Door" policy! - Assign specific time in your diary when you are available for general meetings, and gate-keep effectively to ensure your time is protected. Those team members who might have bothered you wth non-urgent matters will find someone else to answer their queries, leaving you to deal with matters that require your attention.
Being a leader is like being a circus juggler - there's always a ton to manage! But there's one secret weapon I've got in my leadership toolkit: 'Protected Time Blocks'. Picture this: special, sacred chunks of time, untouchable, just for the big stuff that really counts. With these power-packed blocks, I zero in on those pivotal, high-impact projects that really change the game. Daily, I'm engaged in crucial tasks with clients that demand clear, unclouded thought – and that's precisely where these blocks come in. Now, you're in a productivity fortress. No interruptions are allowed. No sudden pop-up meetings, no random pings - nothing but you and the task. Sound good? That's exactly what Protected Time Blocks are. They're like your superpower hours, ready to take on your top priorities and send them flying out of the park. I'm involving everyone - from my team to my clients - to test and join the Protected Time Block party. Every single moment becomes a step towards our big goals.
By taking on my most difficult task when I’m at my most energetic, it makes it much easier to push through and produce high-quality work without exhausting myself. Since for me that comes around 10 or 11 am, I’ll do some easier work tasks before and after that window so I can focus my efforts completely. When you do your easiest work when you’re tired, you won’t have to fight an uphill energetic battle, and doing your hardest work when you’re refreshed will boost critical thinking to help you make those challenging decisions.
Being intentional with time-blocking both personal and team schedules and then sequencing them appropriately across the week will help you be a more effective leader, avoid the cognitive cost of context-switching, and improve the flow of information across your business. For example: grouping all of your direct report 1-1s into a single day or block not only helps you stay mentally in the flow of “coaching mode," but, when strategically placed during the week, will make communication flow vastly more effective. Let's say you have an executive meeting on Mondays, and a wider team meeting on Wednesdays. Sandwiching 1-1s between these allows you to communicate strategic decisions from the exec meeting to your reports quickly, as well as surface challenges from your reports for discussion in tomorrow's team meeting—all within a 48-hour period. This frees up time later in the week for deeper work and collaboration, avoiding the random patchwork of meetings that thwarts productivity.
One of the effective time management strategies I find particularly beneficial is the "Eisenhower Matrix". This matrix, named after President Dwight D. Eisenhower, helps prioritize tasks based on their urgency and importance. It's a quadrant that separates tasks into four categories: urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and neither urgent nor important. This matrix encourages me to focus on tasks that contribute to long-term goals (important but not urgent) and manage crises or pressing problems (urgent and important). It also aids in delegating tasks (urgent but not important) and eliminating time-wasters (neither urgent nor important). Research from the Harvard Business Review suggests that leaders who use this method are more effective and less stressed, as it allows them to plan ahead and prevent the constant firefighting mode that comes with poor time management.
This is one of my favorite tips that I follow myself, You should establish the priorities for the following days, weeks, and even months as part of your planning meetings. Keeping track of upcoming chores will enable you to distribute your workload so that you don't become overworked or stressed. You'll be able to create a more organized schedule for achieving your daily objectives and continuing to be productive throughout the week. Making a comprehensive list of all the responsibilities and tasks you have in your position is one of the greatest methods to get started. After that, you can take your time dividing them up into daily, weekly, and monthly responsibilities. Knowing these facts will make it much simpler for you to maintain focus throughout the day and do everything on your to-do list.
Time blocking is absolutely essential as a leader. We always have to be doing something else, signing off on something else, giving our attention to someone else - because of this, our time management has to be impeccable if we want to be successful and happy. It can be easy to bend and flex to what people need and want, but if you are forthright with your time and when you need to move on to something else, people will learn to respect the time they have with you, and make the most of it. You have to be firm in your boundaries of setting time expectations so you team, clients and everyone else understand and begin to make the most of the times you have with them. Setting boundaries at the start can be hard, it almost feels like you are asking to much, but it is an important tool every leader needs to make sure they don't feel like they are always trying to catch-up with themselves
In my role as CEO I've found that leaving a "cushion" of time between tasks and even blocking in "spares" where you can do what needs to be done has been the best way to keep a consistent workflow. The cushion time means I can go overtime a bit or grab coffee or chat with an employee longer, while the spare can be used for anything from office hours to rest to doctor appointments. Leaving room for life to happen ensures I don't feel a domino effect from one task getting pushed or going long.
I try to schedule as much as I can in my Outlook calendar. That helps me stick to the time that I've allotted for a project and it lessens the overruns. I even schedule lunch breaks in my calendar so I make sure I have some time away from my desk to recharge and get some exercise before I start my afternoon.
Hi there, My name is Nikola Baldikov. I’m a digital marketing and SEO expert and the founder of InBound Blogging. I provide actionable advice on how to improve website visibility and earn income from blogging. I believe I can answer your question. Being realistic about what can be accomplished in a day is essential. A seemingly insurmountable to-do list at the beginning of the day will only cause anxiety, frustration, and a lack of focus. My suggestion is to follow the 1-3-5 rule. Choose one big task, three medium tasks, and five small tasks from your to-do list each day. Obviously, many unexpected responsibilities may arise during a typical day. To accommodate the unpredictable nature of leadership life, leave a medium task and 1-2 small tasks blank. Thank you for your time. Keep in touch if you have further questions. Cheers,
Being overwhelmed is among the most frequent causes of poor time management on significant tasks. When you're stressed out, you might want to put off doing something and focus on something else. Break up big jobs into smaller, more achievable chores to get rid of this feeling. It is simpler to begin by focusing on the smaller jigsaw pieces as opposed to the entire picture. You will advance and enhance your time management skills as you work on the assignment in manageable portions. Also, keep in mind that the emails can wait until later. Email has a sneaky way of eating up your time. Your productivity suffers each time you interrupt what you're working to look at your email. Switching between tasks requires time and mental effort. You can either set up a particular time for reviewing emails or patiently wait till you've finished your present task to do so.
Studies have shown that much of a leader’s wasted hours are the result of inefficient meetings and so one effective time management strategy is to clarify objectives before they start. A loosely structured meeting can quickly go off in a dozen tangents, and what was scheduled to take 20 minutes deteriorates into an hour, or even worse, another scheduled meeting. By having a meeting agenda that is sent out in advance, printed and handed out at the get-together, and then restated prior to starting, you can keep the initial goal on track. By taking measures to clarify the objective of a meeting before it takes place, you can ensure that you will avoid unwanted distractions or trips down unintended tangents preventing lost hours and maintain a better overall time management strategy.
This method involves categorizing tasks based on their urgency and importance, allowing me to allocate resources and time more efficiently. By focusing on high-priority tasks first, I can ensure that crucial objectives are met while also addressing less critical tasks in a timely manner. Even better is that I find this strategy promotes delegation and team collaboration, as it enables me to identify tasks that can be assigned to team members according to their strengths and expertise. Overall, the Eisenhower Matrix has greatly improved my ability to manage time effectively as a leader, resulting in increased productivity and better decision-making across the organization.
Schedule your time so that you may devote certain amounts to specific endeavors. Projects, meetings, personal time, and breaks should all be scheduled in advance. Setting aside specific amounts of time allows for more organized routines and less time wasted on unnecessary activities. Never stay stuck for more than an hour; instead, seek out expert answers or put off dealing with the problem until the morning. When you approach a problem with a clear head, you may find a simple solution. Create a journal in which you can record your daily plans, making sure to include time spent on pursuits that contribute to your long-term success, development, and health, such as reading, practicing, exercising, etc. Schedule separate periods of time for each of them. A year later, every page still featured the same graphic of the same assignments.
As a leader, it's really easy to mis-manage time - spending too long on tasks that are complex but not valuable. Or not giving enough attention to decisions that are impactful consequences because they appear simple. One way to address this imbalance is to implement a timeboxing strategy. In this approach to personal time management, the activities you do are secondary to how long you allocate towards each. This helps position work relatively and leaders to focus on outcomes rather than to-do lists. Since implementing this technique, I've found myself more productive and better able to manage multiple, competing priorities.
One strategy I find beneficial is the "80/20 rule" or the Pareto Principle. It posits that 80% of results come from 20% of efforts. Thus, I concentrate on identifying and focusing on the high-impact tasks - the 20% that leads to 80% of the desired outcomes. This ensures I spend my time where it matters most, thereby maximizing productivity and results. This approach not only saves time but also provides a clear perspective on the task's importance, helping me lead more effectively.
Prioritisation: Prioritizing my tasks is an effective time management strategy that I use as a leader. This strategy brought mental peace in my life as it allows me to figure out and focus on the most important tasks that are urgent and need to be done as soon as possible. I ignore the least important tasks until I am done with my most important ones. This results in meeting deadlines within time and completing everything without being panicked or without doing blunders due to hurry. This strategy helped me to always stay organized and I can fully focus on my duties and can set a great example for my staff members and colleagues, because a leader is a person to whom all people look up to.
The most effective time management strategies I've embraced is encouraging my team to take ownership of their roles and results. Rather than micromanaging every detail, I trust and support them to excel. By doing so, I open my time and energy to make critical decisions and oversee the bigger picture. This approach saves me time. And also fosters a culture of trust, growth, and autonomy within our company. It allows me to lead more effectively and encourages the team to develop personally and professionally.