Be selfish with your time
We are constantly managing the barrages on our time. Constantly struggling with the fact that the day gets away from us and there is just not enough time to get everything done.
One of the things I hear a lot from my clients is that while they feel they can take ownership of the actions during the day that they can control, they often feel that outside time demands make this very difficult. Bt when i start to ask some questions, we often find that sometimes we are too ready to say yes to appointments and engagements that don't really add value to us.
I recently worked with the CEO of an Non-Government Organization (NGO) who is receiving a lot of requests to speak at events. Her work is receiving international attention and people are eager to learn about it. But it is eating into her ability to manage her institution and to serve her constituents. When i pressed her as to what she is getting out of these arrangements, it was not clear. We agreed that her "filter" needs to be about assuring there is a win-win in each engagement; otherwise decline the engagement.
I worked with another executive who has a very strong culture of being accessible to his salespeople in the field. if they need him to attend a customer dinner or help close a deal, he is on that plane. But he found that he was traveling a lot, often last minute to accommodate the requests, and it was hurting his ability to complete his priorities and commitments. when we talked about this, he often felt that the sales people were not as prepared as they should be, and that often he was being called in too early in the engagement or without a very specific objective. Some simple screening helped filter these opportunities and made him much more productive, without impacting his accessibility towards his sales organization.
When outside demands appear as if they can impact your ability to manage your time and productivity, be a little selfish. Ask yourself if you are getting value. Chances are you can optimize your time more than you thought.
One of the things I hear a lot from my clients is that while they feel they can take ownership of the actions during the day that they can control, they often feel that outside time demands make this very difficult. Bt when i start to ask some questions, we often find that sometimes we are too ready to say yes to appointments and engagements that don't really add value to us.
I recently worked with the CEO of an Non-Government Organization (NGO) who is receiving a lot of requests to speak at events. Her work is receiving international attention and people are eager to learn about it. But it is eating into her ability to manage her institution and to serve her constituents. When i pressed her as to what she is getting out of these arrangements, it was not clear. We agreed that her "filter" needs to be about assuring there is a win-win in each engagement; otherwise decline the engagement.
I worked with another executive who has a very strong culture of being accessible to his salespeople in the field. if they need him to attend a customer dinner or help close a deal, he is on that plane. But he found that he was traveling a lot, often last minute to accommodate the requests, and it was hurting his ability to complete his priorities and commitments. when we talked about this, he often felt that the sales people were not as prepared as they should be, and that often he was being called in too early in the engagement or without a very specific objective. Some simple screening helped filter these opportunities and made him much more productive, without impacting his accessibility towards his sales organization.
When outside demands appear as if they can impact your ability to manage your time and productivity, be a little selfish. Ask yourself if you are getting value. Chances are you can optimize your time more than you thought.
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