February 01, 2018

3 Time Management Tips for Busy Executives

It’s easy to feel stretched too thin when you’re managing employees and your business. While delegating can take some things off your plate, you’ll still end up with a crammed schedule to sift through. If you’re having trouble staying on top of meetings and tasks, use these three time management tips for busy executives.

Morning Triage: You will always have more things to do than for which you have time. At the start of every day, do a morning triage all of your tasks. Think of yourself as a doctor in the ER; some “patients” are going to be more urgent than others. Look at your calendar for the day and put everything in order based on priority. If you have an open task, but on that particular day it’s not as important as others, feel free to bump it down on your calendar. Focus your energy where it’s needed most.
To-Do List: A constant classic, to-do lists offer a simple way to organize your tasks for the day. Instead of having a static calendar, interact with your to-do list regularly. Scratch off items when you’ve finished, or reorder them based on their latest priority. Not only will this give you a sense of accomplishment with even the smallest tasks, but it will help you stay organized as you move through your day. You’ll be able to easily see what still needs to be done, instead of having to mentally go through everything.
Reminders: Keep a set of reminders to help you stay on track with calls and meetings. Set alarms to go off 10-15 minutes beforehand so you have time to wrap up what you’re working on or reschedule if you’re caught up in an urgent matter. While most calendar systems can do this for you, you can also get help from your employees. If it’s too simple for you to ignore an automated calendar reminder, ask whoever is leading the meeting to send you a quick text message so you are more likely to view and respond to it.

To reduce stress and distractions, take steps to condense your calendar and plan your day out. By using these strategies, you’ll be able to organize your thoughts and conquer your packed C-suite schedule.

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