Have a Plan, not a problem. Plan your priorities like a boss
Our work is drowning in a sea of action, reaction and over information which sounds like “Got a minute?”, pings, dings, ticks, taps. On average, a manager will sit in 26 hours of meetings a week, have 150 tasks on their list, and 42% of these “to do’s” will never get done. In addition, the average worker will receive 120 emails every workday. I spoke to one CEO and he received 1,000 e-mails a day. As a result, he needed an EA to his EA whose job was to solely manage is his inbox.
There is no time, so being clear on where we need to focus is becoming ever more critical. Steve Jobs said “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”
To manage this we need a plan and when we think about where we should spend our time one model talks to
10% Looking back including time sheets, reporting, invoicing, admin
70% Doing the job and for managers this is including meetings
20% Planning determining priorities, plan critical conversations
20% is the equivalent to 1-day per week. And with those I coach, that is when I get the response “I don’t have time for that!”
I’ve worked with a number of managers to help create a ritual to plan. Ritual is useful as it talks to; uninterrupted time, allows a reset, has a sense of peace/quiet/calm, provides clarity as a result of reflection, gives a sense of control and becomes protected as a must do.
The challenge is often people put a reoccurring appointment in their calendar to plan, and stop at that. What I have learnt is that in addition to the time, it is important to create an experience and a series of actions. So what could a regular planning ritual look like? Some pointers:
Think about HOW you will do it
What gets scheduled gets done. Your calendar is a testament to where you spend your time. Make it a reoccurring appointment at least 1-hour, once a month. Ideally once a week
Get away from your desk in a space that is enjoyable and uninterruptible. Maybe a favourite cafe? Or spend an extra hour at home and miss the rush hour traffic
Do something enjoyable at the same time. Have a coffee, listen to some music - movie themes are a good choice as they do not have lyrics so you don’t find your brain being distracted by singing along
Leverage a template that will guide your thinking. If you would like one, contact me
Think about WHAT you will do
Update and review your master task list
Determine your top 3 priorities for the week. Ensure these marry back to the overall direction of the organisation, what you team needs to achieve, what you need to achieve. To filter what these are, two tools could help
The Eisenhower matrix?
Identifying which tasks are going to be the easiest to do and have the greatest impact?
Review your calendar and ensure all your meetings have a clear purpose, process and outcome. If not ask for clarification or politely decline your involvement if the organiser cannot provide clarity
Ensure there is enough blocked out time for deep work and deadlines. Major tasks often require several hours
Plan any people conversations you need to have. These are often done off the cuff and can either lead to information not being communicated well, or things being missed
And lastly review the process
What worked? Where did you get stuck? What would you do differently? This process needs to work for you versus being slave to another “to do.”
A final thought. “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” The irony is we think that in order to gain control of our tasks we need to speed up. In fact the best thing we can do is slow down.