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Pro Tips On Time Management

Pro Tips On Time Management
  • Skip recurring meetings from time to time, you’ll find out if they really matter. More often than not we go to a meeting simply because it’s on our calendar, not because we need to. And as a manager you’ll get added to a lot of meetings. Try experimenting with not going from time to time and see if anything breaks or changes. We bet it won’t more often than it does.
  • Never create a meeting with unlimited recurrences. Similar to just going to a meeting because it’s on your calendar, don’t be guilty of making these either! Pick a number of recurrences and then let it drop off. Either you’ll notice immediately because it was so valuable, or you won’t and now you just saved everyone a bunch of time.
  • Office hours are a great way to handle infrequent but important time asks.
  • Make calendars public by default. It’s just so much easier to work more async as a team when you can clearly see what’s on a calendar. Especially for grabbing quick working sessions (our favorite kind of meetings!).
  • Fun sayings you can use to skip/leave/end meetings:
    • No agenda, no attenda!
    • Keep it great, make it less than 8! (attendees)
    • When your part is done, make a run! (feel free to leave early)
    • When the meeting’s over, end the meeting! (doesn’t have to fill the allotted time)
  • Have more meetings. Just make them working sessions. Clear calendars leave time for collaborative work. Don’t villainize meetings on your team, people won’t schedule them. Encourage clear calendars to work together on issues of the moment.
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