Shortly after being promoted to a new senior leadership role, a manager invited me to a Q&A session with her team.
The first question asked was "What's the biggest change you've experienced since becoming a senior leader?"
My answer: I have far less control of my time.
Back-to-back meetings are a feature of senior leadership - no time for breaks, lunch in meetings or with clients, no time to prep or do email (except at night or on weekends). That applies whether you’re at a large corporation or a small start-up.
How did I address this issue? I analyzed how I spent my time every 6 months, to ensure I was allocating the right amount of time at a macro level to enable me to hit my goals – both business and personal.
More than that, I also implemented the following, which made me far more effective:
- Schedule meetings in blocks - with short breaks - so that I had contiguous amounts of free time should a late-breaking meeting come in
- Schedule "work time" - one to two hours a day where I didn't take meetings - time to think about tough problems, prep for meetings and respond to urgent calls/email
- Block out time for lunch, either in the office or with a client
Time is a precious resource - taking control resulted in less stress and better performance as a leader!
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