Career Talk with Marie Wetmore

Time Management: The 90 Minute Calendar Rule, Part 1

Everyone knows that All-Star professionals make the most of their time. They may juggle a lot, but the right things always seem get done at the right time. There is no mystery to this – it’s all about time management. One key component is the strategic use of calendars.

Where many people limit their calendars to tracking appointments and deadlines, All-Stars use their schedules to carve out time for working on their projects and deliverables. No vague mental plans for them – they know what they need to work on every week, and have planned when they’ll actually do it.

You can easily implement this strategy. Once a week, sit down and review your top priorities and projects, then schedule time in your calendar to work on them. Voilà, your productivity will skyrocket, especially if your tasks require concentration or heavy thought work.

That doesn’t mean that your schedule needs to be jam-packed. Some unscheduled time is important. It allows you to deal with unexpected demands and take the mental breaks necessary to return to work refreshed. But too much unscheduled time indicates that you’re not clear and focused on your priorities.

Consider the 90 minute rule. In a well-organized schedule you should not see chunks of unscheduled time extend longer than 90 minutes. These long unscheduled periods make it easy to lose focus and revert to the “first thing the crosses your mind” approach to time management, which inevitably means you’ll overlook important priorities.

If you discover long stretches of unscheduled time in your calendar, the solution is simple: review your priorities and checklists again and then schedule time to work on your projects. Use this simple rule of thumb and you’ll soon see powerful results.

Marie Wetmore
Career and Performance Coach for Women
www.lionssharecoaching.com
marie(at)lionssharecoaching.com