Tag: time management

Considering Value in Managing Your Schedule

I feel like I can always squeeze one more thing in a trash bag. My wife and I even had a fight about that our first year of marriage. For me, it wasn’t full yet and therefore did not need to go out because I was sure could still squeeze in one more thing. We laugh about this years later! Many people, including me, adopt a similar approach to their personal schedule. But filling a schedule the way you feel a trash bag only makes sense if the items in your schedule have relatively little value. Squeezing one more minor errand in probably makes very little difference.

Things in your schedule may have more value though.

But how would you pack something that includes items of value, like your grandmother’s fine china? Very carefully. With cushion wrapped around it. With sufficient space given for every piece. Because these things are important!

I have learned over time that I can’t be creative in a 15 minute time segment. Creativity needs room to be done well! Sure, the idea may come in a moment. Fleshing that idea out to its fullest is better done like barbecue, low and slow. Low heat, plenty of time.

Next time you’re tempted to squeeze one more thing into your schedule, decide what’s important. What will get squeezed if you make that choice? Take time to decide what should wait and what should not. Treat your activities with a real consideration of what is valuable to you.

Running your schedule around meetings

One area I often attempt to squeeze things in is when I have a few extra minutes on the way to my next meeting with members of my team. Do you ever make this mistake? Instead of doing one more thing which will often make us late, what could we do with extra time if we get to the team meeting early? Here are a few options:

  • Connect relationally with people who are there before we have to jump into the business at hand.
  • Review the documents provided at the meeting to better acquaint ourselves with what is about to be covered.
  • Look over notes from previous meetings to identify any missed items or new insights that should be considered.
  • Look ahead to items later on the agenda to invest thought and prayer into how to do them more effectively.
  • If nothing else is available, we could take time to journal or read a personal development book.

What happens if we run in late because we decided to try to squeeze in one more thing before heading to this meeting?

  • Our team has to to wait on us OR to re-cover items that we missed if they decided to start on time.
  • We miss potentially important discussion.
  • Our mind is cluttered, rather than fresh.

Downloadable Resources

Think about what’s important to you. And then make sure you give appropriate room on your schedule for those things. How does your calendar reflect your values?

Here’s a tool I developed to help you evaluate your activities. Feel free to download and use if it helps you.

Related Posts

  1. Setting Priorities
  2. You Can’t Manage Time
  3. Put it in Park to Refill your Tank
meetings effectiveness

Maximizing the Effectiveness of Meetings

I spend much of my life in meetings. In fact when my role changed a few years back, my girls decided that my new title should be Meeting Pastor. Not sure how that works on a business card, but it certainly describes my activities! And when you spend that much of your life in any activity, you hope to make them as effective as possible.

meetings effectiveness

A few practical tips can give you healthy disciplines for meetings and maximize their effectiveness.

Here’s a few tips I have found to maximize the meetings I participate in, whether I’m leading them or not:

  • PURPOSE: When someone schedules a meeting, usually they have a purpose for coming together. Many don’t communicate that purpose. If someone asks you to attend a meeting but doesn’t make the meeting’s purpose clear, just ask. Knowing the purpose will help you be better prepared. It will also help you measure afterward whether the meeting was effective or not.
  • PARTICIPANTS: You should also understand your reason for being in the meeting. Here are some great reasons to be in a meeting: to give or receive information, to offer input to a decision or decisions, to build relationships among a team.)

Special note regarding recurring meetings (monthly, weekly, etc.): If a meeting is scheduled on a recurring basis because it seemed like a regular discussion was necessary at the time, that purpose can sometimes be forgotten a few months or years later. If there’s a leadership transition, a new leader may “inherit” a meeting rhythm and not even realize why specific meetings initially took place. Bottom line: If a recurring meeting doesn’t have a clear and understood purpose, it will often feel like a waste of time, and may actually be one. If you’re expected to be in a recurring meeting, ask (in a respectable way) the leader of the meeting to help you understand the purpose of the meeting. Also, if that doesn’t immediately give you an understanding of your purpose IN the meeting, ask that next.

  • Having an understood purpose for a meeting will help establish an AGENDA: the list of items for discussion that are to be covered in a meeting. Ideally, the agenda will be communicated in advance OR at the top of the meeting. That way everyone knows where we’re going in our time together. If you know that something that is important to you is item 5 on the agenda, you will be better able to participate in the discussion of items 1-4.
  • NOTES: I personally choose to take notes in meetings where I am participating. These help me for future reference if I want to know what was covered at the meeting several weeks ago. My memory is no longer sufficient to keep all details in my head. Good note-taking skills prevent this from being necessary.pen-writing-notes-studying-large
  • ACTION ITEMS: Most meetings that I participate in produce one or more action items that will need to be done by individuals in the meeting after its conclusion. Ideally these should be written down by individuals who will be responsible to increase the chance that they will be completed. Some facilitators allocate a few minutes at the end of each meeting to quickly review action items that have come up to make sure everyone is clear on who will be responsible for their completion and by when.

I developed a simple tool that I use in meetings whether I’m leading or not. It helps reinforce good meeting disciplines. Feel free to download and use or modify for your own benefit. Download here. Leave me a comment below if this is helpful to you.

 

Drowning? Make a list!

Once in a while, I get in a place where there is a lot going on and I almost feel like I’m drowning.

I almost feel like I’m drowning.

There’s too much going on for me to even think about my priorities the way I would prefer to and I spend most of my time putting out fires. When I get in a place like this and I’m feeling completely overwhelmed, I have to stop and take time to make a list.

Making a list of what’s in my mind, almost like a brain dump

 

  • What is overwhelming me?
  • What is in the way?
  • What needs to be done?
  • What are the fires?

to do listWrite it all down even if it takes a whole sheet of paper.

Then take the list and pray over it.

Ask God what is most important. What needs doing now? What can use a band-aid (see my post re: band-aids here)? And what should I just plain ignore to move forward in other areas?

Making the list reduces the internal pressure

Even the act of making the list relieves stress because now it’s not swimming in my head, it’s on paper in front of me and I already feel like I’m making progress.

PS. If you try this and you’re still overwhelmed, sleep on it. And pray more the next morning.