Alastair Wallace explains his core time-management rule: schedule any task taking longer than 15 minutes in your diary. Time blocks give you visibility over your day so you can shift work deliberately instead of reacting impulsively when unexpected demands hit. Try it for 24 hours.
Let's talk time management again. I know you've probably heard from me about this topic before. The reason I want to talk to you about it is because I get asked about it a lot from people that I train and consult and coach with. One of the things that people consistently write to me and say, this changed my life, is the simple act of scheduling all your activities. Now, I don't mean absolutely everything, but anything that's gonna take you longer than 15 minutes should have a chunk of time in your diary. Why, you might ask yourself? Because then if something else comes along, you can say, "Ah, I'm supposed to be completing this report, so I'll need to move the report to later on in the day or a different day." It just means you can make intelligent decisions about your time. If you don't believe me, try it for 24 hours. I guarantee you, you will be more in control. Have fun!
