Andy Neary explains Tip #2 for effective time management: make your weekly priorities appear on your calendar. He recommends scheduling time for every priority (even internal tasks) so you can focus without constant mental overhead, using a 'shelving' approach to dedicate blocks to single roles or projects. He also notes color-coding calendar entries so different priority types are easily recognizable.
Chapters
Week.
Now.
Tip number two.
That week has to show up on your calendar. So as you start looking at your priorities for the week, both personally and professionally.
You have to look at your calendar and say, are those priorities finding spots on my calendar?
One of the things I have been accused of for quite a while is I have been told I have an intimidating calendar and I have it for a reason. Number one, I don't want to make it easy for you to schedule your time, your priorities into my calendar. But number two, it looks busy because every priority I have for the week has space on the calendar. So it looks like the calendar is full. It should look full. If you've got too much white space on your calendar.
That tells me you're not moving enough big rocks.
So when I look at my to dos, even if it's something I've got to do internally in the office, I will schedule time on the calendar at some point in the week to get that done. That's where the concept of shelving comes in. When I work with advisors, you're probably one of them listening in. I know you have more than one role in your company. You probably have a responsibility to sell. You probably have a responsibility to manage your current clients. And if you have any ownership or leadership in the company, you probably have some leadership roles within the company. But here's the thing. If you don't shelve those priorities, you try to play all three roles all the time, and you play none of them well.
You have to shelve those priorities at certain points of the week. So you can only focus on one thing at a time. If you've got a big priority this week to prepare for an upcoming finalist meeting.
Without putting that time on the calendar, you are going to think about that preparation every minute of the day you're at the office. But if you put it on the calendar for Wednesday afternoon at 2pm, guess what? You don't have to think about it anymore until Wednesday at 2pm.
So the second tip to being highly effective with your time management is to make sure your priorities are actually on the calendar. The good news is, if one of your priorities is a big finalist meeting, there's a good chance it's already on your calendar. Great. Check the box. But how many of your other priorities those things you need to do to work on the business actually show up on your calendar? And a little side tip to that, I color code everything.
So every different type of priority that shows up on my calendar has a different color. So when I look at my calendar every week.
I know exactly what everything is based on their color.
So a little less white space on your calendar. Start putting all of your priorities on the calendar. If it is on that to do list, especially on the top of that to do list, it better show up on the calendar somewhere. If it doesn't, you're probably not going to get it.
