As an Executive Coach, I have often observed successful leaders deal with the frustration that comes from over-committing. It is usually born from a failure to fully assess the amount of time a project will take to complete.

The scenario goes something like this:

You are in a meeting and your boss, customer, team, or board asks for you to deliver on Project X. You understand it and see the value, so you commit right there on the spot. The requestor asks if Project X can be done by the end of the month. You think 20 days should give you enough time. You leave the meeting feeling good about your ability to deliver.

Then you jump back into the crisis or opportunity du jour, which requires all of your mental abilities for the remainder of the day. Tomorrow comes, and it’s more of the same.

Fast forward 19 days later, when you get a reminder email from the requestor of Project X. She is really looking forward to seeing it tomorrow. Tomorrow! Off you go, falling back to the cramming patterns you learned on campus. You skip dinner, work into the evening, grab a few hours of fitful sleep, and are ready to deliver your half-baked project.

This may sound a little harsh or exaggerated, but some of you might even be thinking, YES, this is my reality. If this resonates with you and you want to improve, consider the following best practices.

The next time you are asked to deliver Project X by a certain date, do the following:

* Make sure you fully understand the Desired End Result of Project X.
* Write down everything you think you will need in order to deliver Project X with excellence.
* Assess how much time you will need to complete all of the required steps. You must know how many hours it will take you or others on your team.
* Schedule the time on your calendar as if it were an appointment with your most valued client. If possible, add 50% more time that you think you need.
* If you are truly unable to make the appointment that you had previously scheduled, reschedule it within 24 hours.

If you are simply unable to fit the required time into your calendar, then here’s an important revelation: you can’t complete this project by the due date. You will need to assess whether you need to push out the due date for this project, make room by postponing other projects, or simply say no.

I am confident that if you master this simple process, it will radically reduce your stress level and lead to more deadlines met and improved quality of work.

Good luck scheduling,

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Think about a week that you really brought your “A” game to the office. 

You were on time, fully present and prepared for all your meetings.  You closed the deals you were working on.  You executed with excellence.  Not only this, but you had time to think, to plan, to exercise, and you were home in time for dinner!  Did I mention email?  Yes, you were even caught up on all email correspondence.  Not just your work email, but your Linkedin, Facebook, and personal email accounts.

Even as I type this, I am thinking “Yeah, right!”  I was tracking with my own exercise, until I got to that email part.  It’s time for a coaches’ confessional:  I am really struggling to keep up with my email inboxes.  I have to admit that email communication is one of my weaker disciplines.

So if I were coaching me, what questions would I ask?  What direction would I take myself in this situation? 

The first place I would start is with my Perfect Week.  The Perfect Week is an exercise we coach clients through to help them visualize what a week filled with High Payoff Activities from their Life Plans and Business Plans would look like.  We then have them add the Low Payoff Activities which cannot at this time be delegated or dropped.  We also coach them to schedule no more than 70% of their time, leaving room for the unplanned opportunities and challenges that creep into all of our days.

This is just what my assistant Lynne and I did last week.  We went back to my Perfect Week to make sure it is synchronizing with my real schedule. 

In years past I had two times blocked out each day for emails and returning phone calls.  Somehow, I had lost that discipline.  The good news is that, by doing this exercise, we recaptured that discipline, and Lynne is already scheduling these times back into my days.  I am confident this will help me to keep my inboxes managed and my stress level down.

I know this has worked for me, and I believe it could help you as well.  Please feel free to contact us at info@buildingchampions.com if you want a Perfect Week Time Blocking template.

Cheers,

Related posts:

1. There is No Substitute for One on One Time
2. Just Schedule It
3. You Have to See the Whole Picture

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