Save two hours in two minutes

Do this Tip.

It’ll take you two minutes.

It could save you two hours.

It’s based on reviewing your Outlook calendar – or whatever you use to schedule your time.

Review last week’s calendar. And, for everything in it, with the benefit of hindsight, was:

• It needed?
• Even if it was needed, were you needed at it?
• Even if it was needed, and you were needed, were all the other attendees needed?
• Even it if was needed, you were needed and all of them were needed… could it have been shorter?

To do this exercise properly only takes two minutes.

But it does take two minutes, not two seconds.

At the end of it, you’ll see where you can save time:

• For everything that wasn’t needed, cancel all future ones
• For everything where you weren’t needed, decline all future ones
• For everything where others weren’t needed, un-invite them
• And for anything that could have been shorter… for future ones, make them shorter!

I know this all sounds obvious.

But all of us complain about how little time we have to do our day jobs. And then, in the same breath, we complain we attend too many meetings, many of which we didn’t need to go to, most of which were too boring, and all of which were too long.

But I’m a firm believer that my diary is my fault.

And that your diary is your fault too. Which means…

Action Point

… spend two minutes now to find time savings. And to save two hours.

And then take action to free-up time from next week’s diary.

(All this comes with the usual caveats – if you have a tedious meeting scheduled with your boss’s boss – maybe suck it up and go to that one. Only change the things that won’t ruin your career!).

For lots more tips, go to www.andybounds.com/tips