Protect your energy: Time Management tips for 2022
Most of the people I work with do not have their own personal assistant — that’s not a luxury many folks have at their jobs. One of the most important roles of an executive assistant or personal assistant is their ability to say no on someone else’s behalf. No to this meeting request at this time, no they’re not available on this day or no, they can’t take that question right now.
Having an entire person dedicated to preserving your time and energy is something most CEOs enjoy the luxury of. So how do you implement EA tactics when you’re a solopreneur or someone who feels burnt out at the end of every day or week?
I’m Liz, I’m a business coach, operations management whiz, and hybrid remote employee. I’ve been an operations manager and executive assistant in a few different roles — and specialize in helping entrepreneurs make the most out of their precious time.
Time Management Tips to protect your energy
Start with data
Set aside some time to go back a few weeks in your business or social calendar, and tally up the number of hours you were in meetings. Include spontaneous check-ins, phone calls, and regular meetings each day. I used a spreadsheet to create a calendar and marked the number of hours I was in meetings over the course of a few weeks. It looked something like this:
Emotional review
As you look back over the weeks, — take note of days where you felt the least predictive, the most burnt out, or the most successful — is the number of meetings related to this at all? Make a note of any observations or exceptions you can think of in your spreadsheet or personal notes.
What is the limit?
As an executive assistant to yourself, it’s your job to say no. Review your calendar, and commitments, and decide on the maximum number of hours you want to be in meetings in a day. Once you set this number, go back through and color code the previous weeks’ schedules. How many days were you over this limit of meetings? Set up a key or legend that shows the intensity of each day.
Personal example:
For my weekly meeting limit, I have a personal maximum of 3 hours. Anything over 3 hours in a day, I have no social spoons left to communicate with other humans either virtually or face-to-face. This also means I need a longer rest after work before making dinner, calling a friend, or doing freelance work. On my personal time management sheet, any days that have me in meetings over 3 hours are marked bright red. Any days where I am in 1 hour or less of meetings, I mark a cool, light blue. You’ll see above that I added a note that 6 hours should be the maximum number of hours I am in meetings in a week — this ensures I am able to be productive at work and prevents me from being sucked into too many projects at once time.
Action steps
Now that you have the data and information you need to implement these new boundaries around your availability, put them into action. Look at your upcoming weeks — are they going “over budget” with your meeting time? Look for ways to reduce meeting times or shift them to another day // week depending on what the agenda specifies.
If you do not have control over your own schedule, use your calendar as your manager. Place out of office holds on times you do not want to, or are not available to meet in order to allow you to work, catch up on emails and handle personal requests.
I once had a supervisor who told everyone they were out of the office on Mondays and Fridays — their calendar was blocked off and they were offline all day. When I was assisting with some scheduling requests, they told me that those were the days they used to catch up on emails and work projects that they hadn't had a chance to complete. By not replying to emails they received that day, and refusing any meeting requests, they created a natural barrier to help them preserve their time and energy.
Communicate about your boundaries
If you receive pushback from clients, supervisors, or coworkers — you can show them your data, and express why it’s important to protect your time and energy to ensure productivity and positive mental health.
Practice saying, “I’ve reached my maximum number of hours for meetings that day, and won’t be able to meet. Let’s connect via email or look for a different day”
If you continue to get pushback, practice saying, “I have reviewed the meetings I have already scheduled, and those take priority over this request. I have this boundary to prevent overworking myself and ensure I am my most productive and present self when we meet. I (or my assistant) will reach out via email when I am ready to schedule.”
Work with me
If you found these communication tips helpful, come hang out with me on Twitter, or check out my website to review my service offerings as a queer creative business coach.
My favorite project management software
One of my favorite softwares for project management is Notion. If you’d like the scoop on how I use Notion to manage my projects, you can check out the webinar I have available here.
