I read an interesting post from Justin Welsh who is a marketer and business owner whereby asking yourself 8 questions relatively regularly you can really transform your week.

I have implemented this and found it to be very useful in freeing up time, so I thought I would share his suggestions and my take on it, as all leaders working in a start-up or fast growth business could use some extra time in the day!

I have a monthly meeting in my calendar at the end of each month (it was this morning) and in the description I have all of the below questions.

 1. What can I remove from my calendar?

In order to do this effectively, it is worth having a look at both your long term and short term goals.  What do you want to achieve over the coming months or years?  

Then have a look at your meetings - will these meetings help you and your company achieve them?

If not, have a think about whether they're worthwhile keeping or not.  

Sometimes, these meetings are for other departments to achieve their goals (and therefore the company's overall vision) and therefore is necessary for the company as a whole.

But sometimes they are just placeholders that aren't really necessary.  See if they can be cancelled or at a minimum pushed back so you can focus on what you need to achieve.

2. What's on my calendar that can be automated?

 With most of you now using ChatGPT and with an array of other AI tools being introduced regularly it's worth reviewing what you can automate even further.

If there is a 5 min task that you have to do every week / month (it only takes 5 min!) but will take you 10 min to automate, it's worth automating. 

These are the interesting tasks that can really add up over time.

Other ideas is that I've started using Otter.ai that transcribes zoom meetings, so I can download this transcription, ask ChatGPT to pull out the Actions, job done.

3.  What's something that should be delegated but isn't?

Similar to the above, but does need a human!

Again, only takes you 10 min a month?  Would take twice as long to train someone, however over the longer term, these tasks are worth it.

I find Loom a good tool here.  Do the training via Loom and then the person you're handing over to has a forever resource - which can be reused again and again.

4.  Is there anything on my calendar that isn't urgent and important?

More of a continuation of point 1.  However, sometimes the pressure is really on and you have a big deadline or an area that needs your 100% focus that you can't distract from.  Take a look at your calendar and push back what you can.  

Don't hesitate to push up to a month back or even more.

5. Can any important meetings be 50% shorter?

Pre-COVID my default meeting time was 1 hour.  

This is probably because meetings were face to face.  It took people 5 minutes to arrive.  5-10 minutes for small talk and chatting about holidays and the weather and then you could start the meeting.  

These kinds of meetings are very important when developing relationships and actually working remotely does take some of this relationship building away - so be mindful of that, especially as leaders.

However, if I'm doing a virtual meeting and the time pressure is on, default is now 30 minutes and I aim to be out of there in 20 min - if it is just a information sharing kind of meeting.

6. How can I get off the computer more?

This goes back to your creative brain and problem solving abilities increasing when you have some headspace.

I work remotely a lot, so I always include walks in my calendar around lunchtime.  I often do podcasts, however I'm increasingly going for a walk without any gadget and I'm surprised how many solutions or ideas just pop into my mind while I'm taking a stroll.

7. How can I maximize fun time?

 Balance.  Easier said than done.

I think my only addition to this topic that is written about a lot is ensuring that you have fun things to look forward to in your week and not just work, TV, eat, sleep, repeat.

What do you love to do?

How can you add more of this into your week?

8. Is there anything missing?

Anything else that is missing in your week when you take a look at it?

Is there time to take a lunch break?

Do you have thinking time in your diary?

Are you going to hit your deadlines and have you allowed extra time for it?

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