Set your own agenda if time is of the essence
ASK anyone these days how they are and they'll tell you they're busy. Flat out. Being fully occupied is the new normal. Demands arrive through emails, texts, messages on social media and phone calls. Everyone wants more of your time.
This inevitably affects some people: they always feel they're in a rush. They spend more time on their smartphone checking messages and emails than talking to people. They find it difficult to focus - and projects pile up.
What are the best ways to deal with this pressure? The most obvious is to have a diary to identify where the time goes. The diary should include not only working time in front of the computer or iPad but also personal time for activities such as shopping, exercise and catching up with family and friends.
In his book What They Don't Teach You At Harvard Business School, sports management entrepreneur Mark McCormack says the diary keeps you from burning out. "I schedule time for exercise, relaxation and rest, including naps in the office, and I observe those time commitments just as I would any other business time commitments.
"I have learned to compartmentalise my business emotions as well as my business day. I write everything down, and since I put my notes where they will pop up again in the right place at the right time, once I have written something down, I forget about it. The end result is that when I break from work, I break from work-related stress as well."
So write everything down. List the activities and times you're doing them.
Learn, too, how to use a default diary. For most, a normal diary lists events during the week with, for example, a planning meeting on Monday morning, meetings with the marketing team all day Tuesday and meetings with the number crunchers on Friday.
A default diary turns that around. Let us say, for example, that you need to spend two hours every Monday afternoon alone working on finances, and 90 minutes every Tuesday going over marketing reports. With a default diary, these are put down in advance, along with all the other set appointments. These can include personal items such as gym sessions. All it takes is a visit to Outlook. The beauty of the default diary is that it blocks out time.
Your receptionist or secretary will hold calls during these periods because you are essentially in a meeting with yourself. It also helps avoid double booking.
Remember, too, to outsource as much as possible. That means avoiding work-related tasks that do not generate revenue. The focus should be solely on revenue generation; everything else can be outsourced. Learn how to delegate.
Learn also to batch similar sorts of tasks. If you need to make phone calls, for example, get a whole lot of them done and get into the flow.
Some people manage time by creating a different focus for different days. For example, client days, admin days and business development days.
Finally, learn to say no to time-wasters. That includes everything from people interrupting, superfluous events to your own internet surfing.
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
Start by keeping a diary that records not only work tasks but personal activities (shopping, exercise, family time). Writing everything down helps you see where your time goes, schedule breaks, and prevent projects from piling up. Use the diary to block out focused work periods so you can concentrate without constant interruptions.
A default diary is a pre-set weekly schedule that blocks recurring time slots in advance (for example, two hours every Monday afternoon for finances). Putting these set appointments into your calendar prevents double-booking and signals to others that you’re in a meeting with yourself, helping you maintain regular, uninterrupted time for portfolio reviews or research.
Writing tasks and commitments down lets you compartmentalise work emotions and obligations. As noted in the article, once you store notes where they’ll reappear at the right time, you can mentally let them go. Scheduling exercise, relaxation and rest in your diary also reduces stress and helps you return to investment work refreshed and more focused.
Yes — outsource or delegate tasks that don’t directly generate revenue or add value to your investment decisions. Freeing yourself from routine admin or non-core work lets you concentrate on higher-value activities like research, strategy and decision-making.
Batching involves grouping similar activities — for example, doing all required phone calls in one session or setting aside a stretch of time for market research. Getting into the flow for one type of task reduces switching costs and increases efficiency, so you complete more in less time.
Use calendar blocks (a default diary) to mark focused periods, so receptionists or colleagues know to hold calls. Communicate your availability, schedule personal items like gym sessions in advance, and treat blocked time as you would any formal meeting to avoid being interrupted.
Assign different themes to different days — for instance, client or market-facing days, admin days, and business-development or research days. This approach reduces context-switching and ensures dedicated time for critical investment activities.
Learn to decline superfluous events and interruptions that don’t add value. Use your diary and blocked time to make saying no easier, and limit non-essential internet surfing by scheduling focused work periods and treating them as protected appointments.
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