How to have a great day at work: Conquer calendar creep

In her regular column, business founder and wellness expert Nicola Elliott looks at one thing we can all do that will make our nine-to-five feel happier and healthier

Breaking out of the habit of sticking to familiar tasks can be a key step in the journey to the perfect work mindset (Getty)

We’re living in a time-pressured culture and, unfortunately, many of us have seen colleagues (or ourselves) associate being busy at work with achievement and subsequently sometimes suffer from burnout because of it.

When 10,000 senior leaders were asked in a recent management survey: “What is key to your company’s success?” 97 per cent of them said “long-term strategic thinking” ie: asking the right questions for perspective and thinking through actions with laser-like focus for maximum impact. So it is quite ironic then that, in a different study, 96 per cent of senior leaders said the one thing they need more of, but don’t have time for is... strategic thinking.

The average professional has 62 meetings per week. Add to that the fact that McKinsey reports that 28 per cent of a professional’s working day is spent just replying to emails, not to mention the relentless Slack messages which are thrown at us like rocks during any given day, and you can see how squeezed for time many of us are.

How can we then adjust our day so we manage to have the time we need to do our jobs and not fall into behaviours that don’t give us the space that is required to do them properly?

It’s not as easy as you think. Because while so much of this “busyness” takes us further away from our core work purpose, it also makes us feel important and validated. Research from Columbia University shows that never having enough time has now become a form of status; “I’m so busy’ equals ‘I’m important, I’m in demand’.” and that is a hard feeling for humans to give up.

It all makes sense when you consider that we are also hardwired for certainty. So when we’re given a work task that we may not know exactly how to fulfil (ie: increase sales by 20 per cent) in the absence of knowing how to achieve that, we feel more comfortable just doubling down and keeping on doing “more” of what we do know. Keeping occupied removes the uncertainty in our brains and it also stops the harder questions from coming – am I in the right job? Do I know what I’m doing? Am I driving in the right direction? In other words, being constantly busy “off-task” can anesthetise against all of the above. In itself, it can become the success we crave.

But real freedom and success in the workplace happens when you have the confidence to step outside of the “doing” and start making conscious decisions to control your time and stop the doom loop of calendar creep. Successful business leaders are time-efficient, allowing them to tackle core tasks which means they are more effective at producing tangible results.

Some practical suggestions. Firstly meetings – ask yourself if you really need to attend. Over half of regular meetings are topics that, with hindsight, we agree could have been a quick phone call or even a message. Another great tip I’ve learnt is if you can’t write a meeting invitation with an actionable verb, it’s not a meeting, it’s a chat.

For example, a review isn’t a meeting – a review is something you send out on a paper and discuss when all parties have read for 15 minutes. All meetings should have a clear purpose and agenda. Also, keep meetings small, research shows that 5-8 people are optimum for decision making.

Shorter meetings are an obvious action – 30 to 40 minutes gives people the time to digest the information and figure out next steps. And be confident to say no to other people’s meetings. Ask yourself “is my opinion absolutely vital to the outcome?” If not, don’t go – this will stop doubling and tripling up. Be confident in your decision by flipping your thinking from “‘I may offend someone’ to ‘I don’t want to waste their time’.”

Finally, schedule two hours minimum for protected time every day to work on your own projects. This will help you to avoid “faux” busyness and deliver the results that really matter to the business you are in. It will also help you conquer “overwhelm” and experience momentum which is key to feeling positive and effective.

Also, do an email schedule, so only check your emails at appointed times during the day, this will focus your mind and stop the constant back and forth meaning you will stay on-task. You’ll have to resist old patterns of being, but you will quickly see how more efficient you are. And nobody is going to complain when you have a clearer head and they have time out of their calendars to boot.

Nicola Elliott is the founder of NEOM, and her book, ‘The Four Ways to Wellbeing: Better Sleep. Less Stress. More Energy. Mood Boost’, is published by Penguin Life