Posted by on Feb 1, 2011 in Strategy | 4 comments

There are some days I feel a bit overwhelmed as I look at my calendar first thing in the morning.  Back to back meetings all day long, with barely a break for lunch generate revenue for Roundpeg, but are they really the best use of my time?
In  a recent blog post Patty Azzarello writing for Liz Strauss argues that the way to really win is to be “less busy”  As a leader you need to find time to step back, look at the big picture and plan.  She advocates:

Refuse to burn all your time up on things that are not so important. Trust that giving yourself time to think will help you find ways to deliver higher value business outcomes, and get the right work done in less time.

In the last few months I have tried to follow Patty’s advice and bring more planning time into my days.  It is not easy, because someone always wants you to do something, but I am making progress.  I have learned to block out time, scheduling appointments with myself to do just that.  I miss some of the networking events I have given up, because the busy routine was familiar.  But taking the time to plan, forcing my team to take some of that time as well is starting to pay off.  We each have a clearer picture of  what we need to do to grow the business, our processes are more organized, and we are more productive.

Do you take time to plan?  If you want to grow your business, you need to!

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  • http://www.slaughterdevelopment.com/ Robby Slaughter

    There’s a huge difference between being busy and being productive. Or as George Ballanchine explains: “Never confuse activity with progress.”

    I think the danger is not having enough *buffered time* scheduled to process and plan. By this, I mean it’s much more powerful to have an entire 8-hour day with no appointments than it is to have eight, 1-hour segments reserved for strategic thinking.

    Productivity is more than just what you accomplish, it’s also about how you feel about what you accomplish. Structure your time to maximize progress and give yourself space to explore.

  • http://www.roundpeg.biz Lorraine

    I think it is a matter of style. Maybe it is my ADD, but the idea of 8 hours focused on any one thing sounds awful. I like the one or two hour windows. Beyond that, I get distracted and don’t find the time as productive. The exception? Long plane flights and car trips. That is one thing I miss from my corporate days. I loved long plane flights to think, write and plan… maybe I need to take a trip, preferably somewhere warm..

  • http://www.dougrotman.com Doug Rotman

    Great thoughts, Lorraine! I love that the weather has opened some time up for thinking, but yes, need to schedule more big picture time in on a regular basis. Do you feel your business is better off for giving up the networking events you miss attending?

  • http://profiles.google.com/lorraine.roundpeg Lorraine Ball

    A year later, I have few networking events on my calendar, and more time in the office actually getting work done.  Looking back, this was the right thing to do a year ago.