Scheduling Time For Yourself At Work
I see this way too often. It aches my heart. It's unbelievable how frequently we let others control our lives. Especially at work. Especially as an early in career. Whether it's with friends, family, co-workers, or random things that pop up, I constantly notice how people lose control of their time. There's many aspects to this dilemma but today I want to focus on how to have control of your work schedule.
You can NOT be in two places at once: so don't!
I'm going to start with the basics: You simply cannot be in two places at once. There's only one of you and to be completely frank - your time should be valued highly no matter what stage of life you're in. That being said, I constantly hear my peers talk about how they're double booked on the calendar and then will try to attend both meetings. I face this on a daily basis too. During busy season, it's pretty often where I get double, even triple booked. The first month of my new role, I let it happen and I'd try to be at both places or get updates from each meeting but that just resulted in a faster burnout. A month in, I realized that wasn't a very sufficient model and now - I decline meetings on the spot. If I can't make it or already have a prior commitment scheduled, I automatically decline it letting them know why. Even if the meeting is high priority, I ask them to reschedule it, because me, myself, and I am an even higher priority.
Lunch time
Another common trend I've seen with coworkers is forgetting to eat. The busy-ness of the job either makes them lose track of time forgetting to eat lunch or keep them from even getting time to step out to grab a bite. It's astonishing how people forget to intake the main thing that gives them energy. I encourage you to block an hour everyday for lunch. Try not to accept any invites during this time. This period is slotted for you and you only. Grab a bite, eat a snack, watch a cartoon, relax a bit before you get back into it. Try this out for a week and you'll instantly be more productive coming back with a full stomach. I have a scheduled blocked out time to from 11AM-12PM for lunch.
Email time
How many emails do you get a day? a couple? 10s? 100s? 1000s!?! For me, it's somewhere in between. Before I implemented the technique I'm about to share with you, I used to keep my outlook open nonstop and sift through emails as they came through. It got so distracting, I couldn't focus on my task at hand. Now, I have two 30-minute time slots built into my daily schedule (one in the morning, one in the afternoon) to go over emails. I use this time to check, reply, and delete any emails that came in since the last time I opened the email application. It's saved me an incredible amount of time and allows me to stay focused on what's at hand in the current moment. I want you to try the same!
Overall, I want you as a working individual to learn to say no and stick to what's important (hint: that's you! you're important!)