Bogged down by meetings? Sitting under a mountain of mail? Entranced by hundreds of e-mails? Thinking, "Beam me up!"? Probably the most oft-heard comment we hear from colleagues, clients, friends and neighbors is something to the effect of, "I wish there was more time in the day."

The problem we often see is that many individuals get whipped around during the day from crisis to crisis and, as a result, feel completely overwhelmed and out of control of their own schedule. Many people don't even review daily priorities at the start and finish of the day, reallocating time when unexpected priorities emerge. We at IVC have a time management tool that’s easy to implement and really works: Schedule a meeting with yourself to accomplish a specific task — even if that task is to relax over a long lunch. (Seriously.)

Think about it. You don’t hesitate to schedule time for other people and the agendas that are most important to them. Why not grant yourself the same respect and courtesy?

It’s as easy as this:

1 — Select the task(s) that you want to complete before a certain time or date. The first of these might be your start-of-day priority or "to-do" reviews.
2 — Calculate how much time you’ll need to accomplish it.
3 — Schedule a ‘set-in-stone’ meeting, complete with day and timeframe, to work on the task(s).
4 — Don't reschedule this meeting for anything or anyone (barring a true emergency). Treat it as the most important meeting you’ve got all day, week or month.
5 — Prepare for the meeting as you would any other:

- gather necessary information,
- inform staff members and colleagues that you’ll be in a meeting, or schedule yourself as unavailable on your group's scheduling software,
- reserve a room (even if it’s your own office),
- change your voicemail greeting to indicate that you’ll be in a meeting, and forward your telephone to voicemail, and
- ensure other priorities are taken care of beforehand.

6 — Attend your planning or to-do meeting.
7 — Debrief successes and upgrades.

This approach not only allows you to complete tasks and give them their due attention, but is a professional way to manage any anxiety, missed deadlines, stress or confusion you have.

Give it a try. We’re sure you’ll benefit from this experience-proven time management tool. For other practical time-creating tips and tools, read IVC’s time management tip sheet.