Ever get those “Hey, can I pick your brain?” emails?

As a new ED, I never wanted to say no to these emails; I felt the pull to take every single meeting request. Meetings meant networking (and networking meant I was spreading the word about my organization). Much like they say “all news is good news,” I thought all meetings were good meetings.

One day, I was feeling pretty proud of myself for scheduling a few coffee meetings in one day. I set up at one coffee shop and readied myself for a productive afternoon. But after 5 meetings and 5 cups of coffee, I was a wreck. Completely jacked up on coffee and an entire day of precious time was gone.

That's when I knew I had to get smarter about how I viewed my calendar.

Your time is the most precious and valuable asset you have as an Executive Director and it’s easy to lose track of that time when you don’t have healthy boundaries around your calendar. It’s also easy to lose track of yourself: over the last year, 85% of workers say their well-being has declined as a result of not having a clear separation between work and life.

One of the best ways to take control of your weekly schedule is to take control of your calendar. Let’s start by making adjustments just one week at a time. I know, we all want our problems to go away this very instant. But you’ve got a lot on your plate as it is.

Here’s a breakdown of what taking control of your calendar might look like for you:

Week 1: Understand how you spend your time.

Taking stock of how you spend your time always feels like a waste of time, but it’s the foundation you need to get control of your calendar. So there are two things you need to do to understand how you spend your time:

1. Start time tracking.

To make sound decisions about how you’re going to plan your days, you first need to understand what you’re dealing with. How long does it take you to check your email? How many hours did your last newsletter take to create?

Here are a few ways you can start to understand how long tasks take to complete:

Using a free time tracking app like Toggl
Creating a quick Google Sheet (here are some free templates)
Going analog with a bullet journal or good old-fashioned pen and paper

Whichever method you choose, keep it simple and easy to access. Add a link to your bookmarks bar or keep your journal at your desk so you can easily track your time throughout the day.

When you’re first starting to track your time, you’ll start to realize how often you over and underestimate your time. (Oh, I thought that invite would take 20 minutes to design and write, but it actually took an hour). One trick to help you account for that gap: adjust your calendar as you go. At the end of the week, you’ll start to see patterns and can make choices about your calendar accordingly.

2. Notice how and when you get distracted.

Is your phone constantly buzzing? Do you hit the 2pm slump and hop into Instagram for just a minute only to find thirty minutes zooming by? Part of tracking your time is getting a sense of the things that distract you and pull you away from the deep work you need to be doing.

Listen, we all love some mindless scrolling every now and again, but there’s a time and place for distractions. And it’s not during the time you carved out to strategize your next fundraising campaign. Give yourself the space to take some scrolling and texting breaks. (And yes: that will ultimately mean putting it on the calendar).

Week 2: Plan your “no meeting” time.

Meetings take up SO MUCH TIME. I don’t know about you, but when I was an ED, it felt like my entire day was taken over by meetings. Whether it was in -person, on the phone, over Zoom. It was always meetings, meetings, meetings.

And guess what happens when you’re pulled from one meeting to the next?

Suddenly it’s Friday afternoon and:

None of this week’s goals have been met.
None of your priorities were touched.
None of your major donors were called.

Yet again you think: I’ll have to deal with this next week. Then by Monday, the cycle starts again. Nope, sorry. We do not have time for that.

Figure out when you DON’T want meetings and block those times off. Remember, you are in control of when and how often you schedule meetings.

Can you schedule a no-meeting day (or MORE) into your calendar every week?
What about a no-meeting morning here and there?

If I can help it, I for one prefer to keep meetings to Monday afternoons, Wednesdays and Thursdays. On those days with extra meetings, I don’t even bother with my to-do list. My only priority on meeting days is to be present and identify what will be added to my to-do list based on that meeting.

Determine what meeting times work for you and stick to it. Even better: start using Calendly to set allotted meeting times and make scheduling even easier.

Alright. You’re going to hate me for this next tip. But I’m going there:

Week 3: Put everything in your calendar.

Now, I’m a “go with the flow” kinda gal. Being rigid isn’t my default. But to get work done and be consistent with how I show up in the world, I DEPEND on my calendar. So when I say everything goes in the calendar, I mean EVERYTHING.

Start with your personal calendar:

How many times have you looked at the clock and realized Oops, it is THREE P.M. and I haven’t had lunch yet. Did I even eat breakfast?

Include a BUFFER in your schedule. Remember:

Your 10am coffee break
Lunch, snack times
Walking your dog in the afternoon
And don’t forget 10+ minutes of cushion around your meetings. (To do things like breathe or flip your notebook to the next page)

Dive into your work calendar

Put every single one of your tasks into your calendar—the projects and work that YOU will be doing yourself. If it’s not in your calendar (or your project management system) it’s as good as not done. Starting on a Friday or Monday (or whenever works for you), block off time throughout your upcoming week. Include things like:

Responding to emails
Creating an upcoming meeting agenda
Planning and marketing next month’s event

When you dedicate specific time slots to different projects, you’ll have more peace of mind that your work is going to get done. You won’t be pulled in a hundred directions by last-minute requests because you’ll know your priorities for the day. The best part about time blocking: you don’t start your day in a tizzy. Instead, your calendar tells you exactly where you need to focus your time and energy.

Week 4: Test and experiment.

You might find you learn something new about yourself every week from here on out. That’s just a part of the process, you’ll need to figure out what works for you. Tweak as needed.

One week, you might realize you never want to have a Monday morning meeting again. Don’t kick yourself for scheduling a Monday meeting (or not realizing how much you hate AM meetings sooner). Instead, block off next Monday morning to prevent it from happening again.

Another week, you might start to notice some patterns in your energy for work. You’ll recognize your creativity is zapped by Thursday, so next week you’ll shift admin tasks towards the end of the week.

Let your new process breathe and be kind to yourself as you figure out what works best. Your work process isn’t going to look the same as mine or your colleague’s—and that’s OKAY.

Hold your boundaries close (and your calendar closer).

Taking control of your calendar is such an important piece of finding balance in your work AND life. So give this 4-week challenge a “go” and let me know what you think.

How to take control of your calendar for good