Here's how you can eliminate common time-wasting habits as an executive.

If something will take two minutes, do it now. Too often, executives push off small tasks to the point of ridiculousness. It takes 6 weeks to complete a two minute task.

To eliminate common time-wasting habits as an executive, focus on strategies like setting clear priorities, avoiding unnecessary meetings, checking emails less frequently, delegating effectively, and using automation tools to streamline tasks. Prioritize tasks that align with strategic goals, limit distractions, and empower your team to take ownership of their responsibilities to maximize productivity and efficiency.

Often it is called time management, yet what we are doing is managing priorities. I would first recommend taking a paradigm shift and realising that it is the priorities you are looking to align with your day. From there I would recommend keeping a journal or log of your days for at least a week to gain a greater understanding of what is taking up your time. From there you can begin to plan out your priorities in order of their importance.

In my role as an executive, prioritizing tasks has been a game-changer. Early in my career, I often found myself overwhelmed with a seemingly endless to-do list. I started using a method where I categorized tasks based on their urgency and importance. By focusing on the top priorities first, I was able to tackle the most critical issues and leave less important tasks for later. This approach not only improved my productivity but also reduced stress significantly.

The simple answer is: Focus is the key to success. As an executive, you must eliminate time-wasting habits, prioritize tasks, delegate effectively, limit multitasking, set clear goals, schedule regular breaks, minimize distractions, automate repetitive tasks, use technology wisely, say no to non-essential commitments, and reflect on time usage regularly. Efficient time management boosts productivity and ensures you focus on crucial responsibilities.

Short tip. As one for myself here, I ensure, neither I do gossip at workplace, nor I let others do in front of me.. lot of time Saving with hardly any loss.

Limiting interruptions has been another crucial strategy for me. I used to have an open-door policy, which led to constant interruptions throughout the day. Realizing how much this affected my focus, I set specific "quiet hours" where I turned off notifications and asked my team to minimize non-urgent interruptions. This change allowed me to dedicate uninterrupted time to important tasks, leading to better concentration and more effective work.

Many of my coaching clients struggle with being pulled into venting sessions, which often turn into unproductive complaining. This not only wastes time but also leaves everyone feeling frustrated — which likely leads to more wasted time even after the conversation has ended. In coaching, we work on framing these discussions: acknowledge feelings without diving into the story. Instead, focus on the core issue and steer the conversation towards solutions. This keeps everyone centered and fosters positive team relationships. Remember, being present doesn’t mean absorbing complaints—it means guiding towards constructive outcomes.

Establish Boundaries: Communicate your availability to your team and set specific times for meetings and open-door hours. Use Technology Wisely: Turn off non-essential notifications and use tools like Do Not Disturb mode to maintain focus. Schedule Quiet Time: Dedicate periods for uninterrupted work, informing colleagues in advance to minimize disruptions. Create a Conducive Environment: Arrange your workspace to reduce noise and other potential distractions.

I've always been a believer that if you can handle something in 60 minutes, you can likely get it done in 45. The same goes for 30-minute meetings—why not wrap them up in 20? The trick is having a clear agenda, sticking to it, and moving on as soon as you hit your goals. By doing this, you could theoretically save 15 minutes in up to 8 meetings a day, adding up to an extra 10 hours per week. That's quite a bit of time you can reclaim! So, let's make a habit out of setting shorter meetings—skip those hour-long sessions and go for something more efficient.

Making your meetings productive is really crucial when it comes to eliminating time-wasting habits. Here are a few tips to help you out: 1. Set Clear Goals: Know why you're meeting and what you want to achieve. Share an agenda beforehand. 2. Invite the Essentials: Only bring in people who really need to be there. Smaller group, better focus. 3. Stick to Time: Assign specific times for each topic and stick to them. No overruns! 4. Prep Work: Make sure everyone reviews materials beforehand. Saves time explaining. 5. Follow Up: Send a quick summary and action items after the meeting. Keeps everyone on track. Hope this helps!

I recommend three key tools for effective meeting management. First, calculate the "price" of the meeting by estimating the hourly salary of each attendee and determining the total cost in work hours. Is the discussion worth that expense? Second, set an agenda with estimated times for each item, distribute it in advance, and stick to it — this keeps everyone engaged from start to finish and limits time overruns. Lastly, always start meetings on time. Punctual attendees will appreciate it, and latecomers can catch up on their own.

Revisit the purpose and effectiveness of your standing meetings. There's a good bet that you'll be able to find efficiencies that can put more time back on your calendar. We often hold meetings as a matter of habit when there are many situations where a Slack message, an email, or a short video (Loom for example) would suffice. The time lost in a meeting isn't simply the 30 or 60 minutes blocked on your calendar. It's the wind down and wind up to get other important tasks done. It's all time that kills your productivity. When you do have a necessary meeting, use an agenda and end with clear next steps for accountability.

Some basic hygiene for effective meeting is towards the end, summarize what decisions have been made, what actions are identified and who are taking what actions, what follow up is needed by when, etc. Ensure these are recorded and make a point to revisit them during the next week to check on progress.

Effective delegation leaders to increased productivity. Ideally a manager should endeavour to delegate upto 50 percent of his tasks to subordinates/ team members. He can utilise this time for thinking, planning and developing his team members. A manager will be able to delegate well if he starts trusting his team members, starts having confidence in them and together the manager and his team work towards betterment of the organisation.

I have found that delegation intentionally can be a super power. It takes practice and a release for the need of perfection. However when done strategically, this frees up time to address tasks that require your expertise. Delegation also gives team members a chance to innovate and bring their own perspectives and skill to organizational tasks. These can be invaluable additions to work and solutions overall.

Effective delegation has been a powerful tool in my executive toolkit. I used to handle too many tasks myself, thinking it was easier than delegating. However, I soon realized this was not sustainable. I began to identify tasks that could be delegated and trained my team to take on these responsibilities. This not only freed up my time to focus on strategic issues but also empowered my team and helped them grow in their roles.

Assess Your Workload: Review your tasks and identify which can be delegated. Focus on routine, time-consuming, or less critical tasks that others can handle. Match Tasks to Skills: Assign tasks to team members whose skills and expertise align with the requirements. This ensures the tasks are completed efficiently and to a high standard.

Additionally, providing feedback and recognizing achievements when delegating can boost morale and ensure continuous improvement. This fosters a supportive environment where team members feel valued and motivated to excel. Delegation is not just about task distribution, but also about building a strong, capable team.

Here are a few nuances to help you strike a balance between thorough analysis and timely action: Timebox deliberation: Set deadlines for each decision-making step to avoid getting caught in endless contemplation. Time constraints nudge you towards focusing on what's truly essential. Prioritize information: Be selective in the data you collect and analyze. Avoid falling into the 'analysis paralysis' trap by keeping it straightforward. Embrace "good enough": Perfection is a mirage. Aim for optimal choices that achieve desired outcomes without unnecessary delays. Trust your intuition: Combine analytical reasoning with your instincts. Instinctive judgment can be surprisingly accurate.

Streamlining decisions involves making the decision-making process more efficient, reducing delays, and enhancing the quality of outcomes. Define Goals: Clearly outline the goals and objectives that the decision needs to achieve. This helps in evaluating options against specific criteria. Establish Guidelines: Create a set of guidelines or a decision matrix to assess options based on factors such as cost, time, impact, and feasibility. Prioritize Factors: Rank the importance of each factor to ensure decisions are aligned with strategic priorities.

One of the tools that I use/ recommend to help with regular reflection is "Time Log". This tool captures your spend of time in detail and helps you gain clarity on your usage of time. Once you use Time Log for few weeks, you could analyse the information to identify the patterns and triggers. The patterns help to identify the repetitive unwanted tasks and triggers highlight the reason(s) behind doing those tasks. It's easier to address the time-wasters and gain control of your time once you get to know about the tasks that are eating your time and what's prompting you to do them. A time log can help you in making proper adjustments to your approach, whether through better prioritization, managing distractions or aligning to body clock.

Journaling can be a great way to make note of how you are spending your time, and record how you feel and your energy level while doing some the tasks. Pattern will start to emerge over time and it offers great insight about your work habit, what energizes you, and what drains you.

To eliminate common time-wasting habits as an executive, I would suggest the following top 3: a) Prioritize Relentlessly b) Minimize Distractions c) Delegate Effectively Remember, it's not about managing time—it's about managing yourself within the time you have. By focusing on these three areas, you can start to eliminate time-wasting habits and become more effective in your role as an executive.

Be thoughtful about how you schedule your day. Consider your energy levels. At what times of the day do you have the most energy and do your best work? Also consider when others need you the most during the day. Schedule your most important work when your energy levels are highest and when demands from others are lowest, or at least not at a peak. For me, this tends to be early mornings. Meetings have not yet begun and emails are not at a high level. It's quiet, and I can think, plan, and complete high-priority tasks without interruption.

The clearest way to eliminate time-wasting tasks is to get completely clear on what you are trying to achieve. When you truly believe what you are trying to create, everything else becomes background noise. Then, identify the one thing to create progress or test how to make progress, and then accept that you can spend your time on whatever else you want. Give yourself some grace. Progress takes time, and as long as you're making some, you should enjoy your life. If you are truly trying to stop doing a certain time-waster then you need to curate an environment where it's easier to avoid. Such as, deleting instagram if you can't get off of it. Change your environment to change your life.

Consider managing your energy vs managing your time. Scheduling tasks at times of day depending on your chronotype can make a big difference. If you are a morning person you might considering scheduling certain meetings or problem solving activities in that time as an example. This ensures you are performing most of your tasks at the optimal energy level required for that unique and specific task, reducing opportunities for distraction and procrastination.