Gatekeeping Your Time

Our time is precious and nonrenewable. We need to protect and respect it as the treasure that it is. When we’ve got ambitious goals, evolving teams, and ever-growing to-do lists, it seems like there is never enough time. That feeling is a fallacy - it is evidence that something must change or give. 

I like to take the approach that there is always enough time for what truly matters. Learning to understand how to gatekeep my time in a way that supported this philosophy has become a valuable skill set in pushing goals forward without missing out on other opportunities. 

Understand Your Goals (thoroughly) and Relate Your Tasks 

Daily and weekly priorities are meaningless if they are not relevant to our individual, team, or business goals. The reason SMART goals and other goal frameworks are important in goal setting is that it forces us to think through the action items needed to achieve these goals. 

Our tasks should be focused on achieving our goals. Using an Eisenhower Matrix or other priority-setting tool can help in understanding what exactly requires your attention.

Create a Routine In Your Time Blocking

Knowing what tasks need to be completed is part of the puzzle. Knowing when to complete these tasks contributes to our focus and motivation which ultimately affects our productivity. Use your calendar to time block when specific projects, tasks, or meetings should be taking place. For instance, specific days of the week or month can be no-meeting days. You can also specify if you only want to book team or client check-ins during certain hours of the day. 

I only accept networking meetings on certain days of the week. I also time block RPA time on my calendar - this is when I work on revenue-generating activities. Because this is a high priority for me, I do not allow other meetings or tasks to affect these time blocks. 

Have A Weekly (or daily) Check In Time

Level up your time blocking by carving out time to check in with yourself. I refer to this as a Zero Out and Zero In Routine. This is a time to zero in on goals, initiatives, and high-priority items while zeroing out overdue items or low-hanging fruit. Incorporating this type of routine helps to keep things organized in your systems, and honestly in your mind. 

I add to this by trying to keep the first 30 minutes of my day meeting or project free. I allocate this time to miscellaneous things! This is an unstructured time for me. While this sounds counterintuitive, it allows me to knock out things that may distract me the rest of the day. For instance, I sometimes wake up to urgent emails or randomly remember something that didn’t get done while drinking my morning coffee. I give myself this 30-minute grace period to take care of these types of tasks so that they aren’t in the back of my mind during other meetings or focus times. 

Leverage Do Not Disturb Settings

Let your phone say no to you. If you have an iPhone, you can create different types of “Focus” settings. For instance, a Sleep Focus is programmed to dim your lock screen and mute notifications during sleep hours. You can create other focuses that align with your time-blocking routines. 

Sometimes, a simple “Do Not Disturb” focus that mutes all notifications suffices. I also use what I call a Project Focus that softens notifications from texts, calls, and emails but allows Slack notifications to appear. This lets me stay on top of urgent needs for my teams. I also use an After Work Focus that automatically turns on at 5:30 pm. This mutes notifications from all my work apps so that I can better focus on my family.