Strategies for Time Management for High Achievers

"If I just work a few more hours..." "Maybe I should skip lunch today..." "I'll sleep when I'm done..." Sound familiar? These were the thoughts running through my client's head before burnout hit. 🚩 As a high achiever, they fell into the classic trap: Measuring their value by hours worked, not impact made. Here's what I tell my overwhelmed clients 👇 1. Energy Management > Time Management 🔋 • Your peak hours are worth 5x your tired hours • Block your best 2 hours for critical thinking • Save admin work for energy dips 2. Strategic Laziness Wins 🎯 • Automate repeated tasks • Template common responses • Build systems, not to-do lists • Ask: "Does this need to be done at all?" 3. Focus on Impact Metrics 📊 • Replace "hours worked" with "problems solved" • Track outcomes, not activity • Cut meetings that don't drive decisions 4. Recovery is Productivity 🔄 • Short breaks boost problem-solving by 42% • "Always on" = always underperforming • Rest is not a reward - it's a requirement The truth? Working harder is amateur advice. Working smarter is what professionals do. What's your best "work smarter" hack? Share below 👇 --- 🔔 Follow Sharon Grossman for more leadership strategies that actually work ♻️ Share this to help your network work smarter, not harder

As a founder or executive, it is easy to get lost among multiple fires, meetings, and competing priorities. One of the most impactful things you can do for yourself (and your team) is to set boundaries, guidelines and processes to make sure you are focused on the most impactful items throughout the day. This is easier said than done but below are few things that have helped me become more effective and may help you as well. 🙅🏽♀️ No meeting days: At Cocora.io we have no meetings on Monday and Wednesday as well as Friday afternoon. I learned this working with Alexander Torrenegra at Bunny Studio. In practice, this means we block our calendars and will only take meetings unless it is absolutely urgent and important. This gives us uninterrupted time for deep work. 💡 Know your focus patterns and plan accordingly: I do my best deep work in the mornings. That is why my calendar has no open slots in the morning. This allows me to work on things that require high concentration and finish them faster (and better) than if I had worked on them in the afternoon/evening. ✅ Write your priorities: The first thing I do in the morning is write down the 2-4 most important items I need to complete that day. I avoid working on other items unless they are more urgent and important than the items I wrote down ⚡️ Manage your energy: There are days when you can work for 16 hours straight and be highly productive. There are days when you are exhausted and will not be productive if you work for more than 8 hours straight. During those low energy days, you want to find ways to recharge or work on tasks that require less mental energy so you can recharge. It is better to work 8 hours at 90% effectiveness than 12 hours at 40% effectiveness. 🕰 Time audit: Monitor what you are spending your time on. This will not only let you see where you are spending more time than you should, it also serves to keep you accountable. #timemanagement #leadership #effectiveness #effectiveleadership

After 10 years I have officially parted ways. I just couldn’t do it anymore. It was mentally taxing. So, I figured it was time to say goodbye… To my to-do list. Earlier, I'd write down everything I had on my plate. But my list was never-ending. It gave me anxiety and followed me everywhere. Then my mentor opened my eyes. He said millionaires don't have to-do lists. They use time-boxing techniques instead. It is one of the best ways to boost productivity, as per the Harvard Business School. In 3 simple steps, you can learn it too: 1 → Brain Dumping: Jot down everything you'd normally put on your to-do list; 2 → Prioritizing: Pick the most important tasks to do for a successful day 3 → Timeboxing: Fix specific time block for tasks with the ‘result’ you wish to achieve after the time is over. For example, I need to: Workout,  Meditate,  Read,  Write content 1x week,  Review the work of my team,  Guide my sales team; Guide my marketing team; Approve payments above 5 lacs; Focus on big partnerships; Reply to emails; And some errands. Then I block time for every activity with the result that I wish to achieve in that time. For example, Say, 45 minutes for a workout with 300 repetitions involving 2 muscles. 1 hour of writing content with at least 5 pieces; Reply to all emails in 20 mins; Read 10 pages of a book in 10 mins; Meditate for 15 mins; Review and give feedback on a presentation in 15 mins; Guide sales and marketing team within 40 mins; And so on… The time limits create an urgency. And you must achieve the result within that time limit. I get more done in less time with utmost focus. I feel a sense of satisfaction ticking off each completed timebox on my list. Try it. You'll be amazed by your own productivity! Ironically, boxes like these are good to be in, no? Comment below with your thoughts on improving your efficiency. #productivity #timemanagement #improvement #tips #entrepreneurship

🚀 Maximizing Your Time: A Practical Guide for Professionals. Don’t want to read this? Listen to my attached video instead. 🕒 Time is our most valuable resource, and how we use it can make or break our success. As professionals, we juggle multiple tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities. So, how can we ensure we’re making the most of our precious hours? Here are some strategies: ⌛ Prioritize Ruthlessly: Not all tasks are created equal. Identify your high-impact activities—the ones that move the needle—and tackle them first. Delegate or eliminate low-value tasks that eat up your time. ⌚ Time Blocking: Imagine your day as a puzzle. Block out chunks of time for specific activities: client meetings, deep work, email management, and even breaks. Stick to these blocks religiously. ⩇:⩇⩇ The Pomodoro Technique: Work in focused bursts of 25 minutes (Pomodoros) followed by a 5-minute break. Rinse and repeat. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish without burnout. 【┘】 Say No Gracefully: Every “yes” to something is a “no” to something else. Be selective. Politely decline commitments that don’t align with your goals. 🗓️ Batch Similar Tasks: Group similar tasks together. Respond to emails in one go, make phone calls consecutively, and create content during a dedicated writing session. Context switching wastes time. 📆Automate and Delegate: Leverage technology to automate repetitive tasks. Delegate non-core activities to free up mental bandwidth. ∞ Reflect and Adjust: Weekly, assess how you spent your time. Did it align with your priorities? Adjust as needed. ☑️ Remember, time management isn’t about squeezing more into your day; it’s about making room for what truly matters. What’s your favorite time-saving hack? Share in the comments below! 👇 If you found this helpful, give it a thumbs up and share it with your network! Together, we can conquer the clock. ⏰🔥 #Productivity #TimeManagement #ProfessionalDevelopment #personaldevelopment #leadershipdevelopment

Most leaders get time management completely wrong. They fill their calendars with back-to-back meetings, thinking they're being "productive." After working with thousands of leaders, here's what actually works: The 20/80 Rule: → 20% Planning your time → 80% Protecting your time 5 non-negotiables I recommend: 1. Calendar blocking for strategic thinking Not just meetings. Block 2 hours daily for pure strategic work. 2. The "Power Hour" technique First hour: Most critical task No email. No Slack. No exceptions. 3. Delegation clarity matrix If it's not a "Hell Yes!" for you to do it personally → delegate it. Build systems to make delegation stick. 4. Impact-driven meetings Every meeting needs: • Clear desired outcome • Solid Issue solving • Firm time box • Immediate action items 5. Weekly reset ritual 90 minutes every week to: → Review what moved the needle → Clear the deck for next week → Adjust systems that aren't working The truth? Great executive time management isn't about doing more. It's about creating space for what matters most. ➕ Follow me, Mark O'Donnell, for more executive time management tips 🔁 Reshare to help another entrepreneur manage their time more effectively

Is your to-do list a mile long and your calendar packed wall-to-wall? These, feeling overwhelmed and time-starved are common. But what if I told you there's a way to reclaim control and buy back your precious minutes (and hours)? Here are 5 actionable tips to break free from the time crunch: 1. Time Audit: Become a detective! Track your activities for a few days to identify hidden time-suckers.  Are you spending hours on mindless emails or social media scrolling? Every minute counts! 2. Delegate & Outsource: You don't have to be a superhero. Delegate tasks that don't require your unique expertise. Consider hiring a virtual assistant, outsourcing errands, or leveraging technology to automate repetitive tasks. 3. Batch & Schedule: Multitasking is a myth! Batch similar tasks together (e.g., all emails at once) and schedule them in focused blocks. This minimizes context switching and boosts efficiency. 4. Set Boundaries: Protect your time fiercely! ️ Learn to politely decline requests that drain your energy or don't align with your priorities. Remember, saying "no" creates space for the "yes" that matter. 5. Prioritize ruthlessly: Not all tasks are created equal. Identify the high-impact activities that drive your goals and ruthlessly prioritize them. The rest can wait, or even be eliminated. Reclaiming your time is an ongoing process. But by implementing these tips, you can step off the hamster wheel and start living your life on your terms! What are YOUR best time-saving hacks? Share them in the comments below! #TimeManagementTips #ProductivityHacks #WorkLifeBalance #EfficiencyTips #PrioritizeYourTime

Save Your Prime Hours for Profit: The Time Management System for CRE’s Top Producers You schedule an afternoon full of "busy work". ☎️ Returning calls. 📧 Answering emails. 📝 Admin tasks. 🗓 Organizing your calendar. But when 3 PM rolls around, you get a call from a potential $5 million dollar client who wants to meet tomorrow. Should you decline? Reschedule lower-priority meetings? Try to wing it? Situations like this create chaos for rigid schedulers. But with strategic time management, it's no problem. Smart scheduling is simple: Reserve your prime hours for high-payoff activities. No matter what. You rank your tasks by $dollar$ value and time sensitivity. Meetings with huge commissions get scheduled first during peak energy hours. Admin work and lower-priority tasks get assigned to flexible windows later in the day. When the unexpected pops up, you swap lower-value items rather than scrambling. The key prospect call happens on time during your prime slot. Imagine what you could earn if your prime hours focused solely on meeting high-potential clients and doing deals. No interruptions, no admin work, no low-dollar busywork. Just convertible time spent on your absolute top moneymaking priorities day after day. Here are examples of activities to schedule during peak hours: - Calls, meetings and deadlines for top clients - Initial consultations with premium prospects - Site visits to priority properties - Strategic business planning - Personal development and training Prime hours spent this way allow commercial real estate brokers to consistently hit seven figures. Average performers mix low and high-dollar work all day. As one of our top producing clients shared with us: "Blocks of interruption-free time changed my business. Now I take calls based on dollar value to me, not who's on the phone." With defined time management, you'll make the most of every minute and watch your production soar. The difference between average and exponential is focus. Ensure your time gets invested in what matters most. You have more potential than you realize. Speak soon, Rod #commercialrealestate #timemanagement #CRESuccess

Parkinson’s Law suggests that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. This can lead to inefficiency as tasks take longer than necessary. To avoid this trap: 1. Set Strict Deadlines: Challenge yourself with tighter deadlines to enhance focus. 2. Break Tasks into Smaller Steps: Manage complexity by dividing tasks into clear, actionable parts. 3. Use Timers: Monitor time spent on tasks to maintain pace and stay on track. 4. Limit Distractions: Designate times for potential distractions to remain focused during work periods. 5. Evaluate Your Workload Regularly: Assess task complexity to allocate appropriate time for quality completion. 6. Prioritize Tasks: Tackle high-priority items first to ensure significant tasks are completed efficiently. 7. Reflect on Your Efficiency: Review your accomplishments and strategize for increased efficiency in the future. 8. Hold Yourself Accountable: Share your goals with others or create an accountability system to enforce your deadlines. 9. Balance Quality with Efficiency: Aim for a productive workflow that does not compromise the quality of outcomes. Conscious time management and intentional work habits are crucial to avoiding the Parkinson’s Law trap. How do you currently manage your time to stay productive, and which of these strategies might you implement to further avoid the Parkinson’s Law trap?

You’re an ambitious person. And it can feel like you NEED to optimize ever little detail of life. But that’s actually making you less productive… So here’s why and Three tips to help you to fix it. When you optimize every detail, you’re forgetting two important things. 1. You have a finite amount of time and energy - Focusing on overly small details is time and energy you could’ve put towards big wins. Learn to let small bad things happen so good BIG things can happen. 2. You’re getting diminishing returns - Focusing on the format of your upcoming presentation. That’s a good use of time. But agonizing over if your title should be Navy blue or ocean blue... Probably not as useful. Every hour you spend on a task, you're getting less output for the time you’re inputting. You want to learn to maximize the output from your time and energy input. That’s how you’ll get the best results in life. So here are a 3 tips to help you do that. 1. Take your priorities. Rank them from highest to lowest - The lower on your list something is, the less time you should spend optimizing it. EG investing time into a BIG presentation VS deciding if you should order grilled chicken or chicken thighs at dinner. 2. Before you jump into action, decide what “good enough” looks like. Know what areas you can compromise on and still deliver results. EG If my website users can get the info they need from my website, and the layout is straight forward. Does it really matter what font I use? You can come back to this when you get free time, but you should focus on bigger things at first like driving traffic and getting customer feedback. 3. Keep redefining your definition of good enough - As a high achiever, it’s easy to hold yourself to incredibly high standards. But a lot of these details matter more in your head than they do in reality. Practice letting small things slide and watch yourself get MORE work done overall. TL;DR 1. Know your priorities - This’ll help you be proactive with how you spend your time, not reactive. 2. Decide what good enough looks like ahead of time. Don’t worry what others will think (there’ll always be haters). Just decide what will get you your desired results (you can always improve things later on) 3. Practice letting small things slide. This is how you’ll have the time and energy to accomplish big things.

My lessons in time management from running a 2-person company with >30 corporate clients: It was only when I started my first company that I TRULY understood the importance of time management. I was running sales, product design, customer support, marketing and finance. If I didn’t get things done each day, our company did not move forward. Good time management helped me achieve our goals and stay sane (most of the time). The research supports this too - according to a Stanford University report, good time management makes you more likely to achieve your goals and have lower stress levels. Here is my simple formula for WHAT, WHEN and HOW to get the important things done: First, deciding WHAT to work on… You need a system for prioritizing. You will always have more tasks than you can do.  I like these three frameworks because they are simple: 1/ 80 / 20 Rule 2/ ABCDE Method 3/ Eisenhower Matrix You only need one. Try one for a week, and if it doesn’t work, try another. I do a version of 80/20 where I look at my life and ask myself: “In 1 month’s time, what are the 1-3 things that I will regret not making progress on?” This could be getting a new job or improving relationships with your partner or friends. It means some things will fall by the wayside (e.g., life admin), and your life may be unbalanced for a while. That imbalance is 1) not permanent and 2) the price to pay for achieving your goals. Now, WHEN to work… I recommend doing these 3 things: 1/ Identify and use your most productive hours effectively ↳ This means if you have a 9-5 job and are a morning person and you want to change job, you should get up 1-2 hours earlier and use that time to work on your dream.  ↳ Yes it sucks. But less than doing your current job forever :). 2/ Work in time blocks ↳ 2-hours for each block is ideal. ↳ Context switching kills your concentration and energy. 3/ Batch together similar tasks ↳ Try to do all your calls in one batch and all your small tasks in another, etc. Then finally my take on HOW to work effectively: 1/ Break work into 25-min sprints.  ↳ Leave the timer in front of you to create urgency and pull you back when you get distracted. 2/ Give yourself a goal for each sprint.  ↳ Again helps to create urgency. 3/ Use caffeine  ↳ Matcha for me. Yerba mate tea is also great! Try to avoid within 10 hours of bedtime. 4/ Keep your phone away from you ↳ And use app blockers on your computer. 5/ Get good quality, consistent sleep ↳ Good sleep -> good focus. 6/ Reflect and review ↳ Write down what worked and what didn’t and repeat! If you ask an 80-year-old what they would give for more time, their answer is everything. Don’t let yours fly by. P.S. What is your top tip for mastering your time? --- ♻️ Repost this to help your network become top performers. 📌 Want a high-resolution PDF of this? 1. Just follow me Will McTighe 2. Sign up for my free Level Up Community at lnkd.in/gKzZUq-b