How can you balance flexibility and structure in your time management strategy?

Going with the saying - schedule your priorities, rather than prioritising your schedule. The focus should be in the long term priorities, further broken down in to annual, monthly, weekly and daily activities However I would caution on leaving it completely to the priorities, having a disciplined time table for the day or week, will prevent you from going astray and make you come back to original point, in case things are not working out This is generally the result of imbalance in priorities. In Hindu scriptures there are 4 goals or priorty areas defined as dharm, arth, Kaam, moksh or Dharma, artha kaama, moksha (English) Dharm - complex concept - Duty Arth - material resources, money Kaam - pleasure, procreation Moksh - salvation, self

Consulting is an adventure. No two days, weeks, or months have the same contour. The best way to approach each day is to utilize an Eisenhower Matrix, a simple tool that allows the user to categorize, then execute according to DO, SCHEDULE, DELEGATE, DELETE methodology. The key to doing this is that 1. it will always change and shift, so active management is required, and 2. communication and collaboration are needed to ensure stakeholders are informed of your priorities and your expectations of them, especially the DELEGATE and DELETE categories. 3. all professional and developmental items should get on the matrix as there is no second matrix - once the units of time and space are used up, they aren't available!

Realistic plan means to schedule deliberately "empty" blocks that allow the flexibility. It means both the ability to be flexible to move things around to make room for important and urgent items and unplanned items that happen all the time. "Empty blocks" can be scary in the beginning. By default, consultants' schedule is driven by client demands and multiple projects at hand. Being realistic with the remainder of the time and not booking oneself back to back, - because they will get filled no matter what anyways - has been a learned skill that requires daily discipline and commitment, in my experience.

Implementing a flexible routine does not mean one must go with the flow. It means, prioritize your tasks, schedule your task list, and then leave some room to juggle and change things around. For everything super important research, I usually try to keep an hour extra on my schedule and for every meeting, I usually keep 15 mins extra to prepare and account for contingencies. This way I am on schedule and also flexible from time-to-time.

My workflow is fairly complex. Here are my software tools: Reclaim Calendar (you'll be surprised), Session App (I use a hybrid time blocking system), Timing App (measures my total time in each app), Fireflies Meeting. The Canary Email app, along with a Loupedeck for productivity. I use the Timing App to measure everything. If you use these tools and software correctly, you can save 8 hours each week.