Decline Meetings...
Heya.
Welcome to 2023.
Pause. Take a moment and reflect on that. He we are :-).
If you are a first time reader, welcome (and subscribe to get notified once a week -- usually on Thursday -- of my next free edition for you).
If you are a long timer subscriber (OK... so not super long so far but hey it's a regular practice for me to write this so you can read it -- and comment on the ideas to share with others), welcome back.
Remember, the idea of this little newsletter nudge is not to become a complete slacker (although you can do that once in a while of course), but to figure out and share how both you and I can get better by actually doing less.
The Problem:?My Calendar Is PACKED
This week, imagine you and I are just hanging out together.
You decide where, when, and what we are up to.
ME: "Hey, how are you?"
YOU: "I am just getting back from my PTO and feel completely overwhelmed looking at my calendar today."
Not you?
Cool... share your ideas how you keep from doing this in the comments.
Everyone else...
The Actionable Tip: Decline Meetings
As you are getting back into the swing of things for the start of 2023 (or whenever you are reading this), you may be looking at your calendar and thinking:
"WTF are all these meetings on my calendar FOR anyway?!?"
If you have accepted a bunch of meetings (even those recurring ones that may actually just be "ghost" calendar entries at this point), start taking a look at your upcoming commitments over the next couple of weeks and see if there are any meetings you can just respond NO to, DECLINE, or just DELETE.
领英推荐
Hold on.
Say NO? Decline a Meeting? Delete a meeting?
Yep.
Especially if you are the originator (it's easy to do that if you are the creator or originator of it). Trust me, people will thank you (even if they don't say it in their outside voice).
So.
What can you do with all this new "free time"?
Take a look at the idea and concept I use to BLOCK TIME for myself (which in turn is super valuable for me, my clients, and life in general).
And yes, you can come up with excuses to NOT decline or delete meetings (especially those pesky recurring meetings).
Adult up and buckle up.
Go.
Your Next Step...
Think about the problem I've described and my actionable tip above.
Here is the part where?I need YOU contribute YOUR actionable tip?for others who are reading this short article....
Please share ONE actionable tip in the comments below about what benefits -- or bad things -- you have experienced by declining calendar invites.
Go do some calendar meeting hygiene (++ rinse and repeat often).
Thank you.
Michael Vizdos
Interim & Fractional Executive / Sales Leadership
2 年Great topic and comments, Michael Vizdos. Totally agree. I am a fan and implementer of the "BLOCK TIME" approach. If I don't block time for things as basic as lunch, it will get occupied.
I was never a fan of meetings for a multitude of reasons. Most notably the topic could have been dealt with more efficiently without one. So if meeting are failing in the 'group think' category does this also mean that 'team think' is also prone to the same issues?
My simple rule of thumb is this: If there is no agenda/purpose included with the invite, I respond to the meeting as declined, with the explanation that I need to know why the meeting is important and how I can possibly provide value. If I don't show up and am really needed, someone will find me and ask me to join. Otherwise, I have time in my day to focus on things that matter.