TJL #58: Manage your time proactively (Daily productivity #33)

Productivity tips that work for me and might work for you

Jan 21, 2021

Scoop: Keith Rabois leaving Khosla Ventures for Founders Fund - Axios

Today’s tip comes from Keith Rabois, a famous Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor: Manage your time proactively.

This is what Keith has to say about managing your time:

The calendar interfaces we use today actually exacerbate the problem of not optimizing your time. Most executives are entirely reactive to requests for their time and typically let anyone in the organization put meetings wherever they want on the calendar.
You should instead view your calendar as something you proactively manage and design. Each Sunday afternoon, write down your top 3 priorities for the week and design your calendar to spend 80%+ of your time on those priorities. You can leave some “leftover” time on your calendar to fill with the reactive requests.

In other words, manage your time and agenda proactively instead of reactively. Be proactive and schedule blocks of time for the things that matter most to you and the company.

How to manage your time proactively:

Sit and think about your top 3 priorities for this week
Proactively schedule 80% of your time to those priorities

That’s it!

I found this tip in the managers handbook, which is a great book on how to be a manager.

Previous TJLs

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Today Jan Learned

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