Every Monday morning I have a scheduled meeting with the most important person to my success…myself.
This is not something I half-ass. It is a commitment that I take seriously. It’s in the calendar, and my team knows to respect it. I disconnect from the outside world and focus on what I need to do to get to where I want to go. Door shut, computer unhooked from the internet, phone on airplane mode.
My meeting agenda has changed over the years, but currently looks like this:
I begin by setting my goals for the week. What are the things that I need to accomplish this week to keep me on pace for hitting my long-term goals? These are focused on my long-term vision. These are my “above and beyond” projects.
Review All Task Folders. What are the things I need to get done this week that pertain to my responsibilities at work?
Review Ancillary Email Folders. I have “rules” set up that funnel a lot of my emails into various folders so that my inbox is leaner, and I am able to more effectively keep a handle on it. This is the time I set aside to check those folders.
Summarize last week’s meetings and file. I have improved my process on this and try to do this immediately following my meetings, but time does not always permit that luxury. This is my chance to catch up, and also refreshes my memory on any follow up needed, which is my next agenda item.
Follow up from last week’s meetings. If I made a promise during a meeting, be it to send a PDF version of a marketing slick or find an answer to a question that came up, I will do it by the end of the day. Occasionally, this isn’t in the cards, so I do it during this block of time. I also hand write Thank You cards when appropriate, and enter any new contacts into my makeshift CRM tool.
Update offices and AVPs on anything pertinent via emails, which won’t send until I reconnect.
Finish Narrative Report, plug back in, and send off.
After this, I take a deep breath, smile, and reenter the world with a vigor.
Monday afternoons, I set aside a block of time for prospecting and customer service calls. I’ll get into that process on another post!
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