Improve Yourself: Set Aside “Proactive Time” for Important Projects

When it comes to our to-do lists, many of us prioritize checking off tasks that are easiest to complete or are due first, regardless of importance. The result?

• Some important tasks never get done. Managers can help employees by having them set aside proactive time for work that is important but not urgent.
• Ask them to block time on their calendar each week. For these periods to be effective, they must be distraction-free:

• Shut off email, Slack, and your phone. While it might be tempting to answer a quick request from a client, this sense of being "always-on" negatively affects productivity. In my experience, the fact of disabling email alerts and notifications improves productivity by fifty percent.
• Survey your team to gauge interest, or try a six-week experiment to learn how much time you should block off, or which days work best.

Sure employees could do this for themselves, but having a manager makes clear that proactive time is important sets the expectation for focused work, and prevents critical projects from falling through the cracks.

Sources: "Getting your Team to do More than meet deadlines" by Charlotte Blank