The majority of businesspeople are drowning in meetings – staff meetings, review meetings, planning meetings, etc….

The majority of businesspeople are inundated with distractions – colleagues stopping by open offices, a tidal wave of E-Mail, the allure of Facebook and web surfing.

The majority of businesspeople multi-task throughout their day – flitting from one issue or emergency to another…

As a result, the majority of businesspeople struggle to get done what they most need to get done. They just do not have the opportunity to create a solid block of time to work on their most important tasks.

How to solve this issue?

Simple, schedule more meetings.

What?!?

Think about it. If you have a one hour minute meeting at 9:00 am:

1. You do not schedule other activities during that time
   
2. You receive and then follow an agenda
   
3. You arrive at 9:00 am
   
4. You turn off your smartphone and do not respond to E-Mail, surf the Internet, or answer the phone
   
5. You pay (at least nominally) attention
   
6. You stay until the meeting is concluded (even if it stretches to 10:15 am)
   
7. You determine assignments and tasks and perhaps schedule a follow-up meeting
   

To get done the important things that you need to get done, try the same tactic with yourself:

1. Schedule a one hour meeting with yourself and put it on your calendar.
   
2. Create an agenda consisting of the most important task that you need to complete.
   
3. Turn off your smartphone and shut down your work E-Mail during your meeting.
   
4. Start the meeting promptly.
   
5. Do not answer the phone during the meeting.
   
6. Shut your office door (if you have one) or tell anyone that you cannot talk until the hour is out.
   
7. Focus only on the tasks on the agenda; do nothing else!!
   
8. Conclude the meeting on time.
   
9. Determine assignments and schedule an appropriate follow-up meeting (with yourself).
   

Just scheduling and attending three one hour meetings with yourself a week will lead to a significant boost in your productivity. Yes, you will be unavailable to others during that time. But, it is only for one hour.

More importantly, by scheduling these meetings and only working on what is on the agenda you will force yourself to do that important task that you likely do not want to work on and thus have been procrastinating for several weeks. You will quickly get the task done, freeing yourself from the angst of having that task hanging over your head and giving yourself free rein to work on that next most important task.

In today’s distraction and interruption charged world, scheduling a meeting with yourself to work on your most important task for a solid (uninterrupted and undistracted) block of time is essential to getting the right things done and critical to your success.