This weekly twork* is part of our series to make work better together - get it direct to your inbox.
Have you ever had one of those days where your carefully planned schedule seems to explode into a whirlwind of unexpected meetings, urgent requests, and surprise emergencies?
The scenario: it's 9 AM, and you're sipping your coffee, ready to tackle your well-planned day, scheduled to within an inch of its life. Before you know it, the inevitable happens—something goes wrong. Slack, teams, mobile, and teams all start to light up and you’ve no idea where you are going to even try and tackle this in your already full diary. 📩📞 And just like that, your pristine schedule starts resembling a battlefield.
If you're a leader, a manager, or anyone juggling back-to-back meetings, you’ll know the feeling. Meetings upon meetings, leaving no room to even catch your breath—sound familiar? This week's twork* is focused on helping you out.
Let's talk about the Power Hour🦸♂️— the hero helping to manage the unexpected chaos of your day.
This week’s Twork*- Embrace the Power Hour - Your Daily Shield
Schedule one hour per day in your diary that is designated specifically for the unexpected.
Let the morning mist settle, the caffeine kick in and the sh!t shows commence. This hour needs to be in the afternoon because generally disasters don’t happen when you can neatly schedule them into the gaps in your diary. By scheduling the power hour in the afternoon, as things happen, you’ll be able to adapt flexibly. If you schedule it for early morning, as soon as something happens its gone and you’re playing catch-up for the rest of the day.
The Power of Consistency
Make the Power Hour a non-negotiable part of your daily routine. Whether it's a fire to put out or a sudden brainstorming session, this dedicated hour is your lifeline to maintain a semblance of order in your schedule.
And if you ever find yourself needing to reschedule your Power Hour due to an unavoidable appointment or a conflicting commitment: reschedule another Power Hour right after it. This way, you're ensuring that you always have that crucial hour on standby to handle the unexpected.
This hour takes discipline. Make sure it doesn’t become something that is regularly moveable or you won’t get the benefit. In particular for our leader readers the opportunity to convert this to open hours is an incredible way to make time for your teams outside of the regular schedule when oftentimes, they need it most (see below for open hours).
Beyond Chaos: The Hidden Benefits
Deep work (or even time to do actual work) - The Power Hour isn't just about surviving the chaos—it's about thriving amidst it! By having this daily safeguard, you're not only equipped to manage emergencies but also to indulge in deep work. 💼✍️ With a designated time to focus, you can dive into tasks that require your undivided attention, fostering productivity and efficiency.
Open hours: As a leader or manager many of your teams and colleagues would appreciate more of your time. If your power hour ends up being free time, turn it into an open hour, where anyone can join you to pick your brains, get advice, ask questions or get to know you.
This technique ensures that you have time for new team members, critical discussions, and those valuable one-on-one interactions when your teams and colleagues need your advice, council or input. For leaders and managers, being available to your team is essential, and the Power Hour helps you strike that balance.
Will you trial the Power Hour?
Our weekly tworks are all about experimentation. Experiment, find the ones that work for you and make work better one twork at a time.
There you have it, fellow work warriors! The Power Hour technique is your secret weapon to wrangle chaos, foster productivity, and strengthen your availability as a leader.
Try it out, experiment, and let us know how it goes!
*twork = tweak for better work
Let’s make work better together.
Michelle Wallace
Founder
A Better Work
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Let’s make work better together.
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