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In my coaching, I pride myself on helping clients get to the root of their issues, instead of offering Band-Aid solutions. At the same time, Ive found that sometimes people are so overwhelmed with all they have to do that they have difficulty making time for the deeper reflective thought that coaching requires. In these situations, I offer some quick and easy-to-implement best practices to help reduce their sense of overwhelm. Managing your work calendar effectively is one of the most crucial steps toward feeling more in control of your professional life. When your calendar is well-organized, it reduces stress, increases productivity, and ensures that you are focusing on the tasks that truly matter. However, its easy to feel overwhelmed by back-to-back meetings, constant demands on your time, and the struggle to find space for deep work. Heres how you can regain control of your work calendar with practical tips and strategies that can be implemented right away: {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/03\/acupofambition_logo.jpg","headline":"A Cup of Ambition","description":"A biweekly newsletter for high-achieving moms who value having a meaningful career and being an involved parent, by Jessica Wilen. To learn more visit acupofambition.substack.com.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/acupofambition.substack.com","colorTheme":"salmon","redirectUrl":""}} Set clear priorities Before diving into calendar management, it’s important to set clear priorities. Your calendar should reflect your key objectives, goals, and valuesnot just the urgent requests that come your way. Start by identifying your top priorities for the week, month, and quarter. These could include project milestones, professional development, or key meetings with stakeholders. Set clear priorities Time blocking is a powerful technique where you divide your day into blocks of time dedicated to specific tasks or activities. This method helps you focus on one task at a time, reducing the mental clutter that comes from multitasking. It also ensures that you allocate time to all aspects of your work, including deep work, meetings, and administrative tasks. Learn to say no One of the biggest challenges in calendar management is learning to say no. Its easy to accept every meeting request that comes your way, but this often leads to a crowded calendar with little time for meaningful work. Protecting your time is essential to maintaining control over your schedule. Use the two-minute rule The two-minute rule, popularized by David Allen in his book Getting Things Done, suggests that if a task can be completed in two minutes or less, you should do it immediately. This rule helps prevent your to-do list from becoming cluttered with minor tasks and ensures that these small items dont take up unnecessary space on your calendar. Leverage technology Modern calendar tools offer a range of features that can help you manage your time more effectively. From scheduling assistants that find the best meeting times to integration with task management apps, these tools can significantly reduce the time you spend organizing your calendar. Batch similar tasks Batching similar tasks together is a technique that can improve your efficiency and focus. For example, if you need to make multiple phone calls, schedule them back-to-back rather than scattering them throughout the day. This minimizes the mental switch costs associated with jumping between different types of tasks. Create buffer time Buffer time between meetings and tasks is essential for maintaining flexibility and preventing burnout. It gives you a moment to regroup, reflect, or handle any unexpected issues that arise during the day. Without buffer time, your day can feel rushed, and you may find yourself running late from one meeting to the next. Review and reflect Effective calendar management requires regular review and adjustment. At the end of each week, take a few minutes to reflect on how well your calendar worked for you. Did you manage to stick to your time blocks? Were there meetings that could have been shorter or avoided? Use these insights to make adjustments for the following week. Delegate and outsource If youre constantly overwhelmed by tasks, it might be time to delegate or outsource some of them. Delegating responsibilities to others not only frees up your time but also empowers your team members to take on more responsibility. (For more on how to delegate effectively, see here.) {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/03\/acupofambition_logo.jpg","headline":"A Cup of Ambition","description":"A biweekly newsletter for high-achieving moms who value having a meaningful career and being an involved parent, by Jessica Wilen. To learn more visit acupofambition.substack.com.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/acupofambition.substack.com","colorTheme":"salmon","redirectUrl":""}}
Category:
E-Commerce
Young volunteers who respond to natural disasters and help with community projects across the U.S. have been discharged as a result of the Trump administration ‘s campaign to shrink government workforce and services. AmeriCorpss National Civilian Community Corps informed volunteers Tuesday that they would exit the program early due to programmatic circumstances beyond your control, according to an email obtained by the Associated Press. More than 2,000 people ages 18 to 26 serve for nearly a year, according to the programs website, and get assigned to projects with nonprofits and community organizations or the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It celebrated its 30th year last year. The volunteers are especially visible after natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Helene last year. The organization said on social media last month that teams have served eight million service hours on nearly 3,400 disaster projects since 1999. Jordan Kinsler, 23, has worked with FEMA Corps for the past nine months, traveling from Minnesota communities impacted by floods to ones in North Carolina touched by Helene. He and his team were on their final project at FEMA headquarters in Washington when they got word Tuesday that they wouldn’t be able to finish. Kinsler, who is from Long Island, New York, said they packed that night and left Wednesday morning for their home base in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Kinsler said he’s proud of the work he’s done and had hoped to apply for a permanent position. To have this ripped right from us at the very end, it felt insulting,” he said. The AP sent an email Wednesday seeking comment from AmeriCorps. Funding for AmeriCorps and NCCC has long been included when there are talks in Congress of budget trims. The federal agencys budget showed NCCC funding amounted to nearly $38 million last fiscal year. The unsigned memo to members said NCCC’s ability to sustain program operations was impacted by new operational parameters laid out by the Trump administration’s priorities and President Donald Trump’s executive order creating the Department of Government Efficiency. Members, who receive a living allowance and have basic expenses covered, would be paid through the end of April, according to the memo. The program also provides members who complete their 1,700-hour service term with funding for future education expenses or to apply to certain student loans. That benefit was worth about $7,300 this service year. The memo stated that those who have completed 15% or more of their term would be eligible for a prorated amount, but those that have completed less would not be eligible. Theres always been bipartisan support of NCCCand bipartisan criticism, said Kate Raftery, who was NCCC director from 2011 to 2014. Raftery said the abrupt departure of these service teams would have lasting damage both on the NCCC members who were gaining education and launching careers as well as the organizations that depend on them and the neighborhoods where they served. It was a very unique mixture of incredible heartbreak and incredible rage, outrage, Raftery said of her reaction to the news. The two were battling themselves most of the day. Bud Maynard, mayor of Vinton, Iowa, which is home to a regional NCCC campus, said the program has been without a doubt, a blessing for Vinton and celebrated the opportunity to host hundreds of people over the years with an unmatched passion and selflessness to want to help others. “All of Vinton should never forget what a great program, filled with great people, this has been for not only Vinton but every community that benefited from their mission, Maynard said in a statement Wednesday. Hannah Fingerhut, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
A major Burger King franchisee with dozens of locations has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Consolidated Burger Holdings, based in Destin, Florida, filed the court documents this week in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida. The franchisee now operates 57 Burger King restaurants in Florida and Georgia, after it reportedly closed 18 locations before its Chapter 11 filing. “Over the past several years, and particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Debtors business suffered significantly from loss of foot traffic, resulting in declining revenue without proportionate decreases in rental obligations, debt service, and other liabilities,” Consolidated Burger said in the filing. The documents also cited “significant hurdles resulting from industry headwinds,” resulting in financial turbulence for the franchisee. According to the documents, sales plummeted in the past two fiscal years. In 2023, the franchisee documented $76.6 million in sales and a net operating loss of $6.3 million. Last year, sales were down to $67 million with an amplified operating loss of $12.5 million. Consolidated Burger plans to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and has been seeking a buyer. It listed assets at $78 million in the court documents.It’s unmistakably a tough time for restaurant franchisees, between rising food costs, as well as higher labor costs and slower foot trafficand that’s before restaurant owners begin to feel the impact of Trump’s tariffs. To get more customers in the door, fast food chains have been offering budget meal deals: Last year, Burger King launched a $5 meal deal promotion, similar to one McDonald’s was running.Still, on the whole, Burger King’s sales have been moving in the right direction. According to QSR, which monitors data on quick serve restaurants, the Burger King chain itself outperformed its peers in Q4 with a 1.5% increase in same-store sales compared to 1.2% increase among competitors.Last year, Burger King’s parent company, Restaurant Brands International (RBI), dumped more money into its ambitious restaurant remodeling plans for locations in the U.S. and Canada. RBI also bought Burger Kings largest U.S. franchisee, Carrols Restaurant Group, for $1 billion to expedite the process. RBI said it planned to spend about $2.2 billion on the remodels, and said that by 2028, 85% to 90% of its roughly 7,000 restaurants will be upgraded. At the time, Burger King U.S. President Tom Curtis told CNBC about the investment, saying, It was the first time in a long time that RBI had invested a significant amount of capital back into the business to coinvest with franchisees.” Curtis continued, I think the process was, Lets see how this works . . . and were seeing early results on remodels.
Category:
E-Commerce
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