You will always have too much to do. Here’s an easy way to figure out what’s important to you: what do you spend your time doing?

Now work will always take up a big part of your life as long as you have a 5 days a week, 8 hours (or more) a day schedule. But what you can do is figure out what you should be doing in the time allotted…in other words, manage your day instead of letting it manage you. What are the important things you must do versus what do you spend time doing? So, my lessons learned:

1. There are certain meetings I know I have to attend. I make sure I do…no exceptions. My team, my assistant know what those meetings are. Other meetings are less critical that I show up at: I make sure someone from my team is attending, and I might attend depending on whether or not I think I need to. You do not need to attend every meeting you are invited to.

2, Schedule the meetings you want to have: with your team (weekly), with your direct reports (weekly), with peers (monthly). Even if you end up cancelling them, at least you’ve booked the time and indicated it’s your desire to have these….otherwise, they won’t happen.

3. Emails: I have a confession: I don’t read all of the ones I get. I glance at emails before I leave for work, and I mark those critical ones I read “unread” if I need to doing something with them.

3. Claim the right to have time for the unplanned and unexpected. I learned this from a great consultant we worked with: he told us if we fill up our days we will for sure be overscheduled – you must have space for the unplanned.   My assistant starting doing this for me given the days of Outlook: she would block chunks of time in my calendar to let me “catch up”: get ready for the next meeting, look at emails, return calls, eat. That way you have “you” time scheduled in the day. Otherwise, it will get filled up…and you will be frazzled. I know senior people who always block out Friday afternoons to return calls, prepare for the following week.  If they do it, you can too.

4. Ask yourself if it’s necessary for you to do everything you are doing. I learned one simple lesson: outsource the admin work. I used to do my own expense reports. No more: I give it to my assistant. Remember, what you do defines your priorities.

5. You can’t say your friends and your family are most important if you spend no time with them. Make sure you spend time, show up to the important events, remember the important days.  It’s your behaviors and actions which will convey what you feel.