“The Cancellation Gradient”
What happens when a week goes to shit? Which meetings do you keep, which do you cancel, and what's the thought process behind each?
I'm a big fan of trade-offs. I believe time management is less about control and more about deliberately choosing what to prioritize, and then what to neglect. And you get no better indication of what your priorities actually are than on a bad week: everything is behind, an emergency has halted everything, the plan is gone. The order in which you cancel things is the most honest priority you own. Because names are important, O'm choosing to call it the "Cancellation Gradient."
If you've read my principles, you know I'm a believer in embracing your finite nature: accepting that you have limited time and limited energy, and cannot do everything. Oliver Burkeman wired that into me years ago. So instead of trying to optimize everything, the question becomes: how do we focus on what truly matters? How do we prioritize the activities and relationships that bring the most meaning in that moment, and drive the biggest results?
The biggest thing, when a week collapses, is to approach it consciously. If you are not in control of your time, someone or something else will be.
Here's how I approach my calendar, on good weeks and bad. I believe meetings should accomplish one of three things, with very few exceptions, and they should be non-recurring and time-constrained. A meeting should discuss something specific, teach something specific, or finish something specific.
So look at your calendar on a bad week — all the things you have to do, or perceive you have to do. Which meetings don't meet that criteria? And which of the survivors can move? Is there someone you have a close enough relationship with that they'd be fine pushing your coffee chat out a few weeks? A strong relationship is exactly the one that tolerates rescheduling (to a point. NOTE: Do not neglect your relationships). That's what makes it strong.
There's a prevention method too: time blocking, with enough slack built in that you can fill in the blanks as the week develops. Many of the most valuable meetings I have are meetings that were never scheduled — they happen because I protected enough time in my day to meet people on a whim. On a bad week, when you've lost control, those same blocks become invaluable. They're the shock absorbers. They're the cushion.
But there's one one other skill that so many people forget to practice (or are too afraid to practice): communicating that you're in a bind. On bad weeks, this comes in more handy than at any other time. If you can't tell your team, your leader, your clients that things have hit the fan, then you're going to deal with it alone. If you're transparent about it, vulnerable about it, you may find allies. You may find time. You may find people willing to push out their own priorities for you.
One more thing. Priority is a singular word. It was never meant to be an endless list. Priority is your thing — your one thing, your highlight. On a bad week, that highlight is not chosen by you; it's the thing that is loudest. On the Eisenhower matrix it would sit in the corner marked most urgent and most important. You don't get to pick it. But how you deal with everything around it — that's the gradient, and it's yours.
I've shown you how I run mine. I'd love to hear yours.
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Shameless plug: Not sure what your own cancellation gradient says about how your company runs? The fit-check takes two minutes, no email required.