PAs play a vital role in keeping their boss’s calendar updated and their schedule on track. To do this, they need to carefully plan their own activities. The boss needs to trust that the PA is on top of everything that needs to be done. That’s a lot of pressure – especially as it’s highly likely you’ve got other work to do too. 

Excellent diary management is about balancing time and activities in the calendar, ensuring that there aren’t any conflicts, overwork, or wasted opportunities. Here are 5 top tips from Hour Hands based on our years of experience with managing our own diaries and those of our own bosses aka our clients.

How to be an excellent time manager and unbelievably productive yourself

EAs – executive assistants – and PAs – personal assistants can easily struggle with the challenge of balancing two diaries and two workloads and with managing regular interruptions, priority changes, and often, conflicting demands on their time. 

This can be magnified if an assistant is working for multiple executives or clients, making it hard to know where to focus time and prioritise.  We understand – but we also have great ways of dealing with the situation. 

1. Zap the interruptions

We love taking on lots of projects and working with different clients – it’s why we work at Hour Hands after all! Our number 1 tip is to minimise interruptions as much as possible.  We’re quite tough about this so we say no to people that call us up to sell us things and we all understand if a colleague says that they can’t talk at the moment so they can complete a task. 

Another great tip used by one of our team is to put on the headphones. Headphones on means don’t talk to me at the moment, I have a task to do.

2. We take regular breaks

It’s not possible – or healthy – to sit at the desk all day. Yes, you may be powering through the work but we can guarantee that it’s not a long term solution and at some point – probably lunchtime of day three – you’ll crash and burn, either mentally or physically. Taking breaks gives you a chance to relax, refresh and reset ready for the next set of tasks.

3. We love a list

Whether you prefer to write things down or use a digital tool, don’t try to keep everything in your head. You will forget something at some point, and you will be more stressed as you know that you can’t afford to forget things. A list is like a safety net – and it will help keep you focused – and also focus on that important attribute of paying attention to the details.

4. We love technology

Using online calendars and task lists that can be found on most devices, we schedule, set reminders and use all the available tools to make our lives easier. If you also love tech, have a look around at some of the fantastic tools available to make your life easier, including tools that turn your handwritten notes into task lists.

5. Prioritising the workload

It’s pretty much impossible to enjoy every task you have to do but the trick is to do every task well and not put off the really complex or not-so-interesting tasks. Plan a certain time in your diary each week – we recommend a different time each week so you don’t dread Tuesday afternoons, for example. Get these tasks completed and shift them off your to-do list. There are lots of tools you can use too that help you work out which tasks are the most important, try the Eisenhower Matrix, for example.

6. We say no a lot (but not to clients!)

You can’t do everything. Related to the above point about prioritisation and remember your main role is likely to be to manage your boss’s calendar and support them with fulfilling their role. Concentrate on those actions first and then see what time is leftover to do other things. Your boss will be happy and you’ll feel good about doing your job well. But remember, a key attribute to a PA/EA is the ability to be flexible so we don’t recommend saying no to your boss, rather looking at how you can flex to make things work.

Can the Hour Hands team help?

Calendar management and scheduling is often thought of as a simple task that doesn’t require specific training but there really are tips and tricks to help you. However, if you simply have too many tasks to be completed and just don’t have time, you could consider outsourcing some tasks to us. Add us to your contacts list if you need help with any aspect of your business from bookkeeping to acting as a virtual PA. Or if you need help with one off tasks such as developing a business plan, organising a team recognition event, or if you simply need a ‘helping hand’ with a task or three. 

If you think that we can help – or if you’d like to talk about it and find out – fill in the contact form or give us a call. We’re always on hand and happy to help!