8.5
Time Management Considerations Before, During and After Every Meeting

We recommend blocking off 15 minutes on either side of every meeting you schedule. This extra time allows you to shift gears and completely finish the task before moving onto the next one.   

The 15 minutes before the meeting allows time to shift from your last task to the next one by gathering your thoughts, pulling out relevant documents or emails and jotting down a few of the key points you want to cover.    

In preparing for the meeting, you have created a place to take contemporaneous notes as the meeting progresses. Although you may need to go back after the meeting to fill in some details, making the notes as you go helps to ensure that you don’t miss anything.  

The 15 minutes after the meeting allows time for you to finish off the task by completing your contemporaneous notes for the file and/or following up with an email and/or providing instructions for next steps to your assistant and entering your time for the preparation, attendance and follow up after the meeting. It is most efficient if you can finish the task completely before moving on to the next. It also feels good as making this a habit will give you reassurance that you do not need to concern yourself with that task any longer.