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Scheduling Extra Time To Change Activities

Have you ever had the experience of scrambling into a meeting only to find that you could have been a real contributor if you only had five minutes to prepare? Or even worse, that with a few more minutes of prep time, that you could have cut your meeting time in half or maybe even finished the project?  I’ve had both experiences, and I suspect you probably have too. Interestingly enough, one of those experiences was last week, just before heading out to a meeting in Chicago.

It was 5:00pm last Wednesday. I was studying with my friend Will when I realized I had 2.5 hours until my 7:30pm dinner. I knew I had to leave the classroom by 7:00pm to make it.  But after an interesting couple of hours chatting, blogging and and finalizing a M&A project for class, time flew by, and somehow it was 7:00pm. But I thought to myself, “since I’m usually pretty good at getting around quickly, I’d be fine.” So I kept working.  7:00pm, 7:05pm, 7:10pm,  boy was I being productive. I had just put up a post on my website, saved a new version of my paper, and sent off a few important emails. I was getting a lot done. Well everything but one thing, making sure I was ready for my next appointment.

“Oh no!” I thought as I jumped out of my seat. It was 7:12pm, and I hadn’t even figured out what I’d do with my things. By now, it was too late take them home. But I told myself, “I’ll catch up by a few minutes if I take my stuff downstairs instead.” But that wasn’t the case either. I still had to pack up,  figure out how to stuff all my stuff into my locker, and make decisions about what to keep with me.  Before I knew it, it was 7:25pm, and I hadn’t even left yet.

Fortunately luck was on my side that night. And right before scrambling out the door, I checked my email on my G1, and turned out my counter part sent a note telling me that he was going to be a couple of minutes behind. “Phew” I took a sigh of relief. I was saved. So I sent a reply email, mentioned I was on my way but that I’d come late as well, and so I scrambled to finish packing my things and began walking over.

But once again, time flew by faster than I thought. It was already 7:35pm, so instead of taking a nice relaxing down Michigan Avenue, I had to jump in a cab and pay $5 for less than a miles ride.  As short as the drive was, there was still a bit more to my journey. We hit a few lights on Michigan Avenue, got stuck in a traffic jam for a minute or two, and the driver was one of the slowest I’d ever seen. Fortunately, this was just a friendly dinner, so it wasn’t really a big deal.

So instead of getting unnerved, instead I took the time to come up with a few cool topics for dinner, and I appreciated the time to get some AC because I had rushing around for the past twenty minutes.  And perhaps more importantly, it was there in the cab, that I had the epiphany that I’m writing about now. That transition time is very important and that making more time to do that often pays off.

And in the end, I found two things interesting. One, despite the fact that my friend was arriving late, he still beat me to dinner. Second, another five or ten minutes would have been critical in making it on time, or at least given me time to do some thinking and brainstorming. But instead I pushed the limits back in the classroom.

Here’s my point. I think that this story here is pretty common for a lot of us, especially for those who lead hectic lives in business school and law school.  In business school, student calendars are jam-packed, booked with events, meetings, classes, and recruiting sessions among other things. In law school, there is so much work to do that each minute becomes more and more precious.  So in hopes to be efficient and get everything done, many of us work until the last possible second before hurrying over to the next appointment, leaving too little time to prepare for the next session.

But for many of us, allocating more transition time would probably be helpful.  At work, it gives us time to come up with more questions, think about the bigger picture, identify issues that need addressed, and formulate our plans, which ultimately will be better for our careers. At least that’s been my experience. And socially, it gives us time to come up with better conversation topics, think about ways to have a better time, and keeps us from showing up late or in a frantic hurry to avoid being late.

In on recent example, last week I had a phone chat with the partner of a law firm in D.C.  Although, my day was pretty busy overall, I blocked out a bit of time to do research and write a few notes before the talk. It was a good call. My decision resulted in a really enjoyable conversation, making a good impression on the partner, and a “quick chat” that ended up going for more than an hour. And in the end, blocking out time can end up being really rewarding.

Going forward, leaders in the new age will face more complex challenges and more diverse issues than ever before. As the world becomes more global and technology increases the pace of business, it’s important that we still take time to not stay caught up in the hustle but to reflect on what’s ahead, remembering that preparation is sometimes critical to our success.

That’s because the best leaders are asked not only to show up and be a participant at meetings, but they’re also called to step up and deliver results during meetings. Leaders can’t always depend on an ability to catch up quickly to get things done. Instead the best leaders are able to understand the issues and come up with a framework ahead of time.  And in the end, they’ll be able to collaborate more effectively and inspire others along the way.