Handling Urgent Tasks

I've tried 100s of time management techniques.  This is by far my favourite: I used to work 80 hrs/week and call it "productive." When really I was: - Attending pointless meetings - Fighting countless small fires - Being involved in every decision Now I work less than 70% the time and get 4x as much done. The Eisenhower Matrix helped me get there.  It teaches you to categorise tasks by importance and urgency. Here's how it works: 1. Do It Now (Urgent + Important) Examples: - Finalise pitch deck before investor meeting tomorrow. - Fix website crash during peak customer traffic. - Respond to press interview request before deadline. Best Practices: - Attack these tasks first each morning with full focus. - Set a strict deadline so urgency fuels execution. 2. Schedule It (Important + Not Urgent) Examples: - Plan quarterly strategy session with leadership team. - Map long-term hiring plan for next 18 months. - Build a personal brand content system for LinkedIn. Best Practices: - Protect time blocks in advance. Never leave them floating. - Tie them to measurable outcomes, not vague intentions. 3. Delegate It (Urgent + Not Important) Examples: - Handle inbound customer service queries this week. - Organise travel logistics for upcoming conference. - Update CRM with latest sales call notes. Best Practices: - Build playbooks so your team executes without confusion. - Delegate with deadlines to avoid wasting time. 4. Eliminate It (Not Urgent + Not Important) Examples: - Tweak logo colour palette again for fun. - Attend generic networking events with no ICP fit. - Review endless “best productivity tools” articles. Best Practices: - Audit weekly. Cut anything that doesn’t compound long-term. - Replace low-value busywork with rest, thinking, or selling. If you are always reacting to what feels urgent,   You'll never focus on what matters. Attend to the tasks in quadrant 1 efficiently,  Then spend 60-70% of your time in quadrant 2.    That's work that actually builds your business. Which quadrant are you spending too much time in right now?  Drop your thoughts in the comments. My newsletter, Step By Step, breaks down more frameworks like this. It's designed to help you build smarter without burning out. 200k+ builders use it to develop better systems. Join them here:  https://lnkd.in/eUTCQTWb ♻️ Repost this to help other founders manage their time.  And follow Chris Donnelly for more on building and running businesses. 

Time-to-resolution is one of the most important metrics you aren’t tracking. For years, data and AI teams have operated under the belief that more testing would deliver more trust. But data trust isn’t predicated on the number of tests you write or even the number of issues you detect– It’s predicated on the number of issues you resolve. There are essentially four steps to a useful incident management process: - Define your critical data products and create monitors - Define accountability model - Define your communication plan: the right message, to the right team, at the right time ( ie, incident owner, dependent teams, consumers; effective escalation and delegation, etc) - Accelerate your process with useful automation Data and AI trust will always be downstream of your incident management process. And how quickly you can resolve an issue after detection is one of the single greatest signals that your process is performing efficiently. Monte Carlo’s new Troubleshooting Agent is a strong example of a tool that can help teams accelerate their time-to-resolution at scale. It tests hundreds of different hypotheses across your tables to understand why each break happens (whether it was an issue in the data, the system, the code, or the model output itself), and what you can do to resolve it quickly. This process leverages dozens of subagents investigating in parallel, and while it only takes a couple of minutes to complete, it can reduce the average time to resolution by 80% or more. How do you reduce time-to-resolution? What are you learning? Let me know in the comments!

Time blocking fills a calendar. Time allocation fulfills a vision. I learned that the hard way. Years ago, I was “blocking time” like crazy. Recruiting blocks. Call blocks. Follow-up blocks. I had a calendar full of good intentions. But here’s the truth: I rarely honored those blocks. If a meeting ran long, I’d move the block. If I was tired, I’d skip it. If something urgent came up, I’d erase it altogether. Blocking time gave me the illusion of progress. But it wasn’t moving me closer to my vision. Everything changed when I started allocating time instead of blocking it. Allocation is different. It’s a commitment you make in advance before the moment arrives, that says, “This is happening, no matter what.” For a recruiting leader, that’s everything. Because without allocated time: Vision is always out in the future. Recruiting never becomes a daily standard. Growth always stays “someday.” When you allocate time, you’re building a system you can trust: Affirmation allocation → Every conversation starts with affirmation. Vision allocation → Time set aside to refine and share where you’re going. Value allocation → Weekly moments to deliver something useful. Relationship allocation → Time to connect over coffee, lunch, or events. Objection allocation → Practice responses before the moment, not during it. Social allocation → Show up online with consistent posts and engagement. Follow-up allocation → Daily rhythm that ensures no one slips through the cracks. This isn’t about perfect schedules. It’s about standards. Most leaders block time. Few leaders allocate it. And that’s why few leaders ever fulfill their vision.

It’s not my usual article day, but I couldn’t wait to share this one. Why? Because I know so many of you are feeling the same: overwhelmed by endless tasks, struggling to keep up with everything that demands your attention. So let’s talk TIME. Master Time, Master Success: Proven Strategies for Leaders Here’s the deal: Time is the ultimate equalizer. We all get 24 hours. That’s it. But what separates the truly successful from the overwhelmed? How you manage those hours... 👇 Here’s a sneak peek at the top strategies from this week’s article: 1️⃣ Ruthlessly Prioritize Ask yourself: What are the top 5 things that will move the needle this year? Then, focus 95% of your time on those 5. If it’s not one of those five? Delegate or cut it. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Focus is a force multiplier. The tighter your focus, the bigger your results. 2️⃣ Stop Death by Meeting Before you schedule or attend another meeting, ask: Does this meeting have a clear purpose tied to a critical decision? If not, cancel it. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Meetings without purpose are really distractions in disguise. 3️⃣ Master Calendar Clarity Start with a clean slate. Rebuild your calendar with INTENTION—deep work, high-priority meetings, and most importantly, time to think. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: A cluttered calendar = a cluttered mind. 4️⃣ Time Block for Deep Work You’re a leader, not a micromanager. Block off 1-2 hours a day for undistracted work on the big challenges. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Deep work isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity. 5️⃣ Make Well-Being Non-Negotiable High-performing leaders aren’t just good at their jobs—they’re good at life. Schedule time to recharge...skip the slow burn. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Peak productivity comes from balance. 6️⃣ Audit Your Collaboration Time Be ruthless with your time—collaboration should be about solving problems or making decisions. Everything else? Skip it. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Collaboration is only productive when it drives results. 7️⃣ Delegate Like a Pro Let it go. If its not vision, strategy, or leadership? It belongs on someone else’s plate. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Your job is to empower, not control. 8️⃣ Track Your Time, Own Your Day For one week, track every minute. Where’s your time going, really? Once you know, you can fix it. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Time is your most valuable asset. Own it, don’t let it own you. 9️⃣ Batch Similar Tasks Together Stop multitasking—it’s a myth. Group similar tasks and handle them in focused blocks to boost efficiency. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Switching between tasks kills productivity. Batching is the answer. 1️⃣0️⃣ Reflect & Adjust Each week, take a few minutes to reflect: What worked? What didn’t? Then tweak your approach for the next week. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Time management isn’t static. It’s a process that needs refining. 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁.

Support teams face constant pressure to resolve cases faster without overloading engineering. For one Glean customer, valuable resources were tied up in avoidable tickets, MTTR (mean time to resolution) hovered at nearly two days, and agents spent hours manually triaging cases. Their goal: boost self-solves, improve MTTR, and reduce R&D reliance – without adding more tools. So they embedded Glean in Zendesk, giving agents prompts to quickly gather knowledge across all company data. In triage, agents use Glean to find similar tickets, summarize runbooks and past Jira investigations, and compile clear updates for customers or well-packaged escalations. That streamlined process now drives faster resolutions, smoother knowledge transfer, and consistent workflows—leading to: • 34% increase in self-solves with more future automation planned - this is incredible progress • 24% faster MTTR (1.9 → 1.5 days) • 2–4 hours saved per week for 85% of users (13–26 business days/year) • Reduced R&D involvement in lower-tier tickets By streamlining resolutions, knowledge transfer, and process consistency, the team achieved remarkable results – proof of what’s possible when AI is embedded into everyday workflows. Stories like this are energizing – showing how teams are using Glean to reimagine what they can accomplish.

Time is what we want most, but what we use worst. Years ago, I thought time management was: ↳ Making to-do lists, ↳ Planning everything on a schedule, ↳ And still not getting everything done. But I learned the hard way: It’s not about doing more, it’s about doing it right. Here are 12 game-changing strategies: (that truly transformed my productivity) 1/ Anti-To-Do List: Track what not to do (low-value tasks or habits that waste time). 2/ The Rule of Three: Instead of endless task lists, set just 3 key priorities per day. 3/ Time-Stamped Planning: Estimate time for each task, so your schedule isn’t just a wish list. 4/ Switching Tax Awareness: Switching between tasks can cost up to 40% of your productivity—minimize it. 5/ Waiting Time Hack: Use waiting in line or commuting for micro-tasks (replying to emails or listening to audiobooks). 6/ 90-Min Deep Work Cycle: Your brain works best in 90-minute focus sprints followed by breaks. 7/ Day Theming: Assign specific tasks to certain days (e.g., Mondays for planning, Fridays for networking). 8/ Set Hard Stops: Decide when work must end to prevent overworking and force efficiency. 9/ Productive Boredom: Allow quiet time for creative thinking (no phone, no music). 10/ Just Start Rule: When procrastinating, commit to just 2 minutes of a task—momentum usually follows. 11/ Multiplier Tasks: Some tasks (automating a workflow or hiring the right person) save you time forever. 12/ Manage Energy, Not Just Time: Track when you’re naturally most focused and schedule deep work. Time is the only resource you can’t get back. Manage it wisely. ♻️ Share this with your network. ☝️ For more valuable insights, follow me, Victoria Repa.

Most teams fix problems. Few build systems that prevent them. Problem-solving isn’t about throwing tools at symptoms. It’s about choosing the right framework for the job and using it with precision. After 20+ years building fintechs and scaling operations across 3 continents, I’ve learned this: ➟ Teams that scale fast don’t rely on guesswork. ➟ They rely on repeatable decision systems. Here are 13 frameworks that separate reactivity from real resolution: 𝟭. 𝗣𝗗𝗖𝗔 → Build, test, refine in cycles 𝟮. 𝗗𝗠𝗔𝗜𝗖 → Fix process at the root 𝟯. 𝗖𝗜𝗥𝗖𝗟𝗘𝗦 → Structure product decisions 𝟰. 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗼 → Solve the 20% that cause 80% of chaos 𝟱. 𝗥𝗖𝗔 → Go beyond symptoms 𝟲. 𝗦𝗪𝗢𝗧 → Analyze from all sides 𝟳. 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗝𝗮𝗺 → Solve in under an hour 𝟴. 𝗢𝗢𝗗𝗔 → Adapt faster than the context 𝟵. 𝗞𝗲𝗽𝗻𝗲𝗿-𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗲 → Decide with logic, not noise 𝟭𝟬. 𝟴𝗗 → Solve recurring problems cross-functionally 𝟭𝟭. 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗭 → Invent beyond the obvious 𝟭𝟮. 𝗦𝗖𝗤𝗔 → Communicate with clarity under pressure 𝟭𝟯. 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲 → Visualize root causes in one shot Problem-solving isn’t a soft skill. It’s an operating advantage. 📌 Save this for your next offsite, sprint, or product review. ♻️ Repost to raise the bar on how teams solve what matters. 🔔 Follow Nadir Ali for strategy, leadership & productivity insights.

You don't have a time problem.  You have a decision problem. Here is the difference: Busy people react to their day. Productive people decide it before it even starts. You do not need more hours. You need to stop letting the loudest task win. Here are 15 of the top methods to master your time and decisions. Pick what fits best: 🔸 When you need pure focus: Pomodoro Technique:  » 25 minutes on. 5 off. » One task. Full attention. No exceptions. 🔹 When everything feels urgent: Eisenhower Matrix:  » Sort by urgency AND importance. » Do, schedule, delegate, or delete. That is it. 🔸 When your list feels overwhelming: ABCDE Method:  » Label every task A through E. » Only A's get done first. Everything else waits. 🔹 When you need a full day structure: 3-3-3 Method:  » 3 hours deep work. » 3 short tasks. 3 things to maintain. 🔸 When quick tasks pile up: 2 Minute Rule: » If it takes under 2 minutes do it right now.  » Stop letting it stack. 🔹 When you are wasting effort: 80/20 Method:  » 20% of your work drives 80% of your results.  » Find that 20%. 🔸 When you need a big win: Eat the Frog:  » Do your hardest task first. » Everything after it feels easy. 🔹 When your head will not stop: Getting Things Done: » Capture everything out of your head. » Clarify it. Organize it. Then act on it. 🔸 When work piles up on your team: Kanban Board:  » Three columns. » To do. Doing. Done. See it move. 🔹 When context switching kills you: Task Batching:  » Group similar work together. » Your brain stays in one gear longer. 🔸 When you do too much yourself: Warren Buffett 5/25 Rule:  » Write your top 25 goals. » Focus on 5. Avoid the other 20 completely. 🔹 When projects feel chaotic: MSCW Method:  » Must have. Should have. Could have. Will not have.  » Decide now. 🔸 When meetings eat your day: Time Blocking:  » Give every hour a job. » Guard those blocks like they are appointments. 🔹 When tasks keep getting dropped: 1-3-5 Method:  » One big task. Three medium. Five small.  » Every single day. 🔸 When everything feels like a priority: Pickle Jar Method:  » Big rocks first. Small stuff fills the gaps.  » Not the reverse. The best time managers are not the ones who do the most. They are the ones who decided what not to do and had the discipline to mean it. 🎁 Want PDFs of my top infographics + growth tools? 👉 Go Here: https://lnkd.in/g2xbnwhp ______________________ 📚 Join my free workshop to build digital products that sell over and over. ➡️ Save your seat: https://lnkd.in/gNc9zSx6 Please repost to help others out there! ♻️

The best people in any team don’t waste time pointing fingers. They focus on fixing the fire - then making sure it never happens again. Let me show you what I mean. Last month, a few students messaged our support team saying they couldn’t access their course videos right after purchasing. The issue? A glitch during payment confirmation. The system marked them as paid, but the course wasn't assigned. Now imagine two people jumping in. Person A starts with: “Who set up the payment flow?” “Wasn’t this flagged before?” “This shouldn’t have gone live like this.” Person B starts with: “Let’s manually assign the course for now.” “How many students are affected? Let's fix them now.” “Can we write a quick script to patch the cases while engineering investigates?” Same situation. Different starting point. The second approach didn’t ignore the root cause. They just knew when to solve and when to reflect. Later that week, they debugged the trigger logic and helped product prioritize a permanent fix. No drama. No blame. Just fast fixes, followed by long-term improvements. That’s the skill I rate very highly. The ability to walk into chaos and calmly say, “Let’s fix this now, and make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Whether you're in sales, ops, product, or support - this mindset transforms how teams move. #ProblemSolving #SolutionOriented #ProcessThinking #Startups #OperationalExcellence #FixFirstReflectNext

𝗗𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 3𝘅 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄? In my work with leaders, I discovered 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 that were secretly sabotaging their team's performance: 1. 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀: Teams were experiencing cascading issues that went undetected for months, creating massive hidden inefficiencies. 2. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘃𝘀. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Leaders were constantly firefighting instead of systematically preventing problems. 3. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Execution was disconnected from strategic objectives, causing significant performance gaps. These challenges taught me a 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻: Daily management isn't just a process—it's the heartbeat of organisational excellence. By implementing a structured daily management system, leaders can transform reactive cultures into proactive, high-performance machines. My 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 came when I introduced a simple, yet powerful daily management framework. We created visual management, implemented 15-minute daily huddles, and established problem-solving to act when we saw issues. The 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀? Dramatic improvements in response times, team alignment, and strategic execution. For senior executives, this isn't just about efficiency—it's about 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀. 🔑 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆: Start with a 15-minute daily team huddle focused on identifying and solving problems in real-time. Watch how this simple practice can revolutionise your organisation's performance.