The Prep Zone - A Great Habit
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I made a personal commitment at the beginning of this year as follows: "If a business appointment or meeting is important enough to be on my calendar, then scheduling a block of time to PREPARE for that appointment is equally important."

In the past, my practice had been to leave enough time between appointments and meetings to allow for what I thought would be adequate advance prep time. What tended to happen, however, was that time between meetings got "squeezed" due to overruns and late starts OR other things came up that had to be dealt with during those time gaps.
My experience now is that if I BLOCK OUT prep time ON MY CALENDAR, I am MUCH more likely to use that time as intended. Blocking out a PREP ZONE has now become a habit, and I firmly believe that I go into my meetings fully prepared, more confident, and with a clear idea of my DESIRED OUTCOME(s) from each meeting. My Meetings are therefore much more productive -- without question.

What works for you? Do you schedule PREP TIME on your calendar?