Hello Inner Circle readers!

I don’t know about you, but I’m one of those people who’s always in a constant battle with time. As such, I’m always on the lookout for time management tips and tricks I can use to manage my time better. Recently, I went for looking for tips on the Girlboss community website, an online network for professional, ambitious women that I joined when I attended the Girlboss Rally in Los Angeles earlier this summer.

I asked a simple question of the Girlboss community: “I’m a time-starved professional looking for ways to manage my time better! Any ideas???” I got more than 50 replies! Apparently, time management is an issue for many others as well. Some of the responses I received were too good not to share, so here are my top five (in alphabetical order):

Juliana Kartsimas, Director of Product Marketing, ProTrainings
“Hey! I’m all about energy management. I consider tasks by the time they will take to complete, but also find that if you schedule your day around the labor that goes into a task, it’s a lot easier to knock things out. Feel really focused in the morning? Use that time to work on your most feared projects. Find yourself getting a bit snoozy after lunch? Use that time to sort through email. This helps me stay focused and not “lose time” by trying to get my brain to refocus while bouncing between the tactical and the strategic, or between tasks vs. projects.”

Amber Matos, Culture and Education Manager, Restaurant365 
“Schedule everything and stick to your time constraints. Often we see how much extra time we have when we really schedule in all of our tasks. Walk into all meetings prepared with possible solutions to whatever you’re discussing and get right down to business. Don’t wait on others. Assess what can be done through email and quick calls. Sometimes we schedule meetings for things that can be taken care of pretty quickly another way. Hope this helps!”

Keshia Otradovec, Operations Manager, Data Management and Governance, Mariner Wealth Advisors
“Boundaries, delegating and the ToDoIst app are a few ways that I’ve found helpful recently. Blocking my calendar for designated “no meeting” periods to ensure I can have dedicated time for free, strategic thinking has freed up some time. If your day is consumed with “meetings,” check out this article regarding the purpose of meetings and the appropriate time length. Hope this helps!”

Nicki Peña, Design Team Lead, Restaurant Marketing, ChowNow
“My biggest time saver has been getting super organized. For example:

  • Email: Inbox is for in, not storage. Once you’ve read something, sort it into a folder structure that makes sense. For me, it’s: Needs Action; Work in Progress; Save for Records; Events; Maybe I’d Like To. Anything that doesn’t fall into those categories goes in the trash. It’s really helped me to not feel like I’ve forgotten something that needs a response or requires action. And I don’t have to go sifting through junk mail to find important emails.
  • Calendar: Everything that requires a specific time and date goes on my calendar. Meetings, appointments, events, deadlines. And I create time blocks for myself so I don’t double book myself during those 30 minutes I have to actually be at my desk.
  • Notes: All of my notes go in one place. I used to have a million notebooks and I would just grab the closest one at hand and go to town. But then I would have to sort through all of the notebooks to find the one where the information I needed was. If I don’t have a notebook, I email myself.
  • Documents: I live a digital life. All of my work documents are in the cloud. My client files have always been super organized, but my documents for notes, project briefs, etc., got to be a total mess. Now I treat my online space the same way I would treat a filing cabinet. All documents for a particular project go in the same folder. Folders are sorted by category. I was shocked how much free time I found myself with once I was mentally out of the stress of trying to remember everything. For reference, I got all of this from “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity,” by David Allen. It’s been life changing.”

Lindsey Scanlon, Digital Marketing Consultant, Cloth Map
“I’m currently reading a book called “Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day” by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky. Even though I’m not done with it yet, their tools and tips are already super helpful!”

What are your favorite time management tips? Let me know via email: mcampanelli@napco.com. Perhaps I’ll do a follow-up article on this subject!

Total Retail Tech — Almost ‘Sold Out’

Just letting you know that there are very few seats left for Total Retail Tech, which is hosted by the Women in Retail Leadership Circle’s sister brand, Total Retail. Total Retail Tech is taking place Sept. 23-25 in Philadelphia (men and women), and is a complimentary, all-inclusive event for retailers and brands looking to vet new technologies. We cover everything for you — travel, hotel, meals, etc. And our speaker lineup is to die for. Speakers include the following:

  • John Trainor, Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Digital Product, Aaron’s
  • Erica Geil, Vice President, Global Engineering Operations, Groupon
  • Lockie Andrews, Chief Digital Officer, UNTUCKit
  • Kimberly Kanary, Vice President, Community Development and Engagement, JTV (Jewelry Television)
  • Heather Craig, Head of Retail Experience, thredUp
  • Suzanne Miglucci, President and CEO, Charles & Colvard
  • Ken Wincko, Vice President of Marketing, Barnes & Noble College

There are a very limited number of seats left for Total Retail Tech. If you’re interested in attending, fill out the application here.

Melissa Campanelli
Co-Founder
Women in Retail Leadership Circle