I'm keen to explore asynchronous working - i think it could free up my diary... https://weworkremotely.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-asynchronous-communication-in-remote-working-environments

Still plenty to learn, but as I see it, I over-rely on synchronous communication (basically communicating with others at the same time, like meetings, phone calls etc) at the expense of async. working (i.e. communicating with others at different times, e.g. emails, WhatsApp)

My observations so far:
1. My diary has a lot of meetings in it.
2. Not all my mtgs need to be meetings.
3. My diary is my benchmark for how busy I feel. This needs to change. It's actually just an indicator of my sync. work that week. All my async work needs my time too.

4. I misuse async comms a lot e.g. "pls reply to this urgent email".
5. Most things aren't urgent, so with some planning could be done asynchronously. People could respond when it's convenient to them, still by a deadline, but poss using less of their time than a mtg would take.

6. Spending all day on calls is exhausting and not a lot of fun.I'm now starting to challenge my default of 'shall we have a quick call'.I ask myself is it needed?Is now convenient to them too?Do we all need to discuss this at the same time?If no, I'm trying to find another way.

7. This isn't about my trying to avoid talking or being with people. It's quite the opposite. I LOVE to talk (as you know!). This is about optimising mine and my colleagues time, making life less exhausting and focusing on delivering outcomes.

7. The idea of an async meeting totally fascinates me: changing a meeting in to a non meeting but still getting the same output, just in a different way that's hopefully more productive for participants. I reckon it might be at least worth a try.