I heard a humorous quip about closet space that says our practice is to fill up our closets to the brink and then stuff in more things. It goes from being full and organized to bulging and messy. No matter how large your closet is, it’s always overflowing. So the personal organization experts tell us to regularly purge our closets of items we have outgrown or haven’t worn for a while. Good advice.

This is an apt representation of your calendar. Every moment is taken with work, personal, family and community activities. How many of your weeks are so crammed that you can barely see your way through them, and then something comes along you can’t say “no” to? It’s no wonder you’re stressed. And you did it to yourself.

This certainly describes many of my coaching clients. They have this notion that they can just jam in their new goals, work and activities into an already-full calendar. How do they expect to take on more without removing something?
For instance, when you’re promoted, you should already have made room for the work and activities that are expected at your new level. Yet too many times, you will wait until you are promoted, then trying to figure out how to take on the new without having to purge the old.

• Why are you still struggling to delegate?

• Why do you insist on reviewing everything?

• Why are you determined to be the primary contact with ALL your clients?

• Why do you resist equipping those your junior to be competent?

• Why do you hold on to the old way instead of adapting to the new way?

This week, begin to slowly purge your calendar by selecting one thing to let go. What work have you outgrown? What activity could someone your junior handle with a bit of coaching from you? What should you be doing in place of what you used to do?

Like your closet, your calendar has limitations. Of course, for your clothes, there are always storage buildings for rent…