"My biggest challenge is time, focus, and task management. It's not because I don't know how to manage time—it's because I have 100+ emails coming in per day and at least 4 hours spent in meetings each day and multiple projects to set up and run." — Nina A.
Nina, when email and meetings hit this level, it usually stops being a personal time management issue and starts becoming a systems and leadership issue.
If you're spending four or more hours a day in meetings, that leaves roughly four hours for actual work and that's before context switching, prep time, Slack messages, and the inevitable "urgent" requests that hijack your focus. That's not a you problem, it's a structural one.
Here's how to think about fixing it.
Question why email volume is so high
High email volume is a signal. It usually means your organization is using email as a catch-all instead of designing clearer communication systems.
Ask yourself: why does so much information require your attention via email? And are there better places for it to live?
If you have influence, this is a place to lead. If you don't, it's still worth raising the issue with solutions in hand.
Ways to reduce email overload:
Move project updates to Notion, Google Docs, or a project management tool
Use Slack or Teams for quick internal questions instead of long email threads
Set communication guidelines:
Email for external communication and documentation
Chat tools for quick clarifications
Project tools for updates and ownership
Email should not be the default for internal coordination. It's okay to push for change here.
Audit your meetings
Four hours of meetings a day is significant. If most meetings are 30 minutes, that's eight meetings a day. That alone explains why your focus feels shot.
Start asking better questions:
Does this meeting actually need to happen?
Is there a clear agenda, or are people thinking out loud together?
Could this be a written update or async check-in instead?
Meetings are expensive, and when they start to dominate the day, it usually points back to how work is being structured and led.
Use language like:
"Could this be handled async?"
"Can we shorten this to 25 minutes?"
"What's the agenda? If we don't have one yet, let's regroup once it's clear."
This is an opportunity to lead (even if you're not 'the boss')
Depending on your role, you may not control the system, but you can still influence it.
Frame the problem clearly to whoever owns decisions:
Then come with solutions:
Clear communication guidelines
A meeting audit
Stronger use of project management tools
Async-first norms where possible
This isn't complaining. It's managing up.
You can't keep operating like this
Running at this pace isn't sustainable. It's frustrating for you and ultimately risky for the people evaluating your output.
You can't solve a structural problem with better personal discipline. If leadership is open to change, push for it and give it time to work. If nothing shifts after you've raised the issue clearly and constructively, that's important data.
You're capable. You're organized. But you're operating inside a system designed for inefficiency.
At some point, the choice becomes whether to keep compensating for broken systems or find an environment that doesn't require it.
Fix the system if you can.
Advocate for change if you need to.
And don't internalize problems that were never yours to carry.
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