Forget the holidays! September, October and November seem to be the busiest time of year in Association Management. With board meetings, annual meetings, and conferences galore bringing extra tasking and reporting it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and overworked. Being fairly new to this industry, I’ve been struggling with finding a good balance in meeting the demands of multiple clients who are all in their busy seasons.
Here are three tips for juggling multiple clients during the busiest time of the year.
Tip 1: Segment your day
What has been working for me is breaking my day into segments designated to each client, while still being flexible if an emergency situation comes up. When there is a really big task I block out an hour on my calendar to try to ensure interruption-free time to concentrate.
Tip 2: Prioritize your to-do list
Working with Executives who are willing to help with prioritizing is another important factor in keeping your sanity. I’m lucky enough to work with 3 of them, but it’s important to take ownership of the work load and communicate when you’re feeling stressed and need that help figuring out what to do first.
Tip 3: Don’t get side-tracked
And finally, sticking to a task until it is finished. There is nothing worse then realizing you have several reports in process and nothing ready to be turned in. Phone calls and e-mails can’t be ignored, but they can be put aside for an hour while completing a complicated task.
Organization, focus, and communication are key when the workload becomes demanding!
