Ask an Admin was created by Office Dynamics to help administrative professionals with their problems through the help of their peers. We don’t always have an answer to each individuals problem but we know some of you might. Please read the question and comment below.

April M. asks:

My executive’s calendar is jam-packed on a daily basis & she’s asking me to come up with a better solution to managing her calendar. She needs time to do work, answer emails, etc, but the requests for meetings are constant and a lot of them are at her request. They are needed. They are necessary to schedule. But how do you balance ‘free’ time with meeting times? I block out time on her calendar, but inevitably a meeting gets put in its place. We’ve tried to do only 5 meetings per day, but more often than not it winds up being 7 or 8 or more! I made the suggestion that decisions/discussions happen over email vs. in person in a meeting – but that’s not possible either most of the time. Does anyone have a good meeting/scheduling hack they use? Any good tips for me?

Thank you!

Office Dynamics actually has some info on this subject (see below) but we’d love to hear what tips or advice you have. Please leave a comment below.

We have an eBook called, Mastering Your Executive’s Calendar, a blog Calendar Management for Executive Assistants, videos, Calendar Management for Executive Assistants—the Holistic Approach, Administrative Assistant – Complex Calendar Control, Executives & Assistants Working In Partnership: The Definitive Guide to Success and Managing Your Executive’s Day.