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When people look at you at work, what do they think? Do they think you're always available, it's okay to always walk over to you and interrupt what you are doing? I don't know the answer to that question, I do know you should be thinking about it, and maybe you should go a step further. Start getting proactive about broadcasting your availability. Find some ways to let people know how open you are to being interrupted. Let me give you one interesting example, I saw on a consulting engagement. I found some people who understood this idea and they wanted to find a colorful way to show people in the office where everyone was in terms of time management and urgency.

Even if you know when your Einstein window happens, you have to go a step further and make sure to protect that window. You have to do what it takes to give that time integrity and focus. Now unfortunately, we don't always do that. We've already mentioned how sometimes we spend a chunk of that vital Einstein window on lesser important tasks. That's a big no no. But we don't stop there. Sometimes we do something even worse. We very often say to people, yes. When in fact, sometimes, we have to say no. It goes like this.

Do you ever find yourself at work, looking at your to-do list, and saying to yourself, man where do I begin? We've all been there. And we know the first part of the answer, it's the 20%, that's the what. Now I want you to start thinking about the when, I like to call it your personal Einstein Window. That's the period of every day where you have your little mental peak, right where work feels almost fun, problems feel, no problem at all. Work flies off your desk.

So let's start thinking about what it means to allocate your time more effectively at work everyday. I want to offer three simple ideas that will change how you use your time everyday to make yourself more productive. Now, the first rule is very straightforward. It's something I often call the 80/20 rule. It's a very simple idea. The idea goes like this. All work is not created equal. You have to look at every task, every person, every project, and ask yourself this. Is this bit of work something that absolutely is interesting and important to the level that it's strategic? That it'll move us forward as a team faster? Or is just work that's gotta be done? That's the 80%.

- Have you ever found yourself halfway through a workday and then you say to yourself, "Have I done anything today? "I mean have I done anything important with my time today?" It's very common for us to question that because we're not really good at managing time. It's unfortunate because, you know, I think the single-most precious asset we have in our careers, maybe in our lives, is time. Every minute that passes by, well, that's a minute you can't get back. We waste time every day in all kinds of ways. Sometimes we focus on the wrong work, or the right work at the wrong time.