Claire writes: ‘Airlines always overbook flights on the assumption that some passengers won’t turn up on the day. It works really well until everyone arrives and customer service staff become overstretched. Do you overbook your diary… and then discover everything turns up? Ellie has been on crutches for the last fortnight and will not be very mobile until Christmas. My diary is booked on the assumption that she is independent and takes herself to and from school. Adding a daytime taxi role has been huge pressure and has involved asking or begging all kinds of people to step in. We have managed to arrange things, but it had added significant extra pressure.

Crises or unexpected events happen. In your organisation (or family) they may happen more or less frequently than others… but if you reflect over the last few weeks or months, you’ll know how much of your time is affected by managing the unexpected. If your diary is completely full of appointments and preparation – and if you have included admin and email time – anything unexpected will put enormous pressure on you and you’ll either have to work smarter or longer or drop something.

What will be possible if you recognise that, on average, you spend half a day a week managing unexpected crises in your organisation and schedule an empty half day into your diary each week? You’ll find that when the crisis happens you will be able to move other things around to make space to manage it. And if there is no crisis this week, you’ll be able to use the time for something else which is important. ‘

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