How to change your day with meeting plans

I recently had a day where I had about 10 different meetings - all on different subjects. I knew that I would struggle to be productive in each of them if I turned up for them unprepared and had to switch subjects each time.

To solve this I created a simple document and added a heading for each meeting. Under each heading I made a simple bullet list of everything I wanted to cover or possibly discuss in the meeting. In just over 10 minutes I had planned for all my meetings that day.

At the start of each meeting I open the document and as the meeting progresses I strike through each item (alt-shift 5 in Google Docs). I also add additional notes as it progresses. By the end I can see if there is anything I have missed and still need to cover. Once the meeting is over I cut the meeting notes and paste them at the bottom of the document - so not only do they help me in the meeting, I now have an archive of all my meeting notes.

I now start my day by reviewing my calendar and making notes for any meetings I have coming up. I will also sometimes make notes for meetings I know may happen at some point in the future so I can capture thoughts at they happen. This simple step has really improved my contributions to meetings.