Have you ever felt you could get a lot more done if your clients didn’t take up so much of your time?

It’s crazy when you think about it, but my clients often tell me that many of the things they wish they could do — like business planning or marketing — get thrown on the back burner due to unplanned client interruptions and emergencies. If your day often gets thrown off schedule due to the “emergencies” of others, it’s time to take back your power and help them help themselves.

There are a couple of strategies I find work really well when my schedule starts to feel as though it is being run by someone other than me. My personal favorite is setting expectations. There are two sides to this:

This simply means deciding what is so important to you that it is going to be non-negotiable. Your priority could be taking time to work on your business or taking some time each day for yourself. Once you do this, schedule it on your calendar and treat it as if it were a top client. No one will know the very important meeting you scheduled is lunch at school with your kids.

If you want your behavior to line up with your priorities, this step is very important. Too often, people compromise their personal expectations and end up at square one. In order to avoid this, review your schedule often and keep track of how many times you reschedule or cancel the appointments you set for your priority activities. If this happens too often, refocus and be mindful when you are feeling tempted to allow something important to get bumped.

Once you determine what is really important to you and the time you need to block out each week, it becomes much easier to set expectations and boundaries with others. This can be a little daunting the first few times you have these conversations, especially if you have a high need to please others.

There are two strategies I recommend:

Be very clear from the beginning about what services you provide and what is not included. If you use contracts, make sure you include the rate for additional services that fall outside the scope of the contract. If clients push the boundaries, have an open conversation with them to let them know they have reached a point where additional fees will apply and give them a choice to accept the terms or stick to the original contract.

Respecting your clients does not mean you need to give them everything they want the moment they ask for it. We fall into a trap by taking some of the slogans of business too literally. Slogans such as “The customer is always right” and “Always put the client first” create real challenges in managing your time and your business effectively.

The trick is really in mastering the art of diplomacy. A mentor of mine once defined diplomacy as “the art of letting someone else have your way.” In working this way, you find solutions that create wins for the client and huge wins for you.

As with every new approach, take your time. It will get easier over time, and people tend to work better together when expectations are clear.

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