Dropbox co-CEO uses quarterly goals to filter meeting invitations

Dropbox co-CEO Ashraf Alkarmi has implemented a specific rule to manage his schedule and reduce unnecessary meetings. He prioritizes invitations based on whether he can make significant progress toward his five primary quarterly goals, which include areas such as people, business, and performance.

Alkarmi uses these objectives to filter his weekly schedule, declining meetings that do not align with his target areas. To maintain focus, he shares these priorities with his chief of staff and administrative team, and utilizes the task-tracking application Trello to monitor progress on his quarterly targets.