There’s a reason you feel behind, even when you’re working non-stop.
It’s not that you’re disorganized. It’s that your time is up for grabs.
Your calendar isn’t just a shared planning tool. It’s a window into your priorities. And if you don’t claim time for your own work, others will, meeting by meeting, request by request, until there’s nothing left but late nights and burnout.
Let’s be clear: your time is not a free-for-all.
Your calendar is not a to-do list.
And you are not a second-tier stakeholder in your own schedule.
You are as important as your boss
High-performing leaders don’t wait for time to open up. They take it.
They treat themselves like a stakeholder whose deliverables matter. Because they do.
You’d never book over your manager’s planning time or working session. But when it comes to your own, the default instinct is often to say: I’ll find a moment somewhere.
Except there’s no “somewhere.” There’s just a sea of meetings, emails, chats, and the creeping feeling that real work will have to happen tonight.
It’s not sustainable. And it’s not effective.
Calendar ≠ task list
A task list tells you what needs to get done.
Your calendar should tell you when you’ll actually do it.
But most people treat their calendar like an open field and hope they’ll get through their to-dos in the gaps. That’s how deep work gets squeezed into evenings and weekends.
The fix? Make your calendar reflect the actual time it takes to get work done.
One of my clients has a question she asks herself at the beginning of every week—and a few times throughout:
“Does my calendar reflect my priorities?”
It’s such a simple and powerful practice.
It brings focus to what matters most while helping you stay grounded in the middle of everything else.
The trick is to turn that question into a mantra. Let it guide how you manage your time, not just how you wish you did.
What productive managers do differently
The most effective managers I coach block out time for themselves first. They:
- Book recurring working blocks in their calendar until the end of time
(or at least until the end of 2026) - Use 30-minute segments to reduce the chance of someone noticing or booking over it
- Stack at least two 2-hour blocks a week, ideally first thing in the morning when energy is high
- Treat those blocks as sacred, not optional
And most importantly, they honor those blocks by actually doing focused work during that time. No distractions. No “quick” email checks. Just progress.
It’s not magic. It’s planning. And discipline.
Try this today
Pull up your calendar and scroll forward three weeks. You should mostly see recurring meetings and empty space. That’s your opportunity.
- Pick two 2-hour blocks, ideally early in the day
- Break them into four 30-minute segments to camouflage them from calendar vultures
- Set them as recurring with no end date or until the end of 2026
- Name them clearly (e.g., “Focus Time” or “Work Block”)
- Then protect them
Yes, someone will try to book over it. Yes, you’ll be tempted to move it “just this once.”
Don’t.
If you don’t respect your time, no one else will.
Make space to perform
Your time is your most precious resource. Without it, there’s no space to think, solve, create, or lead. You’re just reacting in a loop.
The most productive people at work don’t have empty calendars. They have full calendars filled with their priorities. Most block between 30% and 60% of their time for focused work on deliverables. That’s not selfish. It’s strategic.
Because time, like oxygen, must be protected.
Not just for your performance. But for your sanity.