Utilizing Time Blocking for Daily Tasks

I just canceled 80% of our standing meetings. My leadership team thought I’d lost it. 6 weeks later, revenue is up 23%. Here’s what happened: I counted every meeting on my sales team’s calendar: - Average rep: 18 hours per week in meetings - Only 22 hours left for actual selling - Most meetings could’ve been a Slack message or dashboard We were managing the calendar, not the team. So I asked: “If I paid you $500 to skip this meeting and send a voice note instead, would you?” Every person said yes. That’s when I knew we had a problem. I killed every recurring meeting and started from zero. The only one we kept: Weekly 1-on-1s and Forecast calls Everything else: Team updates? Async Slack. Pipeline reviews? Shared dashboard.
 “Quick syncs”? Banned. Three weeks later: Reps went from 18 hours of meetings to 3 hours per week Close rate jumped from 18% to 24% Team morale up 41% Revenue up 23% Most meetings exist because managers don’t trust their teams. We schedule check-ins because we’re anxious. We do standups for visibility. But what we’re really doing is killing 15 hours per person per week of selling time. Do the math: 12-person team × 15 hours recovered × 4 weeks = 720 hours That’s like hiring 3.6 full-time people. For free. Your calendar is your strategy. If your best people spend more time talking about work than doing work, don’t be surprised when you get outpaced. What’s the meeting you know you should cancel but haven’t? #SalesLeadership #WorkplaceCulture #Productivity #Leadership #MeetingFatigue

If you don’t control your time, someone else will. 7 time management frameworks to own your time: 1) Measuring my time At the age of 14, I started preparing for engineering exams, only to realise I just could not manage my time. So I recorded every hour of my day; I did this for 13 years. Just this act of measurement led to the act of improvement. Do it for 10 days and you will see the difference. 2) Time blocking I realised context switching was taking a toll. I started blocking 2-3 hours and have been doing so till date. Monday AM: X Monday PM: Y Tuesday all day: Z 3) Win the week, not the day Think of your week as your time unit, not your day. Think of what you wish to achieve in a week. And split your week to achieve that. 4) Single source of action We are constantly being fed a to-do list. From multiple sources. What helps me is to have a single source of action - my emails. It can be a to-do app for you, a notebook, or post-its - anything except your memory. 5) Create repeatable tasks I am a student of processes. So my endeavour is - find something I need to do in life, and find a way to convert it into a recurring task which I can add to my calendar. It builds a habit, routine, and discipline for your mind. 6) Setup distraction time Our mind craves distraction because we make it a forbidden fruit. Do the opposite. Set up time to waste time. 7) Zoom out We struggle to manage time, because we look at it in a micro way. Go back to the macro. What do you want to achieve this month, quarter, or year? What are the big milestones that will get you there (or tell you that you are on the path)? Did that happen this week? If yes - great. If not - go back to step 1 and figure out what went wrong. Repeat every week.

I used to believe more hours = more productivity. I was wrong. I used to be a slave to my to-do list, constantly looking for “more hours”. But, as Sahil Bloom shows us so wonderfully in this excerpt from his new book, 'The 5 Types of Wealth'... You don’t need more hours. You need better balance. Because not all time is created equal. Here's an overview of the four types of professional time (courtesy of Sahil)  and how you can use this wisdom to better structure your days: 🔴 Management Time – Meetings, emails, coordination. 🟢 Creation Time – Deep work, building, producing. 🔵 Consumption Time – Learning, reading, listening. 🟡 Ideation Time – Thinking, brainstorming, strategizing. When you mismanage these, your days feel chaotic. When you balance them, your work (and life) flow. I’ve snapped a photo from Sahil’s book so you can visually see how these four categories can bring better balance to your week. The main point is to start being more intentional about how you use your time, and group similar activities together. Here's how I've applied some of these lessons in my own life  (and how you can too): ✅ Stop checking your email in the morning I used to start my day in my inbox. But you can't plan your days around other people’s priorities. Spend the first 90 minutes each day in deep work before even glancing at your email. ✅ Create “meeting-free” days Back-to-back meetings kill focus. Implement at least one no-meeting day each week, reserving that time instead for your biggest needle-movers. ✅ Batch small tasks together Multitasking is a massive productivity killer. Instead of endlessly switching between small tasks, I now stack my admin work into a defined 30-minute block. Less task switching + more focus = greater output. ✅ Schedule time to think Yes, there is such a thing as “time to think”! Set aside at least 30 minutes of screen-free time each day. Your best ideas often come when you're by yourself. ✅ “Audit” your time every week I used to pack my weeks blindly. Now, I review where I'm spending my time and adjust the split, depending on my priorities. If you see yourself spending too much time in one category, you may need to rebalance. Look at your week. What dominates your schedule? Are you making real progress or are you just keeping busy? And if you need a blueprint for mastering your time - as well as the social, mental, physical, and financial aspects of your life - then Sahil’s new book 'The 5 Types of Wealth' is an absolute must-read. Order it here and take charge of your life: https://lnkd.in/dnPpts2e ⏳ Remember, time is your most precious asset. Once spent, you can never earn it back. So take control and make it count.

Most sales leaders run their calendars backwards. They review calls after they happen. They review pipelines after deals stall. They review activity after the week is over. Then they wonder why they're always playing catch-up. I want to challenge every VP, Director, and Manager reading this: Open your calendar right now. Find every meeting with "review" in the title. Now flip it. Call review → Call prep Pipeline review → Pipeline planning Activity review → Activity planning Forecast review → Forecast building And move them earlier in the week. This is what I call becoming a Proactive Leader. Most one-on-ones are backward-looking. "What happened last week?" "How did that deal go?" "Why didn't you hit activity?" That's all after the fact. You can't change what already happened. Proactive one-on-ones are forward-looking. "What's the plan this week?" "What do you need to win that deal?" "How are we going to hit activity?" Same amount of time. Completely different results. Think about it: You spend 30 minutes reviewing a call that already happened. What if you spent those same 30 minutes prepping for the call before it happened? Role playing. Practicing objections. Planning the flow. Which one actually moves the needle? Here's my challenge: Over the next 90 days, flip your calendar from reactive to proactive. Every review meeting becomes a prep meeting. Every backward-looking conversation becomes forward-looking. Watch what happens to your team's results. Proactive leaders don't just inspect what happened. They architect what's going to happen. That's the difference.

Your calendar isn't just busy. It's bankrupting your brain. I watched a founder lose 92% of his decision-making capacity from calendar chaos. His schedule: → Back-to-back meetings → No buffers → Zero thinking time Result? He bombed a crucial pitch. Not from poor strategy. From decision fatigue. Your brain has limits: 1. Each decision depletes mental resources 2. Quality degrades throughout the day 3. Executive function fades fastest The solution isn't your productivity system. It's your calendar design: 1. Manage Decision Density ↳ High-stakes decisions before noon ↳ Batch similar choices ↳ Buffer between meetings 2. Create Strategic Space ↳ 2-hour deep thinking blocks ↳ Calendar-free mornings ↳ One meeting-free day/week A founder I coached went from 16-hour days of back-to-back meetings to: → "Better decisions in less time" → "Focused meetings, not frantic ones" → "No more 2AM work anxiety" The cost? Fewer meetings. Braver boundaries. Your calendar isn't just a scheduling tool. It's your cognitive capacity's operating system. What meeting will you remove next week?

For all of us, time is the most valuable asset. In an organisation, where the leaders spend time signals the priorities, shapes culture and determines whether the organisation executes on what truly matters. Great time management, I have found, isn’t about squeezing more tasks into a day; it’s about aligning your time with critical outcomes and creating leverage through people, processes and decisions. Those who are good at this make the hour last longer. Why is time management key? It converts strategy to action. Your calendar is the operating system of strategy. If this calendar doesn’t reflect the company’s priorities, the organisation isn’t likely to achieve its goals. It frees time for what matters. Leaders create impact less by doing and more by enabling. Ensuring time availability for the right activities multiplies output. It improves decisions. Unrushed thinking and focused reviews improve judgement, reduce rework and prevent “urgent” fires. It is the signal for direction and culture. Teams copy leaders’ calendar management style. When the leader models deep work, prioritisation, preparation and learning, others in the team follow. What are the common obstacles? Tyranny of the urgent: Unplanned demands, whatsapp pings and what gets classified as “urgent” crowds out important work. Meeting creep: Meetings accumulate without a clear purpose or decision rights Ambiguous priorities: Undefined, unprioritized goals produce reactive calendars where everything feels equally important. Delegation gaps: Work gravitates upward when role clarity or trust is low; leaders become doers, choking bandwidth Context switching: Too much activity especially in different contexts leads to poor focus; 60 minutes of activity is then only 10 minutes of progress. Saying “yes”: Without guardrails, leaders accept more than their calendar can bear. What’s the fix? Define the focus. Translate strategy into key quarterly outcomes. If an activity doesn’t advance these, it’s a candidate to decline, delegate or delay. Design your ideal week. Time-block for people, performance, thinking and certainly for buffers Run meetings like decisions, not rituals. Ask for a pre-read with the question to be decided, options, data and recommended next steps. Start with the decision, then discussion. End with the owner, deadline and success metric. Schedule Important/Non-Urgent work first each week. Deal with urgent/important issues and define what “urgent” means with your team. Delegate for outcomes, not tasks. Reduce context switching. Batch similar work so you don’t have fragmented focus. Silence notifications during deep work. Install guardrails for what you say “yes” to Audit and iterate. Review your calendar monthly: What created impact? What can be eliminated? Your calendar tells a very important story. Read it. As someone said, "When you invest your time in what truly matters, balance follows and happiness becomes the dividend"

You don’t need more time. You need these 10 principles. Most people waste their most precious resource: time. Not because they’re lazy. But because they’re drowning in noise. Most calendars are filled with guff. We survive (just) on autopilot. Meetings, Slack, email, rinse, repeat. It looks like progress. It feel productive. But it’s a mirage. Top performers don’t have more hours. They just get a better return for every hour they work. Productivity isn’t about doing more. It’s about using your time better. And getting better results - for you. It isn’t complicated. It just means showing up with intention. Here’s how great CEOs do it. And how you can too: 1/ Kill the autopilot Audit last week: noise vs real impact? 2/ Write down your top 3 goals If it doesn’t move you closer, cut  it or delegate it. 3/ Ask your boss what matters most Then spend your best hours there. 4/ Zero-base your calendar monthly Review every recurring meeting. Cut hard. 5/ Triage your week Urgent → Do first Priority → Block time Filler → Cut 6/ Start each day with 2 questions What must I do well today? What can I cut? 7/ Match deep work to high-energy times Protect your peak energy for your best work. 8/ Respect others’ time too Be early. Be clear. Be helpful. 9/ Track your ROI weekly What actually moved the needle? 10/ Own your outcomes Time is your leverage. Spend it like it matters. You don’t need to work more. You need to work on the right things. These principles won’t just protect your time - They’ll give you your life back. (PS — Got a productivity hack that works? Drop it below.) ♻️ Share to help someone take back their time. 💚 Follow for no bullsh*t advice that actually works

When I was CPO, I was frustrated that I was never meeting wth the right person or teams at the right time. My calendar was packed. Yet the person or team I needed to talk to was always scheduled for at least three days away. The team needs a decision, but you just had a 1:1 and won't meet your engineering partner for another four days. A controversial Product Review happens on a Thursday afternoon, and there isn’t time to get back together before Tuesday AM. I needed to create an operating cadence throughout the week that maximized productivity. After many years, here are some best practices: ➡️ Start the week with calendar review, emails, and logistics to set up the week well. If you have an admin, meet them then. ➡️ Executive team meeting early on Mondays to triage the weekend and the week. Weekly update meetings with teams on Monday afternoons, after the executive leadership meeting. This allows me to bring context, decisions, and asks from the leadership to the teams immediately. ➡️ Tuesdays are for external and cross-functional meetings. Having these meetings after the team and leadership syncs allows me to bring the latest updates and context to my cross-functional peers and externally. ➡️ Wednesday mornings are for large group decision-making meetings. This gives the team time in the week to prepare and have their pre-meetings. It also allows for any necessary follow-up meetings to happen during the same week. ➡️ Thursday is reserved for 1:1s. These are also the most easily moved if urgent, critical meetings come up from earlier in the week. ➡️ Friday is for interviews and org work. There is almost always at least one interview on Friday, and it’s a good time to think about people and culture. ➡️ Friday afternoon is when pre-reads, weekly updates, and any critical context sharing material are due to be emailed out for the meetings the following week. This ensures everyone who attends has the time to review and prepare. Remember, the intent is to try to create themes that allow you to better prepare for meetings and have the right information. When the week operates on a loose drumbeat, everyone is better able to prepare and have productive conversations. ----- 👋 Hi! I'm Yue. I am a Chief Product and Technology Officer turned Executive Coach. I help women and minority aspiring executives break through to the C-suite. 🚀  🔔 Follow me for more content on coaching, leadership, and career growth.

Get more done in less time - Master the Eisenhower Matrix: Too often we mistake being busy with being productive. The reality? We spend far too much time on the wrong things. Use this time management tool to prioritize your tasks properly, And dramatically increase your productivity. Its simplicity drives its effectiveness - Categorize all of your tasks into 1 of 4 quadrants based on their urgency and importance, And then take action accordingly. This sheet breaks down the details, So you can put it to work: 1) Do Now (Urgent and important) Description: ↳Tasks that require immediate attention and are crucial for your goals ↳Often tied to deadlines, crises, or high-pressure situations Examples: ↳Completing a critical project that's due by end of day ↳Fixing a website crash that's preventing customers from making purchases ↳Preparing for a last-minute client presentation scheduled for tomorrow How to Get Them Done: ↳Prioritize them over everything else ↳Avoid multitasking - focus only on them ↳Use a timer or set specific time blocks to ensure completion 2) Plan for Later (Not urgent but important) Description: ↳Tasks that are important for long-term success but don't need immediate attention ↳Often involve personal growth, strategy, and big-picture goals Examples: ↳Researching and implementing automation tools to improve workflow ↳Meeting with a mentor to discuss career growth ↳Creating a content calendar for next quarter How to Get Them Done: ↳Schedule these tasks into your calendar and stick to working on them ↳Break them down into smaller, actionable steps so they feel less overwhelming 3) Delegate Now (Urgent but not important) Description: ↳Tasks that may feel urgent but aren't critical to achieving your goals ↳Often stem from others' priorities and don't require your unique skills Examples: ↳Replying to most customer service inquiries ↳Reviewing routine reports that don't require your direct input ↳Scheduling travel arrangements for an upcoming conference How to Get Them Done: ↳Delegate these tasks to someone else immediately ↳Provide clear instructions and all necessary resources ↳Give autonomy and only follow-up when asked or necessary 4) Eliminate Now (Not urgent and not important) Description: ↳Tasks that offer little value and don't contribute to long-term goals ↳They are distractions or time-wasters that can be removed Examples: ↳Checking social media notifications often with no clear purpose ↳Attending meetings that don't require your presence or input ↳Over-customizing a PowerPoint for a basic internal presentation How to (NOT!) Get Them Done: ↳Recognize where you're wasting time on trivial things ↳Eliminate these tasks from your routine ↳Set boundaries to avoid falling into time-wasting habits Use the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize like a pro, And turbocharge your productivity. Have you tried it before? --- ♻️ Repost to help your network become more efficient. And follow me George Stern for more.

Time is a limited resource So why do we treat it as though it was unlimited? Time is the most valuable resource we possess. Like capital in your business time is finite. You only have a set amount of it each day, and once it’s spent, you can’t get it back. Just as a business must carefully budget its financial resources to remain profitable, you must budget your time wisely to maximize productivity, personal growth, and well-being. If you had raised money to move the business forward, you wouldn’t waste it. Instead, you’d stick to the plan, prioritize, and allocate it toward things that truly matter. The same principle applies to time, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞: effective time management is essential for success, happiness, and achieving long-term goals. Here are my eight thoughts on how you can better manage your time. 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: none of these are new, and all are hard to achieve but I believe if you are not managing your time then you risk increased stress, failure to deliver and missed opportunity. 1. 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧  We read about prioritisation every day, we trial apps and techniques to get better at this so why is it so difficult? I believe the challenge is that we still try to do too much and spend too much time trying to be perfect. So for example I will write one article today (this one) and I have 20 minutes to get it published. And if I missed a tpyo, that's ok, I can fix that later. 2. 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 I switch off the phone, and alerts and focus solely on one task at a time. Complete this action then pick up the next one. I've found that multitasking decreases my ability to make progress and hugely increases stress levels. 3. 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐍𝐨 A tough one for me, but hopefully I'm getting better. 4. 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 If there is a subject to discuss schedule the meeting, focus on this point and when a conclusion is reached, thank everyone for their time and end the call. 5. 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 I am good at only a couple of things so I outsource as much as I can. It requires trust, things will go wrong, especially early on but if you persevere it is a game changer. My outsourcing partners are awesome! 6. 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 Do not work on a task without a deadline set by you. This is a time-killer especially when working on things we love doing. 7. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐬 Turn those repetitive tasks, into habits so you get them done almost without thinking. Like brushing our teeth they stop being tasks and become part of life. 8. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 Allocate time to play, to discover new ways to do things, to educate yourself, to learn from others. Time is a non-renewable resource, and once it’s gone, it's gone. By treating time like capital and carefully budgeting how we spend it, we can maximise our ROI. Your time is valuable, treat it that way!