Utilizing Time Blocking for Daily Tasks

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 interviewed 50 CEOs about time management. None of them use to-do lists Because that’s not what actually works. We know the cost of time management that fails. ↳ You work long hours, yet your list keeps growing. ↳ You miss family time. Your health takes a backseat. ↳ And deep down, you still feel like you haven’t arrived. Top leaders do it differently. They don’t just manage time, they master it. Here are 15 time mastery habits they use that you can apply to stay ahead without staying late: 1. Pomodoro Technique ↳ Set a 25-minute timer and focus on just one task ↳ Take a 5-minute break after each round ↳ After 4 rounds, step away for 15–30 minutes to reset 2. Eisenhower Matrix ↳ Separate tasks into urgent vs. important ↳ Do what’s urgent and important right away ↳ Delegate, defer, or drop the rest 3. ABCDE Method ↳ Tag tasks A to E based on priority ↳ ‘A’ tasks drive your goals - do them first ↳ ‘D’ and ‘E’ tasks? Delegate or delete 4. 80/20 Pareto Method ↳ Identify the few tasks that create the biggest impact ↳ Focus 80% of your time on that top 20% ↳ Cut the rest without guilt 5. 3-3-3 Method ↳ Block 3 hours for your most focused work ↳ Complete 3 quick wins to build momentum ↳ Handle 3 small upkeep tasks to stay on track 6. 2-Minute Rule ↳ If something takes less than 2 minutes, do it now ↳ Bigger tasks? Schedule or delegate ↳ Keeps your mental and digital clutter low 7. Eat the Frog ↳ Do your hardest task first thing in the morning ↳ It sets the tone for a productive day 8. Getting Things Done (GTD) ↳ Get every task out of your head and onto paper ↳ Organize them by next actions ↳ Review regularly and take focused steps forward 9. Kanban Board ↳ Use three columns: To Do, Doing, Done ↳ Move tasks across as you make progress ↳ Visual clarity = less overwhelm 10. Task Batching ↳ Group similar tasks (like emails or calls) ↳ Do them in one focused block ↳ Saves energy by reducing context-switching 11. Warren Buffett 5/25 Rule ↳ List your top 25 goals or tasks ↳ Circle the 5 that matter most ↳ Say no to the other 20 until those 5 are done 12. Time Blocking ↳ Block specific time for important tasks ↳ Treat it like a non-negotiable meeting 13. 1-3-5 Method ↳ Plan 1 big, 3 medium, and 5 small tasks for the day ↳ Keeps your workload realistic and motivating 14. MSCW Method ↳ Sort tasks into: Must, Should, Could, Won’t ↳ Prioritize the Musts during peak focus time ↳ Everything else can wait or be delegated 15. Pickle Jar Method ↳ Start with the big, meaningful tasks first ↳ Fit in smaller ones around them ↳ Make space for what truly matters You don't need all 15. You need the 2-3 that resonate with your biggest struggles. Which one speaks to you? Drop the number in the comments, I'd love to know. ♻ Repost to help your network trade burnout for focus. ➕ Follow me (Meera Remani) for tools that fuel your growth. Image courtesy and post inspiration: Justin Mecham.

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.

One major reason why sales reps miss quota: They don't spend enough time selling👇 In fact, they only sell 28% of their day. The other 72% are spent in non-selling activities. - Email and Slack - Internal meetings - Updating the CRM - Other types of busywork This is a massive problem. If you only move the needle 28% of the time... how are you supposed to get to your number? The solution: implement Pareto Time Management. Pareto's Law states: 80% of your results come from 20% of your activities. Here's how to implement that in your day to day: Step 1): Time Inventory For one entire week track how you spend your time. - Use a timer. - Fill out a spreadsheet. - Then categorize activities. The goal here is to create transparency and self-awareness. Step 2): Activity Separation Decide which activities have a direct revenue impact vs. which do not. - Build a table with 2 columns. - Revenue vs. non-revenue activities - Important: use your own best judgement here. Step 3): Time Blocking Now it's time to plan your next week. - Block sufficient time for revenue activities. - I recommend aiming for 50% (~20h) weekly. - Aim for more if you can. Important: Communicate this with your manager & team. This is change management. Step 4): Color coding - Use different colors for revenue vs. non revenue activities. - This will give you a better sense of time budgeting. Closing remarks: time management is a never ending effort. There will always be other things competing for your attention. DO NOT LET THEM WIN. Focus on selling. What's your best time management tip for sellers?👇 Graphic by Pejman Milani

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"

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.

Time management is not about squeezing more into your day. It’s about structuring your time so that what truly matters gets your attention. Most leaders I work with don’t struggle because of lack of time. They struggle because of lack of rhythm. Meetings eat them alive. Decisions pile up. Focus scatters. One powerful way to reclaim control is by rethinking your meeting cadence. Instead of reacting to endless meetings, structure them to serve you: ↳ Daily Check-in (5 min) Keep it sharp, fact-focused, and moving. No stories, no spirals. ↳ Weekly Tactical (45–90 min) Fix small fires, align on metrics, and reset focus. ↳ Monthly Strategic (2–4 hrs) Step back. Zoom out. Make decisions that move the business, not just the week. ↳ Quarterly Offsite (1–2 days) Leave your environment. Reboot your vision. Reconnect with the big picture. When leaders adopt this rhythm, time shifts from being something that slips away, to something that fuels clarity, calm, and better decisions. Because in the end, you don’t manage time. You manage focus. ♻️ Repost to help your network navigate life & work transitions with ease & grace. 🔔 Follow Mallika Rao for more strategies on High Performance and Wellbeing. Pic Credit: Google

The FM Principle of Productivity Hack stands for Focus & Momentum, two key elements that drive high efficiency and output. Here’s how you can apply it in a simple, step-by-step approach: 1. Focus: Eliminating Distractions & Prioritizing Work • Single-Tasking over Multi-Tasking: Work on one task at a time instead of juggling multiple things. This enhances efficiency and quality. • Set Clear Priorities: Use the Eisenhower Matrix (Urgent vs. Important) or Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule) to focus on high-impact tasks. • Time Blocking: Allocate specific time slots for deep work, avoiding interruptions. • Eliminate Distractions: Keep phone notifications off, declutter your workspace, and use noise-canceling headphones if needed. 2. Momentum: Building a Sustainable Work Rhythm • Start with Small Wins: Complete a quick task early to build confidence and energy. • Use the 2-Minute Rule: If something takes less than two minutes, do it immediately instead of postponing. • Pomodoro Technique: Work in focused 25-50 minute sprints with short breaks to maintain high energy. • Leverage Automation & Delegation: Offload repetitive tasks using tools and delegate where possible. • Optimize Energy Levels: Work on high-focus tasks when your energy peaks (morning for most people). How to Implement FM Principle in Daily Life • Morning: Identify one big task for the day and set a focused work session. • Afternoon: Maintain momentum by batching similar tasks together. • Evening: Review your day and set priorities for the next day. By focusing deeply on the right tasks and maintaining momentum with structured execution, you can achieve peak productivity without burnout.

As a CTO who has successfully scaled AI and tech products, I’ve refined productivity strategies that can transform your leadership workflow and enhance your team’s output. If you’re leading in the tech industry, and grappling with overwhelming demands, the 3 targeted tactics I’m about to share are tailored for the unique challenges you face. My guiding principle each week is the 'Rule of Three': identifying three top priorities that serve as my North Star. These aren't just scribbled in a planner but physically placed on my office wall, a constant visual reminder of my core focus. This practice not only keeps me centered amidst the whirlwind of daily tasks but also ensures that every action is a step toward our most critical goals. Sharing these priorities with my direct reports does more than foster transparency — it aligns our efforts, synchronizes our strides, and forms the bedrock of our collective pursuit. It's a simple yet profoundly effective strategy that has continually steered us toward meaningful progress and impactful results. Next, time blocking has been a critical strategy. Carving out dedicated blocks for deep work, meetings, and even unexpected tasks allows me to create a rhythm amidst the chaos. This isn't just about sticking to a schedule; it's about allocating mental space and ensuring that high-priority projects get the uninterrupted attention they deserve. I always check each Friday that my time blocked schedule appropriately reflects the work I need to accomplish for my top three priorities. Lastly, I leverage automation and delegation. By automating routine tasks and delegating effectively, I maintain focus on what truly requires my expertise. It's not just about offloading work; it's about empowering my team by entrusting them with responsibilities that aid their growth while freeing me to lead more effectively. A framework I really like using is the Eisenhower matrix around categorizing work based on its urgency and importance. I try and focus as much of my work as I can on the important and urgent tasks. Implementing these strategies hasn’t just boosted my personal productivity; it sets a precedent for the whole team. When leaders manage their time effectively, it cascades down, fostering a culture of efficiency and clarity. Remember, in the world of tech and AI, where the ground shifts daily, these strategies aren't just nice-to-have—they're essential for survival and success. If you're leading in this space and looking to refine your approach to productivity, let's connect and share insights that propel us forward! #techleadership #productivitytools #teamleader

How GCC Leaders Can Improve Work Execution to Drive Employee Experience, Productivity, and Quality Most GCCs focus on scaling operations and cost efficiencies, but the best leaders go beyond that. They rethink how work gets done—removing inefficiencies, empowering employees, and ensuring quality outcomes. Here’s what truly moves the needle: 1. Fix Process Inefficiencies and Automate the Obvious Too many GCCs still replicate HQ processes instead of optimizing for agility. Identify bottlenecks, eliminate redundant approvals, and automate manual tasks—especially in IT, HR, and finance. Workflow automation can cut task times in half. 2. Align Teams Across Time Zones with Outcome-Based Execution Global teams struggle with coordination, leading to handover gaps and rework. Instead of micromanaging, real-time dashboards, and clear outcome ownership. Focus on customer impacting outcomes not effort. 3. Empower Employees with the Right Tools and Autonomy A poor employee experience leads to low engagement and productivity loss. Give teams self-service analytics, knowledge bases, and low-code/no-code tools to solve problems independently. Cut meeting overload and encourage deep work time. 4. Prioritize Learning, Growth, and Cross-Functional Expertise GCCs shouldn’t just execute work—they should drive innovation. Invest in technical upskilling, global mobility programs, and leadership rotations to create a future-ready workforce. 5. Governance Without Bureaucracy Traditional governance models slow down execution. Instead of rigid top-down approvals, implement agile decision-making frameworks and RACI models that balance control with speed. GCC leaders must shift from process execution to work transformation—optimizing workflows, leveraging AI, and making employee experience a top priority. The results can be significant: • 15-30% productivity gains by automating and streamlining workflows. • 10-25% cost savings through elimination of reduntang processes, process efficiencies and automation. • 20-40% improvement in employee engagement by reducing friction in daily work. • 20-50% faster execution of key projects by reducing delays and dependencies. • 25-50% fewer errors through improved governance and automation.