Optimizing Work Schedules

Your Calendar is Lying to You You don’t have a time management problem. You have an energy management problem. Ever feel exhausted even when your calendar looks “productive”? That’s because you’re managing time, not energy. 1. You block time for meetings. 2. You schedule deep work hours. 3. You try to "manage time better." But time isn’t the issue...your energy levels are. Your calendar shows where your time goes. But it doesn’t show where your energy goes. What if you designed your schedule around when you perform best? (Not just when meetings are available.) ---- Why Managing Time Fails Your brain isn’t designed to run at full speed all day. Science-backed truths about energy and productivity: 1. Peak focus lasts ~90 minutes before fatigue sets in. 2. Task switching kills 40% of productivity (APA study). 3. Your natural energy rhythm (chronotype) matters more than time management. ---- What High Performers Do Differently The best don’t just track time; they track energy. - Elon Musk → Uses 5-minute time blocks to match tasks with focus levels. - Jeff Bezos → Makes major decisions before noon, when his energy is highest. - Rob Dyrdek → Tracks every hour of his day to measure energy efficiency, not just time spent. They aren’t just fitting in work, but they’re aligning work with their peak performance windows. ---- How to Run an Energy Audit (The 3-Color System) Step 1: Track Your Week Log every task, meeting, and break. Step 2: Label Each Activity Based on Energy Impact • 🟢 Green → Energizing (deep work, strategy, creative flow). • 🟡 Red → Draining (endless meetings, repetitive admin, distractions). • 🔴 Yellow → Neutral (necessary but not exhausting). Step 3: Optimize Your Schedule • Reduce or delegate Red activities. • Schedule Green tasks during peak energy times. • Batch Yellow activities when energy is neutral. ---- Small Tweaks = Big Gains - Aligning your schedule to your energy boosts productivity, without burnout. - Leaders who master energy management get more done in less time. --- Use AI to Protect Your Green Zone AI won’t replace your strategic thinking, but it will remove the cognitive waste that keeps you from high-performance work. Smart leaders already automate: - Meeting recaps - Inbox sorting - Data tasks Are you using AI to protect your Green Zone? --- 🔥 Your Turn What’s one task that drains your energy the most? Drop it below, let’s troubleshoot together. Want to try an energy audit? Comment “ENERGY”, and I’ll send you the tracking template. ---- 🔖 Save this post so you can reference the cheatsheet later. 🔄 Share it with your team if they struggle with energy management. 👉 Follow me Jay Mount for more frameworks on leadership, productivity, and strategy.

Most managers schedule meetings based on calendar availability. Few think about whether the people in the room are actually capable of doing their best thinking at that time. That gap has real consequences. A performance conversation held when you're mentally flat produces vague feedback and missed cues. A complex decision made during a cognitive low misses things. The problem isn't effort. It's timing. We all have circadian rhythms that govern when we think clearly, regulate emotions well, and make sound judgments. They're biological, not habits you can override with discipline. And they vary significantly from person to person. The fix isn't complicated. Guard your highest-energy windows for judgment-heavy decisions. Assign demanding work to people when they're equipped to handle it. When schedules don't align, use deliberate handoffs instead of defaulting to whoever is available. It's not about overhauling how your organization works. It's about making smarter choices with the calendar you already control. Stefan Volk, Harvard Business Review May-June 2026: https://lnkd.in/eSWbGD7q

Failing Up with Time Management & Context Switching How many of you have said to yourself: "I spent my whole day in meetings...when am I supposed to get any work done???" Time is your most valuable asset, and like it or not, your job likely requires a commitment to team meetings, 1:1s, huddles/working sessions, etc. The reality is, there's always going to feel like you have more work to do than time to do it. I've f'ed up by leaving an organization and thinking that my next role would allow me to have more time to get things done. It didn't turn out that way, and there was nobody to blame besides myself and my time management skills. I eventually realized that my biggest issue was context switching. I'd jump from meeting, to work on a project, to answer slack/emails, back into meetings. Sure, I was moving 10-15 projects forward incrementally. But I wasn't making the right type of progress since I wasn't allowing myself enough time to truly focus. What I eventually settled into was a schedule where I'd load my mornings with necessary meetings ("necessary" being the key word there). And my afternoons were blocked off for dedicated focus on specific marketing disciplines. Here's an approach that worked for me, but could be applied to any role, in any function, within any industry: Monday: Weekly Alignment Meetings & Campaign Building Tuesday: Events & Field Mktg Wednesday: RevOps Thursday: Product Mktg Friday: Thought Leadership/Content & Campaign Launches Those focus periods each day allowed me to increase my productivity, and also helped me say no to projects that didn't fit into one of my categories. Not sure where to get started? Try a short time study: Audit your schedule for 1-2 weeks. Categorize your meetings and working blocks throughout your day. Take a look at where you're spending your time, and determine if it aligns with your key priorities and objectives. Then organize your schedule in a way that can dedicate an appropriate amount of time each day/week to appropriate projects.

Every entrepreneur wants to maximize their productivity and achieve more in less time...but nobody knows where to start. Here's the exact 5-step playbook I'd use to master time-blocking and supercharge your efficiency: 1. Audit your current time usage. Track every minute for a week. Be ruthless in your honesty. You'll likely find hours of wasted time you didn't even realize existed. 2. Identify your peak performance hours. When are you most focused and energized? These are your golden hours for tackling high-impact tasks. 3. Create time blocks for different types of work. Group similar tasks together. Dedicate specific blocks to deep work, meetings, email, and personal time. 4. Protect your blocks at all costs. Treat them like non-negotiable appointments. Learn to say no to interruptions that don't align with your current block. 5. Review and refine regularly. At the end of each week, assess what worked and what didn't. Adjust your blocks accordingly. Continuous improvement is key. The magic of time-blocking lies in its simplicity and flexibility. It forces you to be intentional with your time, eliminates decision fatigue, and creates a clear structure for your day. But here's the kicker: time-blocking isn't just about getting more done. It's about creating space for what truly matters. By optimizing your work time, you free up hours for family, health, and personal growth. Remember, your calendar is a reflection of your priorities. If you're not deliberately blocking time for your most important goals, they'll always take a backseat to the urgent but less important tasks that fill our days. Start small. Block out just one hour tomorrow for your most critical task. See how it feels. Then gradually expand. Before you know it, you'll be operating at a level you never thought possible.

Stop fighting your body’s natural rhythm. Adopt chronoworking. Have you ever wondered why you feel sharp and creative at certain times of day but foggy and distracted at others? It’s because of your brain has a unique chronotype. Essentially, your personal body clock regulates your optimal times for focus, creativity, and recovery. I’ve been saying this for years - it doesn’t matter when you work, but rather the outcomes that you produce. This is the essence of "chronoworking" – aligning your schedule with your brain's natural rhythms, instead of forcing yourself to work at certain times or follow the arbitrary 9-5 schedule. By doing this one thing, you can dramatically enhance performance. Implement strategic time batching: - Reserve your peak cognitive hours (when your prefrontal cortex is most active) for complex analytical tasks requiring deep focus. - Save routine tasks for your "valley" periods when your brain needs less cognitive horsepower. - For maximum effectiveness, try habit stacking—link new productive behaviors to existing routines during your optimal performance windows. Forward-thinking companies are increasingly adopting flexible working styles. It’s my hope that it is only a matter of time before even more places accommodate different chronotypes. The payoff is substantial: reduced stress, higher creativity, lower burnout rates, and measurably better performance. What's your chronotype, are you a "lark" (morning person), "owl" (night person), or somewhere in between? Do you lean into it, or have to fight against it? #Chronoworking #Neuroscience #LinkedInNewsDACH #BrainScience

Your work expands to fill the time you allow for it. That’s called “Parkinson’s Law. In simple terms, that means if you give a task an hour to complete, it will take an hour. If you give it only 30 minutes, it will take 30 minutes. That’s because if you give it less time, you will work with more focus and effort. Here’s a diagram which shows how Parkinson’s Law works: This is why deadlines are so effective: as the deadline approaches, you work with more effort to complete the project on time. I coach hundreds of sellers, and one of the most common challenges they face is this: “I’m working long hours, but still not getting the results I want.” I recently coached a seller who was working 50+ hours/week. He fired up his laptop every night after putting the kids to bed, and worked a few hours on the weekends. He was exhausted, overwhelmed, and this work schedule was taking a toll on his health. He spent too much time on “busy work” instead of RGA’s. In our last coaching session, we did a full calendar audit, where I looked at how he spends his time from the moment he wakes until the moment he goes to sleep. It turns out he was doing four “sprints” of work each day, which is highly inefficient as it’s difficult to get into a flow state with so many stops and starts. We then optimized his calendar, so he could work less hours, sleep more, and spend quality time with his family. Key changes included replacing the morning work sprint with a morning run, replacing the evening work sprint with time relaxing with his wife, and spending his workday on RGA’s. Here’s a snapshot of his old schedule vs. new schedule. Old Schedule (Mon-Friday + 2 hours working on weekends) 6:30: wake up 6:30-7 - coffee, walk dogs, energy shake get dressed 7-8 work power hour 8-8:15 - take kids to school 8:15-8:30 - get ready for work 8:30-12 work  12-1 go on run 1-1:30 eat/take a break 1:30-5:30 work  5:30-9:30 take kids to sports, eat dinner, family time, etc. 10-11:30: work Work: 47-50 hours/week  Sleep: 7 hours New Schedule  6:30am - wake up 6:30-7 - coffee, walk dogs, energy shake, get dressed 7-8 - run (with audio book)  8-8:15 - take kids to school 8:15-8:30 - shower, get dressed, and spiritual practice (visualization, gratitude, or affirmations) 8:30-12 - work on RGA’s 12-1 - lunch with wife 1-5:30 - work on RGA’s 5:30-9:30 - family, sports, evening routine 9:30-10:30 - chill, watch a show, read, hang with wife 10:30-11 go to bed Work: 40 hours/week  Sleep: 8 hours My client is not alone. So many sellers are working harder than ever, but their results aren’t reflecting their efforts. It’s because they are not working efficiently, and they’re working on the wrong things. If you want to work less and sell more, I made a video outlining the key areas to spend your time on, and how to do your own calendar audit to maximize your work performance, health, and relationships. You can find the video here: https://lnkd.in/gSpYiwYc

How do we set up our Maintenance Planner for success? This is where a lot of organisations go wrong. They burden their planners with a lot of other work and invite them to a whole range of meetings. As a result, those poor planners simply don't have the time to do their jobs: to go out to site and scope jobs. Instead, they're buried in admin behind their desk. But there's a way to fix that. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞. What I show here is a sample work schedule for the planner: → Morning spent reviewing work requests, scoping jobs in the field, and starting job plans. → Afternoons reserved for warehouse visits, job planning, and short technical chats with supervisors. → Only 5 hours of meetings per week. → Built-in time to review job feedback, update CMMS statuses, and improve planning performance. 𝐀 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. It frees them up to do what they were hired to do. When a planner is asked to attend a meeting when the standard work schedule shows that they should be out in the plant, then their answer is easy: "No, sorry, I can't attend." But this only really works if you create a standard work schedule for all key roles in your maintenance planning and scheduling process. So, you need to do it for your planners, schedulers, maintenance supervisors, and technicians. What does your planner’s schedule look like? Let us know in the comments. #maintenance #reliability #ReliabilityAcademy

Back-to-back meetings didn't make me more productive. They put me into burnout. People glorify staying busy as the price of success. But there's a more honest name for that pace: a boundary violation. One major adjustment in my own burnout recovery: Calendar Calm. Here's the system I rebuilt my work life around, and one my clients love. 👇 💾 Save this to redesign your work week. Today's Wisdom Wednesday... 9 Ways to Create a Calm Calendar. (Plus three bonus tips in the image) 1️⃣ Prioritize Stability. 👉 Build predictability into 30-50% of your schedule. 👉 Use standing times to create routines. 2️⃣ Protected Breaks. 👉 Schedule 2-3 breaks throughout the day. 👉 Treat them like non-negotiable meetings. 3️⃣ Defined Work Hours. 👉 Determine the beginning and end of your workday. 👉 Avoid work tasks outside those hours to build detachment. 4️⃣ Include Strategic Rest. 👉 Proactively put recovery activities into your work week. 👉 Exercise, social time, mindfulness, and hobbies boost productivity. 5️⃣ Track Energy Levels. 👉 Schedule focus work when you're at peak energy. 👉 Put admin tasks and team calls in low-energy windows. 6️⃣ Stop at 80% 👉 Leave 20% of your day/week unscheduled. 👉 Allow flex to handle last-minute projects. 7️⃣ Review Regularly. 👉 Take 20-45 minutes every week to plan ahead. 👉 Adjust accordingly for energy, workload and deadlines. 8️⃣ Use Proven Tools. 👉 Choose time management that works for your system. 👉 Try the Eisenhower Matrix, Pomodoro Technique, or a Two-Do list. 9️⃣ Ask for Feedback. 👉 Does your schedule strategy fit your job duties? 👉 Are you showing up when and how your team needs you? 💬 Which one will you try this week, 20% flex or protected breaks? 💾 Save + subscribe for weekly systems that build Sustainable Ambition: https://lnkd.in/gH2HnF3w

How I get more sh*t done before you have your AM coffee It's not working longer hours. It's brain science. People ask how I maintain such high output While staying calm. The secret? I sync my work to my brain's natural peaks. Science says the 52/17 rule is golden for peak performance. Your brain needs strategic breaks to maintain high output. To ensure those cognitive circuits... Are firing like a Formula 1 engine... You need to work with your natural rhythm. Here's how to hack your 12 peak performance windows: 1/ Morning Power Hour ↳ Cortisol peaks an hour after waking ↳ Schedule your hardest task then 2/ Attention Architecture ↳ The brain processes complex data better before noon ↳ Front-load strategic work before lunch 3/ Energy Management ↳ ATP (brain fuel) peaks in 52-minute cycles ↳ Use a timer for focused sprints 4/ Decision Windows ↳ Decision fatigue sets in after 3-4 hours ↳ Make key choices before 11am 5/ Creative Peaks ↳ Alpha brain waves surge during breaks ↳ Take 17-minute recharge periods 6/ Memory Optimization ↳ Information retention peaks in the morning (for me) ↳ Schedule learning during this window 7/ Communication Sweet Spots ↳ Social processing peaks mid-morning ↳ Book important meetings 10-11am 8/ Focus Enhancement ↳ Deep work capacity maxes at 4 hours daily ↳ Split into 2 x 2-hour blocks 9/ Recovery Rhythms ↳ The 2:55pm slump is biological ↳ Schedule light tasks for this time 10/ Evening Clarity ↳ Beta waves increase around 4-6pm ↳ Use this time for planning 11/ Temperature Timing ↳ Brain temp peaks impact cognitive performance ↳ Match complex work to your body temp peak 12/ Sleep Alignment ↳ REM sleep preps the brain for peak hours ↳ Protect your last 3 pre-sleep hours Remember: Your brain needs consistent timing. Small adjustments to your schedule Create massive performance gains. Which one will you try first? ------------------------------------------------- ♻️ Share to help others upgrade their performance ➕ Follow Shannon for science-backed productivity tips

The more your calendar fills up, the more your energy runs out. And you're acting less like a human and more like a meeting robot. Leaders need to start breaking the habit of optimizing every second of their day. When we talk about protecting our time, it's often through the lens of being super productive at work. But our careers don't exist in a vacuum. When you protect your time as a whole, you feel more energized for all parts of your life. Protecting your calendar isn't as big of a task as you might think: 1️⃣ Guard Your Best Hours ↳ Back-to-back meetings leave no space to think clearly or do meaningful work. → Schedule deep-work around when you have the most energy. → Organize your space so you have no distractions. 2️⃣ Use the Eisenhower Matrix ↳ Urgent requests drown out what actually matters long-term. → Evaluate meeting requests based on urgency and importance before accepting. → Focus on high-impact work that moves your goals forward. 3️⃣ Set Boundaries & Buffers ↳ Your day is one continuous sprint with no time to breathe. → Define clear working hours and communicate them to your team. → Build 15-minute buffers between meetings to reset. 4️⃣ Automate the Small Stuff ↳ Admin eats away hours you could spend on work that energizes you. → Connect your calendar to booking tools. → Set up automatic reminders for recurring tasks. 5️⃣ Color-Code & Label ↳ You can't tell what truly deserves your attention from your calendar. → Assign specific colors to different event types. → Adjust time allocation based on what matters to your focus. 6️⃣ Review & Refine Weekly ↳ Time-wasting patterns repeat because you never stop to notice them. → Block 20 minutes every Friday to audit what did and didn't work. → Aim to clear out one thing next week that won't be useful. 7️⃣ Start-up & Shut-Down Rituals ↳ Work bleeds into your life with no clear beginning or end. → Use the first and last 10 minutes of your day to prioritize and focus. → Close your laptop at a set time and don't reopen until morning. 8️⃣ Gatekeep Meeting Invites ↳ Other people's urgency becomes your entire day. → Ask whether each meeting moves goals forward before accepting. → Set clear agendas and time limits for meetings you do accept. Yes, protecting your time gives you space to be more productive. And it also allows you to manage your energy for different parts of your life. You think more clearly. You feel more present in conversations. And you finish days feeling more fulfilled instead of drained. How do you protect your time each day? (Or do you just give it away to anyone?) For more posts on feeling energized in and outside of work, follow Clif Mathews. ---- 📨 Every week, 19,000+ execs learn how to define their own success via socials and in my newsletter, Second Summit Brief. Sign up here so you don't miss out: bit.ly/SecondSummitBrief 🔁 Repost to help another leader reclaim their time during the day.