March 26, 2025 | Read Online

MGMT Minute: How To Steal Back Control of Your Calendar in 5 Simple Steps

Take radical ownership over your time, or someone else will.

Read time: 1 minute

Many leaders feel like they're at the mercy of their calendars.

But the truth? You have more control than you think.

While you can't always dictate which meetings you attend, you can absolutely control how you manage your time.

Here's your crash course in Calendar MGMT 101:

Block Your Mornings

Reserve 2-3 hours in the AM to advance your most critical priorities
No meetings, no calls - just focused productivity
Protect this time fiercely

Shrink Meetings Aggressively

Meetings are like water and will fill whatever space we give them
Try every meeting at 2x speed (60 minutes becomes 30; 30 minutes 15)
Create a real urgency by scheduling meetings back-to-back

Halve Your Meeting Frequency

Ask: "Do we need to meet this often?"
Weekly becomes bi-weekly, monthly becomes quarterly
Set clear expectations to pursue more aggressive goals in between

Build In Buffers

Add a 15-minute gap after 3 back-to-back meetings
Use this time to prep, reflect, or simply breathe
You're not a machine, so don't operate like one

Delegate Strategically

Identify meetings where you're not the decision-maker
Send a trusted team member in your place
Empower them to represent the team

Remember, your calendar is a reflection of your priorities.
Make sure it's telling the right story.

Lead on,
Dave & Mar

PS - Want to supercharge these principles with AI? We recently walked through a calendar-enhancing process and several other manager challenges with 100s of leaders.

Prefer to join us live? We have another free 30-minute workshop next Tuesday:

How AI Can 10x The Effectiveness of Your One-on-One Meetings

There are already more than 1000 leaders registered for this session so grab you seat before we have to shut down live access.

PPS - MGMT Fundamentals is filling up fast. In an hour a day over two weeks, we'll teach you the foundational skills to not just survive but thrive in your new leadership role. Ideal for managers in the first 3 years leading a team.

Live Classes Start April 8th