My schedule has one meeting per day, usually— the rest of it is for one-minute touches and long chunks of uninterrupted thinking time.
Let me tell you how and why this productivity hack works…
Most meetings last an hour- they just do, even if everyone knows after 10 minutes that we’re already done.
People don’t come prepared, so they use the time to shoot the breeze- no clear agenda.
Recurring meetings are the biggest waste- mainly for the big boss to hold court.
Meetings are for making decisions, not sharing information.
And that means only those who have specific roles plus have done their homework in advance should attend.
Asynchronous communication lets you get stuff done when most efficient for you, without interruption or the cost of real-time.
You cannot fast-forward or play someone at 200%. So someone slow is like being forced to listen to an hour-long voicemail- no summary.
Time is a weapon that either slaughters you or becomes a competitive advantage for you.
Outright saying NO to someone who wants to meet “just for 5 minutes” can seem offensive.
So instead of saying NO, do one of these:
-find out what their goal is.
-see who else is better suited for the request (95% of requests are things they could Google for the first result).
-send them an article/video explaining (unless they are paying you handsomely for one-on-one time).
-ask a clarifying question (to see if they have thought things through).
-or just give them the time (if it’s mutually beneficial or if it truly is just 5 minutes).
I don’t ghost people, as I believe everyone deserves the dignity of a response. That means I go through my 600 emails a day personally.
I have a particular method which I’ve alluded to, that I’ll demonstrate live in an upcoming webinar, allowing me to go super fast.
Not automation or VAs, pure technique you can learn.
That squeezes email and meetings (necessary operational bits) down to just a few hours a day, leaving room to be strategic.
Your most productive time is your “thinking” time, which is only possible when you have blocks of at least 2 hours of uninterrupted time to plan, problem-solve, and study deeply.
Are you merely busy or are you making an impact?
