How to Stop Reacting to Your Calendar and Lead With It Instead
More time doesn’t have to mean more meetings.
In the previous post, we explored how AI is saving us time and how the real challenge is turning that saved time into purpose. The question isn’t “How do I manage my time better?” It’s “What should I be spending my time on?” And then: “How do I protect the time I need for that?”
A client I work with, a municipal leader, has done just that. Our work has focused on how to make confident, clear decisions. And what we’ve discussed is this: conviction in decision-making doesn’t just show up. It’s built through process. It requires time to gather input, reflect, prepare, and fully consider what’s at stake. That conviction becomes the cement in the foundation of her work, holding decisions in place so she can move forward without constant revisiting or doubt.
So she redesigned her calendar. She blocked dedicated time for thinking, preparing for meetings, and making key decisions. She created a high bar for what could interrupt those blocks ("Only if the Mayor asks") and explained her approach to the team, inviting them to align with this new rhythm. And that’s key. Protecting time doesn’t work in isolation. It requires training your team to work within new rhythms so they respect boundaries, plan ahead, and understand why focused time benefits the whole organization.
This isn’t about productivity for its own sake. It’s about aligning time with what matters. Harvard research into how CEOs spend their days found that only 24% of their time is spent alone. That is the kind of time that allows for deep thinking, strategic preparation, and quality decision-making. The rest is consumed by meetings, emails, and reactive demands. If leaders don’t intentionally protect time for focused work, it disappears. And as the researchers noted, a leader’s calendar doesn’t just reflect their priorities. It shapes them.
As the Influence Journal puts it: “Deep work isn’t a withdrawal from leadership. It’s the foundation of it.” Leaders who protect thinking time don’t fall behind. They move faster with more clarity. They trade shallow busyness for deeper impact, and reactivity for resilience.
This client’s shift is a live example of how to reclaim time in 2026. She didn’t just make space. She used it to strengthen her process, make better decisions, and lead with greater conviction
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