Don't Prioritize Your Schedule
Don’t Prioritize Your Schedule. Schedule Your Priorities.
We all have the same 24 hours, but how we use those hours separates high-impact leaders from burned-out ones. One of the most common traps leaders fall into is letting their calendar dictate their priorities, instead of using their priorities to shape their calendar.
Let’s look at three types of leaders, and why only one of them gets lasting results.
🔥 1. The Firefighter: Reacting to Everything
This leader lives in constant motion. Meetings get added to the calendar last-minute. Emails get answered all day. Phone always buzzing. Their schedule is full - but full of the wrong things.
They’re reactive. They spend their day solving everyone else’s problems. They may feel busy (even essential), but deep down they know they’re not doing their most important work. They're stuck in the urgent instead of the important.
Key signs:
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“I’ll get to that when things slow down.”
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Always running late, always overwhelmed
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Confuses motion with progress
Feels like:
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Stress = High
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Efficiency = Medium
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Effectiveness = Low
📋 2. The Organizer: Prioritizing the Schedule
This leader has started to fight back. They’ve color-coded their calendar. They block time. They even try to keep mornings for “important stuff.” They’ve learned to prioritize the schedule, but they’re still mostly reacting to what’s already on it.
Yes, they’re more efficient. Yes, the calendar is more orderly. But the biggest issue remains: what’s on the schedule still isn’t always aligned with the leader’s biggest goals.
Key signs:
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Good systems, but still working on the wrong things
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Constant “busy work” still finds a way in
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Ends the week feeling like they didn’t move the needle
Feels like:
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Stress = Medium
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Efficiency = High
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Effectiveness = Medium
🎯 3. The Architect: Scheduling Their Priorities
This leader starts with what matters most...then builds their schedule around it. They protect time for vision, strategy, deep work, team development, and thinking. They know that if it’s not scheduled, it won’t happen.
Instead of squeezing important work into the margins, they put it front and center. They let their values and goals drive their calendar. Everything else gets fit in around that - or cut altogether.
Key signs:
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Rocks and big goals are always moving forward
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Delegates and empowers others to handle the rest
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Ends the week feeling energized and clear
Feels like:
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Stress = Low
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Efficiency = High
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Effectiveness = High
✅ Final Thought:
You can’t control everything that hits your calendar, but you can control what gets top billing.
Don’t prioritize your schedule. Schedule your priorities.
The future of your business depends on it.
Ryan Giles
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