Your calendar’s lying to you!
What your schedule says and what’s actually happening aren’t the same...
You think you’re busy. But are you busy doing the right things?
If you’ve read my last couple of posts, we’ve been building towards something.
First, we looked at why saying yes comes so easily, and how that habit slowly chips away at your time, your focus, and your leadership.
Then we talked about what success actually looks like in your role, and how to start protecting your time with more intention.
We explored a quick filter I use called the TIGER check, to help you pause before saying yes to something that might pull you off track.
And we took a deeper look at delegation, not just to free up your own time, but to give your team a chance to grow.
If you’re new here, don’t worry. You can come back to those later. For now, here’s the short version:
You can't manage your time well if you don’t know what matters most. And even when you think you’ve got that figured out, time still slips through the cracks.
Because not every distraction comes with a calendar invite. Not every waste of time looks like a meeting.
Some of the biggest drains are harder to spot.
The Slack pings.
The half-written emails.
The “quick chats” that take over your whole afternoon.
The tasks you pick up because it’s faster to do it yourself, even when it’s not your job to own.
You feel like you’re working constantly, but somehow the real priorities stay untouched. And at the end of the week, you’re tired, stretched, and wondering where the time actually went.
This is where awareness meets action
We talked before about self-awareness, the ability to notice your patterns in the moment. To pause before reacting. To stop yourself from saying yes just to feel helpful, or because you're trying to avoid conflict.
But now we need to take that awareness and apply it to your time.
Because when it comes to time management, your calendar won’t tell the full story.
It shows what you planned. Not what actually happened.
Plans shift. Priorities change. You get interrupted. Meetings run over.
You try to squeeze in deep work between calls. You say yes to something small, and it swallows your whole morning.
And yet, at the end of the week, you wonder:
Why didn’t I get to that thing that actually mattered?
If you’re serious about protecting your time, this is the next step.
Want to see where your time is actually going?
For paying subscribers, I’ve created a Time Audit Tracker you can use over a one-week period.
It’s designed to help you:
✔️ Spot where your time is leaking
✔️ Compare what you planned vs. what you actually did
✔️ Reflect on what really deserved your time and what didn’t
✔️ Get clear on what needs to shift so your week works better for you
This is next section is for paid subscribers, if that’s you skip ahead 👇
If you’re new here and wondering what you get as a paid subscriber:
✔️ Full access to every post and deep-dive articles
✔️ Exclusive snippets from my courses and masterclasses
✔️ Access to playbooks, guides and templates
✔️ Reflective prompts and tools you can actually use with your team
✔️ Early access to waitlists for courses and masterclasses
✔️ Discount codes for paid offers, events and resources