I just love an empty calendar. It promises something valuable and rare: Time. Time to think, to work, to do whatever the hell you want.
But for most people, empty calendars aren’t realistic. And that includes me.
My calendar often looks like a minefield. A 15-minute “quick chat” explodes, destroying Tuesday afternoon. I agree to present at a local conference at 11 a.m. on Thursday — hey, at least I’ll have the afternoon free — but forget that public speaking sucks up all my energy. Our regular team meeting is every Monday, which means that all I’m doing every Monday is attending our regular team meeting.
I enjoyed a meeting-free stretch last year while we wrote Sprint, but that’s not normal. No… most weeks I have to fight and scrape and resort to dorky tricks to regain control of my time.
My favorite trick is to Start With a Full Calendar. Fill your calendar with activities that matter to you, before others can fill it for you.
I learned this trick from Graham Jenkin, the COO at AngelList.
In 2007 and 2008, Graham was my boss at Google. He managed something like twenty people, and he gave each of us personal attention and true support. I learned a lot from Graham in those years.
