Time management is boll&cks
Leadership and Leadershit of time
Time is one of the most misunderstood leadership tools.
Why We Need to Talk About Time
We waste it, stretch it, believe we can hoard it, and pretend we have more of it than we do. We use it as an excuse for not making decisions. We let it be taken from us without question.
We optimise, we schedule, we squeeze every gap, yet somehow, we still feel like we don’t have enough.
We have never had more access to productivity tools. Digital calendars, AI schedulers, 5 AM Club routines, hacks, techniques, time-tracking apps and we still feel we don’t have enough time.
We hustle harder, we optimise, we fill every gap with just one more thing, and then we wonder why we feel exhausted, unfulfilled, and stuck in leadershit cycles that keep us reactive instead of intentional.
Why we’re stuck?
Here’s the truth, time is not something to be managed. It’s something to be led.
The Time Management Lies You Believe
The time management lie ,we’ve been sold a false promise that better time management will fix everything. It wont.
Most people don’t have a time problem. They have a clarity problem.
We look at time and how you use it is the difference between leadership and leadershit.
Leadershit is reactive. It’s filling the day with meetings and tasks that feel productive but don’t move anything forward. It’s the endless cycle of “just one more thing” before making a real decision. It’s the belief that more time will solve the problem instead of defining what is enough.
Time doesn’t need to be managed. It needs to be owned.
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Side bar! Let me introduce you to the and dLog and how it can be a useful lens to think and co sider about time.
First what is a dLog is. DLOG (Daily Leadership On the Go) is a tool we use at and. to cut the noise and focus on what matters. It’s is how we cut the leadershit and move fast. It stands for Daily Leadership On the Go, our under-three-minute coaching audios designed to get you unstuck, thinking, and acting immediately. Think of it as espresso-style coaching. No fluff. No overthinking. Just the sharpest insight in the shortest time to break through noise and make a move.
Under three-minute coaching audios.
No fluff. No overthinking. Just sharp clarity and movement.
Built to create momentum, not add to the noise.
Not about cramming more into your time. About choosing what is enough. We will share some dLog insights to flip the biggest time traps keeping you reactive instead of intentional.
Join the 6 months coaching program
Leadership is intentional. It’s knowing that time is not the issue, how you use it is, the difference between Leadership and Leadershit:
The biggest time traps we fall into is Parkinson’s Law, the law states that work expands to fill the time you give It. If you allow two hours for a task, it will take two hours. If you allow 37 minutes, it will take 37 minutes.
How does this show up in our leadership or leadershit?
Leadershit:
Reacts with "I need more time" instead of deciding.
Lets meetings and tasks expand beyond necessity, filling the schedule with work that could have been done faster.
Confuses "thinking longer" with "thinking better."
Example: A manager schedules weekly 90-minute meetings that achieve nothing instead of defining the decision needed and closing the loop.
Leadership:
Defines what is enough instead of leaving work open-ended.
Creates clarity over control, making space for what actually moves things forward.
Knows when to stop instead of allowing time to expand endlessly.
Example: A leader sets a clear time limit for discussions so they stay focused instead of spiraling into over-analysis.
Reversing Parkinson’s Law:
Developed by Dave Evans, for our and. daily coaching dLog, 6 months self led program (wow thats a mouthful!) this method flips Parkinson’s Law on its head and forces clarity. What If Less Time Was Enough? Dave Evans. Reversed Parkinson’s Law flips the equation. Instead of thinking "I need an hour for this," set an odd time constraint:
47 minutes for deep work
19 minutes for decision-making
11 minutes for emails
Odd-timed blocks create sharper focus (37 minutes instead of an hour). Odd times add a memory tag and can connect us with a sense of urgency, focus, and action.
Fewer, clearer discussions lead to faster action.
Stopping sooner prevents overworking something that was already good enough.
Consider it through a dLog under 3 minutes lens
Next time you schedule a task, cut the time in half and force a decision. If you think it takes two hours, give it 45 minutes. Then review: Did it really need more? Or did constraints create clarity
Experiment with it: Set your next task with an odd-time limit and see how much faster you move.
Instead of letting work expand, leaders create just enough space for clarity. Not about forcing speed. About choosing what is enough.
The Planning Fallacy: We assume we’ll have more time later. We won’t.
If you can’t make five minutes for something today, what makes you think you’ll have an hour next week?
Leadershit:
Defers action, waiting for a “better time” that never comes.
Pushes hard conversations into the future instead of handling them now.
Lets small problems grow into crises because they assume time will be available later.
Example: A manager avoids a necessary performance conversation because “the team is busy with a big project,” allowing the issue to escalate.
Leadership
Recognizes that small actions today prevent bigger problems later.
Breaks projects into micro-movements instead of waiting for a “perfect time.”
Holds quick, purposeful check-ins instead of scheduling future meetings that delay action.
Example: A leader sends a 2-minute voice note to unblock a team instead of waiting for “next week’s meeting.”
Looking through a dLog lens Stop Measuring Time—Measure Energy
When are you naturally most focused? Most creative? Most drained?
Optimize for rhythm, not clock time. If you’re best at deep work at 9 PM, why are you forcing a 6 AM start?
Use energy windows wisely:
High energy? Create, strategize, make decisions.
Low energy? Admin, shallow work, recovery.
The best leaders don’t have perfect routines. They have self-awareness of when they work best Look at your task list and choose one thing you’re waiting on. Ask yourself: "What’s the smallest possible action I could take today?" Take it. See how it moves things forward
The 5 AM Club Myth: waking up earlier won’t fix how you use time
Waking up at 5 AM doesn’t make you a better leader. It makes you tired if your body isn’t wired for it. Productivity gurus push sameness as success, ignoring that your chronotype, energy rhythms, and creative flow matter more than someone else’s rigid
Leadershit:
Copies generic productivity trends without considering what actually works.
Forces employees into rigid, one-size-fits-all schedules that ignore individual effectiveness.
Believes "harder work" equals "better work," ignoring science.
Example: A CEO forces a team to be on calls at 6 AM, killing productivity because most of them work better later in the day.
Leadership:
Works with natural energy levels instead of forcing artificial schedules.
Structures deep work sessions when they are most mentally sharp.
Focuses on output, not optics, knowing success is about results, not waking up early.
Example: A leader blocks three peak hours for deep work in the afternoon because that’s when they operate at their best.
The dLog lens is with, Not More. Its Life balance not work-life balance
Track when you do your best work. Morning? Afternoon? Night?
Block that time for your most important work and stop forcing productivity in hours that don’t suit you
Instead of trying to add more hours, ask: What actually matters in this time?
More time won’t make you feel better.
Using time WITH what matters will. We have coached life balance and not work-life balance, because work is part of life not something separate from it.
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We do recommend to read Tim Duggan’s latest book Working Backwards too and hear him on our podcast too sharing .The narrative so well written of New Happy thinking and being from Stephanie Harrison is how we have coached and have time happiness is built through meaning, not hours worked.
Also check out Tiny Experiments Over Grand Overhauls from Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s Tiny Experiments model says micro-movements drive real, lasting habit change. If you want long-term time mastery, don’t chase big, dramatic changes, test tiny shifts.
Test this:
What happens if you cut meetings to 20 minutes?
What if you time block in 37-minute sprints?
What if you remove ONE task that adds zero value?
Small shifts create sustainable change.
Busy vs. Effective: Are you just filling time?
Are you moving forward, or just moving? Hustle vs. Effectiveness? Busy feels productive, but is it actually moving you forward? Are you running in circles or actually making progress. Hamster Wheel or moving micro steps or allowing for the ebbs and flows?
Leadershit:
Confuses busyness with effectiveness, filling the calendar with work that looks important but achieves nothing.
Multitasks, context-switches, and burns out instead of making intentional choices.
Example: A manager spends all day in back-to-back meetings but makes no actual progress.
Leadership:
Defines clear priorities and focuses on impact over activity.
Removes unnecessary conversations so real ones can happen.
Asks: “What outcome does this create?” instead of "How busy does this make me feel?"
Example: A leader cuts half their meetings and gets decisions made in focused 20-minute stand-ups.
A dLog lens is spend 3 minutes auditing your calendar. Look at everything you’re spending time on. Ask: "Is this busy, or is this effective?" Cut the fluff.
Time Mastery is a Choice
These laws of time don’t just apply to work. They shape how we lead, decide, and move forward. The difference between leadership and leadershit isn’t about working harder or longer—it’s about using time with purpose, instead of being a victim to it.
The Shift: With, not more
Time is not something to chase. It’s something to use with intention.
More time won’t make you feel better. Using time WITH what matters will.
· Where are you stuck in leadershit cycles?
· What’s one shift you can make this week to break the pattern?
What If You Stopped Letting Time Own You?
Most people are waiting for more time.
You won’t get more.
But you can get clearer, more intentional, and more effective with what you have.
What’s actually keeping you stuck in busy?
If you had to cut your workweek by 30 percent, what would you drop first?
Time Mastery Challenge
This week, challenge yourself to break free from reactive time use:
What micro-movement will you test this week?
Reframe how you use time: What’s enough for this task? What would happen if you stopped there?
Break the planning fallacy: If it takes less than five minutes, do it now.
Audit your busy: What’s actually effective? Cut the rest.
Use the and dLog method: Set work in odd-timed blocks and notice the shift.
Eliminate one pointless task: Meetings? Emails? Find the leak.
Experiment with tiny shifts: Change one thing, not everything.
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· What’s your biggest time frustration?
· What’s one thing you’re going to change?
Your and.*
Where do you let time manage you instead of choosing how to use it? Let’s move forward.
Read more: Busy is a Lie Blog
Listen to Coffee Coaching: Espresso-style coaching for real results www.andcoachme.com/blog/coffee
Join and. Experience: The real-time leadership event that moves you from stuck to leading with clarity www.andcoachme.com/experience
* and. is about taking action, not inaction. It is about being in the now, present, and connected. It is about thinking differently, leading differently, and choosing a perspective that challenges sameness.and. is the daily actions and choices that define your leadership or leadershit DNA. Every decision, every behavior, and every moment of awareness builds either clarity or reactivity. It is not just what you do, but how you do it. and. is not about waiting. It is about moving with intention
