When a new mentee reached out for mentorship, one of the first things she said to me was:“I’m always in meetings, always working—but nothing actually moves. I feel like I’m busy all day, but I end every week wondering what I got done.”
This wasn’t someone who was unproductive or disorganized. She was sharp, dependable, and had a lot on her plate—leading projects, managing team dependencies, dealing with urgent requests. But her own priorities? Always came last.
And the promotion she was hoping to push for that quarter? Nowhere close.This story isn’t uncommon. I’ve seen a lot of high-performing professionals hit this same wall—feeling stretched, reactive, and buried under work that feels important but doesn’t really move the needle.So we got to work. Here’s how we fixed it.
Step 1: We Did a Simple Calendar Audit
We started by reviewing her last two weeks. Not changing anything yet—just observing.
And what we found was predictable:
1) Her calendar was packed with meetings from 9 to 6
2) There were barely any breaks for deep work or even follow-ups
3) Several recurring meetings had no clear purpose
4) She was spending time on things she wasn’t even directly responsible for
So I asked her a few basic questions:
Which of these meetings are actually helping you make progress on your core priorities?
Which ones are draining time but not adding value?
Where’s the time to think, plan, or lead?
That conversation was important for her. She started to realize that she was reacting to everything—but not owning her time.
What changed: She started trimming meetings ruthlessly. Cut or declined the ones that didn’t need her. Moved recurring syncs to async updates. By the end of the first week, she had cleared up 20% of her calendar.
Step 2: We Blocked Time for Real Work—and Protected It
Next, we looked at her week and asked: when do you actually do the thinking and execution part of your role?Her answer: “Late evenings, or weekends.”
That had to change. We started blocking “focus blocks” into her calendar—same way we’d block a meeting. We put in 2–3 sessions a week that were just for project work, writing strategy docs, reviewing team deliverables, or prepping for key meetings.
At first, she felt uncomfortable defending that time. People would still throw meetings over it, and she felt the urge to say yes. But she held the line. And when she did, she realized something simple but powerful: when you create space for focused work, you actually move things forward.
What changed: In those protected hours, she was finally making progress on a project she’d been stuck on for weeks. Within two weeks, it was ready to demo. Her manager noticed. So did the stakeholders waiting on her deliverables.
Step 3: We Built Her “Polite No” Muscle
A big part of the problem wasn’t just time—it was guilt. She said yes to everything. Helped with every request. Jumped into every fire.
It came from a good place—she wanted to be helpful, to show up for her team. But she was stretching herself too thin, and her own work was suffering for it.
So we practiced how to say no—or not now—without being rude or difficult. A few simple lines like:
“I’m at capacity this week. Can we revisit this next Monday?”
“Could you send me a quick summary and I’ll get back async?”
“This sounds important—would it make sense for you to own this and loop me in for reviews?”
These sound simple, but they take practice. She was surprised how well people responded. And over time, she realized something: being selective with your time doesn’t make people respect you less—it actually does the opposite.
What changed: Her time freed up. Her stress went down. And more importantly, she was seen as someone who set priorities and protected them—like a leader.
Step 4: We Made Her Weeks Intentional
The last thing we focused on was simple planning. Nothing complicated—just setting direction at the start of the week and checking in at the end.
Every Monday, she started asking:
What are the 2–3 things I want to move forward this week?
What might get in the way of that?
And every Friday:
Did I make progress on what mattered?
If not, what got in the way—and what can I change next week?
These tiny moments of reflection gave her something she didn’t realize she’d lost: a sense of control.
She wasn’t just trying to survive the week anymore—she was leading it.
What changed: In a matter of weeks, her entire posture changed. She felt calmer. Her meetings were sharper. Her team got more direction. And leadership started noticing how she was showing up.
Step 5: We Cleaned Up the Everyday Distractions
Once her calendar started looking better, the next thing we tackled was the small interruptions that add up—email pings, Slack messages, task switching. These were stealing her focus without her even noticing.She told me, “Even during my focus blocks, I’m checking email or Slack out of habit. I don’t even realize I’m doing it.”
This is really common. You plan your time well, then lose it in micro-distractions.
So we kept it simple and introduced a few everyday habits:
1) Turn off notifications for email and Slack—check them intentionally, not constantly
2) Batch email responses—she picked two 30-minute windows in the day to go through her inbox, instead of responding all day long
3) Use the “ OHIO - Only Handle It Once” rule—if something takes under two minutes, do it; otherwise, schedule it or delegate it
These aren’t groundbreaking ideas—but they compound. And more importantly, they support all the other changes we had made.
What changed: Her deep work time stayed protected. She got more done in fewer hours. And she felt less mentally scattered throughout the day.
The Real Win
A few weeks in, she messaged me:“This week, I finished the project, didn’t work late, and still had time to think. That hasn’t happened in months.”
That was the win. Not just the deliverables, but the shift from being reactive and overloaded—to being clear, calm, and effective.
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Why I Share This
I mentor people who are doing good work—but are still feeling stuck. And I see this pattern all the time. Smart, driven professionals buried under their own calendars, slowly burning out, wondering why they can’t move ahead.
The truth is, no promotion or growth plan works if your time isn’t your own. Until you create space for high-impact work and focused thinking, everything else is just noise.
Helping someone reset that—to feel in control again—that’s what makes mentoring so meaningful for me.
If you’re doing all the right things but still feel behind every week, this might be the place to start. I mentor on MentorCruise, and I work with professionals who want to get their time, their energy, and their leadership back.