Have you ever noticed how easy it is to start something, but how much harder it can be to finish it?

You come up with an idea, something that would improve how things work or make a real impact. Maybe it’s a shift you know your business or team needs, or a different approach you’ve been thinking about trialling in your leadership. The intention is there, the energy’s high… but then the day-to-day takes over. The urgent overshadows the important. Meetings stack up. People need things.

And that idea? It stays sitting in the “when I get to it” pile, not because it’s not important, but because it hasn’t found protected time or space.

I’ve been reading Charlie Gilkey’s book “Start Finishing,” and was also lucky to hear him speak over Zoom last week in a networking group I’m part of. If you haven’t come across Charlie before, he talks about productivity in a simple, clear, and very human way.

One of the things he talks about is:

“Not all time is the same and if we treat every hour like it’s interchangeable, we end up exhausted and out of alignment.”

To support this theory, Charlie, suggests we time block — create intentional spaces for different types of work. And this week, I thought I’d share a high-level insight into the blocks of time Charlie suggests:

Focus Blocks: Time for the important and meaningful stuff – the things that will make a difference to your leadership, your team, and the work you do. The things that require clarity, creativity, and courage. This is sometimes referred to as the “non-urgent but important” stuff.

Admin Blocks: Tasks that need doing but don’t require your best thinking – emails, reports, forms, or scheduling. Charlie suggests we keep these contained because they can take over our whole day, especially if you’re not careful.

Social Blocks: Time with others — connecting and collaborating. This might include one-on-one conversations, team meetings, stakeholder catch-ups, networking, or a conversation that helps you talk things through and think out loud.

Recovery Blocks: The block most leaders skip. This is your refuel time — a walk, lunch away from your desk, reading something inspiring, or even just space to think. Without recovery, your focus and decision-making suffer.

Later this week, I’m kickstarting a leadership development program for a group of senior leaders, and one of the challenges I know we’ll be talking about early on is time. How to protect it, how to use it with intention, and how to make space for the work that really matters.

I thought Charlie’s model would be a great one to introduce them to and I’ll be asking them these questions to help spark reflection and reset their approach:

Which block do I need right now?

• A Focus block — for meaningful, high-impact work
• A Recovery moment — to refuel and reset
• A Social block — to connect or collaborate
• An Admin block — to clear the necessary tasks

And where might I find a way to try time blocking in my calendar over the next month?

I figured, it might be valuable to share these questions with you too, because a small shift in how you see and manage your time can make a big difference in how you lead!

Until next week, be well and lead well!

Kylie