deep work

When you’re top of your game in a demanding corporate role, time is your most valuable asset. But what happens when your schedule is completely out of control?

One of my clients, a highly successful HR executive, was responsible for overseeing 1,000 employees: 500 onsite and another 500 remotely. She was a powerhouse in her industry, but behind the scenes, she was completely burnt out.

Her calendar was open access with literally anyone in the organisation booking a meeting at any time which meant:

• No time for deep, focused work as meetings constantly interrupted her productivity.

• There were rarely notes or agendas included in meeting requests meaning there was no preparation.

• No buffer time between meetings.

• She regularly worked late nights & overtime with work overflowing into her valuable personal time.

• Lunch breaks were non-existent.

• She was reacting instead of leading.

She was overwhelmed with barely any time for herself, her team, or her family. Her well-being and leadership effectiveness were suffering. Together, we needed to implement structure, boundaries and a simple system of regaining control over her time.

As her PA, I introduced a simple but powerful fix of time blocking. We segmented her calendar into:

• Pre-set times for internal meetings & external appointments.

• Team check-in slots to improve communication and continued support to those that mattered most.

• Deep work time: blocks specifically dedicated to strategy, decision-making and high-priority work.

• Non-negotiable breaks ensuring her lunch and personal time were protected, providing her time to recharge.

All appointment requests now required her approval. We also streamlined her communication by setting up an FAQ system on the intranet so employees could find answers without always needing a meeting. These simple steps resulted in more control, less stress and better leadership. By reclaiming ownership of her time, she experienced a complete transformation including:

• More time for deep, focused work allowing her to work more effectively on strategy, not just in meetings.

• Better work-life balance. I remember the positive change in her leaving the office at 5pm with evenings and weekends dedicated to family and friends, rather than catching up on admin.

• A more empowered team as we all benefited by being better prepared, and the team naturally followed her lead, using their own calendars more effectively.

• Stronger leadership presence as she was able to show up at her best for the meetings that matter.

For this HR executive, it wasn’t just about diary management. It was about regaining control of her life.

Time blocking is simple in theory but hard to implement when you’re already overwhelmed. That’s where I come in as I can help create systems that work for you, tailored to your workload and business. I take the administrative tasks off your plate so you can focus on high-impact work that matters most.