Are You Controlling Your Time, Or Is Time Controlling You?

As business owners, we often find ourselves being pulled in a hundred different directions at once.

Client work, meetings, emails, planning, marketing—it’s easy to feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

But what if I told you there’s a simple way to take back control of your time and supercharge your productivity?

Enter the default diary.

This is a topic that comes up regularly at our Quarterly Growth Planning event and for good reason – we spend half of that day working on our goals and plans, but it’s imperative that you then make the time to be able to execute these actions.

A default diary is essentially a pre-planned weekly schedule where you have time allocated to moving forward on your most important priorities for week / month / quarter.

Whether it’s working developing your team, systems, following up on important calls , or even carving out time for personal development, a default diary allows you to allocate time to the things that matter most—and make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

But here’s the kicker: a default diary isn’t about packing your week with more to-dos.

It’s about being intentional with your time.

You’re creating space for what’s important, so you can actually move your business forward, rather than constantly fighting fires on the urgent.

Why a Default Diary Is a Game-Changer

Most of us start the week with good intentions, but as soon as the urgent tasks pile up, the important ones get sidelined –  Click here to read about the Eisenhower Matrix from a few months back.

Before you know it, you’ve spent your entire week in reactive mode, scrambling to keep up.

A default diary flips the script.

Instead of reacting to whatever pops up, you’re proactively managing your time based on what’s truly important.

By blocking out regular time slots for key activities, you’re creating a roadmap for your week—and if something urgent does come up, you know exactly how to adjust without derailing everything else in the process.

It’s like creating a system for your time, similar to how businesses like McDonald’s or Spurs rely on systems for consistency (Missed last week’s post? Read it here…)

You’re ensuring that, week in and week out, the right things are getting done..

How to Set Up Your Default Diary

1. Identify Your Priorities: Start by listing out the key activities that move your business forward. This might include client work, marketing, strategy sessions, personal development, team or systems development.
2. Block Out Your Time: Allocate specific blocks of time for each of these activities in your default diary. For example, you might reserve Monday mornings for strategic planning, Tuesday afternoons for client meetings, and Friday mornings for personal development. The key is to assign recurring time slots each week so these activities become habits. Alternatively you can have a list of your 3-5 most important priorities and in your ‘ring-fenced’ time each day you pick the no.1 item  on that list and work on that until you have progressed it as much as you can. Then go to the next one…and so on. Review and refresh the list daily.
3. Guard Your Time: Treat these time blocks as non-negotiable. Sure, things might pop up that require flexibility, but having a default structure means you can easily shuffle things around without losing track of what’s important.
4. Review and Adapt: A default diary isn’t set in stone. As your priorities shift, you can adjust your time blocks accordingly. The goal is to find a rhythm that works for you and your business.

The Power of Routine

There’s a reason why top-performing athletes, CEOs, and creatives thrive on routine— it gives them freedom.

By mastering your default diary, you’re removing the decision fatigue that comes with constantly figuring out what to do next.

You know what your focus is at any given moment, and that clarity gives you room to be more productive and strategic.

So, ask yourself: are you controlling your time, or is time controlling you?

If you feel like your weeks are slipping away, it’s time to create a system that works for you, not against you.

Set up your default diary, commit to it, and watch how much more you can achieve.

Need help with setting up your default diary? Book a free 45-minute session with me today.