EP 203: The CEO Calendar: Structuring Your Week for Strategy, Not Survival

If your calendar looks like a game of Tetris and you get to Friday wondering where the week went, this episode is for you.

Today, I'm breaking down the CEO Calendar framework; a simple system using four strategic time blocks that will help you reclaim your calendar and prioritize intentional, strategic work.

You'll learn how to protect your best energy for high-impact activities, batch your meetings effectively and build in the flexibility you need without sacrificing structure.

💡 In This Episode, You'll Learn How To:

• Use the 4-block CEO Calendar framework to structure your week for strategic impact
• Identify your peak energy times and protect them for your most important work
• Batch your meetings and calls into Connection Blocks to prevent calendar fragmentation
• Time-box tactical tasks so they don't consume your entire day
• Build in Flex Blocks that give you breathing room without sacrificing productivity
• Audit your current time allocation to see where you're losing hours
• Communicate your new boundaries to team and clients without guilt
• Avoid the trap of letting "urgent" override "important" every single day

Connect with Leandra

Apply for my 90-Day CEO Empowerment Intensive if you're a profitable female business owner that's ready to step into strategic CEO-level leadership with clarity, calm and an action plan that actually fits you, your business and your lifestyle.

Have a question you'd like me to answer on the show? I'd love to hear from you! Send me a DM on Instagram @leandracreates with your question. I'm reading every single one and answering them in upcoming episodes.

Transcript

[00:00:00] I am Leandra Nisbet, founder and owner of a six figure revenue generating award-winning business. As a business advisor and growth strategists, I, I've helped hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners navigate from the idea phase into creating fully fledged profitable businesses that allow them to support their lifestyles, goals and communities.

As a small business owner myself, I know firsthand how tough it can be navigating the ever-changing business landscape while juggling all the hats and managing to still have personal time. Now, over a decade into my business, I continue on my mission to empower fellow small businesses with the tools, knowledge and resources they need to break free from being overwhelmed and overworked so they can reclaim their time and focus on what really matters most.

I created the Enlightened Entrepreneur. A podcast to provide [00:01:00] you with practical, approachable strategies you can start incorporating today so you can save time, reduce stress, and save money while growing the business you desire. If you're ready to launch, grow, or steal your business, you're in the right place.

Welcome to the Enlightened Entrepreneur Number.

How you structure your time reflects whether you are running your business or your business is running you. Today, I wanna give you a framework to help you reclaim your calendar and really start prioritizing strategic intentional work. So let me guess. It's Monday morning and your calendar looks and feels like a game of Tetris.

And Friday rolls around, and by that point you're a little bit overwhelmed. You kind of wonder what happened to the last five days and you feel like nothing has gotten accomplished. [00:02:00] If your weeks feel like they're more reactive than intentional, then this episode is all for you. Today I'm sharing a framework for setting up your CEO calendar.

Basically, this is your opportunity to learn how to structure your week for success so that you're actually leading your business and not just responding to it. So. As business owners, especially those in service-based businesses, one of the traps that we tend to run into is that every day feels different.

There's no structure, nothing is protected, nothing is intentional, and it doesn't seem like most strategies or approaches really account for some of the fluidity, the flexibility that's necessary when it comes to running a business and having. Team members, clients, customers, different needs and demands that are coming our way all the time.

And so there's a cost to this. There's a cost to [00:03:00] being reactive. There's a cost to being busy, but not actually productive. And especially in service-based businesses where time is one of the biggest assets that we have.

That's a commodity that we really need to hold precious. So when we are really bouncing back and forth from things all the time, we're not being proactive and structured and intentional with where our time and energy is going. It's hard. To move through the course of a week and really feel like we're making progress on anything because like I shared, you'll get to Friday and then all of a sudden it's kinda like what happened to the time?

I haven't really gotten anything done. It seems like a lot of busy work, but when I look back at it, nothing was actually accomplished or if, so, it wasn't anything that was really impactful. It was just a lot of. Doing things for the sake of getting them done or responding to things that came across me or putting out fires.

It wasn't anything that actually [00:04:00] moved us forward, and that's what we wanna avoid. So you can't look and think strategically when your calendar looks tactile and when it's. Not being intentional and focused. It's hard to really make progress. So let's talk through the CEO calendar framework. I wanna introduce you to four strategic time blocks that you can and should be putting on your calendar right now.

The first one is focus blocks, and this is all about your strategic work. And so what this is is looking for two to four hours a week of protected time for high level thinking and planning. This is really ideally should be placed when you are at your best, and this is a great opportunity to do a time and energy audit if you haven't done that, [00:05:00] to understand where your time is currently going and when you feel like you're performing at your best.

I certainly know when I have my peak energy levels throughout the course of a day, and so I will look at priority. This type of time block in that space for me because I know that's when I'm going to be able to really be my clearest, be the sharpest, and think about things like, you know, in this time, this is where you can do your strategic planning.

Maybe it's for looking at improving processes or systems within your business. Maybe this is for impactful. Content creation and development. Maybe it's for business development activities and outreach that you're doing. This is really the most important time that you can have within your business, and this needs to be treated like a non-negotiable, just like any other meeting that you would have.

It's very easy for these things to get pushed aside or backburnered [00:06:00] because it's a meeting with ourselves. Because you know, you might not actually be meeting or engaging with anyone else. It could be time where you are doing that behind the scenes, strategic, intentional, focused work. So if something else comes up, it might be very easy to be, oh, well look, I have two hours here.

Let me just plug it in there instead. But it's really doing a disservice to you and your business if you do that. This really should be a non-negotiable. So that's block number one is your focus time for strategic work. Block number two is connection blocks. And I love this. This is all about thinking about people and relationship building.

And so this could be the time that you are networking, that you are fostering relationships with your clients, with your team. This could be looking at client calls team meetings, et cetera. But this is all about how you can be. Focused in just that lane versus bouncing back and [00:07:00] forth between other things.

And so again, you wanna think about when you are going to be able to do this work. The best. And when it's going to be the most impactful to you as well, because this should be mutually beneficial. You're engaging with others, you're being able to have those interactions with others and that really can be recharging.

And so. This is something that you can think about perhaps, you know, batching your time for these meetings into specific days or time throughout the week, because that will help prevent that calendar fragmentation because you are being intentional around are there certain days or times of the week. And even when you're leveraging things like technology, which, you know, I, I.

Support and encourage when it helps us be more effective and efficient. This could even be something like if you are using a meeting scheduling tool where you are only opening up these blocks of time that you have allocated for these types of meetings and appointments so that you don't have to worry about things popping up [00:08:00] onto your calendar if you are using these types of tools and apps when it's not intended for that, that type of activity.

So your scheduling tools should align. With these goals and the framework that you're utilizing versus being a free for all and allowing other people to dictate when and how you show up, especially if it's not allowing you to show up at your best every time. So that's block number two, your connection blocks where you're focusing all about your relationship building and interactions.

Block number three is your execution block. And this is all about getting the work done. So this could be time where you are doing some administrative tasks, maybe you're following up on emails, maybe you're just checking in and cleaning out your inbox. Um, maybe this is the tactical work that you're doing, so invoicing, scheduling, things that are maybe quick wins and turnaround.

Tasks, but they still need time to get done. So this ideally, I would recommend, is [00:09:00] maybe where it's a lower energy point for you. This is something that you can do to fill in those gaps where it's, I need to get this done. I can easily just kind of focus and maybe put on some nice music in the background and be able to knock out these respective tasks they need to get done.

But it should not be consuming your best peak performance times. So. This might be, this could look different for everyone. I mean, maybe it's early afternoon, maybe it's the end of the day. Maybe it's, you know, you're the type of person who needs to kind of get up and going in the morning. So this could be best for you, first thing to be able to knock out some of these things.

As you build momentum, your coffee kicks in, whatever that looks like for you. And then you are building up the time and energy and capacity to do some of these other more impactful activities. So block number three is your execution blocks where you're all about getting the work done. And then finally, block number four is your [00:10:00] flexible block.

What does that mean? This is where you are looking to handle any overflow task or activities that come up. So as we all know. It's almost impossible to go through the course of a week, even the course of a day, without something coming up that you weren't expecting. And so this is an opportunity for you to think about what are, how much time do you need to handle the unexpected?

And so this could be different again for everyone. You'll know more based on history and what you're doing, and maybe it's even stage of life or specific project that you're working on. Maybe that's requiring more time and energy, but maybe you're at a stage of it where, you know, there's a lot of.

Things that are just popping up, oh, we ran into this roadblock. Oh, we need to accommodate for this uhoh. We're delayed on this aspect. You know, maybe you're just at a specific stage of business or work that's requiring more of this flexibility in your schedule, but plan for [00:11:00] that. So this could be, um, something that will allow you to have that white space to breathe so that you don't feel like you're always rushing from one thing to the next, or that you are putting out fires and needing to.

Remove other things or priorities from your schedule and you know, either overworking, overcommitting, um, and overscheduling yourself and potentially leading into burnout depending on how long this type of activity goes on. So, again, this can look different for everyone. I would recommend that you're thinking about how you can structure this throughout the course of your week versus just having it, you know, well, Friday I'll catch up on everything.

Well, sometimes that's really just not realistic. Sometimes things might need to be responded to the day that they come up. Maybe it isn't something that can wait that long, or maybe you have too many things coming in that your Friday isn't giving you enough time to accommodate for that. So you're already feeling behind going into the next week because you're carrying over all of these other things.

So really thinking about how you [00:12:00] can be. Structured around that so that you know how much time you need and then actually planning the things when these unscheduled tasks, emergencies, et cetera, pop up looking at how the, looking at your flex time blocks to say, where can I fit this in versus let me drop everything I'm doing and respond to it right now.

And so I wanna share a little bit about how this has worked for me, because I remember there were times when I would jump from, you know, client meeting, to a team meeting, to a networking event, to admin, to trying to do content creation and reviewing things, and then jumping into a project and feeling like, well look at all the things that I'm getting done, or all of the things that are blocked out on the calendar and really.

There's. An extra level of pressure and stress that comes with that because your mind isn't free. At least my mind wasn't free just to stay focused in one lane in space and be very, very structured around [00:13:00] that. And I have learned that for myself, that is actually what works best, is having that type of structured format.

So it's very clear to me what I'm doing and when I am doing it and what type of work and activity goes into those respective spaces. Um, but also giving myself flexibility around that. So. For example, just because I might have, um, a connection block, that doesn't mean that I'm doing the exact same activities every single time it comes up.

Maybe sometime it is for networking, but other times it's for team meetings and one-on-ones. Maybe another time it is for you know, client meetings or doing those type of actions and act and activities. So it doesn't need to be. Where everything is just repeat, repeat, repeat. It's looking at those overall blocks and then understanding what tasks and activities you need to or want to fit into those respective spaces on a daily, weekly basis so that you can can have the consistency.

And clarity about what [00:14:00] you're actually doing and knowing that at the end of the week you have been able to build in time for all of these activities that really will be impactful to you and your business and your sanity. So for me, it has been incredibly helpful to have clearly defined time for strategic thinking, planning, and execution within my business, to not be bouncing back and having all of the context switching from going from one task to another task.

Back to the first and then to the fourth, all in one day or morning for that matter. And it also helps with having better boundaries and being able to communicate those to others because it's clear, you know, whether it is through using the scheduling tool and it's very well aligned with. The respective time blocks that I have dedicated for specific tasks and activities or communicating internally with my team around how I am structuring these types of activities.

Also encouraging them to do the same and really thinking about how [00:15:00] this can help you and your business as you move forward and with your energy and your overall impact. So let's jump into today's action accelerator. What I want you to do is to audit your, your time. Ideally, if you can think back, I know we're all busy and things move quickly, so if you could go back over the last one to two weeks and think about where did your time actually go.

Maybe you wanna jump into, you know, if you have a paper planner, if you have a digital calendar, and look at it and, and think about it like any other audit that you would do. What were the types of meetings that you had? Was there a lot of jumping back and forth between things? Were there fires that you were putting out?

Do you remember canceling or putting off something that you had scheduled? Especially if it was a priority for you to address something else because you didn't know when. Else to do it or how else it could fit into your schedule for the respective week. You know, did you work extra? Were you working on the weekend or in the evenings?

Because there were so [00:16:00] many things coming across you and you didn't know how to actually fit them in or actually get them done. Um, I also want you to be thinking about, and this can be something as you move forward through this week, think about your energy levels. Where are your peak energy times? Where do you feel the most active, engaged, the sharpest as you are going through your work and activities?

And then that could be an opportunity to protect those times for focus blocks as you move forward. Then I want you to also think about how can you map out any. Obligations and commitments that you already have for things like your team meetings, client calls. Is there any consistency to that or is it all over the place right now?

If it's all over the place, is there an opportunity for you to be proactive and start building more structure around that so that you can create intentional connection blocks? And if it is already set up that way, great, easy peasy. You already have those connection blocks built in. You just didn't have [00:17:00] it named that way.

And now I want you to think about how you can time box your execution block and think about, you know, setting a timer for this. This might be something where you want to start with. You know, small chunks of time to be able to say, okay, here's the one thing that I wanna get done in this time. And set a timer for that and set that one intentional goal and focus.

Um, this may be something that you even want to do with an accountability partner, um, maybe through a coworking session, something to help you, especially if it feels challenging. To say, I'm really going to protect this time for myself and getting work done that is of highest impact and importance to me without feeling guilty around that or like there's something else that you could or should be doing in that time.

Okay. And then finally look at how you can start by building in flex time in your week. Understand what that flexible time looks like and start small even maybe if it's 30 minutes that [00:18:00] you're building in. So that way the next time something comes across you that feels like it's a hair on fire situation, instead of saying, oh, well let me just jump right into that.

You can look at your calendar or your planner and say, okay. Oh, perfect. It looks like I have Wednesday from two to two 30 open. I'll plug that in then. And that may be even something that you wanna communicate to whomever is sharing that with you. Um, and let them know. That you've received that message and that you are going to follow up with them by the end of the day on Wednesday, and then it's something that will lighten the mental load for you because you already know when that time is blocked off, you know that you're going to be able to address it, and that you don't need to stop what you're doing now.

You can get back to what you already had planned in the moment and know that you do have the time and energy and the space carved out to address that item. So let me share some challenges that may come up so that you can avoid these as you get started with this. First, you don't need to try to implement and perfect this system.

Right [00:19:00] away. Start with whatever's going to be the most impactful block for you. Maybe there's one that you feel like is completely missing or lacking from your calendar, or you feel like there's one that's going to have the biggest impact for you if you're able to implement it. And I would recommend that you start there.

Don't try to do everything at once. Next, another challenge can be. Letting the, a sense of urgency override what is actually the most important. Not everything can be a priority. And so really thinking about what is going to be the most impactful and important in the moment. And as you start thinking about that flexible time, it will help you with having that ability to prioritize because not everything will feel as though it needs to be addressed right away.

And obviously there are certain things that are. Time sensitive, urgent emergencies that pop up and do need to be addressed right away. So that's certainly not what I'm referring [00:20:00] to, but I think that you'll be able to tell the difference between things that feel important and the things that actually need to be addressed right in the moment when they, when they arise.

I. And then finally, another challenge that may come up is not communicating your new boundaries to your team or clients. And this one might feel a little bit hard, but I would encourage you to push through because you know the why behind it. You know that it's going to allow you to show up at your best, to allow you to serve better, to be more structured and intentional, to be more focused when you are in meetings with people, with your clients, when you are working on their projects, et cetera, because you are being.

Structured with that time, you're not bouncing back and forth between various things, and so it's going to allow things to be better on all ends. So just making sure that you are starting to put that out there and have that added clarity as well. And it will also be freeing for you because you will have that boundary, you'll have articulated it and you're.

Seeing it in [00:21:00] practice, and again, like I said, feel free to leverage technology as an asset and a resource in this space as well as you are looking at how your calendar is getting filled up. So as a reminder, your calendar is a reflection of your priorities, and so make sure they are getting the time, energy, and space that they need.

I would encourage you to try this out for the next couple of weeks and let me know what shifts. You see within your business, your energy and how you're showing up. And feel free to find me on Instagram. Be sure to follow me over there at Leandro Creates and send me a DM and let me know what your CEO calendar wins are.

I would love to hear them and if you come across any challenges, reach out and let me know. Those as well. Happy to weigh in and be of additional support and guidance so. On our next episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur, we're going to be diving into the five systems that every service business needs to run without you.

So definitely make sure that you join [00:22:00] me back for that one, and I cannot wait to see you there.

Thanks for joining me on The Enlightened Entrepreneur, where we discuss all things business so you can be empowered with the actionable tips, strategies, and mindset shifts you need to help you launch and grow your business with ease. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to your podcast to make sure you don't miss a thing and to learn more.

Be sure to connect with me on Instagram and on my website. Take a look at the show notes for any suggested resources and links to connect with me directly.