Friday Forward - Your Time (#465)
In 2025, make sure your schedule reflects your priorities
And just like that, it’s a new year: 2025.
The air is buzzing with New Year’s resolutions, and gym parking lots are completely full. Yet, if history has taught us anything, those same parking lots will be back to their usual, emptier state by February. The hard truth is that most resolutions fail because they lack the commitment and structure to sustain them.
Over the years, I’ve shared several practices for annual planning and goal setting that I have found most helpful. Some of my favorites include taking a “one thing” approach to goal setting, creating a “stop doing” list, and using time-blocking to protect what’s most important. But there’s one exercise that stands out in ensuring your actions align with your priorities: a calendar audit.
This week, everyone has been thinking about their past year. Some people are toasting their accomplishments or reflecting on the relationships they deepened, and they’ll feel a deep sense of satisfaction. Others are wondering where the time went, lamenting missed opportunities and unmet goals.
Here’s the harsh reality: both these groups have the same number of days and hours each year. What separates them isn’t time itself—it’s the discipline to align their priorities with how they spend that time.
My favorite way to address this is called a calendar audit. This is a tool leadership coaches often use to help executives better understand their time allocation and identify opportunities for better alignment. However, the calendar audit is not just a powerful practice for executives—anyone can benefit from it.
Here’s how it works:
For the next few weeks, commit to tracking everything you do in your calendar. That means everything: work meetings, family dinners, time spent on social media, exercise, and even sleep. Once your calendar accurately reflects your daily life, assign each activity a category (e.g., work, health, family, leisure) and color-code it. At the end of the period, total up your hours in each category and look at the percentage of time you spent on each.
The results are usually surprising—even shocking. The phrase “I don’t have enough time” often turns out to be a convenient myth; you’ll likely discover that you have plenty of time, but you just aren’t using it efficiently.
Once you’ve done your audit, ask yourself some questions about your time and prioritization, such as:
Do you claim that family is your top priority but find that your time spent with them doesn’t reflect that commitment?
Have you said that improving your health is important, yet you’ve allocated minimal time to exercise or meal preparation?
Do you spend more time scrolling through social media, liking pictures of other people’s lives, than you spend investing in your own goals? Is that truly aligned with what matters most?
Are you struggling to achieve a goal, not because you lack time, but because you haven’t had the discipline to prioritize it?
How many hours do you dedicate to consuming news, which we know is designed to stoke fear and negativity, versus spending that time on activities that bring joy or growth?
Most people who complete a calendar audit experience a wake-up call and reckon with how they’ve chosen to spend their time. It’s uncomfortable, but it’s also usually a catalyst for change. Once you see the gaps between your stated priorities and your actions, you are better positioned to close them.
The key to turning insights into action is accountability. Share your findings, and what you want to change, with a trusted friend, coach, or family member who can hold you to your commitments. Adjust your calendar so that you are planning your time out weeks or months in advance, filling it first with the activities that are most important to you.
Remember the classic analogy of person trying to fill a jar with rocks and sand. If you fill a jar with sand—smaller tasks—first, there won’t be room for the rocks—your top priorities. But if you place the rocks in first, the sand will fill the gaps. You have to start with the big things.
It’s easy to say that something matters to us. It’s much harder to back it up with our time. If you want to make big important things happen this year, the process starts with taking a hard look at how you’re spending your time—and intentionally changing your calendar to reflect your priorities.
Quote of The Week
"Your calendar is the most honest autobiography you'll ever write. It doesn't matter what you say your priorities are; your calendar reveals the truth. Each block is a decision about what matters, stripped of pretense and rationalization. Your calendar isn't just recording your time—it's exposing your lies.” - Shane Parrish
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Excellent self examination and correction .