Sometimes we schedule weekly one-hour meetings. After several weeks, we realize we don’t need the full hour, and someone suggests reducing it to thirty minutes. Then someone else says, “I like having the full hour blocked so no one can schedule another meeting.”
Think about what that means. If the time is freed up and another meeting takes its place, that suggests the new meeting isn’t truly important. It also shows that the person feels unable to decline it.
But here’s the thing—we can block that time ourselves. We have that power.
The problem is cultural. We act as if we’re at the mercy of others’ schedules. We feel we’re not “allowed” to manage our own time. We don’t give ourselves permission to block time for focused work. Instead, we bend to the will of others and let them consume our calendars and are unwilling to decline meetings.