Hey Justin, I’m not sure I’m 100% following what you’re saying. Can we hop on a quick call for clarity? Monday or Friday at 5 am EST are good for me. Shouldn’t take more than an hour. Thanks.
I think it all depends on what stage you are in too. If you are just beginning, its better to go all in but once you reach a certain stage or hit your definition of "enough", so you deaccelerate and build it as you want it to be.
Justin, this hits at the core lie of the modern professional world: the equation that Busyness = Importance. It’s a habit learned in the corporate machine, and it’s the hardest one to unlearn.
This is the ultimate application of the EVOLVE pillar (Essenzialismo). It’s not about finding more time; it’s about ruthlessly eliminating the friction that destroys focus. That "nine meetings in four days" realization is the pain point that forces the shift.
But the true gift of the empty calendar isn't just "flow." It’s the constant, uninterrupted presence—the BEING pillar—that you reclaim. When you stop context switching, your mind stops fragmenting. You're not just getting more writing done; you’re living more of your life intentionally.
That intentionality is what makes the deep work (the REALIZE pillar) possible. A full calendar is a full prison. Thank you for this essential truth.
Love this! Pre-covid I would do 6/7 meetings a day. Nowadays, even 1 meeting definitely breaks my flow, unless it's really early in the morning. I'm totally going to use "can you send me a Loom" genius!
Funny how a packed calendar used to feel like proof of progress. But that’s exactly the Drift Principle at work. When compression outruns fidelity, we mistake busyness for meaning. The more we fill our days with calls and context switching, the less of our actual work survives. An empty week isn’t a gap to fix; it’s space where fidelity comes back online.
Hey Justin, you’re absolutely right. Having a empty calendar means you’re the king. I’m talking about the money side of the same thing this Monday in my newsletter. Would love to hear your thoughts on that.
It's easy to make fun of all that "hop on a call and circle back" stuff, until you're billing by the hour. I have entrepreneurial activities where I just need to be aware of what's going and am happy to just get some teams chat updates when the team has time.
But I also do some hourly work as a corporate consultant. Not only is it corporate but it is also consulting! That is like corporate on steroids. In that case, I'm more than happy to circle back, follow up, check in, and I'm also well rehearsed on BSing and keeping that conversation going for the full hour! :)
On the entrepreneur side, I get that same sense of unease when I don't see a lot of meetings. I think it's a false sense of control. Comes from the "ABC: Always Be Closing" mentality. If you're not working your next lead, you're out of work in a week. Keep filling the pipe, etc.
But when you have projects that have long lead times and everything is on track, then what do you need to meet about? Maybe 30 min a week is fine to see if any major issues coming up.
Hey Justin, I’m not sure I’m 100% following what you’re saying. Can we hop on a quick call for clarity? Monday or Friday at 5 am EST are good for me. Shouldn’t take more than an hour. Thanks.
😂
I think it all depends on what stage you are in too. If you are just beginning, its better to go all in but once you reach a certain stage or hit your definition of "enough", so you deaccelerate and build it as you want it to be.
Justin, this hits at the core lie of the modern professional world: the equation that Busyness = Importance. It’s a habit learned in the corporate machine, and it’s the hardest one to unlearn.
This is the ultimate application of the EVOLVE pillar (Essenzialismo). It’s not about finding more time; it’s about ruthlessly eliminating the friction that destroys focus. That "nine meetings in four days" realization is the pain point that forces the shift.
But the true gift of the empty calendar isn't just "flow." It’s the constant, uninterrupted presence—the BEING pillar—that you reclaim. When you stop context switching, your mind stops fragmenting. You're not just getting more writing done; you’re living more of your life intentionally.
That intentionality is what makes the deep work (the REALIZE pillar) possible. A full calendar is a full prison. Thank you for this essential truth.
Love this! Pre-covid I would do 6/7 meetings a day. Nowadays, even 1 meeting definitely breaks my flow, unless it's really early in the morning. I'm totally going to use "can you send me a Loom" genius!
Funny how a packed calendar used to feel like proof of progress. But that’s exactly the Drift Principle at work. When compression outruns fidelity, we mistake busyness for meaning. The more we fill our days with calls and context switching, the less of our actual work survives. An empty week isn’t a gap to fix; it’s space where fidelity comes back online.
Meetings are the engines of the hamsterwheels that keep us „going“.
Free calendar = Free Mind
That's where real productivity is boosted
I used to have 8-hours of meetings. In Chinese, English, and Spanish. It was crazy.
When I asked the VP that it was all nonsense, he replied that he needs to be in those meetings so he's in the loop.
That's all he did while I had a real job.
I ended up quitting and the company folded in less than one year.
$130 million investment down the drain. Bad decisions matter.
Hey Justin, you’re absolutely right. Having a empty calendar means you’re the king. I’m talking about the money side of the same thing this Monday in my newsletter. Would love to hear your thoughts on that.
Now that I'm on my own, I look forward to meetings because that type of engagement inevitably leads to more work from my clients.
It's easy to make fun of all that "hop on a call and circle back" stuff, until you're billing by the hour. I have entrepreneurial activities where I just need to be aware of what's going and am happy to just get some teams chat updates when the team has time.
But I also do some hourly work as a corporate consultant. Not only is it corporate but it is also consulting! That is like corporate on steroids. In that case, I'm more than happy to circle back, follow up, check in, and I'm also well rehearsed on BSing and keeping that conversation going for the full hour! :)
On the entrepreneur side, I get that same sense of unease when I don't see a lot of meetings. I think it's a false sense of control. Comes from the "ABC: Always Be Closing" mentality. If you're not working your next lead, you're out of work in a week. Keep filling the pipe, etc.
But when you have projects that have long lead times and everything is on track, then what do you need to meet about? Maybe 30 min a week is fine to see if any major issues coming up.
In my corporate job, if we have a stand-up meeting instead of sitting around a conference table, everyone is motivated to wrap it up more quickly.
Who wants to work overtime to make up for lost time spent in an unproductive meeting?
Not me.
The distinction between being busy and being productive....
I run my business theworldunfolding.com 95% async. Meetings are so overrated.
I wish I could find a way to also create this effect on my entire life.
Meetings are not really my challenges, but I realize I get too busy doing nothing.
Where would you start?
I just started building a system, more like setting up routines and trying my very best to keep up with it.
Time blocking is great!
this is it! i am aiming to have no meetings until 12PM every day and to have 2-3 fully creative days.