Podcast Summary:

Build with Leila Hormozi – “How to Make Time for Everything (Seriously)” | Ep. 337
February 19, 2026
Host: Leila Hormozi

Episode Overview

In this episode, Leila Hormozi delves into the essential mindset shifts and actionable frameworks that allow high-performing entrepreneurs and business leaders to “make time for everything”—or rather, to ruthlessly prioritize what truly matters. Drawing on her transition from marathon workdays to operating a business generating hundreds of millions in annual revenue, Leila breaks down “the six principles the top 1% use to manage their time,” offering candid insights and hard-won lessons about optimizing not just for productivity, but for energy, focus, and judgment.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Productivity vs. Priorities: Do You Really Have a Time Problem?

• Many believe their struggle is with productivity, but the real challenge is often prioritization.
• Leila’s Reflection: “If you are always busy but you never achieve your goals, do you really have a productivity problem or do you have a priority problem?” (00:01)
• Top 1% focus on optimizing decision-making, not just maximizing hours worked.
• Work ethic matters for initial hustle, but judgment is what scales a company.
• “At some point you have to make the switch where your judgment is more important to the company than your work ethic.” (01:37)

2. Optimize, Don’t Maximize: Protect Your State for Decision-Making

• Maximizing (packing more hours/tasks) keeps you busy but exhausted—and stuck.
• "You will be the hardest worker who never breaks through to the next level." (06:41)
• Elite performers recognize the value of being rested, well-fed, and clear-headed, because high-quality decisions drive greater impact.
• “When you look at the top 1% of people in the world, would you think that their ability to work long hours or their ability to make good decisions is more important?” (08:37)

3. Treat Your Calendar as a Strategic Asset

• Moving from doer to architect requires your calendar to reflect priorities, not reactions to other people’s asks.
• Thinking/strategy time > “doing” time at higher business levels.
• “My productivity as a CEO went through the roof when I realized that my thinking time is actually more important than my doing time.” (10:03)
• Block off the priorities first: business drivers, personal time, rest, thinking time—then let other requests fill in.
• “If your calendar is not strategic and it doesn’t have the main priorities that will move your business forward, you are working for other people, not for yourself.” (19:23)

4. Go on a “Decision Diet”—Delegate Authority, Not Just Tasks

• Cognitive load is finite: “Your brain can only make so many good decisions a day.” (22:59)
• Junk decisions (low-value, operational) drain capacity for high-stakes calls.
• Delegate tasks and judgment wherever possible, to truly free mental bandwidth.
• True delegation is delegating authority, not just routine tasks: “If you delegate something and you still have to think about it, did you really delegate it? No.” (25:10)
• Don’t delegate too early—wait until you have the right people and processes.

5. Batch Your Days: Reduce Task Switching & Maximize Focus

• Task/context switching is the #1 driver of leadership exhaustion.
• Leila’s transformation: from the “queen of switching” to ruthless batching.
• “My business has grown more in this last year than it ever has," after implementing themed days (strategy, filming/content, leadership, creative).
• Quote: “High quality output requires extended cognitive immersion... multitasking reduced the accuracy of decision making by up to 50%.” (32:01)
• Advice: Break up your week by theme and chunk similar tasks for deep focus.

6. Make Meetings the Last Resort

• Most meetings are a “band-aid” for missing systems or clarity.
• Principle at acquisition.com: “No memo, no meeting.” (39:50)
• “If you’re a leader with 20 or 40 meetings a week, that does not mean you’re leading. Sometimes it means you’re very reactive and not taking time to be strategic.” (44:19)
• Use memos to clarify issues and often eliminate meetings altogether.
• Beginners may need some meetings as they build structure—but aim to reduce over time.

7. Design for Energy, Not Just Time

• The true elite manage energy, not just minutes or hours.
• Back-to-back work crushes energy—quality suffers for both business and personal life.
• “How good is it going to feel to do that when you’ve just been in 12 meetings? Seriously, while you’re riding your bike, eating your sandwich, having sex with your spouse, what’s your energy like when you just had 12 meetings back to back?” (51:28)
• Know your own biological rhythms: When are you sharpest? When do you tire?
• “Past probably two or three o’clock, I do not make big decisions. If somebody comes to me... I’m like, let’s talk tomorrow.” (57:12)
• Advice: Chunk your peak focus time (90–120 minutes) for your most important work. Build “zones” in your day for different types of tasks.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On judgment vs. hustle:
  “At some point you have to make the switch where your judgment is more important to the company than your work ethic.” (01:37)

• On exhaustion & the illusion of progress:
  “You will be the hardest worker who never breaks through to the next level.” (06:41)

• On the role of the calendar:
  “Your calendar should be a reflection of the priorities of your business, not the other way around.” (19:23)

• On delegation:
  “If you delegate something and you still have to think about it, did you really delegate it? No.” (25:10)

• On meetings:
  “If you’re a leader with 20 or 40 meetings a week, that does not mean you’re leading.” (44:19)
  “No memo, no meeting.” (39:50)

• On energy vs. time:
  “They don’t manage their time. They manage their energy...” (49:30)
  "I have stopped trying to be switched on all day. Instead I create different zones of my days of knowing when I want to make decisions, when I have the space for something, or when I just need to let loose, relax and not be doing anything." (01:07:20)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:01 — Introduction: Are you productive, or lacking priorities?
• 01:37 — The essential switch from work ethic to judgment
• 06:41 — Why maximizing will keep you stuck
• 10:03 — Calendar as strategy; thinking time over doing time
• 19:23 — Calendar should reflect priorities, not be a to-do list
• 22:59 — The importance of a “decision diet” and delegation
• 25:10 — Delegating true authority, not just tasks
• 32:01 — Task batching: The hidden cost of multitasking
• 39:50 — Meetings: “No memo, no meeting”
• 44:19 — The myth of lots of meetings as leadership
• 49:30 — Manage energy, not time
• 51:28 — Energy management and why context matters
• 57:12 — Operating within your biological peak times
• 01:07:20 — Designing your days in cognitive/emotional zones

Takeaways & Action Steps

• Prioritize judgment and state over “hustle” once scale is achieved.
• Strategically design your calendar around a few key priorities.
• Delegate authority to preserve your own decision-making capacity.
• Batch work by themed days to reduce exhaustion and enhance focus.
• Erase unnecessary meetings—demand memos and structure instead.
• Build your schedule around your natural high-energy periods, not just fixed hours.

Closing Thought:
“You don’t need to always do more. The top 1% understand that you need to be more strategic about what you do and what you don’t do more than you need to maximize what you are doing.” (01:11:30)

This episode is a compelling, practical guide to escaping the busy trap and stepping up as a strategic leader who drives extraordinary results—not through endless hours, but through focused impact, optimized decisions, and self-awareness.