Manager Tools Podcast
Episode: Time (Priority) Management – Part 2 (2025)
Release Date: May 21, 2006
Hosts: Mark Horstman (“B”), Sarah (“A”)

Episode Overview

This episode is the second part of a two-part series focused on Time (Priority) Management for managers and professionals. Mark and Sarah guide listeners through concrete, actionable methods to analyze and improve how they spend their time at work, aligning daily activities with their core priorities. The episode emphasizes the need for accurate time tracking, honest self-reflection, and intentional calendar management—dispensing with generic productivity advice in favor of step-by-step, real-world techniques.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Necessity of a Calendar for Business Professionals

• Professionals must keep a calendar: Without one, it’s impossible to conduct meaningful time analysis or improve priority management.

  • "If you work in a business environment and you do not keep a calendar, you can't call yourself a professional. Yeah, in that respect, you really can't." – Mark (01:41)

• Calendars aren't for meetings alone: Use it to track all important work, not just scheduled calls.

2. The Horseman's Time Analysis

• Step 1: Print Your Calendar
  • Print the last three weeks of your calendar in “day view” (portrait mode).
  • Capture start and end times for each workday, including nights or after-hours work at home.
  • “Do your best to capture your start and stop time at work... include that in the analysis as well.” – Sarah (03:48)
• Step 2: Review in 15-Minute Increments
  • For each day, in 15-minute blocks, note exactly what you were doing—even if it’s “nothing” or “email.”
  • Avoid filling dead time with assumed email—be honest about “nothing” blocks.
  • "If there's nothing on your calendar, write nothing... the problem is not time. The problem is what you do with your time." – Mark (11:21)
  • Reference: Book recommendation – 168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam (11:43)
• Step 3: Categorize & Quantify
  • Make columns for each type of activity, total the time, and calculate percentages.
  • The goal: See if your daily work aligns with your five key priorities from Part 1.
  • “Does what I did over the course of the last three weeks support those five key priorities? Yes or no?” – Sarah (10:17)
• Real-world Results
  • Most people’s time use does not match their true priorities.
  • "Only one [executive], in my entire history with hundreds of executives, was there a clear conclusion that his priorities were in fact shown on his calendar. The vast majority were not close." – Mark (13:10)

3. Office vs. Work-From-Home Time Boundaries

• The loss of rigid office hours during remote work led to fuzzy daily boundaries and potential time mismanagement.
• Most people benefit from clear start and end times—even when working from home.
  • “If you work from home and you don’t start to get some rigidity... you start to see it creep into your personal time... then it starts eating you alive.” – Sarah (09:33)

4. Drucker’s Time Analysis (Live Log)

• Alternative to Calendar Review: Capture everything you do, in real time, in 10-minute increments, using a timer or app.
  • Based on Peter Drucker’s management advice.
• Duration: Do this for a typical week (avoid unusual weeks).
  • “I generally find that three out of four weeks in a month... are relatively standard.” – Mark (15:14)
• Accuracy vs. Simplicity: The live log is more accurate than the calendar review but more effortful. Choose based on your needs.

5. Scheduling Priorities—Changing Behavior

• Put Your Number One Priority On Your Calendar

  • Deliberately schedule time for your key responsibility. Don’t just wait for a “free moment.”
  • “After all the diagnostics... this is the prescriptive step, this is the thing you need to do to actually change your experience with time and priorities.” – Mark (18:06)

• How to Schedule:

  • Duration: 30, 60, or 90 minutes—never longer in a single block.
  • Frequency: Daily or regular recurring time, ideally in the morning when focus is highest.
  • Don’t Over-specify: You don’t need to know the exact tasks—just commit the time to strategic work.

• Leverage Tools Like AI to Get Started:

  • If you’re stuck, ask AI for a draft or ideas to break inertia.
  • “If you’re wondering about how to tackle your key priority... ask AI for help.” – Mark (20:09)
  • Case Study: A CEO used Microsoft Copilot to draft a major communication in 5 minutes, saving a week of organizational time (20:20–22:49).
  • “It took him five minutes. He created the draft of the letter and didn’t have to have the meeting... His vice-presidents learned a week earlier.” – Mark (21:30)

6. Addressing Procrastination & Building Habits

• Start, Even If It’s Messy: You can (and will) revise your work; forward progress matters more.

  • “The magic you are seeking is in the work you are avoiding.” – Mark (23:16)
  • Borrowed phrase: “Eat the frog”—do the hard thing first.

• Don’t Over-schedule Your Calendar:

  • Leave at least 20% unscheduled for the inevitable urgent work and to maintain flexibility.
  • “You can’t book out all your calendar, and we recommend, like, 20% of your calendar should be free.” – Mark (26:32)

• Job Security Context:

  • Upper management does not care if you do everything—just that you deliver your key priorities.
  • “People at the top... care that you get your top priorities done. So arm yourself...by getting these key priorities done.” – Mark (27:34)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “If you work in a business environment and you do not keep a calendar, you can't call yourself a professional.”
  — Mark (01:41)

• “The problem is not time. The problem is what you do with your time.”
  — Mark (11:21)

• “Only one [executive], in my entire history with hundreds of executives, was there a clear conclusion that his priorities were in fact shown on his calendar. The vast majority were not close.”
  — Mark (13:10)

• “If you work from home and you don’t start to get some rigidity... you start to see it creep into your personal time... then it starts eating you alive.”
  — Sarah (09:33)

• “The magic you are seeking is in the work you are avoiding.”
  — Mark (23:16)

Key Timestamps

• 01:08 – 03:48: Why calendars matter; printing calendars; day-view setup
• 04:16 – 09:20: Analysis of productivity, office hours, and work-from-home challenges
• 10:00 – 12:25: Reviewing day-by-day in 15-minute increments; ‘nothing’ time
• 12:37 – 14:09: Aligning calendar data with personal priorities; real-world executive examples
• 14:28 – 17:11: Drucker’s 10-minute log time analysis—live versus retrospective tracking
• 18:06 – 20:17: The core recommendation—scheduling priority time
• 20:17 – 22:50: AI as a tool for overcoming procrastination; Wally Budgel’s case study
• 23:16 – 25:55: The need to just start; scheduling shorter, focused blocks
• 25:55 – 28:35: Why you can’t (and shouldn’t) overschedule; upper management cares about priorities, not “busyness”
• 28:35 – end: Final reflections; time as a manager's most valuable resource

Conclusion & Action Steps

1. Print and review your calendar: in day-view, for the past 3 weeks.
2. Categorize your time: in 15-minute increments, identify how much aligns with your top five priorities.
3. If you need precision: do a Drucker live log for a week in 10-minute increments.
4. Deliberately schedule your top priority: 30-, 60-, or 90-minute blocks, preferably in the morning.
5. Use tools/software (including AI): to break the inertia, generate drafts, or get started on big tasks.
6. Protect priority time: Give it real weight, and expand as you master the habit.

“Time is the professional’s most valuable resource. If we want to use it more effectively... we need to understand exactly how we are spending it today.” – Sarah (27:57)

For further help or a template, reach out to Manager Tools at the contact info provided during the episode.