My most effective time-management policy is the merciless implementation of the “two-minute rule” and merciless prioritization based on actual impact, not just busy work.
Anything you can do in two minutes? Do it immediately. No scheduling, no procrastinating, no mental overhead. This is how you do away with small, soul-sucking tasks that add up to invisible cognitive load.
I have an unshakable bias for impact: what pushes the needle? What’s the nature of exponential value? I don’t want to just be busy—I want to be strategically effective. That requires asking all the time: Will this matter in six months? In a year? If not, it’s defunded or killed.
The secret is not time management but attention management. Energy is finite. Ruthlessly protect your most precious resource—your focused cognitive capacity—for work that really transforms, innovates, and causes meaningful change.