Practical advice on how to protect your calendar

Focus time

It’s well known that developers need uninterrupted time to get into flow. Managers need it too for complex, strategic work. To protect my focus time, I do two main things:

• Practice Pomodoro¹: 25 minutes of focused work, then a short break. I mute chats and close my inbox, only checking messages at the end of the cycle.
• Use a calendar shield: People often fill “gaps” in your diary with meetings, but those gaps are often the only chance to do deep work. I block those slots with placeholders so they aren’t available.

Slow to accept

Your time is precious and can't be wasted on meetings where you aren’t strictly needed. Be selective: if you attend everything, your calendar will quickly fill with low-value meetings, leaving less room for what truly matters.

People often seek your input without realising that others you’ve empowered can provide the same answers. If you’re unsure whether to attend, ask the organiser for details. Five minutes clarifying the scope and goals can save you an hour later.

Fast to decline

Some meetings are easy to spot as time-wasters. Red flags include:

• Too many attendees (outside of all-hands): In big groups, meaningful contribution is rare, and senior voices dominate. Decline.
• No agenda or description: This signals unclear goals and little respect for collective time. Decline and request more details.
• Last-minute invitations: Unless truly urgent, nobody should disrupt your carefully planned week. Decline and propose a later date.

Pre- and post-meeting time

A one-hour meeting rarely takes just an hour. Many require preparation, and most generate follow-up work such as summaries, decisions and reflections. Block time in your diary to account for this.

Cancel, don’t reschedule

I don’t like cancelling meetings, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. The common response is to push them later in the week, but that creates a domino effect of cancellations and reschedules.

Instead, I ask myself: Does this meeting really need to happen at all? Often, an email, a Slack thread, or a quick call is enough.

Conclusion

Your calendar is one of your most valuable tools. Protecting it means being intentional: creating space for focus, setting clear boundaries on what meetings deserve your time, and being decisive about what to decline or cancel. When you control your calendar, you also control your energy, attention, and ability to make an impact where it truly matters.