Are You Maximizing Your Time or Optimizing It?

Why Optimization — Not Productivity — Creates Real Momentum.

You might not struggle with time because you’re lazy or unmotivated. You might be struggling because you’ve been trying to maximize time instead of optimize it.

Maximizing time sounds productive — fill every hour, do more, push harder. But in practice, it often creates overwhelm, decision fatigue, and a constant sense of being behind.

Optimizing time is different. It’s not about doing more. It’s about doing what matters most, from a regulated state, in a way that creates downstream ease.

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Why “More” Isn’t the Answer

When everything feels important, the nervous system stays activated. From that state, the brain defaults to one of two patterns:

Over-efforting (doing too much, inefficiently), or

Avoidance (procrastinating because it all feels heavy).

Neither leads to clarity.

Time optimization often begins by changing how you plan — not just what you plan.

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Step 1: Anchor Before You Act

Before deciding what to do, you might try pausing to ask:

“What version of myself do I want to embody today?” (i.e., calm, decisive, grounded)

This small shift moves planning from pressure into regulation.

Instead of reacting to your to-do list, you’re choosing a state to work from — calm, steady, focused, clear. For instance, instead of diving straight into your task list feeling tight and urgent, you might pause, take a breath and realize: today, you want to feel steady and purposeful. That one choice shifts how you approach everything else.

When your nervous system is regulated first, decisions become cleaner and faster.

When this step is skipped, many people notice their days feel busy but don’t actually move anything forward.

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Step 2: Identify the Real Work (Power Moves)

One of the biggest sources of overwhelm is treating all tasks as equal.

They’re not.

Optimized days are often built around what I call Power Moves — typically no more than three.

These aren’t busywork or “nice-to-get-done” tasks. Power Moves are actions or decisions that:

• reduce pressure,
• unlock momentum,
• or create ease for future days.

Some useful questions here are:

• “If only ONE thing got doen today, what would reduce the most stress?”
• “What decision are you avoiding because it feels heavy?”
• “What unlocks other people’s work?”

Without this clarity, you might choose ‘respond to emails’ because it feels urgent. With it, you might realize what you actually need is to finalize that proposal — the thing that’s been creating background stress all week.

This is where leadership lives, not in doing more, but in choosing what actually matters.

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Step 3: Support Momentum Without Creating Pressure

Once Power Moves are clear, everything else becomes supportive — not competing.

Supportive tasks are things like admin, prep, or follow-ups. They keep momentum going, especially when energy dips, without pulling you back into overwhelm.

This distinction matters because many people avoid Power Moves by staying “busy.” Supportive tasks are helpful only when they support what truly matters.

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Step 4: Contain the Chaos

Another key part of optimizing time is containment.

Instead of mentally tracking every appointment, meeting, or obligation, you might try intentionally placing them somewhere visible. This reduces cognitive load and frees up mental space for decisions and creativity.

Clarity isn’t about control — it’s about knowing what’s already accounted for.

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Step 5: Rest Is Strategic, Not Optional

This is where many people go wrong.

Rest isn’t a reward you earn after being productive. It’s a regulation tool that makes everything else work better.

When the nervous system resets, decision-making improves. Things take less time. Fewer mistakes are made. Energy becomes more available.

Try asking yourself:

“What actually helps me reset and come back clearer?”

Maybe it’s to take a 10 minute walk between meetings.

That answer is different for everyone — and it matters.

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Step 6: Redefine What Counts as Progress

Most brains are trained to scan for what’s unfinished.

That’s why even productive days can feel unsatisfying.

Closing the day by noticing energetic wins — decisions made, things completed, moments that felt easier than expected — rewires your relationship with progress over time.

This isn’t positive thinking. It’s nervous-system-informed awareness.

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Time Optimized, Not Maximized

Optimizing time doesn’t mean doing less because you don’t care. It means doing what matters most, from a steadier place, with less friction.

When you stop trying to squeeze more into every day and start creating clarity, something surprising happens:

Momentum builds, decisions simplify and time starts working with you instead of against you.

If this way of working resonates, it may be an invitation to rethink not just how you plan your days, but how you define success in them.