Why five-minute calendars ruin creative work

Scott argues that managing days in five-minute blocks is manager thinking, not founder thinking, and kills deep creative output.

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Take Control of Your Calendar This Week (Before It Controls You)

October 30, 2025 | Episode 5214

Host: Scott Smith

Episode Description

Your calendar running your life instead of you running it?

Look. I've seen those AI calendar apps you're using. Five-minute blocks. Color-coded chaos. That's manager thinking, not founder thinking.

Here's what nobody gets: High performers don't manage their day five minutes at a time. They hold space. They protect time. They say no without apologizing.

This week I'm breaking down exactly how I went from calendar chaos to actually controlling when I work.

Thursday planning. Standing appointments. Deep work days that people can't touch.

And yeah, my biggest problem now? Other people who learned this system trying to move MY calendar around.

Time is all you got. Somebody's trying to take it from you right now.

Featured Story

Ever look at your week and realize you don't even know what's happening today?

That was me. Getting pulled around by everyone else's agenda. No time to think. No time to create. Just reacting.

So I started doing something simple on Thursdays. I'd sit down mid-to-late day and plan the next week. Not hoping it would work out. Actually blocking it in place.

Monday and Tuesday became deep work days. Wednesday and Thursday morning for coaching. Friday? Motorcycle day or whatever I want.

Here's the weird part: When I started holding that space and saying no, people just... went along with it. Took a few weeks. But it worked.

Now my biggest challenge? The people I taught this to trying to reschedule me. "Scott, I'm doing my Perfect Week Planner, need to move you."

Nope. Not moving. Your time is all you got, man.

Important Points

Why managing your day in five-minute blocks is killing your ability to do creative work and make real money (and what founders do instead).

The Thursday planning ritual that locks in your next week before the Sunday scaries hit and everyone starts grabbing your time.

How holding space for deep work days forces people to work around you instead of you constantly moving around them—even if you don't think you have that control yet.

Memorable Quotes

"Time is all you got, man. That's all you got. And somebody on this planet, every single day for the rest of your life is going to try to take your damn time from you."

"If you want more money, you got to get this under control. I'm sorry."

"Why do I do it on Thursday? Common sense. I just noticed that a lot of y'all were trying to figure it on Friday. You're all stressed out."

"This is a kind of meandering episode today, which is kind of what I do best. My whole thing is to meander all over the place."

Scott's Three-Step Approach

1. Plan your next week every Thursday (mid-to-late day works best)—lock in your schedule before Friday stress hits and before the Sunday scaries make you reactive instead of intentional about your time.

2. Block your deep work days first—protect Monday/Tuesday for creative work, hold specific days for focused tasks, and make standing appointments for everything else so people move around you instead of you constantly rearranging your life.

3. Start saying no and holding your ground—people will test you at first, but within 2-3 weeks they'll just go along with your schedule because time is all you got and you need to protect it like your life depends on it.

Chapters

00:00 Your Calendar Is Out of Control (And You Know It)

03:39 The Perfect Week Planner That Changed Everything

05:40 How Standing Appointments Make Your Life Easier

07:01 Why Saying No Gets Easier Every Single Time

09:07 The Thursday Planning Ritual That Actually Works

Connect With Me

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