"Drew, my calendar looks like a game of Tetris gone wrong, I haven't had time to think strategically since 2023, and my team keeps scheduling 'quick syncs' that are longer than The Brutalist. I'm drowning in the tactical while the strategic gasps for air!" declared a CMO whose calendar I glimpsed during a recent coaching session.

Here, we have a classic case of calendar chaos. Did you know that Emperor penguins are masters of energy conservation? They can slow their heart rate to just a few beats per minute when diving, saving their strength for what truly matters. Now, that's what I call operational excellence!

Welcome, marketing penguins, to part 4 of my series on how CMOs can cut through in 2025. Today's focus? Mastering your time before it masters you.

16. Delegate or Drown

Here's a radical thought: What if you weren't the bottleneck for every decision? I recently watched a CMO transform her effectiveness by delegating 20% more – starting with all those "optional" meetings she was automatically invited to. Her secret? She asked herself one question before every commitment: "Do I really have to be in this meeting?"

17. No Agenda, No Attendah

Let's make this our new mantra, folks. Would you board a flight without knowing the destination? Then why join a meeting without knowing its purpose? One CMO I know reduced her meeting time by 40% with one simple rule: No agenda in the calendar invite = automatic decline. It sounds harsher than it is. Your team will thank you.

18. Time Tracking Isn't Just for Billable Hours

"But Drew, I know how I spend my time!" That's what they all say until they actually track it. One CMO discovered she was spending 60% of her time on "urgent" tasks that could have been handled by her team. The wake-up call? Realizing she'd spent more time in status updates than on strategy.

19. Think Time: Your New Non-Negotiable

Blocking 5 hours weekly for strategic thinking isn't just nice to have – it's survival. One CMO schedules his think time at 7 AM, calling it his "strategic sunrise." Corny? Maybe. Effective? Absolutely. He's now driving organizational change well beyond marketing.

20. The Great Meeting Purge

Warning: This might hurt a bit. One CMO audited every recurring meeting on her calendar and found that 35% were zombie meetings – they died of irrelevance months ago but kept shuffling along, eating brains and productivity. Her solution? A quarterly calendar reset where every recurring meeting must reapply for its spot.

Here's the truth about operational excellence: It's not about doing more things – it's about doing more of the right things. Your calendar isn't just a collection of meetings; it reflects your strategy. Or lack thereof.

And to all those meeting-happy executives out there: Just because you can schedule a meeting doesn't mean you should. Try an email. Or better yet, trust your team to figure it out.

What's your favorite time management tip?

Written by Drew Neisser