You will receive a lot of criticism in your life and work. It is inevitable. It comes in many shapes and forms.
You can choose to react in an immature way:
You can have an emotional outburst.
You can experience a mental meltdown.
You can become defensive.
You can seek revenge.
You can go the passive-aggressive route.
Such reactions can change your life. Not for the better. You can lose your job, your partner, the deal, the case—your life. You can even lose your mind.
However, if you choose to handle criticism in a healthy manner, you can gain:
Respect
Confidence
Wealth
Authority
Here are the top seven ways criticism is expressed and how you can handle each one productively:
1. Direct and Constructive Criticism
Usually delivered openly and with the intention of improvement, often including specific feedback and suggestions. Example: “Your marketing campaign is strong, but adding more data-driven insights could improve engagement.”
HOW TO HANDLE IT:
Appreciate the feedback, analyze it objectively, and act on relevant points.
Listen carefully – Focus on key points.
Clarify if needed – Ask questions.
Acknowledge and thank – Show appreciation.
Apply or discard – Implement useful parts.
2. Blunt and Harsh Criticism
Expressed in a straightforward or aggressive manner, often without concern for tone or emotional impact. Example: “This campaign is a total failure. What were you thinking?”
HOW TO HANDLE IT:
Stay calm, filter out emotional negativity, and extract any useful insights.
Stay composed – Don’t react emotionally.
Separate tone from content – Focus on facts.
Ask for specifics – Get clarity.
Respond professionally – Stay neutral.
3. Passive-Aggressive Criticism
Indirect and subtle, often disguised as sarcasm or backhanded compliments. Example: “Oh wow, I never would have thought you’d go in that direction… bold choice.”
HOW TO HANDLE IT:
Address it directly with curiosity and clarity, without escalating negativity.
Acknowledge lightly – Recognize the intent.
Ask direct questions – “What do you mean?”
Encourage open discussion – Shift to honesty.
Set boundaries – Don’t engage in toxicity.
4. Silent Disapproval
Expressed through non-verbal cues such as sighs, eye-rolls, or disengagement instead of direct feedback. Example: A stakeholder repeatedly ignoring a marketing proposal without explanation.
HOW TO HANDLE IT:
Read non-verbal cues and create an opportunity for open dialogue.
Observe behavior – Note disengagement.
Initiate a conversation – Ask for input.
Encourage honesty – Make it safe.
Propose solutions – Address concerns.
5. Gossip and Indirect Criticism
Criticism shared with others rather than addressed directly to the person involved. Example: A colleague telling others, “Marketing really dropped the ball on this campaign” instead of discussing it with the marketing head.
HOW TO HANDLE IT:
Redirect the conversation by addressing concerns openly with the right people.
Ignore rumors – Don’t react emotionally.
Address key individuals – Talk directly.
Encourage transparency – Promote open feedback.
Stay professional – Avoid gossip loops.
6. Overgeneralized or Blanket Criticism
Broad and non-specific negative feedback that lacks actionable insights. Example: “Marketing is always behind on deadlines.”
HOW TO HANDLE IT:
Ask for specific examples and steer the conversation toward constructive solutions.
Stay calm – Don’t take it personally.
Ask for details – “Can you specify?”
Clarify misperceptions – Offer facts.
Offer solutions – Suggest improvements.
7. Constructive but Unsolicited Criticism
Well-intentioned feedback given without being asked, which may or may not be welcome. Example: “I noticed your branding isn’t resonating with the luxury audience—have you considered reworking the messaging?”
HOW TO HANDLE IT:
Listen with an open mind, filter relevance, and respond professionally.
Acknowledge politely – “Thanks for your input.”
Assess its value – Is it useful?
Clarify intentions – Ask why it’s shared.
Decide to act or not – Apply if relevant.
You cannot escape criticism. So, the best thing you can do is leverage it—as a lesson, an advantage, or both.
How often do you face criticism? Share your strategies for handling it.
Throughout the day, you probably attend countless meetings: “quick chats,” “catch-ups,” “stand-ups,” “pre-mortems,” “post-mortems,” “discussions,” “brainstorming sessions,” “reviews,” and more. You wish all these meetings could be replaced by emails. But they won’t. In fact, each meeting just triggers a new flood of emails anyway.
Do you feel like you can’t get your “real” work done because of the constant stream of meetings and video calls? I get it. Same here. If you take a step back and think about it, you’ll realize that only five types of meetings are truly essential for moving the team (or the business) forward.
Can you guess them? Don’t ask ChatGPT, DeepSeek, or Claude, just keep reading:
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1️⃣ IDEA Meetings
Before launching a project, a campaign, or even a new year, you need time to explore options, generate creative ideas, and discuss strategies. These meetings are especially important if you want to involve the team and create a sense of ownership from the start. Usually, these take the form of brainstorming sessions. If not run properly, they can spiral into endless discussions and ego battles.
👉 Desired outcome: A curated list of prioritized ideas and strategies.
❌ How to avoid? Implement an asynchronous process for ideation, assessment, and refinement, incorporating AI-driven categorization and prioritization based on clear criteria.
—
2️⃣ ALIGNMENT Meetings
Before executing a plan or even after completing it, you’ll need alignment with the right people. This could be your team, your line manager, colleagues at the same level, or external stakeholders. Without alignment, you’re setting yourself up for misunderstandings, inefficiency, and errors. Disaster.
👉 Desired outcome: Agreement on next steps or a shared understanding of past actions/events.
❌ How to avoid? Use a centralized system to track all plans, projects, tasks, campaigns, and relevant information. Establish a clear process for setting, reviewing, and reporting progress through this system.
—
3️⃣ TROUBLESHOOTING Meetings
Problems, obstacles, mistakes, and unexpected issues are unavoidable. No escaping them. Since you work as a team, you’ll need to face and resolve these challenges together. Every issue should have a designated place, a structured pipeline, and a process for regular review and resolution. That’s why troubleshooting meetings exist.
👉 Desired outcome: Clear next steps to resolve issues efficiently.
❌ How to avoid? Implement a transparent issue-tracking system where stakeholders can submit problems, propose solutions, and follow progress. Create a structured process for moving issues through different resolution stages.
—
4️⃣ UPDATE Meetings
People are not machines, they don’t always do what they say (or what you tell them to do). To keep things moving, you need to follow up, push, persuade, negotiate, and sometimes even beg. But if you do it too often, you’ll be labeled a micromanager. If you do it too rarely, tasks will drag on indefinitely.
👉 Desired outcome: A fast-paced, realistic update on progress and results.
❌ How to avoid? Maintain a system where task statuses and progress are always up to date. If done correctly, this will significantly reduce the need for update meetings or at least make them shorter and more effective.
—
5️⃣ REVIEW Meetings
Beyond tracking progress, you need to evaluate both quantity and quality. How does your content look? How is it performing? Are your ads efficient? Was this campaign a success? How is your team’s overall performance? Regular review sessions help you adjust the course as needed.
👉 Desired outcome: A clear understanding of where things stand compared to targets, budgets, and KPIs.
❌ How to avoid? If you have a strong data-tracking and reporting system, you can replace many review meetings with data dashboards and insights reports. This keeps everyone aligned without lengthy discussions.
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So, what’s the takeaway?
If a meeting doesn’t fit into one of these five categories, it’s probably unnecessary.
And even for these five, the right systems, tools, and processes can help you reduce or even eliminate many of them.
The real question is: How many unnecessary meetings are you stuck in every week?
Impostor Syndrome is no joke. It can wreck careers and businesses. But how do you know if you have impostor syndrome or if you’re just not good enough? Here’s my story…
The Phases of My Career Through the Lens of Impostor Syndrome
Phase 1: The Student
I was self-learning web design, graphic design, print design, marketing, web development, management, and productivity. It was exhilarating. Acquiring new knowledge and skills energized me, pushing me to learn even more.
Impostor syndrome level: Low
Why? Because I knew I didn’t know enough, so I wasn’t pretending otherwise. I just kept learning.
Phase 2: The Expert
I started applying my skills, working with clients, and creating things for myself. I built hundreds of websites, apps, and visual materials and held various marketing and leadership positions in multiple companies.
Impostor syndrome level: Medium
Why? I knew a lot, but practicing the craft constantly reminded me how much more there was to learn. Still, I had to maintain the appearance of knowing what I was doing.
Phase 3: The Consultant
I began giving presentations, conducting training sessions, and consulting brands. I published 21 online courses on digital marketing, branding, and business. I taught at three different universities and trained over 10,000 students – online and in person.
Impostor syndrome level: High
Why? The more experience and knowledge I gained, the clearer the bigger picture became. And that perspective made me realize how small my expertise was compared to the vast universe of business and marketing. Yet, I couldn’t show any hesitation or uncertainty to my clients and students. Or so I thought.
Phase 4: Back to School
At some point, the weight of the discrepancy between what I thought I should know and what I actually knew became unbearable. I had to step back and double down on learning. That’s when I decided to fade from the public eye and immerse myself in mastering my craft.
Impostor syndrome level: Medium
Why? Accepting that I still had much to learn gave me peace and focus.
Phase 5: Sharing Is Caring
But one thing kept gnawing at me. I had to share. Keeping my knowledge to myself felt like a waste. Teaching others had fulfilled that need before, but now impostor syndrome was creeping in again. It was torture.
It took me a long time, but eventually, I wrapped my mind around a new concept: sharing.
I didn’t have to “teach” people, tell them what to do, or prove that I knew more than them. I could simply share what I knew. If they found it relevant, they could learn and grow from it. If they didn’t, they could just move on.
That was it.
The Impostor Syndrome-Free Life
Here’s how does it look like for me:
I continuously learn and practice.
I structure and organize my knowledge, it’s one of my superpowers.
I share what I’ve learned. No teaching, no advising, just sharing and showing.
I always clarify the source of my knowledge, experience, research, brainstorming, discussion, or just my personal opinion.
This is how I keep impostor syndrome at bay, stay true to myself, and ensure that whatever I share is based on my knowledge, skills, and experience. I am 100% transparent with my audience. No gimmicks, no catchy buzzwords, no manipulation.
Disclaimer
Okay, maybe I use some copywriting hooks to grab your attention and cut through the noise. But once you click, the content is of the highest possible quality and value and it always overdeliver. That’s a fact and a promise for the future content.
—
How’s your impostor syndrome doing? Do you have it? How do you manage it?
I am not a Human Resources expert for sure, but based on my 10+ years experience as Head of Marketing / CMO, I can say that if there is one thing which can ruin a team and drop the performance, it is the toxic work environment.
Any kind of corporate culture comes from the top, so, we as managers, heads, etc., are responsible for keeping the toxicity out of our teams. It is easy? No. Is it important? Yes.
Toxic behaviors in the workplace don’t just harm individuals, they disrupt entire teams, lower productivity, and create a culture of distrust. Here are ten of the most destructive behaviors, with strategies to cope with them when they arise and ways to prevent them altogether.
1. Gossiping and Backstabbing
Spreading rumors, talking negatively about colleagues behind their backs, and engaging in office drama.ossip breeds distrust, damages reputations, and creates unnecessary divisions among team members.
How to Cope:
Shut down gossip when you hear it by redirecting the conversation to something constructive.
Confront the source of the rumor professionally and clarify misunderstandings.
How to Prevent It:
Foster a culture of transparency, open communication minimizes the need for speculation.
Set clear expectations that gossip is unacceptable through leadership example and company values.
2. Passive-Aggressiveness
Communicating resentment indirectly through sarcasm, procrastination, or subtle sabotage instead of addressing issues head-on. It creates confusion, delays productivity, and erodes trust between team members.
How to Cope:
Call it out politely but directly, e.g., “I feel like there’s some frustration here. Let’s talk about it openly.”
Encourage the person to express concerns directly rather than through passive means.
How to Prevent It:
Promote a feedback-friendly culture where people feel safe voicing concerns.
Train leaders to model direct, constructive communication.
3. Taking Credit for Others’ Work
Claiming responsibility for work that was done by someone else or failing to acknowledge a colleague’s contributions. It breeds resentment, discourages collaboration, and stifles motivation.
How to Cope:
Keep records of contributions and be vocal about your involvement in projects.
If someone takes credit for your work, address it politely but firmly in front of the relevant people.
How to Prevent It:
Encourage a culture of recognition, regularly acknowledge team contributions.
Implement clear documentation of work ownership in projects.
4. Avoiding Responsibility (Blame-Shifting)
Refusing to own mistakes, pointing fingers at others, or always finding an external excuse. It kills accountability and leads to a culture where no one takes initiative.
How to Cope:
Push for a focus on solutions rather than blame in discussions.
Address blame-shifting directly by asking, “What can we learn from this, and how do we fix it?”
How to Prevent It:
Foster a growth mindset—mistakes should be learning opportunities, not shameful failures.
Encourage accountability at all levels through leadership example.
5. Constant Negativity and Complaining
A team member who constantly complains, finds problems instead of solutions, and brings down morale. Negativity spreads quickly and can turn a motivated team into a demoralized one.
How to Cope:
Redirect complaints to action – ask, “What do you suggest we do about it?”
Limit exposure to chronic complainers to protect your own mindset.
How to Prevent It:
Encourage a solutions-oriented culture where concerns are paired with suggestions.
Address chronic negativity through coaching or feedback discussions.
6. Office Bullying and Intimidation
Using power, manipulation, or hostility to control or intimidate others. It creates a toxic environment, leads to mental health issues, and increases employee turnover.
How to Cope:
Document incidents and escalate to HR if necessary.
Stand firm, maintain professionalism, and seek allies for support.
How to Prevent It:
Implement a zero-tolerance policy for bullying with clear consequences.
Train managers to recognize and address intimidation behaviors.
7. Hoarding Information (Gatekeeping)
Deliberately withholding information to maintain control or gain a perceived advantage. It slows down workflow, creates dependency, and stifles innovation.
How to Cope:
Call out the behavior and request transparency.
Seek alternative sources of information or create shared documentation.
How to Prevent It:
Promote knowledge-sharing as a core company value.
Use collaborative tools where information is accessible to all relevant parties.
8. Micromanaging
Over-controlling and closely monitoring every detail of employees’ work instead of trusting them. It kills creativity, lowers morale, and reduces efficiency as employees spend more time explaining than doing.
How to Cope:
Set clear expectations with your manager about autonomy and workflow.
Provide proactive updates to ease their need for control.
How to Prevent It:
Train managers on delegation and trust-building.
Encourage leaders to focus on outcomes, not processes.
9. Lack of Boundaries and Overwork Culture
Expecting employees to be available 24/7, discouraging work-life balance, or guilt-tripping those who set boundaries. It leads to burnout, resentment, and lower long-term productivity.
How to Cope:
Set firm boundaries and communicate them clearly (e.g., “I won’t be checking emails after work hours”).
Push back against unrealistic workloads with data on productivity decline due to overwork.
How to Prevent It:
Encourage leadership to respect boundaries and model healthy work habits.
Implement policies that discourage excessive overtime (e.g., no emails after hours).
10. Favoritism and Office Cliques
Giving special treatment to certain employees, forming exclusive groups, and fostering a divisive team environment. It destroys team cohesion, discourages hard work, and breeds resentment.
How to Cope:
Build diverse relationships across teams rather than relying on a single “inner circle.”
Address favoritism diplomatically by discussing fairness with leadership.
How to Prevent It:
Implement transparent evaluation and promotion processes.
Encourage inclusion by mixing teams for projects and decision-making.
Final Thoughts
Toxic workplace behaviors don’t just happen, they thrive in environments where leadership ignores or enables them. Proactively addressing these issues through clear policies, strong leadership, and an open culture can prevent dysfunction before it starts.
The strongest teams aren’t the ones without conflict; they’re the ones that handle conflict effectively and maintain a culture of mutual respect, transparency, and growth.
To build a quality email list (database) that yields good results, one of the most important things is the source from which we secure our subscribers and the way we do it.
A fundamental requirement (both from a business and legal standpoint) is that people themselves must want (give us permission) to join our database. They grant us permission to send them messages.
This permission/consent is valuable to them – they are letting us into their personal space. To obtain it, we need to offer something in return. What we offer in exchange for the consent to send messages is commonly known as a lead magnet.
I have gathered quite a few resources on the topic. First, I want to share those that have worked best for me so far. Then you will see the rest.
My List of Lead Magnets
Checklist
This is a list of things useful for our audience. For example, steps in a procedure or things to do before starting an endeavor. The variety can be great.
The advantage of a checklist is that it is short (saves people’s time), provides practical information (applicable in practice), and can be easily consumed (read, printed).
Survey
The survey brings us several benefits – it engages the audience (activates them), gives us valuable information, and helps us build our database.
It is advisable that the survey contains no more than 5 questions, and most of them should be multiple-choice, so people don’t have to write long answers. This way, we make it easier for participants, increase the completion rate, and obtain easily analyzable information.
E-book
The oldest and still well-functioning lead magnet. It does not need to be a huge book. It is important that it is well-structured, on-topic, has a practical element, and is convenient for printing and reading on a screen.
Books that are landscape-oriented (horizontal) are ideal in this case – they can be printed on A4 paper or read on the screen in their full size.
Mini Video Course
This lead magnet has been one of the least effective for me. I had one years ago and stopped it. Such a resource provides a huge amount of valuable information but requires people to devote a lot of time to watching the course videos. It is best to break it into a series of videos as part of a launch sequence.
Webinar
A super-effective tool for building a database. Whether it’s a classic webinar, a LIVE session in a closed group, or streaming only for registered users (members), the recipe is the same: to see the valuable content of the webinar and participate, you must register.
I notice that most webinars focus on little content (mostly general talk) and then put serious effort and pressure on participants to buy the corresponding product.
I would suggest a reverse approach: provide a lot of valuable content, concise, well-structured, and inspiring. Move smoothly to the sale and approach carefully, according to the audience’s mindset, not according to direct sales textbooks from the 1980s.
Selected Resources
Below are several comprehensive articles with a huge number of lead magnet ideas. Some of them overlap, but this is even better because you will be able to identify the leading ones.
If you master your time, you will master your life. But do we really control our time?
I have read most of the time management and productivity books on the market and have been testing the most prominent productivity apps and concepts for the past 30 years. One of my observations (which BTW is pretty obvious and you don’t need 30 years to figure it out) is that there are two totally separate universes:
Universe 1: What people know that they need to do.
Universe 2: What people really do in their day-to-day life.
One of the creatures which lives in both parallel universes is our Time Management knowledge and real-world applications.
The Time Boxing Method (classic)
Out of the most prominent and efficient approaches for time management is so called “Time Boxing”.
Here’s a definition of the Time Boxing Method:
“Time Boxing is a time management method where you allocate a fixed, pre-defined block of time to a specific task or activity—and commit to stopping when the time is up, regardless of whether the task is complete.”
The key principles of Time Boxing are:
You decide in advance how long a task will take.
You work on the task only during that set time.
When the time ends, you stop, review, or switch tasks.
What is the point, the purpose of all this?
Prevents overworking and perfectionism.
Increases focus and urgency.
Helps you prioritize and estimate effort better.
Example: You give yourself 30 minutes to write a blog post draft. After 30 minutes, you stop—even if it’s not perfect.
All this sounds good.
Do I know all this?
Yes.
Am I applying those principles?
Yes and no.
Let me explain.
I start the day sitting in front of my calendar with a cup of specialty coffee (black, no sugar, no milk, pure Arabica bitterness). I plan my perfect day, setting time blocks so clean and in such perfect order that my heart starts singing the Song of the Streamliner.
Then the day starts.
I get distracted and start doing something else.
Somebody pops up on my desk with an urgent task.
A meeting which I forgot about comes to my mind.
An emergency happens and I need to go firefighting.
I completely ignore my pre-defined structure and everything goes bananas.
When I look my perfectly ordered time blocks, they feel more like an obstacle to my freedom rather than something to streamline my life and work.
I knew that Time Boxing works.
But why it was not working for me?
The Time Boxing Method (real life adjustments)
After so many ruined timeboxiums I identified the following issues or points of failure (POF):
If you go too much granular you won’t be able to maintain and follow it.
If it is not panic/emergency-proof, it will not work.
If it is complicated, it won’t work.
The time blocks are just blocks in your calendar. It is your responsibility to defend them.
Based on the above insights, I did some adjustments to the Time Boxing Method to be able to apply in my busy life.
Rule No. 1: Use different types of blocks
If you categorize the blocks, you can properly set your context and mood. Vice versa, if you create blocks like “Project 1” or “Meeting with XYZ”, those are just items and they are too complex. The blocks are one things and the execution within them is a totally different story.
The blocks should be related to the type of operation, not the specific operation. Here are some ideas for types of time blocks:
Meetings
Tasks
Logistics
Morning Routine
Family time
Etc.
Rule No. 2: Make larger blocks
Blocks of 30 minutes are just tasks, not blocks. Also, they are hard to manage. Have each block general and larger than 1 hour. Preferably 2 hours or more. This will give you the chance to set the mood and context, review what needs to be done in this time block and actually do it.
Rule No. 3: Have a routine for each of the blocks
When a time block starts, you should be ready to act. You need to know what to do. If it is a routine, you need to have the steps ready and clear. If it is a meeting, you need to have an agenda. If it is a project or execution block, you need to know what are the specific tasks which you decided to execute while this block is active.
So, the structure is not:
Time Block 1
Time Block 2
Time Block 3
But it should be:
Time Block 1:
Action 1.1
Action 1.2
Action 1.3
Time Block 2:
Action 2.1
Action 2.2
Action 2.3
Etc.
The above looks like simple and logical improvements of the method. Let’s see how to apply them in the real world. Enter “The AAA Time Boxing Method”.
The AAA Time Boxing Method Overview
As i mentioned above, we will need several elements to build an efficient time boxing technique:
A set of blocks categories.
Process/steps for each category.
Process for planning.
Process for adjusting and handling change.
Process for review and analysis.
A tool to manage the blocks.
Let’s start one by one…
The Blocks
After a lot of thinking, I decided to use only three types of blocks – Actions, Activities and Appointments. Hence, the name “The AAA Time Boxing Method”. The purpose was to simplify the things but do not overdo the simplification.
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” — Albert Einstein
So, here are the definitions of the three blocks:
ACTIONS
Definition: Specific steps you take to achieve a goal or move forward a project. They are usually short, focused, and can be done in one go.
Symbol:>
Example: Send an email, make a phone call, write a paragraph.
Process:
Set an alarm for the end of the block. Name it “End of The Block” (if not already set).
Review the current projects and pending tasks.
Decide which ones to execute today (if not decided yet).
Order them by priority (Critical, Urgent and Important, Important, Urgent, Not Urgent and Not Important).
Estimate how much time will you need for each of today’s tasks.
Based on the time block length and the estimated execution time for the tasks (ordered by priority), see how many / which ones you will be able to execute within the current block.
Start with the first task and execute, trying to fit in the estimated time.
When finished, record the actual time you needed to finish the task and some notes on execution.
If you still have time in the block, continue with the next task.
When the “End of the Block” alarm fires up, make a note on the current progress and stop immediately. Just stop.
Take a deep breath, relax and reflect for 1-5 min.
Set the “End of the Block” alarm for the next block and continue with it.
ACTIVITIES
Definition: Those are broader tasks or processes that includes multiple actions. It often takes more time and may involve several steps. Here you categorize all routine-based operations.
Symbol: @
Example: Organize a workshop, plan a campaign, conduct a meeting, do your morning routine, have a workout.
Process:
Set an alarm for the end of the block. Name it “End of The Block” (if not already set).
Identify which routine or multi-step task you need to do (usually it should be clear based on your planning; see the Planning Process section).
Open the routine checklist (each routine must have a checklist; no exceptions).
Start with the first step of the routine and execute it.
When finished, go to the next step.
Stick. To. The. Routine. Do. Not. Overthink.
When you finish the routine, relax and reflect for 1-5 min.
Set the “End of the Block” alarm for the next block and continue with it.
APPOINTMENTS
Definition: This time block is for scheduled events or meetings with a specific time and with other people involved.
Symbol: %
Example: Doctor’s visit at 10:00 AM, Zoom call with a client, school parent meeting.
Process:
Each meeting or appointment should have goal and agenda. Do not confirm or set a meeting without an agenda. If it is a personal meeting you don’t need to send a formal agenda, but it should be clear for you what should be done and what outcome do you expect from this meeting. The agenda structure usually contains:
Topics to discuss and clarify.
Decision to make.
Action items to set (what needs to be done, who will do it and when).
How do we track the results (report, call, another meeting, email, message, tracker).
The participants in the meeting/appointment and their roles and responsibilities should be clear (formally or as common sense) in advance. This is valid for both personal and business/work meetings.
The meeting should have a clear start and end time.
The agenda and timeline should be shared with the participants well in advance, so they know what to expect and what is expected from them.
Start the meeting on time.
Follow the agenda:
Discussions and clarifications.
Decisions.
Action items.
Take notes (or use AI notetaker to do it for you).
End the meeting on time. If you haven’t completed the agenda, schedule a new meeting and learn your lesson – your agenda was too big to fit int he time slot or you haven’t managed the meeting well enough.
Share the meeting notes (Discussions, Decisions and Action Items) with all the participants, after the meeting.
The Planning Process
Here’s how to plan your time blocks according to the AAA Time Boxing Method.
Adjust your time boxing strategy to your rhythm and preferences. Drastic, immediate and significant change in your routine will not last, believe me. Also, you don’t need to have the same blocks distribution every single day. Here’s an example from my routine:
Example:
Working Day Mornings:
ACTIVITIES BLOCK [ 5 hours ]
My Morning Routine (1 hour):
05:00 Wake up, bathroom, water intake, supplements.
05:20 Quick meditation and visualization.
05:30 Review projects, tasks, meetings for the day and adjust the time blocks, tasks and agendas.
Kids Morning Routine (2 hours):
06:00 Wake up the kids and prepare them for school (breakfast, lunchboxes, dressing up).
07:00 Drop off the kids to school.
Daily Workout Routine (2 hours, incl. takin shower and prep for work):
08:00 Daily workout (swimming, gym or cycling).
09:00 Shower, prep for work.
09:30 Commute to the office.
I am trying to dedicate days to deep work and creation and other days to meetings, communication and errands. Of course, I am not able to divide them as clean as I want, but still I am putting much of the weight on creation or operations.
Deep Work Days:
ACTIONS BLOCK [ 3 hours ]
10:00 Deep work and creation block (no distractions; preferably out of the office) (3 hours).
ACTIVITIES BLOCK [ 2 hours ]
13:00 Lunch and reflection; quick meditation (1 hour).
16:00 Second deep work and creation block (2 hours).
ACTIVITIES BLOCK [ 1 hour ]
18:00 Communications and errands.
18:30 Commuting back home.
Operations Days:
ACTIONS BLOCK [ 4 hours ]
10:00 Meetings – in-person and online (4 hours).
ACTIVITIES BLOCK [ 2 hours ]
14:00 Lunch and reflection; quick meditation (1 hour).
15:00 Communication and Errands (1 hour).
ACTIONS BLOCK [ 2 hours ]
16:00 Deep work and creation block (2 hours).
ACTIVITIES BLOCK [ 1.5 hours ]
18:00 Communications and errands.
18:30 Commuting back home.
Working Days Evenings:
ACTIVITIES BLOCK [ ]
19:00 Dinner with the family / Family time
20:00 Prep kids to go to bed and go to bed routine
21:00 Spouse time
23:00 My evening routine
00:00 Go to bed
The Change Management Process
This is the beauty of the AAA method and it’s simplicity:
You need to defend the large blocks at all cost and make them happen. Say no to the changes of the type of the time dedicated.
Within the larger blocks, you can shuffle the actions, activities and appointments.
Example: During an ACTIONS block, a colleague pops up asking to speak with you. You can tell him/her that you can have a meeting within your meetings block. There, you can decide to change the order of the meetings but still you keep the different types of activities stacked consistently.
The Review Process
It is a good idea to have a “plan vs reality” review/check about how your time blocking is happening during the week.
You can compare the planned blocks and the real time blocks consumed.
Where are the gaps and discrepancies?
What happened? What disrupted your schedule?
Why did this happen? Who intervened? What event appeared?
What can you do next time when a disruption/interruption event happens? How can you defend and protect your time blocks better?
The Tools
Phase 1:
Initially, I was using Google Calendar and I was having separate calendars for each type of blocks. Unfortunately, this proved ineffective and too complicated to maintain, especially during a dynamic and turbulent days.
Also having different calendars was messing with my adoption of Notion as main management tool.
Phase 2:
Then I decided to use only the main calendar but add symbols in front of the block type. For example:
ACTIONS BLOCK: “>”
ACTIVITIES BLOCK: “@”
APOINTMENTS BLOCK: “%”
This proved as a simple and viable solution.
Also, helped for my next step – Notion adoption.
Phase 3:
I started using Notion to manage all my tasks, meetings, activities, projects, clients, etc. They started Notion Calendar which allowed me to manage different areas of my life on a single timeline.
How it is done?
I use a database for the time blocks in Calendar view to set the blocks.
The type of blocks I use are according to the AAA method.
I mark them with the proper symbols: >, @, %.
I use a second database for the tasks and a third for routines, so I can add tasks and routines to the proper time blocks.
The management is easy – drag and drop in Notion Calendar and it reflects in Notion directly.
Conclusion
What do you think? Is the AAA Time Boxing method going to help you control your time, life and work?
If you have any questions or suggestions, please, share them in the comments section.
