The key to redesigning your day to work with you, not against you
The alarm goes off, and you’re already behind. Before your feet hit the floor, your brain is ticking through your first meeting, unread emails, and that presentation you promised would be ready by lunch. You skim messages on your phone while making breakfast. By 9:00 a.m., you’re already running on fumes. Sound familiar?
Most of us aren’t disorganised or lazy, we’re just trapped in a system that was never designed with our best work in mind. We’ve been so busy trying to keep up that we haven’t stopped to ask “Is the way I’m working actually working?”
In my work with executive teams and support professionals across industries, I see it time and time again: smart, capable people running at full speed but constantly playing catch-up. The problem isn’t effort, it’s structure which means a better day doesn’t require hustle; it requires a redesign.
Strategic support starts with structure
For executive assistants, the ripple effect of a well-designed day extends beyond your own desk. When you protect time, reduce noise, and eliminate unnecessary friction, you’re not just improving your workflow, you’re elevating the leader you support.
That person relies on you not just to manage logistics, but to create clarity and headspace. Whether it’s shielding them from low-value interruptions or restructuring meetings to be sharper and shorter, your ability to work with the rhythm of the day directly influences their capacity to lead. Subtraction is a professional advantage.
The default day is broken
The way most modern workdays are structured is a legacy of outdated thinking. Full calendars, constant accessibility, and back-to-back meetings have become badges of honour. This is an environment where productivity shrivels.
We keep layering on tools, hacks, and processes, thinking they’ll save us, when really we’re just adding weight. This default of addition where we pile on more meetings, more responsibilities, more everything rarely includes the question, “What could I remove?”
Our energy and focus aren’t infinite. Science shows that our mental clarity peaks in the morning, yet most people spend that time triaging emails or sitting in status meetings. It’s no wonder we feel drained before lunch.
Work with your day
The most powerful shift you can make is to align your day with your natural energy rhythms.
Start with the first two hours. This is your most potent time for proactive, high-impact work. Use it for thinking, creating, planning, not scrolling or scrambling.
The rest of the day flows in four energy zones:
- Proactive (First 2 Hours): Deep work, decision-making, strategic tasks.
- Reactive (Next 2): Meetings, collaboration, feedback.
- Active (Mid-Afternoon): Admin, low-effort tasks, emails.
- Preactive (Late Afternoon): Planning tomorrow, reflecting, closing loops.
This rhythm isn’t a rigid formula, however by tuning into it, you stop burning energy where it’s wasted and start using it where it counts.
The case for subtraction
Reclaiming time starts not with better scheduling, but with better subtracting.
These could be the outdated systems, unnecessary meetings, and invisible expectations we carry without question. Some are small: a weekly call that’s outlived its usefulness. Others are big: entire roles or routines we’ve outgrown.
What would happen if you removed them?
- Cancel or shorten meetings that don’t add value.
- Let go of perfection in tasks that simply need to be done, not done exquisitely.
- Say no without guilt by using a simple values filter: Does this align with what matters right now?
This is how we create space and capacity, not just in your calendar, but in your mind.
Micro-edits that make a macro difference
Redesigning your day doesn’t require a revolution. Sometimes the smallest edits deliver the biggest impact:
- Block your first two hours each day and protect them like gold. You don’t need to fill them — you need to defend them.
- Create a meeting-free morning each week to give yourself space for focused work or creative thinking.
- Replace 60-minute meetings with 25-minute sprints — focused, fast, and respectful of everyone’s time.
- Audit your calendar monthly and ask: What can I remove, reduce, or reschedule?
These aren’t radical moves but they’re real and they add up.
You don’t need permission
The most game-changing productivity tool you’ll ever find isn’t an app or a planner, it’s agency. The ability to choose, to say no, to redesign the way you work with intention.
You don’t need a crisis to take control of your time. You don’t need a new job or a three-day retreat. You just need one moment of clarity and the willingness to ask: “What can I let go of today that my future self will thank me for?”
Productivity is about doing what matters, when it matters, and having the courage to stop doing what doesn’t.
You’ve got the tools, now give yourself permission.
Donna McGeorge is a productivity expert and best-selling author of The First 2 Hours. She helps leaders and teams make work work through practical strategies that reclaim time and sharpen impact. Her new book, Red Brick Thinking, will be released in November. Learn more at www.donnamcgeorge.com.