Looks like I may be doing it right. This is exactly why we don’t have shared calendars at Basecamp.
At Basecamp, everyone controls their own calendar, and no one can see anyone else’s schedule. You can’t claim time on anyone else’s calendar, either. Other people’s time isn’t for you — it’s for them. You can’t take it, chip away at it, or block it off. Everyone’s in control of their time. They can give it to you, but you can’t take it from them.
And by the way, this isn’t a special privilege for ownership or the CEO. Everyone controls their own days at Basecamp. Time isn’t a commodity we trade. No one can turn your day into theirs.
Note: We have a whole chapter called “Calendar Tetris” in It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work on this very topic. You’ll find it on page 62.
For me it’s also been very important to make sure I take time during the day to do different kinds of reading.
One thing that really helped me with that was starting to read “blogs” that I followed (like SvN) only once a day, switching from Feedly and Pocket to what I eventually started selling as https://focusd.co (turns your RSS feeds into a Daily Digest email, and limits your number of feeds, so you don’t get too much).
One of the reasons I use Feedbin is the exact opposite reason. I use personal email only for actual correspondence. I read newsletters in Feedbin.
It doesn’t really matter. If you work for someone they control your time. Whether calendar is shared or not, its immaterial.
Sounds like true macro-management! The trust factor is huge and after experiencing working under a micromanager having freedom and respect until you abuse it is wonderful!
Busy is the new stupid, which is widely noted and posted on LinkedIn and other media but seldom applied in one’s life… As I always coach startup entrepreneurs; “There is no -ctrl-alt-del- for your time and life” use your time wisely for a better life.
Hal Tezcan, Managing Dir. Startup Port