2x2: Five Time Buckets for CEOs

 Hello! Welcome to this week’s edition of the 2x2 newsletter. Your premier Friday email for leaders, creators, and decision makers like you who want to manage their tasks, time, and ideas better. Check this out1: [The 5 big buckets for how I spend my time as a business owner]( This is a schedule I began experimenting with a few summers ago. It’s changed a bit since then, but the basics remain the same: (1) having clarity on my most important role as a creative business owner; and (2) making sure I have protected blocks of time for those roles. (This translates to all the various roles in your life, btw. including personal and professional.) 2: [Setting up a Calm Inbox view for a less-distracting email]( This is a little trick I’ve used for years to make it easy to open up my email app with zero distractions from a crowded inbox. Something to think about 1: [The Law of Tradeoffs]( There are 8 Laws of Focus, and one of them is the Law of Tradeoffs. As David Allen said, you can do anything but you cannot do everything. In order to give your perpetual devotion to any one thing it will require the perpetual neglect of many other things. Focus, therefore, requires tradeoffs. You can only focus on so many things at a time. And you can only focus for so many hours during the day. Instead of ignoring the limitation on your energy, embrace it and find ways to routinize and automate the non-trivial areas of your life so that even when you are not giving them your full attention and devotion, they are not being fully neglected. 2: When you’re stuck creatively, try changing your environment Sometimes, when you’re stuck in a rut and struggling to get going, a change to your environment can help you kickstart movement. It can be an addition or subtraction to your current environment, or perhaps a total location shift altogether. Make enough change to get you going but not so much to distract you from your end goal or give you a false sense of accomplishment. * * * — Shawn P.S. After decades of car camping, last year I went backpacking for the first time and loved it. I started out borrowing nearly all the gear for my hike. Then I did a ton of research and have built my own pack. I’m considering doing a gear write up of “what’s in my backpack”. Let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in reading. 👋 Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways we can help you up-level your tasks, time, and ideas… 1: [Take the]([free Focus Assessment]( to get a personalized (free) tools and training just for you. 2: Undo your to-do list as you get maximum clarity on your goals, your schedule, and your habits with lifetime access to the self-paced [Focus Course](. 3: [Join our growing Accelerator Membership]( and get your all-access pass to our entire course and resource library, as well as a thriving community. (Recommended.) 4: Business Owner? Hit reply if you’re interested in learning more about our private mastermind community. [In-Depth App Training for Power Users]( To unsubscribe, click [here](. Blanc Media, 714 Main St., Grandview, MO 64030, United States