Last Tuesday, I did everything "right" when I returned to work after a vacation. Morning catch-up, a few meetings in the early afternoon after a check-up with my surgeon, a 30-minute buffer before my next meeting, and plenty of open time to allow me to just catch up on what I missed while out.
By 4pm I was useless.
The 1:1s themselves were fine. The buffer existed. The catch-up time was useful. But all I managed to do was catch up on my Slack and email.
If you'd asked me on Monday whether Tuesday would be too much, I would've said no. The math worked. There were no double-bookings. There was a lunch. It was honestly a lighter day, even with a doctor's appointment. I had blocked my day like a person who knew what she was doing.
The day still ran me over, because time wasn't the constraint. Energy was. I keep relearning that those two need different tools.
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