TL;DR: Your availability isn't infinite, but everyone treats it like it is. I learned this the hard way after burning through three executive roles before realizing that saying yes to everything meant saying no to my best work. Here's the systematic approach I developed to protect my time while still being seen as collaborative and effective.
Your Calendar Is Not a Suggestion Box
Last Tuesday, I watched a VP friend of mine have a complete meltdown.
Not the quiet, suffering-in-silence kind. The full-blown, throwing-his-phone-across-the-room, "I haven't eaten lunch in six weeks" kind.
His crime? He let everyone else decide how he spent his days.
I've been there. Back when I was running a 1,600-person organization, my calendar looked like someone had thrown paint at a wall. Back-to-back meetings from 7 AM to 7 PM. "Quick syncs" that weren't quick. "Brief check-ins" that ate entire afternoons.
The thing nobody tells you about availability is this: it's not actually about time management. It's about energy management. And when you let everyone else control your energy, you're basically handing them the keys to your success and asking them to crash it into a wall.
The Availability Trap Nobody Talks About
Here's what I've learned after two decades in the C-suite: most people confuse being busy with being valuable.
They think if their calendar looks like a game of Tetris, they must be important. Wrong.
According to Microsoft's 2023 Work Trend Index, the average employee spends 57% of their time communicating in meetings, email and chat, and only 43% creating. Harvard Business Review found that executives now spend nearly 23 hours per week in meetings—up from less than 10 hours in the 1960s.
That leaves you with roughly 11 hours per week for actual thinking and strategic work.
Eleven hours. Per week.
Let me break this down differently. You know that feeling when you finally sit down to do real work at 4:30 PM? That's not normal. That's what happens when you treat your availability like an all-you-can-eat buffet.
The Framework That Changed Everything
After burning out spectacularly (twice), I developed what I call the GUARD framework. It's not sexy, but it works.
G - Grade Your Commitments. Not all meetings are created equal. I started ranking every request on a simple 1-3 scale. 1s are mission-critical. 2s are important but flexible. 3s are "nice to haves" that usually aren't nice or necessary.
U - Unblock Deep Work Time. I block three 90-minute chunks every week for strategic thinking. Non-negotiable. I literally put "STRATEGIC WORK - DO NOT BOOK" in my calendar. People think I'm in a meeting. I'm not. I'm doing the work that actually moves the needle.
A - Automate Repetitive Touchpoints. Status updates don't need meetings. They need a shared doc. I cut 40% of my meetings by moving updates to async formats.
R - Redirect Low-Value Requests. "Can you join this call?" became "Here's my input via email." Saved me 8 hours per week.
D - Defend Your Boundaries. This is the hardest one. You have to be willing to say, "That doesn't work for me." Not "I'm too busy." Not "Maybe later." Just "That doesn't work for me."
What Actually Happens When You Protect Your Time
When I started implementing this at my last company, people freaked out. For about two weeks.
Then something weird happened. My team started getting more done. Projects moved faster. Decisions happened quicker. Why? Because when the boss isn't available for every random thought, people start solving problems themselves.
According to research cited in Harvard Business Review, employee productivity is 71% higher in organizations that reduce meetings by just 40%. That's not a typo. Seventy-one percent.
But here's what really matters: I started loving my job again. Instead of feeling like a ping-pong ball bouncing between other people's priorities, I was actually steering the ship.
The Burnout Connection
Every burnout story starts the same way: "I was just trying to be helpful." You say yes to one extra meeting, then another, then suddenly you're eating lunch at your desk (if at all) and wondering why Sunday nights fill you with dread. Protecting your availability isn't selfish—it's the first line of defense against burning out. When you control your calendar, you control your energy. When you control your energy, burnout becomes a choice, not an inevitability.
Make This Work for You
Start small. This week, find one recurring meeting that could be an email. Kill it.
Next week, block 90 minutes for deep work. Put it in your calendar right now. I'll wait.
Then, gradually implement the GUARD framework. You don't need to do it all at once. Even protecting 10% more of your time will feel like getting your life back.
Your availability is your most valuable asset. Stop letting other people spend it like it's theirs.
Ready to level up your leadership without burning out? Let's talk about creating a systematic approach that works for your specific situation. Book a conversation at https://meet.drdegnan.com.
Until next week, my friend!
—Oliver
