#1: The Productivity Paradox

When I first launched Belianin, my investment company, I found myself drowning in a sea of meetings, emails, and endless to-do lists. My calendar was packed from morning till night, leaving me little time or energy for the work that truly moved the needle. Sometimes, I woke up as early as 4 am for a call. This way of working was clearly unsustainable.

Clearly, people far more successful than me, with greater demands on them, have experienced this challenge. So, I went on a deep dive into the productivity practices of some of the world's most successful people.

I studied the habits of entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Naval Ravikant, Paul Graham, and other elite performers across fields. What I discovered was a powerful common thread: a ruthless devotion to protecting one's time and attention.

As Brian Tracy puts it,

This idea resonated deeply with me, and I began to experiment with new approaches to managing my schedule and mental space.

The results have been transformative. By implementing the strategies I'll share in this essay (my first one, so welcome early adopter!), I've dramatically increased my productivity, enhanced my focus, and achieved greater clarity on what matters most. I've also found a renewed sense of control and calm in the face of competing demands.

If you're an entrepreneur or business leader looking to make your greatest contribution, I believe these principles can be equally game-changing. In a world of constant distraction and overload, learning to guard your time and attention fiercely is no longer a luxury—it's a necessity.

My hope is that by the end, you'll be inspired to take bold steps to reclaim your most precious resources and do your best work.

How Overflowing Calendars Derail Deep Work

The scourge of the modern workplace is the never-ending deluge of meetings, emails, and minor tasks that eat up our days and leave us with little time or energy for deep work. We've all experienced the frustration of looking back on a hectic week and realising we made minimal progress on our most important goals.

This problem is compounded by smartphones' constant connectivity and the expectation of immediate responsiveness they breed. We allow ourselves to be pulled into reactive mode, bouncing between notifications and letting others dictate our priorities.

Over time, this frantic, fragmented work style takes a heavy toll. We lose the ability to focus deeply, think creatively, and do our best work. Our sense of accomplishment and well-being suffers as we spend our days churning “busy work” rather than moving the needle on what matters most.

It's a sentiment echoed by many top performers who ruthlessly guard their time. Elon Musk, despite running multiple world-changing companies, is notorious for avoiding meetings. He once told GQ,

The reason is simple: to produce at your peak, you need large blocks of uninterrupted time for deep work and reflection. Shallow work like meetings and email should be minimised to the essentials. An overflowing calendar isn't a badge of honour—it's a massive liability.

If we want to make our highest contribution in business and life, we must be diligent in protecting our time and attention. We need the courage to decline meetings that don't truly require our presence, batch low-value tasks into defined windows, and carve out sacred space for focused work.

It's a daily discipline, but one that pays enormous dividends. By taking control of our schedules and creating room for deep engagement, we can tap into our full potential and make the impact we're truly capable of.

But what does this look like in practice?

How have some of the world's most successful people designed their lives to prioritise what matters most?

Productivity Secrets of the World's Top Performers

In my quest to optimise my own productivity and effectiveness, I studied how elite performers across various fields manage their time and mental energy. What better place to start than modelling the "GOATs"—the Greatest Of All Time in a particular domain?

By observing the habits and mindsets of those who have reached the pinnacle, we can extract principles to apply in our own lives.

Take a moment to consider: who are the top performers you admire most? What can you learn from studying their approach to work and life? Chances are, they've developed a ruthless approach to meetings and communication.

One striking example is Sam Altman, the former president of Y Combinator and now widely known as the CEO of OpenAI. Altman is known for keeping his calendar nearly empty, arguing that most meetings are best kept to 15-20 minutes, or else they should be 2 hours for a deep dive. The default of 1-hour meetings, he suggests, is usually wasteful.

Elon Musk takes it a step further. Despite running multiple world-changing companies, he's notorious for avoiding meetings altogether. In a blunt email to Tesla employees, he once wrote:

This theme of protecting "maker time" comes up again and again. Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, divides schedules into two types: the manager's schedule and the maker's schedule.

Managers operate in 1-hour slots; makers need large blocks of uninterrupted time. The two are incompatible, he argues, and makers willing to compromise must understand the true cost of interruptions.

Jack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter, takes a novel approach. He themes each day of the week for a specific area of focus across both companies: Mondays for management, Tuesdays for product, Wednesdays for marketing and growth, Thursdays for developers and partnerships, and Fridays for culture and recruiting. Weekends are for hiking, reflection, strategy and preparing for the week ahead. 

The throughline here is an almost ascetic devotion to stripping away the non-essential and creating space for what matters most. It's not about working longer but going deeper—stacking the deck in favour of creative breakthroughs and high-impact work.

Of course, simply copying these habits verbatim isn't the answer. The key is to extract and adapt the underlying principles to your context and constraints. This is why I believe the real power comes from testing and refining productivity strategies to fit your own unique circumstances.

My Productivity Test Lab

Inspired by the examples of these hyper-productive GOATs, I began my own journey of reclaiming my time and attention in December. As an entrepreneur and investor, I was all too familiar with the deluge of meetings and messages that could derail an entire week.

I knew something needed to change if I wanted to perform at my best and make meaningful progress on my goals.

During my time at Parimatch, I had the opportunity to experiment with various productivity systems and strategies. I tried implementing Getting Things Done (GTD), which was helpful for organising tasks and projects but didn't address the deeper challenge I now faced of allocating my time and energy. It was a useful tool for task management but not a complete solution.

So, I turned my attention to optimising my daily routines. I began waking up earlier, protecting the first few hours of the day from my most important work. I experimented with time-blocking, setting strict windows for meetings, calls, and emails. 

I aimed to batch my communication into a few sessions per day rather than letting it bleed into every moment. This helped create longer stretches of maker time, but I still found myself getting sucked into too many non-essential meetings and conversations.

The breakthrough came when I began ruthlessly eliminating meetings from my schedule. I implemented a personal policy of no meetings without a clear agenda and intended outcome. If they could be handled asynchronously via email or messenger, even better.

For example, when someone from my team requested a meeting to discuss a new marketing campaign, I asked them first to send over a brief outline of their ideas and the specific decisions that needed to be made.

This allowed me to provide feedback and direction without the need for a full meeting. By shifting the default from synchronous to asynchronous communication, I found that many issues could be resolved more efficiently.

This shift was uncomfortable at first. I had to get over the fear of coming across as rude or uncooperative. But as I began to communicate my reasoning and offer alternative ways to make progress, most people were understanding and even appreciative.

Protecting my time and attention allowed me to be more present and engaged when I did choose to attend a meeting or get on a call.

Over time, I've found this approach incredibly liberating. My calendar is cleaner than ever, and I can spend my days on the work that truly moves the needle. The key is being clear on my priorities and unapologetic in guarding my time.

Of course, this is an ongoing process of experimentation and refinement. I'm constantly looking for ways to optimise my systems and better align my time with my values. But the core principles of ruthless elimination, setting boundaries, and communicating intentionally have remained constant.

9 Proven Strategies for Reclaiming Your Time and Attention

So, let’s get down to the good stuff. How can you practice these insights in your work and life? Here are some of the most effective strategies I've found for reclaiming your time and attention:

#1. Schedule sacred time for thinking and strategising. Block off regular intervals on your calendar for reflection, planning, and high-level problem-solving. Treat this time as non-negotiable and protect it fiercely. 

#2. Communicate your availability and preferred working style upfront. Let your team and colleagues know that you aim to minimise meetings and prioritise asynchronous communication. Set clear guidelines for when a meeting is truly necessary and when an email or message will suffice.

#3. Embrace asynchronous tools like Loom videos, detailed emails, or collaborative documents. These allow you to share information and move projects forward without defaulting to a live conversation. You'd be surprised how much can be accomplished without the need for a meeting.

#4. When meetings are necessary, keep them short and focused. Aim for 25 or 50 minutes instead of the default hour, and always have a clear agenda and desired outcome. Consider using a timer to enforce the time boundary.

#5. Theme your days like Jack Dorsey. Dedicate each day of the week to a specific area of focus - product, marketing, hiring, etc. This creates momentum and continuity while minimising context switching.

#6. Batch your communication. Set specific windows for checking email and messages (e.g. 11am and 4pm) rather than fragmenting your attention throughout the day. Use an auto-responder to manage expectations and protect your focus outside of these windows.

#7. Prioritise ruthlessly, and don't be afraid to say no. Challenge requests for your time and participation. Ask if it's truly necessary and the best use of your resources. Opt out of non-essential communication threads and meetings. Remember, every yes to something unimportant is a no to something that matters.

#8. Carve out extended blocks for deep work. Schedule multi-hour stretches to immerse yourself in cognitively demanding tasks like writing, coding, designing, or analysing. Protect this maker time by turning off notifications and communicating your availability to your team.

#9. Surround yourself with other focused, intentional people. Attitudes and habits are contagious, so be deliberate about the company you keep. Seek colleagues, mentors, and collaborators who value depth over busyness and respect and protect your time as you do theirs.  

As you experiment with these strategies, pay attention to your energy levels and outputs. Notice when you're doing your best, most impactful work, and when you're simply spinning your wheels on “busy work”. Keep refining your approach based on real data and results, not just productivity hacks.

Remember, the goal is not to cram more into your day but to strip away the non-essentials so you can focus on what truly moves the needle. It's about creating the space for deeper work, more meaningful relationships, and a greater sense of control and peace of mind.

Take a moment now to reflect: What one strategy could you implement this week to move closer to that ideal? What would it feel like to have more space for the work and people that matter most?

Commit to taking one small step in that direction and see what unfolds. The beauty of this approach is that small shifts, practised consistently over time, compound into extraordinary results.

Final thoughts and recommendations

In the words of Brian Tracy, 

By ruthlessly focusing on essentials, you'll unlock your full potential and make your greatest contribution.

This is a lifelong practice that's well worth the effort. Start small, experiment often, and don't be afraid to go against the grain. Your time and attention are your most valuable assets - guard them well.

For more insights on peak performance and productivity, I recommend the following resources:

• "Deep Work" by Cal Newport

• "The Effective Executive" by Peter Drucker

• "Essentialism" by Greg McKeown

• "The Almanack of Naval Ravikant” by Naval Ravikant

• "Rework" by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

• Akiflow - Time-blocking digital calendar and time management

• Things 3 - To do app to help me get things done

• Superhuman - turbocharges the email experience, saving lots of time