In my twenties, I thought I had discovered my superpower.

I could answer mortgage broking questions, review bookkeeping records, analyse tax returns, and provide financial advice, all in the span of an hour. A team member once watched me work and said, amazed, “Your ability to shift between tasks is incredible.”

I beamed with pride. This was it. This was how I was going to win at business.

Spoiler alert: I was wrong.

The hustle that almost broke me

Let me paint you a picture of my life back then. I was working 100-hour weeks. I was multitasking like it was an Olympic sport. I was running four different businesses simultaneously, convinced that speed and volume were the keys to success.

I neglected my relationship. I wasn’t present with my children as much as I wanted to be. I didn’t sleep enough. I barely exercised. Everything (and I mean everything) went into the business.

And you know what? I thought I was crushing it.

Until I wasn’t.

When your superpower becomes your kryptonite

Here’s what no one tells you about working at that pace: it’s not sustainable. Not even close.

The constant task switching, the endless multitasking, the belief that I could do it all if I just worked hard enough, it led me straight to burnout. The thing I thought was my greatest strength was actually slowly destroying me.

Research backs this up. Task switching can reduce productivity by as much as 40% because your brain loses time reorienting itself every time you shift focus. Those “quick” email checks between tasks? They’re not quick at all. Your brain needs time to get back into deep work mode.

But here’s the thing I wish someone had told me back then: I didn’t need to work harder. I needed to work differently.

The shift that changed everything

The transformation didn’t happen overnight. It was gradual, painful, and required me to completely reimagine what “productive” looked like.

I started noticing something about myself. When I was juggling multiple complex tasks, moving from bookkeeping to financial planning to mortgage broking, I could do it. But sustaining that over time? That was the issue. The challenge.

I also noticed something else: older, more successful business owners seemed calmer. They weren’t running around in a frenzy. They had rhythm. They had systems.

At first, I dismissed it. “They must not have as much to do,” I thought. “They’re probably not as ambitious.”

I was wrong about that, too.

Enter: Time Blocking

Time blocking sounded too simple to work. How could simply scheduling dedicated time for specific tasks make that much difference?

But I was desperate. So I tried it.

I started small. I looked at my calendar and instead of leaving it open for chaos to fill, I blocked out time. Even if I wasn’t in an appointment, I was blocking time.

Here’s what my week eventually looked like:

Mondays: Working on the business (strategy, planning, big-picture thinking)

Tuesdays and Thursdays: Meeting days (all client calls, all team meetings, everything that required face-to-face interaction)

Wednesdays: Deep work (complex tasks that required sustained focus)

Fridays: My day (learning, development, catching up, creative thinking)

And here’s the rule I made for myself: if someone messaged me during my morning walk, I wasn’t responding. That was my block. My time.

The resistance I faced (from myself)

It all felt wrong at first.

My brain screamed at me: “You’re being lazy! You should be available! What if something urgent comes up? You’re going to lose clients!”

None of that happened.

Instead, something else did: I got better at my work. Because I wasn’t constantly switching between tasks, I could go deeper. I could think more strategically. I could actually solve problems instead of just putting out fires.

The quality of my output improved dramatically. And ironically, I was working fewer hours.

What about the “urgent” stuff?

This is the question everyone asks. “But what if there’s an emergency? What if a client needs something right away?”

Here’s what I learned: most “emergencies” aren’t actually emergencies. They’re just other people’s poor planning or lack of boundaries.

When I started protecting my time blocks, something interesting happened. People adjusted. Clients learned when I was available. My team learned when they could interrupt me and when they couldn’t.

And you know what? The world didn’t end. Business didn’t suffer. In fact, it got better because I was showing up as a calmer, more focused, more strategic version of myself.

The difference between busy and productive

Looking back, I realise I had confused being busy with being productive.

In my twenties, I wore my 100-hour weeks like a badge of honour. I thought exhaustion was the price of success. I thought if I wasn’t constantly moving, I wasn’t working hard enough.

Time blocking forced me to ask a crucial question: “Is this task moving me toward my goals, or am I just doing it because it feels productive?”

That simple question changed everything.

The unexpected benefits

Beyond just getting more done in less time (which, let’s be honest, is pretty great), time blocking gave me something I didn’t expect: calm.

I stopped waking up in the middle of the night panicking about all the things I needed to do. I stopped feeling guilty when I took time off. I stopped resenting my business for taking over my life.

Because my business wasn’t taking over my life anymore. I was managing it. I was in control.

I could be present with my children. I could maintain relationships. I could take care of my health. Not because I was working less (though I was), but because I was working with intention.

A reality check: It’s not perfect

Time blocking isn’t a magic solution that makes everything easy. Some days, things go sideways. Emergencies do happen. Life doesn’t always cooperate with your carefully planned calendar.

But having a system, even an imperfect one, is infinitely better than having no system at all.

And it’s important to note, that not everyone works this way. I have a business partner who thrives on task switching. She loves bouncing between projects. It keeps her in flow, prevents boredom, and works for her brain.

The key isn’t finding the “right” way to work. It’s finding your way to work.

If you’re where I was...

If you’re reading this and you’re in your own version of my twenties, working insane hours, juggling everything, convinced that hustle is the only path forward, I want you to know something:

That path leads to burnout. I know because I walked it.

You don’t have to learn this lesson the hard way. You can choose differently right now.

Start small. Pick one day. Block out two hours for deep work on your most important task. No emails. No phone. No “quick” interruptions.

See what happens.

Then do it again the next week. And the next.

Build the system before you need it. Because by the time you realise you need it, you might be too burned out to implement it.

The bottom line 

Moving from 100-hour weeks to time blocking wasn’t just about productivity. It was about sustainability. It was about building a business, and a life, that I could maintain for the long haul.

I still work hard. I still have ambitious goals. I still push myself.

But now I do it with rhythm instead of chaos. With intention instead of reaction. With blocks of focused time instead of scattered attention.

And honestly? I’m not just more productive. I’m happier.

If that sounds like something you want, maybe it’s time to close your inbox, look at your calendar, and start blocking.

What would your ideal time-blocked week look like? What’s one block you could implement this week to reclaim control of your schedule?

To find out more about what we think about time blocking, check out our podcast here.