Protecting Time
Actively defending blocks of time from interruptions, requests, and competing demands.
Also known as: Time protection, Defending time, Time boundaries
Category: Techniques
Tags: time, productivity, boundaries, focus, deep-work
Explanation
Protecting time is the active practice of defending time blocks from interruption, encroachment, and competing demands. Unlike passive time management (filling empty slots), protecting time requires: saying no to requests, setting boundaries, and treating time as a finite resource worth defending. Protection methods include: blocking calendars for focus work, communicating unavailability, closing communication channels, and developing cultural permission for uninterrupted time. Protection is necessary because: others will fill your time if you don't, interruptions impose asymmetric costs (cheap for interrupter, expensive for interrupted), and important but non-urgent work has no natural defender. The challenge is that time protection can seem antisocial or uncooperative - developing skill at saying no gracefully is essential. For knowledge workers, protecting time is particularly critical because: creative work requires uninterrupted blocks, and the ease of communication means constant potential interruption.
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