This 20-Minute Routine Saves me 4+ Hours a Week

⏳ Read Time: Less than 4 min.

Welcome you to another edition of The Winning Edge. If you’ve ever ended the day wondering where your time went—even though you were “busy”—this week’s for you.

Because busy ≠ productive.

We’re diving into a set of simple, actionable hacks I personally use to work less, accomplish more, and still show up with clarity and confidence in high-stakes conversations and presentations.

Let’s unlock some time back in your week—and shift into high-performance mode.
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This Week’s Insights

✅ The 20-Minute Weekly Ritual That Saves Me 4+ Hours
✅ A Calendar Trick That Makes You More Focused (And Harder to Interrupt)
✅ AI Prompt to Delegate Admin Work to ChatGPT or Copilot
✅ Copilot Hack: Turn Meeting Notes into Instant Action Plans
✅ Productivity Power Move – Use “Theme Days” to minimize context-switching

THE MAIN EVENT
🎤 The 20-Minute Ritual That Saves Me 4+ Hours

Let’s get straight to it.

Every Friday afternoon, I do a Weekly Preview Session—a simple 20-minute ritual that sets up my next week for speed, clarity, and control.

📅 Here’s what it looks like:

1. Review your past week: What did you accomplish? What didn’t get done—and why?

2. Clarify your Top 3 priorities for next week: What would make it a win?

3. Pre-block time for deep work: Schedule 1–2 no-meeting blocks for focused execution.

4. Pre-decide hard stuff: What are the tasks you tend to avoid? Assign a time to start them.

Why it works: This simple system eliminates guesswork and decision fatigue when Monday hits. I’ve tested dozens of productivity systems, and this one quietly returns 4–5 hours a week of wasted time back to me.

🎯 Try it this Friday—and email me if it works for you too.

QUICK HITTERS: Fast Wins for the Week

💡 Tip of the Week:
Batch similar tasks together—emails, calls, creative work. It helps your brain stay in flow mode and reduces time lost to context-switching.

📊 Stat of the Week:
47% of professionals say they spend more time in meetings than doing actual work. (Microsoft Work Trend Index)

🎭 Power Move:
Use “Theme Days”—assign one type of task per day (e.g., Monday: Strategy, Tuesday: Clients, Friday: Admin). It sharpens focus and reduces scatter.

📖 Recommended Read:
“Make Time” by Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky – A practical, no-fluff guide to reclaiming control of your calendar and energy.

WEEKLY DEEP DIVE
Your Calendar as a Power Tool

Want to instantly feel more in control and less reactive? Start using your calendar as a commitment tool, not a reminder tool.

Most people treat their calendar like a suggestion box. High-performers treat it like a strategy.

📅 Here’s a smarter calendar approach:

• Color-code blocks by energy zone – Creative, admin, meetings, etc.

• Defend your Deep Work blocks – Mark them “Busy” and hold the line.

• Pre-book rest and renewal time – If it’s not scheduled, it won’t happen.

• Leave 15-minute buffers between key meetings – Clarity comes in the margins.

🧠 Your calendar should reflect your priorities, not your availability.

When you do this consistently, you become harder to interrupt—and more valuable in every conversation.

AI TIP OF THE WEEK

Prompt of the Week:
"Act as my executive assistant. I’ll list out tasks—turn them into a prioritized weekly plan and suggest what I can automate or delegate."

Use this in ChatGPT, Copilot, or any smart AI assistant.

⚙️ What it gives you:

• Clear prioritization

• Suggested time blocks

• Automation ideas for repeatable tasks

💥 Bonus: If you’re using Microsoft Copilot, pair this with your Outlook calendar to pre-block time automatically.

💻 Copilot Power Hack: Turn Meeting Notes into Action Plans

In case you missed it, Copilot’s integration with Teams + PowerPoint + Word just got smarter.

Now, when you end a meeting, you can ask Copilot to:

✅ Generate a project plan
✅ Create a slide recap for execs
✅ Summarize decisions + assign owners

Example prompt:
"Summarize this Teams call, turn it into a 3-slide summary, and generate next steps in checklist form."

📌 This turns meetings from memory drains into momentum-builders.

ACTION STEPS & COMMUNITY QUESTION

📣 Action Step & Community Question

Try one productivity hack this week:

• The 20-Minute Weekly Preview

• Theme Days

• AI-powered task planning

📩 Which one helped you most? Reply and let me know—I’d love to feature your insight in an upcoming issue!

P.S.
Next week’s edition is 🔥 — I’ll show you how to develop Executive Presence so you can command the room without saying a word.

(Think: gravitas, confidence, and magnetic delivery.)

Until then—protect your time and keep winning.

Keep building your edge—one conversation at a time.

YOUR OPINION MATTERS!

If you have more feedback or just want to get in touch, respond to this email, and we’ll get back to you!

Thanks for reading!

Until next week!

Mary Beth