Achieving More with Less Stress: The Power of Intentional Planning

The most important lesson I learned at Amazon was how to spend my time with intention.

A few months into my first role at Amazon, our new VP introduced a powerful exercise. For two weeks, every team member recorded their tasks in 30-minute increments, and his EA analyzed the data. The results revealed a significant chunk of “non-value-add” activities—somewhere between 20% and 30%. He challenged us to reduce this to below 10%.

In many corporate environments the talk “we have too many meetings, let’s reduce some” remains just this – a talk. But this time there was action. For example, he moved our weekly business reviews (WBRs), held on Wednesdays, to Tuesdays challenging teams to compress prep work into two days instead of three. While it led to initial disruption—some reports weren’t ready, and answers were rougher—the adjustment paid off. We gained an extra day each week for impactful work like vendor negotiations and project execution. That’s a 20% productivity boost — huge by any measure!

I liked the output of this exercise so much, that I started doing for myself for two weeks at a time, recording, inspecting and learning. Spot a productivity nerd. I had to face some pretty uncomfortable truths. While I told myself that my top priority was launching new features, my analysis revealed that much of my time went into answering questions and running analyses for 50 vendor managers. So I had to learn to streamline my work and say “no”.

Over time, these insights led me to develop a system that I’ve carried across 13 years and six different roles at Amazon. It’s a blend of lessons from VPs, directors, colleagues, books, and courses.
The system boils down to a simple but powerful cycle: 1) Plan, 2) Do, 3) Reflect and adjust. It’s a weekly rhythm that keeps me focused, productive, and adaptable.

Every Friday morning, I dedicate 90 minutes to planning the next two weeks. In a folder labeled “TO DO” on my home screen, I create a weekly text file titled “Week Starting MM-DD.” I begin by listing what I have “Accomplished this week” – my “wins” or milestones in progress. For example: conducting three interviews, socializing a document with five stakeholders, or making a go/no-go decision on a project.

Next, I list my “Top 5 priorities for this week” - sometimes it’s five, sometimes seven. These are major tasks that require sustained effort over hours or days. Anything that takes less than an hour doesn’t make the list; those smaller tasks get done during generic “to do” blocks that I keep on the calendar.

Examples of Top 5 items might include hiring for my team, giving guidance on a monthly business review document, setting team goals for 2025, or aligning our team’s vision with partner teams. I share my top 5 with my boss during 121s, so that he is aware of the big rocks and we can fix any misses quickly.

I also create a “Below the Line” section for important but non-urgent tasks that I likely won’t tackle this week yet, such as providing annual performance feedback to peers. Finally, I jot down a “Next Week” section with my top three anticipated priorities, which helps me keep an eye on the horizon.

Next, I review my calendar for the upcoming week to ensure my top priorities have adequate time allocated. Since I plan two weeks ahead, much of the structure is already in place. For example, I’m currently hiring for the team, so “Hiring” is my top priority. I’ve scheduled 6 hours for related activities next week, which feels appropriate - dedicating 10% of my time to a top priority usually ensures progress without neglecting other areas.

If I had to hire dozens of people, I’d approach it differently, perhaps dedicating an entire week to a hiring sprint with recruiters and other interviewers. But that’s not necessary here.

I also review time allocations for my other priorities. For instance, my second priority has five hours reserved, but priority #3 only has 30 minutes – not nearly enough, as most top priorities require at least two hours. At this stage, I adjust my schedule by rescheduling, cancelling, or delegating meetings.
Occasionally, I find that a lower priority (#5) has more hours blocked than a higher one. In those cases, I either elevate #5 to a higher rank or reduce the time spent on it to rebalance my focus. As a people manager, I always include “People” as a priority. This includes one-on-one meetings, individual goal reviews, career development plans, and team health checks.

To keep my schedule organized, I color-code my calendar for the upcoming week. Each priority gets a distinct color, which I record next to my “Top 5” list in the text file to avoid confusion later. Over the past few weeks 75% of my time is color coded, ensuring that most of my efforts align with my top priorities.

This is Reflect & Plan steps combined seamlessly into one process.

On Monday, the rubber hits the road. I have a reminder on Monday morning to look at my “Top 5” priorities for the week. Each evening, I use a “To Do” calendar block to assess the next day’s schedule, ensuring my plan remains intact or adjusting where necessary.

And that’s the system in a nutshell.

When I share this system, I often get questions like:

How do you estimate how long a task will take? Experience is key. For example, writing feedback after an interview typically takes me an hour. Whenever I schedule an interview, I block 30 minutes for preparation and an hour for feedback. While some feedback can take less time—especially for standout candidates—I’ve found that allocating a full hour ensures quality. Even with an AI assistant that summarizes interview notes, I haven’t yet seen a significant reduction in the time required to write thoughtful feedback.

What happens when a task takes longer than planned? It happens often—people tend to underestimate time requirements. For example, last week I reserved 1.5 hours for priority #4: 30 minutes to review a document and an hour for the decision meeting. However, those 30 minutes turned into 2.5 hours of rewriting, thinking, and discussions with the team. As a result, priority #3 was delayed, and I had to apologize to the stakeholder. To catch up, I’ll need to re-prioritize – perhaps drop some non-color-coded tasks, work late, or delegate more. This forward-looking approach helps me anticipate heavy weeks and plan recovery time, such as blocking a day off afterward. Recovery is crucial. I can push myself for a few weeks, but if I continuously skip rest or exercise, my body eventually forces me to slow down—often by falling sick.

What if my job can’t be planned? I hear this concern often – some roles seem impossible to structure because plans are quickly derailed by escalations, urgent meetings, or travel. I have faced similar challenges in the past. To manage this unpredictability, I blocked two hours each day specifically for “Escalations”. When issues arose, I had the time to address them. On quieter days, I used the reserved time to work on initiatives that reduced the likelihood of future escalations.

Do you follow this system all the time? Not always. As of week 49, my 2024 folder contains 38 weekly files – meaning I have followed the system 75-80% of the time. Some weeks are so packed with execution that I don’t make time for detailed planning. When that happens for more than two or three weeks, I notice my priorities drifting, which leaves me feeling less in control and less satisfied. That’s why I aim to stick to the system as much as possible.

Why plan two weeks ahead instead of one? I used to plan just one week at a time, but this filled the second week with less important meetings. Looking at two weeks at once gives me a more realistic view of my workload and I can prioritize more effectively.

Doesn’t all this scheduling kill creativity and spontaneity? If you’re asking this, I wonder why you’ve read this far! The truth is, planning doesn’t stifle creativity—it makes room for it. For instance, you can block time on Friday mornings for unstructured thinking or set aside 30 minutes after key meetings to debrief, brainstorm, and reflect. The Plan-Do-Reflect cycle is essential, but the way you execute it is flexible. Most executives use a version of this system, often with the help of their assistants.

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