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Introduction
At the start of my career, I realised that no matter how strong a team or strategy was, things only moved forward when I had my own systems in place. Being productive wasn’t just about getting things done. It was about becoming someone the team could rely on.
This playbook brings together everything I’ve learned about managing myself as a marketer. It’s not about hustle or long hours. It’s about creating habits and structure that make space for real work, not just busywork.
If you often feel scattered or reactive, this will help you take control of your week. It gives you a practical approach to plan, focus, and follow through so you can show up ready and make meaningful progress every day.
Chapters
Plan your week like a pro
Manage your time like your ad budget— get the highest ROI of your time with these tips
Manage your tasks with clarity
Create a trusted task system so you never forget anything and always know what to work on next.
Stay out of your inbox trap
Handle your email like a pro so it doesn’t constantly interrupt your day or hijack your focus.
Protect your focus
Remove distractions and control your digital environment so you can do high-quality, focused work.
Better meetings
Change your approach to meetings so they stop wasting time and start driving progress.
Close your week with a Firebreak
Use a weekly firebreak to close open loops, reflect, and reset so you can start next week clear and focused.
Tools
Go to tools
Airtable
Flexible tables meet databases, great for content calendars, asset libraries and light workflows that need structure and simple automation.
Freedom
App and site blocker that helps protect focus time by pausing the noise across devices.
Inbox When Ready
Email extension that hides your inbox by default so you can send and search without getting pulled into new mail.
Todoist
Personal task app with quick capture, filters and calm design, great for managing work and habits.
SaneBox
Email assistant that filters noise and adds reminders so important mail surfaces when needed.
Books
Go to booksAtomic Habits
James Clear
Turn habit theory into daily practice for marketers. Simple cues, tiny wins and scorecards that help teams deliver consistently under pressure.
Building a Second Brain
Tiago Forte
How to store research, briefs and ideas so you can reuse them later. A calm framework for notes that supports experiments and content.
Digital Minimalism
Cal Newport
How to reduce low value tools and feeds. Practical steps to tidy notifications, choose channels and free up time for impact.
Getting Things Done
David Allen
Capture, clarify and review without friction. Keep projects moving with weekly reviews and clear next actions.
Essentialism
Greg McKweon
Rules for choosing fewer, better projects. Protect time, set trade offs and align efforts with clear goals and measures.
Deep Work
Cal Newport
A playbook for concentration in modern teams. Set focus blocks, reduce context switching and build a culture that values deep work.
The One Thing
Gary Keller
A method for ruthless focus. Ask the focusing question, block time and protect momentum on the work that matters most.
Slow productivity
Cal Newport
A humane approach to output. Plan seasons, protect focus and deliver work that matters at a sustainable pace.
Buy back your time
Dan Martell
A straight guide to reclaiming hours. Define your buyback rate, document tasks and build small systems that pay back every week.
The 10X rule
Grant Cardone
A filter for action and attitude. Use big goals wisely, pair with systems and avoid noisy busyness.
Wiki articles
Go to wikiDeep Work
Focused, uninterrupted time for cognitively demanding tasks.
Braindump
Clear your mind when you're overwhelmed with this exercise.
Further reading
Working smarter isn’t about squeezing more hours out of already stretched days; it’s the practice of structuring energy, focus, and tools so the right work happens at the right time—then stopping. For B2B marketers buried in ad launches, client calls and inbox noise, that structure is the difference between strategic growth and perpetual catch-up.
At its core, working smarter follows three principles. First, boundary clarity: deep-work blocks and inbox windows are non-negotiable, listed in the calendar like revenue meetings. Second, single-hub execution: tasks, priorities, and notes live in one system, cutting context-switch lag. Third, iterative improvement: habits are run like growth tests—measure, tweak, repeat—so productivity lifts compound exactly like conversion lifts.
Common mistakes that drain output:
1. Inbox autopilot. Starting the day in email lets other people decide your priorities; you spend prime creative energy clearing someone else’s list.
2. Meeting creep. Accepting every invite balloons the calendar and shreds focus. Without a decision-first agenda, 60-minute slots deliver 10-minute value.
3. Tool sprawl. Sticky notes, five apps, and a half-hearted spreadsheet guarantee tasks vanish and mental tabs stay permanently open—attention residue at scale.
A smarter workweek flips that script. Deep work happens before reactive work, meetings earn their slot with clear outcomes, and one personal operating system keeps everything visible. The payoff? Consistent delivery of high-impact projects, stress that drops instead of spikes, and weekends spent recharging rather than catching up.
Want the exact time blocks, task triage rules, and inbox-taming rhythms I teach new hires on day one? Dive into the full playbook above.
You're ready for growth, but your tool stack isn't.
Growth feels chaotic. You're firefighting because of broken tools and messy data. You need a solid foundation to grow.
