Maximize Your Time; Elevate Your Life

Blinn Bates
  • 5.0 (5)
  • MANAGEMENT

This short, weekly podcast will provide actionable tools for busy professionals who want to reduce chaos and live in alignment with their priorities. 

Episodes

  1. 2D AGO

    11 Get Bricked

    Your day isn’t vanishing all at once, but it’s leaking away in repeated, reflexive swipes. On this episode, we dig into why doom scrolling happens and share a device called The Brick (getbrick.app) that pairs with your phone to add just enough friction to stop mindless use without completely eliminating these potentially distracting apps. Instead of relying on willpower, we suggest a system to activate focused modes that lock distracting apps, then tap again when you intentionally want access. No sneaky overrides, no “ignore limit for today,” just a simple ritual that protects your attention. We get practical about setup so it fits real life. You’ll hear how to choose what stays available, which apps get gated, and how to create modes for deep work, meetings, family time, and sleep. Along the way, we explain why friction beats motivation, how fewer context switches restore mental energy, and why designing your environment leads to more focus, less fatigue, and better outcomes. This is not about quitting your phone. It’s about using it on purpose. By moving social feeds and other high-friction apps behind a physical tap, you’ll reclaim time for writing, reviewing, and being present with people you love. You’ll still have maps, calls, and the tools you truly need, but the reflexive doom scroll loses its grip. If your screen time report makes you ill, this approach can reset the pattern and return hours to your day. If the idea resonates, try a Brick and build a routine that supports your best work and your best life. If you find value here, subscribe, share this episode with a friend who battles the scroll, and leave a quick reviewto help more people potect their attention. The Brick - getbrick.app Blinn Bates - BlinnBates.com Woods & Bates, P.C. - woodsandbates.com Right Fit Evaluator: https://blinnbates.com/right-fit-evaluator

    7 min

  2. FEB 2

    10 The 2-Minute Rule

    Ever notice how your stress isn’t usually from the big projects, but from the dozens of unfinished little things? In this episode, we'll zoom in on the 2-minute rule which is a simple, practical way to clear mental clutter, regain momentum, and carve out time for deep work. If a task takes less than two minutes, do it now. This small act pays dividends by closing open loops, preventing future rework, and building a bias toward action. We'll unpack why this works so well.  Hint: the brain keeps scanning for incomplete tasks, draining focus in the background. By completing quick items like replying to a simple email, confirming a meeting, paying a bill, or attaching a document, you free attention and reduce friction. We also address the trap of overuse; the rule is for micro-tasks, not an excuse to avoid meaningful projects. You’ll hear how to protect deep work while still harvesting quick wins, and how to capture small tasks that appear mid-focus without breaking your flow. If this episode helps you breathe easier and work smarter, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s stuck in micro-task limbo, and leave a quick review to help others find practical tools like this. What’s your first two-minute win today? Blinn Bates - BlinnBates.com Woods & Bates, P.C. - woodsandbates.com Right Fit Evaluator: https://blinnbates.com/right-fit-evaluator

    6 min

  3. JAN 26

    09 Time Audit: Where Does The Time Go?

    Ever end a day exhausted and unsure what you actually did? We pull back the curtain with a practical time audit that trades confusion for solid data. Instead of guessing where the hours went, you’ll learn how to capture your day in 15–30 minute blocks, tag your energy, and turn a week of notes into a better future calendar.  We walk through a low-friction setup and a short list of questions that expose leaks and misalignments. You’ll see how small moments of distraction add up and how to match your highest-energy hours with your highest-impact work. Using a lawyer-style discipline adapted for real life, we show how this exercise can create freedom. The aim is not perfection. It’s an honest picture that lets you audit your time with intention. Learn practical insights like identifying your personal golden hours and creating protective boundaries for deep focus. The result is a schedule that reflects your priorities instead of accidents and interruptions.  Take the one-week challenge with a pen and a legal pad and make changes that stick from an informed position. If this episode helps you reclaim your time, please follow the show, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a quick review so we can reach more people who want their days back. Blinn Bates - BlinnBates.com Woods & Bates, P.C. - Woodsandbates.com Right Fit Evaluator: https://blinnbates.com/right-fit-evaluator

    6 min

  4. JAN 19

    08 Delegate To Elevate

    Feeling stretched thin by a thousand small tasks? Let’s talk about using the leverage of delegation. We pull apart the myths that keep smart people stuck like “it’s faster if I do it,” “no one can match my quality,” “I don’t have time to teach” and replace them with a simple, practical system that frees your focus for high-impact work.  With finite time, energy, and attention, the only way to scale your results is to move repeatable, low-value tasks off your plate and keep the work that truly demands your expertise. You’ll learn how to apply the 80 percent rule to pick the right starting point, why documenting once can save you hours every week, and how tools like Loom (Loom.com)  make it easy to create easily reusable training.  We challenge you to choose a repeatable task and delegate it today. Keep your highest and best use work and let the rest go with intention.  Please subscribe for more practical systems to maximize your time and elevate your life and share this with a teammate who needs to up their delegation game.  If you want more in-depth resources, you can contact Blinn at his websites below.   Blinn Bates - BlinnBates.com Woods & Bates, P.C. - Woodsandbates.com Right Fit Evaluator: https://blinnbates.com/right-fit-evaluator

    7 min

  5. JAN 12

    07 Energy Vampires

    Ever notice how one person can leave you tense, scattered, and behind on your own priorities? We dig into the real cost of energy vampires and why removing chronic drains is one of the fastest ways to reclaim focus, make better decisions, and feel calm while you grow. We'll start by defining energy vampires in plain terms. Then we'll map the hidden downsides of reduced focus, higher stress, and lost momentum. You’ll hear simple tells to watch for, like dread before a call or a pattern where every conversation centers on the energy vampire's problems. From there, we'll shift to action. You’ll get specific tactics such as tightening access, shortening conversations, slowing your response time, and declining invites where chaos tends to follow. We'll emphasize that access to your time is earned, not assumed, and share language that keeps limits calm and consistent. Once you remove persistent drains, you free capacity for deep work, better leadership, and steadier emotions, and you can replace chaos with people who energize and challenge you. If someone popped into your mind the moment you heard “energy vampire,” take the next step. Pick one boundary to implement today, protect your attention, and create space for the work and relationships that move you forward.  If this episode helped you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs stronger boundaries, and leave a review to tell us what boundary you’re setting next. Blinn Bates - BlinnBates.com Woods & Bates, P.C. - woodsandbates.com Right Fit Evaluator: https://blinnbates.com/right-fit-evaluator

    6 min

  6. JAN 5

    06 Don't Do List

    What if the fastest way to level up isn’t adding more, but cutting what drags you down? On today's episode, we dive into the power of a "Don’t Do" list.  These are simple rules that protect your time, energy, and focus so your calendar reflects your priorities instead of everyone else’s. With time being finite and attention being limited, pre-deciding what you refuse to do slashes decision fatigue and stops reactive work before it starts. You’ll hear practical identity-based suggestions like never saying yes on the spot, skipping meetings without an agenda, and blocking off peak hours that turn vague intentions into daily defaults. We'll also tackle the emotional traps behind urgency, why other people’s emergencies don’t have to be yours, and how to avoid the morning spiral of email and notifications. You’ll learn how to turn time leaks into boundaries, post your list where it guides your choices, and share it with teammates and family so the guardrails are respected. The goal is intention and iteration, not rigidity. Get ready to write three simple “I don’t” rules that calm your day and create space for better yeses.  If this conversation helps you reclaim your attention, subscribe for more practical strategies, share it with a friend who needs stronger boundaries, and leave a quick review to tell us your top three don’ts. Blinn Bates - BlinnBates.com Woods & Bates, P.C. - woodsandbates.com Right Fit Evaluator Plug

    6 min

  7. 12/29/2025

    05 Plan The Day, Win The Day

    In today's episode, we break down a fast, practical morning ritual that reclaims your time, reduces decision fatigue, and turns scattered effort into clear, measurable wins you can feel by the end of the day. We start with the simplest shift that changes everything: naming one decisive outcome that makes the day a win even if chaos hits. From there, we add two to three essentials that support your goals, then put everything on the calendar so intention meets a specific hour. You’ll hear how time blocking converts ideas into finished work, why closing loops after meetings protects momentum, and how small buffers absorb the inevitable surprises without blowing up your plan. Instead of guessing what to do next, your calendar becomes a reliable cue that moves you forward. We also talk about protecting the first hour to plan and begin your one big win, designing your day around energy, and making peace with interruptions by planning for them. The result is a scoreboard you can trust: real outcomes over busyness, progress over reactivity, confidence over chaos. If you’ve ever ended a day wondering where the time went, this is your reset. If this helped you take back your mornings, subscribe, share the episode with a friend who needs it, and leave a quick review so others can find the show. What will your one big win be today? Blinn Bates - BlinnBates.com Woods & Bates, P.C. - woodsandbates.com

    5 min

  8. 12/22/2025

    04 The Pomodoro Method: Hone Your Focus

    Distraction isn’t a character flaw, it’s a reality of our world. We’re trained to chase five-second dopamine hits, and then we wonder why deep work feels impossible. In today's episode we will show you how a simple 25-minute focus loop can rebuild your attention, protect your energy, and move big projects forward without the dread an axiety. We walk through the Pomodoro method in plain terms. You’ll learn why short, bounded sprints reduce overwhelm and what smart breaks look like so your momentum doesn’t vanish into a death scroll. Anyone can do almost anything for 25 minutes and that truth turns procrastination into progress. You’ll hear where this method shines and when to skip it. Most importantly, we treat Pomodoro as a servant, not a master. Start with one round today. If it clicks, repeat and stack wins across the week. Protecting focus protects energy, and protected energy multiplies time one small sprint at a time. If this helps, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s stuck on a big task, and leave a quick review so more people can reclaim their focus. Blinn Bates - BlinnBates.com Woods & Bates, P.C. - Woodsandbates.com

    6 min

  9. 12/15/2025

    03 Email Is A Thief

    Your inbox shouldn’t decide what gets your best hours. In this episode, we explore how email became a stealth time thief, why instant-response culture fuels anxiety and compulsive checking, and what it actually costs your focus to peek every few minutes. Instead of preaching “inbox zero” or pretending you can live without email, we walk through a practical, sustainable system that protects deep work while keeping you reliably responsive. I'll break down the real drivers behind the addiction—the dopamine hit of notifications, the social pressure to reply fast, and the hidden tax of context switching that can wipe out hours. Then we rebuild your approach from the ground up with simple guardrails: choose one to three processing blocks per day, turn off notifications between them, and run each message through a clear decision path; delete, delegate, respond, or do. You’ll learn how to move longer replies into your task system, forward with ownership and deadlines, and stop rereading the same threads without action. The payoff is immediate and compounding. By setting consistent response windows, you retrain clients and colleagues to expect thoughtful replies instead of instant reactions. You reclaim your peak energy for work that matters, reduce errors born of haste, and trade anxiety for agency. Email becomes a tool again not your boss, not your to-do list, and not a slot machine on your desk. If you’re ready to run your day instead of letting your inbox run it, press play and plan your first two email blocks. Enjoyed the conversation? Follow the show, share this episode with a teammate who lives in their inbox, and leave a quick review to help more listeners take back their time. Blinn Bates - BlinnBates.com Woods & Bates, P.C. - woodsandbates.com

    7 min

  10. 12/08/2025

    02 Priorities

    Ever notice how the loudest tasks steal your day while the work that truly matters barely whispers? We unpack a practical way to regain control: a simple three-question filter that cuts through noise, surfaces real priorities, and helps you protect your best hours for meaningful progress. We start by reframing the problem. Time isn’t expandable, but focus is. By separating urgency from importance, we reveal why constant firefighting leaves your calendar full and your goals untouched. You’ll learn how to identify the few actions that actually move the needle—work that creates results, revenue, impact, or stability—so you can stop juggling and start advancing. Then we get tactical. We walk through “What actually moves the needle?”, “What can only I do?”, and “What happens if it doesn’t get done?” to build instant clarity for your day and week. We talk about the 80 percent rule for delegation, protecting peak-energy blocks for deep work, and setting a clear done state before you start. Instead of reacting to emails and requests, you’ll anchor your day with a single top one priority—said out loud, written down, and executed early—so even a chaotic day still earns a win. By the end, you’ll have a lightweight system to align your calendar with your values. Expect fewer distractions, more momentum, and the confidence that your effort is compounding in the right direction. If clarity is your lever and time is your constraint, this conversation gives you the grip to move both. Enjoy the episode, share it with someone who needs a reset, and subscribe so you never miss these focused, practical tools. Blinn Bates - BlinnBates.com Woods & Bates, P.C. - Woodsandbates.com

    5 min

  11. 12/01/2025

    01 Introductory Episode

    Join host Blinn Bates as he introduces his new podcast.   What if a calmer, more focused week is just a calendar away? I'm kicking off a practical series for busy professionals who feel pulled in every direction and want a simple system to regain control. No fluff, no jargon, just short, usable guidance that helps you plan your day, protect your focus, and align your time with what truly matters. I share why time is the most finite resource and how the common habit of reacting all day fuels overwhelm. You’ll hear a clear framework to move from chaos to clarity, time blocking to create boundaries, prioritization to surface high-value work, and simple routines to keep your plan honest. I’ve lived the messy version, and clarity beats chaos every time.   For more in depth information about the author, navigate to the website at BlinnBates.com.

    3 min
  • 11 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

This short, weekly podcast will provide actionable tools for busy professionals who want to reduce chaos and live in alignment with their priorities. 

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