Block a quarter to half your schedule off with standing working time.
Not even kidding. I had an issue where I was falling behind on my work because I have the curse of competence and everyone wants my help. A couple years ago I got advice from one of my older coworkers to put a 2-3 hour standing meeting during my morning after the daily status meeting and it’s done wonders. I still have tons of ad hoc meetings and people who choose to double book me at times (cuz your schedule doesn’t matter to PMs), but overall ts given me a lot of space to deal with all the bullshit.
Block a quarter to half your schedule off with standing working time.
Not even kidding. I had an issue where I was falling behind on my work because I have the curse of competence and everyone wants my help. A couple years ago I got advice from one of my older coworkers to put a 2-3 hour standing meeting during my morning after the daily status meeting and it’s done wonders. I still have tons of ad hoc meetings and people who choose to double book me at times (cuz your schedule doesn’t matter to PMs), but overall ts given me a lot of space to deal with all the bullshit.