Priority Alignment Pie

Introduction

Welcome back to the weekly newsletter.

We spoke a lot about career, discipline and growth over the last months. We all love to talk about growth and improvement but it is difficult to improve anything if you don’t know where you stand. Most people pour hours into the wrong buckets and hope it adds up to success. It rarely does. This week we’ll run a fast, visual check on your time. Simple. Honest. Actionable. You’ll see where your hours actually go, and where you want them to go instead. Then we’ll realign.

Weekly highlight: Draw a pie of how you want vs. spend time across life domains.

Today’s tool is the Priority Alignment Pie. You’ll draw two pies: Ideal Time vs Actual Time across your life domains. You’ll compare the slices, spot gaps, and make firm swaps so your calendar matches your values.

The Priority Alignment Pie is a quick picture of your life. One pie shows how you want to spend time. The other shows how you actually spend it. Side-by-side, the truth is obvious. No spreadsheets (unless you love them 😊 ). No fluff. Just a visual that asks: Does my time serve my values? When the pies are far away you will feel off-balance. Stress climbs, progress stalls, and meaning fades. When they do match, sense of peace returns.

Build your domains

Pick domains that matter most to you. Personally, I usually use the following 4 (you’ll know them from bronze and silver training):

• Physical & Health (sleep, exercise, food, mental recovery)
• Finance & Career (core work, deep work, key projects)
• Family & Friends (partner, family, friends)
• Personal Development (courses, reading, skill practice)

For the purpose of this exercise, you might want to consider adding another 2:

• Fun/Recovery (hobbies, play, nature, stillness)
• Admin/Chores (email, bills, errands, house tasks)

Don’t add too many slices. Aim for clear distinction between them.

Draw two pies

1. Ideal Pie (Values-led): Allocate 100% across domains by importance, not habit. If health is your base, give it a big slice. If growth matters, don’t leave it at 2%.
2. Actual Pie (Week-led): Think about last week. Where did the hours go? Be blunt. Commutes count. Late-night scrolling counts. Overflow meetings count.

You can sketch this by hand in 5 minutes. The point is a true picture, not a perfect chart.

Spot the gaps (the alignment test)

Place the pies side-by-side. Circle deltas of ±5% or more. Those gaps are where your life is drifting.

• Over-weighted slices show leaks (e.g., admin, low-value meetings).
• Under-weighted slices show neglect (e.g., sleep, learning, family time).
  Name the single biggest gap. That is your leverage point.

Fix the spread (swap, don’t stack)

Most people try to add good habits on top of a full plate. That fails. Instead, swap hours:

• If Learning is +5% in your Ideal and Admin is −5%, trade specific blocks.
• Turn one recurring low-value meeting into an email update.
• Batch errands into one window.
• Collapse shallow work into a daily 45-minute block and protect a 90-minute Deep Work block.

Try to use the calendar for this so that you can easily track it. You don’t need to use it forever, but it’s bound to give you a great insight if you’re trying to change anything. Your calendar should show the swap.

Make difficult calls (protect the base)

Define your foundational slices (for example Health and Relationships). Underweight either and everything else suffers. If sleep is thin, cut evening scroll, not morning training. If partner time is thin, book a weekly non-negotiable hour first, then plan work around it. Base first, then build.

Set guardrails

• Start/Stop lines: fixed work start/finish times to stop creep.
• Meeting rules: agenda or decline; 25-minute default; “two-decision” purpose.
• Device rules: phone out of reach during deep work; no-screen last hour.

Guardrails reduce willpower load. The pies stay aligned because the system makes it easier.

Cadence and iteration

Recheck the pies every Sunday for five minutes for couple of weeks. One swap per week is enough. Over a month, four small swaps can reclaim 5–10 hours for what matters. That’s real change.

Application

1. Sketch both pies

2. Pick one gap (±5%+): choose the biggest delta.

3. Schedule one swap: move a concrete block this week (e.g., replace Tuesday 2–3pm low-value meeting with 60 minutes of Deep Work).

4. Add one guardrail: e.g., no meetings before 10am, or phone in another room for deep work.

5. Review Sunday: redraw the Actual Pie; make the next swap.

Summary

Your calendar is your real strategy. You either control it or let it control you. When your time matches your values, progress speeds up and stress drops. Use the Priority Alignment Pie to see the truth, make one swap, and install a guardrail. Repeat weekly. Small, visible shifts will realign your life faster than big promises ever will.

Till next time,

Maciej

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