Alright, so I stumbled across this talk about how John Coletti works. Honestly, I pictured some fancy Wall Street dude with crazy complicated systems. But turns out, it’s actually super basic stuff anyone can steal. Felt kinda ripped off at first, like where’s the secret sauce? But then I figured, why not give his core ideas a real shot for a week? Worst case, I waste some time.
What I Actually Started Doing
First thing Monday morning, I grabbed a fresh notebook – none of that digital stuff for this test. Coletti apparently blocks his whole day into chunks like it’s religion. He calls them “Big Rocks” or something. So I scribbled down:
- 8am – 10am: Deep work on writing (no email, no phone buzzing)
- 10:30am – 12pm: Meetings & Admin Hell
- 1pm – 3pm: Another deep work block for research
- 3:30pm – 5pm: Communication & follow-ups
Sounded simple enough. But damn, sticking to it? That was the battle.
The Messy Reality Check
Monday: Epic fail. My “deep work” block got wrecked by an email notification that led me down a rabbit hole. Next thing I knew, half the morning was gone chasing some unimportant crap. Felt like an idiot. Also, scheduled a meeting for 10:30am that magically bled into my next deep work time. Scheduling gaps? Point noted.
Tuesday: Got smarter. Literally stuck my phone in a drawer during the deep work blocks. Felt weirdly anxious at first, like I was missing out. Turned off email notifications too. Used an old-school egg timer – 90 minutes straight. Brain felt fried afterwards, but holy crap, I actually wrote stuff. Real progress. Still messed up the afternoon; admin tasks exploded and pushed everything late. Ending the day feeling scrambled.
Wednesday: Built in buffers. Instead of meetings at 10:30 sharp, I shoved them to 10:45am. Gave myself breathing room. Also, finally accepted that some admin stuff has to happen right after lunch before it piles up. Didn’t fight it. The afternoon communication block became sacred – no starting new work, just wrapping up loose ends and replying. Felt… calmer. Weird.
The Little Stuff That Crept In
Coletti keeps a simple daily list – not some fancy app, just paper. Three things max. Okay, stole that. Started each morning writing down the ONE absolute must-do (usually linked to the first deep block), and maybe two other “really shoulds”. Seeing it physically on paper felt different than a digital list. Easier to ignore the junk tasks whispering for attention.
Also, the man apparently ruthlessly protects his focus time. Started telling people “I’m heads-down until 10am, ping me after?” Shocked how most folks were cool with it. Felt a bit rude at first, but nope. Saved me.
Where I Landed After a Week
Look, it ain’t perfect. Life still explodes sometimes. Meetings still run over. BUT:
- Got WAY more actual thinking work done. Like, concrete output I could point to.
- Felt less frazzled by the constant email ping-pong. Contained it to specific times.
- Stopping work felt more deliberate by 5:30pm. No more zombie-scrolling inbox at 8pm “just in case”.
- The physical notebook? Hated admitting it, but it’s less distracting than apps flashing notifications.
The core takeaway wasn’t magic tools. It was the discipline of blocking time aggressively and defending it. Simple? Yep. Easy? Hell no. Worth copying? Absolutely. My brain felt clearer just knowing what chunk of time belonged to what kind of work. Sticking with the blocks and the three-item list. The rest is still messy, but the important stuff actually gets done now.
