3 Buckets of Work Time

Cory Miller is in his late 40s, not his 30s anymore. He's joining a new team based in Europe, working across time zones, trying to avoid another burnout, and balancing two young kids. His work life is getting busier and he needed to figure out how to structure his day. So he broke his work time into three buckets that actually make sense: Conversations (communicating and collaborating in meetings and Slack), Doing the Work (execution and delivery—for him that's creating videos), and Thinking About the Work (strategy, vision, dreaming).

The article is honest about what's really going on. His core driver is fear and uncertainty. When things change—like being part of three M&A deals in a month—he amps up, overextends himself, and excessively worries to try to get some sense of control. He's working on building an internal sense of basic trust, of acceptance and letting go. Some call it faith. He just calls it the Something Bigger.

He needs routine and structure to feel safe, but if it's too rigid he'll get bored and burn out. He wants it to feel energizing and freeing, not forced. That's the inner creative in him. He thinks in threes because it keeps things simple, clear, and impactful. Previously he had his three buckets of Execution & Delivery clearly defined—he knew what he needed to deliver and could focus on just doing it and improving. With the new team, he's redefining those buckets. Once he gets that solidified, he feels clear and confident.

The practical stuff: Mondays and Wednesdays are more Conversation/Collaborative time. Tuesdays and Thursdays are freer for Delivery and Dreaming—deep work and thinking time. He's testing getting up at 6 a.m. to start with Conversations, catching up and connecting with the team. He's trying to give himself more grace and space because he tends to take on responsibility that's not his, worry too much, get overextended and exhausted, and then not show up for his family the way he wants.

None of this is new. Life works in cycles and loops. These themes keep repeating until he takes steps within himself. For the rest, he's trying to trust in the universe that doors will open and close as they need to. But in the meantime, he's going to keep doing his best and try to somehow enjoy the "not knowing" part.