Something to doGetting ahead
Claim time for your own growth
A commitment exercise to protect time for the growth that matters most, yours
Why it’s worth your time
Your career grows when you make space for it, and not much otherwise. Most weeks go to other people's priorities, and the things that are just for you get pushed to later. Naming what matters and giving it a fixed time, even a small one, turns an intention into something that actually happens.
How to make time for professional development
You’ll come away with a weekly block on your calendar and one thing to spend it on.
We’ll send you a calendar invite.
- Pick your timeframe.
The next few months, or the year ahead. A quarter is easier to plan and easier to keep honest.
- Write down what's on your mind.
Goals, things you want to get better at, or just what matters to you right now. Two or three lines is plenty. If you're not sure yet, write what you're curious about; figuring it out is part of the point.
Tip: Start from the job you have: what you'd like more of, what you'd like less of, and what you wish were part of it.
- Put weekly time on your calendar.
Pick a slot you can actually protect, name it after what it's for, and make it repeat. Even 15 minutes counts.
MonTueWedThuFri9 am11 am1 pm3 pm15 min, yours5 pm1 hr a month, for you13 hrs a year you didn’t have beforeSame slot so it stops being a decisionTip: Early slots, before the inbox wakes up, tend to survive better than Friday afternoons.
- Decide what the first session is for.
One concrete thing: read the chapter, draft the outline, watch the talk, message the person. A block with no plan tends to turn into email.
- Check back at the end of the timeframe.
Look at what you actually did with the time and whether it still points at what matters. Adjust the list, and keep the slot.
Good moments for this: at the start of a quarterat the start of the yearwhenever your weeks start to feel like everyone else's
We’ll send you a calendar invite.
Keep going with Truest
Small actions add up. Truest helps you find the next thing worth doing, make the space to do it, and keep a record of your progress. It’s a private place to work on your career, and it’s yours, not your employer’s.
- It actually happensWe’ll put it on your calendar and remind you before it starts.
- Your growth areas, keptWhat you said you are working on getting better at sits on your Foundation page.
- It’s yours to keepEach thing you do is saved to your private record, there when your next review or job search comes around.
Anything else we can help you with this week?
Making it work for you
Every workplace is different. Here’s what to think about before you start, and what might get in the way.
Things to think about
Fifteen minutes every week tends to outlast a half day you keep rescheduling, and it keeps the thing in your head between sessions.
What might make this harder
Mark it busy and give it a real name. If it has to move, move it within the same week rather than dropping it.
Questions people ask
How much time should I spend on professional development each week?
Whatever you'll actually keep. Fifteen minutes a week is a real start, and many people find an hour sustainable once the habit sticks. Consistency tends to matter more than the size of the block.
Is it okay to use work hours for my own growth?
Often, yes, especially when what you're learning helps your team. Norms vary by company, so if you're unsure, it's reasonable to ask your manager how they think about it.
What if I don't know what I want to work on?
Start with what you'd like more of in your current job, what you'd like less of, and what you wish were part of it. Spend the first few sessions exploring one of those.
How do I stop my development time getting taken over by meetings?
Treat it like a meeting with someone you respect. Name it, mark it busy, and reschedule rather than cancel when it has to move.
Why this works, and where it comes from
Most of us spend our weeks in service of other people's priorities, and that's mostly how it should be. It's the job. The trouble is that the things only you care about have no one scheduling them. Nobody else is going to put your growth on the calendar. So it stays in the category of later, and later tends to be a long way off.
The move here is small on purpose. Naming what you want to work on makes it specific enough to act on. Giving it a fixed time answers the question of when before your week answers it for you. A recurring slot also takes willpower out of it: you're not deciding each week whether to invest in yourself, you're just showing up to something that's already there.
It helps to think of this as part of your work, not a break from it. What you learn tends to show up in how you do the job. Where it lines up with what your team or company is trying to do, it can become a reason for your manager to give you more room, or an opening you'd never have been offered. You become the person who invests in themselves, not just the person who means to.
It's not the right move in a week where you're barely keeping up. If there's genuinely no room, that's worth noticing and maybe saying out loud. Otherwise, you don't need it all figured out. You just need to start.
Other simple things to consider
More in Getting ahead
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An exercise written by Truest, based on our experience. Last updated October 2, 2026. We sell a career membership; where that’s relevant above, we say so.