{
  "title": "Time management: should every available slot be filled?",
  "url": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-du-temps-faut-il-remplir-tous-les-creneaux-disponibles-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-05-08",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://www.shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "A full calendar makes capacity utilisation visible. It does not show whether the organisation retains room to absorb unexpected requests.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Time Management & Prioritisation",
  "place": {
    "name": "Lugano",
    "region": "Tessin",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "What the literature establishes",
      "point": "Anuj Shah, Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir (2012, Science) show, in experiments where participants have more or less limited resources, that scarcity changes the allocation of attention."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The cost of a seemingly available slot",
      "point": "Shane Frederick, Nathan Novemsky, Jing Wang, Ravi Dhar and Stephen Nowlis (2009, Journal of Consumer Research) show that, in purchasing decisions, people do not always spontaneously consider alternative uses of their money."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The premature conclusion",
      "point": "One might conclude that calendars should systematically be made less busy."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What the evidence cannot determine",
      "point": "The cited studies concern experimental scarcity and consumer decisions, not a trial of buffer time in professional teams."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical check in Lugano",
      "point": "As part of SHR's time management and prioritisation programme, a banking, fashion or trading team, or an Italian-speaking family SME in Lugano, could compare two weeks of normal operations with two weeks containing a daily thirty-minute unallocated slot: a trial protocol, not a scientific standard."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Shafir",
      "year": "2012",
      "source": "Science"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Nowlis",
      "year": "2009",
      "source": "Journal of Consumer Research"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 433,
  "image": "https://www.shr.swiss/img/blog-editorial-2026-05-08-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-du-temps-faut-il-remplir-tous-les-creneaux-disponibles",
    "en": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-du-temps-faut-il-remplir-tous-les-creneaux-disponibles-en",
    "de": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-du-temps-faut-il-remplir-tous-les-creneaux-disponibles-de",
    "it": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-du-temps-faut-il-remplir-tous-les-creneaux-disponibles-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://www.shr.swiss/formation/gestion-du-temps/lugano",
    "city": "https://www.shr.swiss/formations-ville/lugano",
    "blog": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}