Case Study · Consultants
How a Consultant Lifted Utilization and Tamed Travel Chaos with Cortexta
The operating system a senior consultant used to standardize prep, protect billable hours, and absorb last‑minute schedule shifts without burning out.
Executive summary
A principal‑track consultant supporting three concurrent clients struggled with erratic travel, late prep, and reactive days. With Cortexta, they implemented client lanes, standardized prep/debrief, and a living schedule that preserved billable blocks while adapting to changing flights and meetings.
- Utilization: +12 points (8‑week rolling average) with healthier buffers.
- Prep quality: 38% reduction in last‑minute deck edits; workshop readiness improved.
- Travel resilience: 73% of disruptions auto‑absorbed without losing Tier‑1 billable time.
- Stress: Evening work dropped from 4.2h/week to 1.5h/week by week 5.
From scramble to systematic delivery
Before Cortexta
- Prep often squeezed into late evenings pre‑workshop.
- Travel changes broke carefully crafted schedules.
- Billable focus time eroded by internal ops and context switches.
- No standardized debrief; follow‑ups scattered across email and notes.
After Cortexta
- Prep windows (T‑1) and debrief (T+0/T+1) auto‑scheduled per client lane.
- Flights and delays trigger re‑plans that preserve Tier‑1 billables.
- Internal ops capped to 10–15% time; backfills scheduled on off‑site days.
- Debriefs extract tasks via RAG and land in calendar and CRM cleanly.
Implementation blueprint (week 0 → week 2)
1) Connect & ingest
- Connected Google Calendar; created client calendars as lanes.
- Imported past 6 weeks of decks, briefs, and notes to seed RAG.
- Forwarded critical email threads to unified inbox for extraction.
2) Define lanes & SLAs
- Per‑client rules for prep (T‑1) and debrief (T+0/T+1) windows.
- SLA targets: response within 24h; critical within 4h.
- Billables tagged Tier‑1; internal ops capped to weekly budget.
3) Travel constraints
- Flights and transit windows marked hard; buffers on both ends.
- Jet‑lag recovery scheduled on return; pre‑flight checklist block.
- Local meeting slots preferred to reduce transit friction.
4) AI Prioritization Engine
Weighted criteria tuned for consulting work:
- Billable impact (35%): revenue‑generating work ranked first.
- Deadline risk (25%): workshops, exec reviews, deliverable dates.
- Travel constraints (15%): fit to protected windows and buffers.
- Client priority (15%): tiering by contract and relationship risk.
- Recovery cost (10%): penalty for context switching and overruns.
5) Living schedule
- Prep/debrief auto‑time‑blocked; reflows around flight delays.
- “Now” suggests the highest‑impact billable next step.
- Overruns shift lower tiers; SLAs remain visible and intact.
Quantified outcomes (week 2 → week 8)
Billable hours ratio
Last‑minute deck edits
Disruptions handled without Tier‑1 loss
Hours after 6:30pm
Daily rituals that made it stick
Morning route (6 minutes)
- Accept the day’s plan; confirm travel windows; lock first billable block.
- Convert overnight email inputs into tasks; assign to client lanes.
Pre‑flight sync (4 minutes)
- Run pre‑flight checklist; ensure prep/debrief blocks exist around travel.
- Activate DND during critical billable blocks.
Evening ledger (5 minutes)
- Mark completions; tag billable time; capture debrief notes for RAG.
- Queue tomorrow’s top 3 across clients; leave calendar clean.
Exact configuration used
Scheduling rules
- Prep (T‑1) 90m; Debrief (T+0/T+1) 30m; buffers of 15m.
- Travel hard‑blocks with 30m pre/post setup and recovery.
- Internal ops limited to 10–15% during on‑site weeks.
Prioritization weights
- Billable impact 0.35 · Deadline risk 0.25 · Travel fit 0.15 · Client priority 0.15 · Recovery cost 0.10
- Escalations capped to 15% time unless exec‑critical.
- Non‑billable admin auto‑scheduled to off‑site days.
Time allocation (weekly)
A travel week at a glance
Milestones achieved
Week 1: Lanes and rules live
Client calendars created; prep/debrief templates in place; travel hard‑blocked.
Week 3: Prep quality up
Fewer late edits; debrief tasks consistently captured and scheduled.
Week 5: Utilization climbs
+10 pts; evening work noticeably lower.
Week 8: Travel resilient
Most disruptions auto‑absorbed; Tier‑1 billables preserved.
“I used to sacrifice sleep to prep. Now Cortexta defends the time I need—and recovers my day when flights move.”
— Senior Consultant, Global Advisory
Hit your utilization targets—without the scramble
Start a 14‑day free trial and use our consultant blueprint to standardize prep and protect billables.
Start free trial