You know you should spend more time on strategy, problem-solving, and team coaching…
…but you’re always too busy?
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Practically, every leader I coach consistently struggles to make enough time for deep work…
Why?
When you’re mentally overloaded, your brain’s executive network (strategic thinking and rational decision-making) becomes impaired.
You default to reactive, impulsive responses rather than considered strategic choices, unconsciously prioritising whatever feels most urgent or emotionally charged in the moment.
Here are 5 Steps to Reclaim Your Time for What Matters Most:
Step 1: Identify Your 20%
Ask Yourself: What 20% of your activities generate 80% of your impact and results?
For most leaders, the list looks like this:
- Coaching and developing your team
- Nurturing key relationships
- Strategic thinking and execution
- Problem-solving and innovation
- Improving systems and processes
Write down yours.
Step 2: Calendarise Them All
Most of your highest leverage activities are never urgent – and rarely demanded by anyone else.
The only way to increase the time spent on them is to proactively protect time for them. Don’t hope you’ll find time. Schedule it.
For EVERY item on your list
1) Decide how often you want to do each activity, and for how long?
- Every week I need to spend 1 hour coaching my team/ every month I need to spend 2 hours improving processes.
2) Decide when you’ll do these and book them in your calendar as repeating events or meetings with yourself
- Every Tuesday at 3 pm: 1-1 coaching / last Friday of every month: 2 hours improving processes.
Treat these appointments as seriously as you’d treat a meeting with your CEO.
Step 3: Identify What to Stop/Do Less Of
To make more time for high-value work, you have to spend less time on low-value work.
Look at your calendar from the last two weeks. What took time but generated minimal value? What could someone else do? What meetings could be emails? What else?
Decide what activities you will reduce, delegate, simplify, or stop doing entirely.
Be ruthless. Your attention is your most valuable resource, and it’s finite.
Step 4: Get More Used To Saying No
Remember that every yes is a no to everything else.
Practice saying no to the less-important stuff
“Sorry, I’m fully committed this week/month / I’m at capacity with [priority] right now, which is critical for [reason].”
Or if you need to influence:
“I can take this on, but it would mean de-prioritising [your priority]… Is that a trade-off worth making?”
Step 5: Shift Your Mindset
Your value as a leader is NOT a reflection of how much work you do, but the quality of decisions and outcomes you create.
This means letting go of the badge of honor around being busy. It means accepting that your calendar might look less full than it used to.
Being OK with doing less – so you can achieve more of what matters.
