Reclaim your time: How to break free from the cycle of busyness

Time is one of the most valuable yet elusive resources a leader can possess—especially in the whirlwind of the holiday season. The relentless demands of leading teams, driving strategic initiatives, and managing crises can make every day feel like an exhausting treadmill that never stops. But here's the truth: effective time management isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing what truly matters. It’s about focusing your energy with purpose, clarity, and intent.

For leaders, poor time management comes with steep consequences. Getting stuck in reactive cycles—chasing fires instead of building for the future—can sap productivity, drive burnout, and erode your ability to provide decisive, thoughtful guidance. When the urgent constantly overshadows the important, opportunities for meaningful progress slip away. Time management isn’t just a skill; it’s the foundation for impactful leadership.

Let’s take Jane as an example. Jane, a VP with 25 years of institutional knowledge, faces a common leadership dilemma. While her deep expertise makes her indispensable, it also leaves her swamped with responsibilities. Her days are consumed by back-to-back meetings—executives spend an average of 23 hours a week in meetings—and she fields over 750 emails daily. Jane wants to develop her internal network so she can create efficiencies and increase buy-in for her initiatives and programs, but with a schedule like that, when would she have the time?

If this sounds all too familiar, you’re not alone. But the solution isn’t to work harder; it’s to work smarter. Here’s how to shift from running in place to making meaningful progress.

Step 1: Prioritize what really matters

There are a number of prioritization strategies and frameworks out there, but for me, the gold standard is Stephen Covey’s (author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) Time Management Matrix. It’s simple, straightforward, and incredibly impactful. The framework uses four quadrants to prioritize each task, based on its urgency and importance.

Image from Franklin Covey

Quadrant 1: Urgent and Important Tasks like deadlines and emergencies. These require immediate attention and can’t be ignored.

Quadrant 2: Important but Not Urgent Strategic planning, relationship-building, and personal growth. These tasks create long-term value and should be your main focus.

Quadrant 3: Urgent but Not Important Interruptions and distractions that seem pressing but don’t align with your goals.

Quadrant 4: Neither Urgent nor Important Busywork, social media, and unproductive meetings. These are time-wasters that need to be eliminated.

Like many leaders, Jane spent most of her time in Quadrants 1 and 3, constantly fighting fires and reacting to the demands of others. To regain control, she needed to shift her energy toward Quadrant 2—the realm of true leadership.

Ask yourself: Where am I focusing my energy? What tasks are interfering with more important objectives?

Step 2: Take back your time

Jane began by taking control of her calendar. She resisted the urge to accept every single meeting invitation, opting to use the “tentative” button to signal to her colleagues (and herself) that her time is valuable. I love David Grady’s TED Talk that recommends this technique. After all, it’s there for a reason! You wouldn’t let a colleague steal your chair, so why do you let them steal your time? Jane also added buffers between her meetings for meals and bathroom breaks (yes, some of us need to schedule them!).

With a more manageable calendar on her hands, it was time for Jane to get clear on her areas of focus. She made a list, and was able to identify a whopping 78 priorities for her department! But when you have 78 goals, nothing is, in fact, a priority. In my opinion, a single person can’t realistically have more than 3–5 priorities at any given moment. So Jane worked to narrow her list down to the four most critical objectives, those that only she could address that would have the biggest impact. Everything else was either delegated or put on pause. She wasn’t saying “no,” she was saying “not right now.”

Jane took control of her schedule by ensuring at least 60% of her time focused on her top priorities. She color-coded her calendar to visualize alignment with her goals and collaborated with her executive assistant to maintain this balance, empowering her to reschedule meetings or flag potential misalignments. After reevaluating her approach over two months, Jane adjusted as needed, transforming her schedule from a source of frustration to a tool for success. By narrowing her department's 78 priorities to a manageable few, Jane not only regained her energy and enthusiasm but also inspired her team to focus and thrive.

Ask yourself: What priorities can I delegate to others? How might I adjust my schedule to better protect my time?

Time management is more than just a productivity hack—it’s a leadership imperative.  As Stephen Covey wisely said, “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule but to schedule your priorities.” As Jane can attest, leadership thrives when attention is directed toward what drives the greatest impact.

So, take a moment to evaluate how you’re spending your time and make one intentional change this week. Small shifts can lead to transformative results for you and your team.