Have you ever found yourself feeling like you just don’t have enough time? As though the demands of your leadership position are impossible to keep up with?
Perhaps you had great aspirations of the kind of leader you would be: the kind that mentors, inspires, and guides. But the reality of your day to day work has left you feeling overwhelmed and stretched thin.
Maybe you’ve found yourself wrestling with the questions:
How do other leaders seem to do it? Why can’t I seem to fit it all in?
If you’ve ever felt this way, first know that you are in good company. Most leaders at one time or another realize that their management isn’t as effective as it could be. That’s okay.
It is always okay to identify and recognize an area of growth. The key difference maker is how you handle these moments. In other words, if you’ve got room to grow (let’s face it, that’s all of us) do something about it.
If you’ve been feeling like you “just don’t have enough time to lead,” we need to start by establishing one very important truth:
You have enough time.
In fact, we all have the exact same amount of time to work with. No matter how you look at it, we all have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No more, no less. This truth applies to the most effective leaders you admire, and it applies to you.
If you are finding yourself with an apparent lack of time to lead, chances are you are struggling with at least one of these three things:
1. You are doing too much.
Look at your workload. Is everything you’ve taken on actually a task that should belong to you as the leader? In many cases, directors who are “too busy” are attempting to do the jobs of multiple people instead of focusing on their own.
Take some time to clarify:
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- What are the tasks that you and ONLY you can do?
- What could be delegated to other team members, if not now then in the near future?
- Are “your” tasks essential to do now?
2. You aren’t using your time efficiently.
We all have the same amount of time, but how you spend and structure your time is critical for overall effectiveness as a leader. Here are a few strategies for improving your time-management:
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- Narrow your focus to work that meets three criteria: matters long-term, is strategic and requires YOU
- Eliminate time-wasting activities (social media scrolling etc.)
- Identify your key distractions and create a plan for addressing those
- Add structure to your work time by creating a daily agenda or time-blocking your day and communicating that with others.
3. Your work has strayed from the true mission of your organization.
In some cases, the scope and work of your organization may have expanded beyond its original purpose. Measure each of your projects against your organizational mission and current strategic objectives. Do they align? If not, it’s time to refocus on work that truly furthers your organizational goals.
Growing as a leader is a process that requires you to take time to reflect and refine your practices and habits. For more tips and strategies to help you along the way, I’d like to invite you to subscribe to my weekly mailing list. Members of this list receive additional resources, support and opportunities that are only available to subscribers.
Article was contributed by: Maria Lees, Team Writer with Sarah Boxx
