The Leadership Time Shift:6 Practical Strategies to Reclaim Your Time
So, you’ve landed your first leadership role — congratulations!
But here’s the curveball: instead of gaining time and space with a team around you, you’re somehow busier than ever. You’re constantly in meetings, putting out fires, staying accessible to your team — and then 5pm hits and your real to-do list begins.
Sound familiar?
It’s a common (and frustrating) experience for new leaders. The good news? It doesn’t have to be this way.
This isn’t about working harder or hustling late into the night. In fact, research shows that overworking leads to decision fatigue, lower emotional intelligence, and, ultimately, burnout.
Leadership isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing things differently.
That’s where the Leadership Time Shift comes in — a practical mindset and toolkit to help you take back control of your time and design your day with purpose.
The Leadership Time Shift Strategies
1. Mindset Matters: From Reactive to Intentional
Leadership demands a new level of ownership over your calendar. You’re no longer just delivering outcomes — you’re guiding others. Start by blocking time each day for key tasks and treat that time as non-negotiable. If you don’t protect it, someone else will fill it for you.
2. Tweak Your Time Allocations: Group Similar Tasks
Switching mental gears all day is draining. Instead, group similar tasks together. For example, schedule all your team’s 1:1s on the same day. It creates a rhythm, helps you stay in ‘leadership mode,’ and makes prep for team meetings more efficient.
3. Eat the Frog: Tackle the Tough Stuff First
Brian Tracy’s classic productivity tip holds strong: do the thing you’re most likely to avoid first. Typically, it’s the most important task — and completing it early clears space for the rest of your day. I resisted this at first, but now it’s a non-negotiable part of my routine.
4. Set Boundaries Around Availability
Being endlessly available isn’t a badge of honour — it’s a shortcut to burnout. Define clear windows for deep work and open conversations. Let your team know when you’re most accessible, and model healthy boundaries in the process.
5. Delegate With Purpose: Let Others Grow
Delegation isn’t just about freeing up your time — it’s a development opportunity. When you delegate ownership (not just tasks), you build your team’s capability, confidence, and trust.
6. Harness the Daily Wrap-Up
End your day with a 10-minute check-in. What did you achieve? What’s still pending? What’s the top priority for tomorrow? This simple practice helps clear mental clutter and sets you up to finish the day — and start the next — with clarity.
Redesign Your Day — Small Shifts, Big Impact
Reclaiming your time doesn’t require a complete overhaul.
It starts with small, intentional adjustments — like reclaiming just 15 minutes today — and builds from there.
Try one of these strategies this week and notice what shifts in your focus, energy, and evenings.
What’s one small change you could make today to reclaim just 15 minutes?
