7 Time Management Strategies For Busy Leaders

You know the challenge. You question yourself every day whether or not you’re managing your time the best you can.

You’ve heard the gurus shout to eliminate anything that doesn’t make you more productive. You’ve tried cutting out the things that they say weigh you down or waste your time. But you still feel like you’re struggling to manage your time. 

It’s okay to feel overwhelmed with this task. Managing your time isn’t easy. It’s more of a science than anything. It’s one that you’ve got to tinker with and adjust.

My time management strategies won’t work for everyone. There’s no one size fits all solution. Yet, I feel they’re a good starting point for anyone looking to manage their time better.

Balancing Work, Family, And Faith: 4 Ways To Set Priorities

If you’ve been a leader for any amount of time, you know that your time is a critical asset. People are reaching out, trying to get you to solve a problem, and then there are your family and friends. There’s always something happening.

Work-life balance seems unattainable. It’s this mythic beast that roams around that you just cannot tame.

Or so it feels…

You can tame the work-life balance beast. It’s not a unicorn. It’s something that can and must, be done.

The Challenge

The challenge of balancing work, family, and faith is a real one. You want to do your best at your workplace. You want to do the best job raising your family and caring for your spouse. And, I hope, you want to be a good member of your local church.

The Importance Of Work-Life Balance For Leaders

You may have heard from others that there’s no such thing as work-life balance. They will tell you that we don’t have separate work and personal lives. It’s a good argument. But it’s flawed.

True, we live and work at the same time, but we’re not necessarily doing what we want when we’re working. We report to others, supervise others, and have our day directed.

With a proper work-life balance, there is a separation between the two.

Man walking on a tightrope over a large gap.

Photo by Loic Leray on Unsplash

The Importance Of Work-Life Balance For Leaders

Work-life balance is important not because working is bad. Nor is play bad. But when we can’t find time for either one, trouble arises.

Think of the business executive who can’t shut off at the end of the workday. He finds himself mired in work. His phone is in his hand while he’s checking emails when he should be focused on his wife and children at home. Years later, after neglecting his personal responsibility, he finds himself divorced, lonely, and considered a bad father.

8 Time Management Strategies To Improve Productivity

Time management is important. When we fail to manage our time, we let priorities that are not our own invade our lives.

That’s why you have to take control of your time. You have to manage it well. Just like your money, you have to tell your time where it will go.

Do you want to feel like you’ve got control of your time again? Do you want to get more things done in less time? Then it’s time to kick those poor time management habits to the curb.

Black laptop sitting on a wooden desk.

Photo by Remy_Loz on Unsplash

8 Time Management Strategies To Improve Productivity

1. Calendarize your priorities:

If we don’t know our priorities, anything could be a priority. This is why you have to decide what’s a priority and what’s not. Once you’ve decided on your priorities, schedule them. You can schedule everything from regular workout routines to date nights with your spouse to personal development.

10 Life-Changing Habits For Personal Development

Our habits can either make us or break us. It’s the habits that we choose that will decide the direction we will go in life.

Og Mandino once said, “Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure.” His words ring true to me. They should ring true for you, too.

We will examine 10 life-changing habits that will propel your personal development forward. These habits will change your life, make you a better person, and help you stay sane in an insane world.

10 Life-Changing Habits For Personal Development

1. Read daily:

One of the easiest habits to develop is the habit of reading. Books are a treasure trove of information for leaders. All you have to do is crack open a book.