How to Get More Done Without Working More Hours

If you’re like many leaders, you probably wish there was a 25th hour in the day, or even an eighth day in the week, to complete everything on your plate. As an executive, it can often feel like there’s never enough time and you’re constantly trying to catch up.

Leaders frequently ask me how they can be more efficient. This makes sense, as many of my tech executive clients are obsessed with optimizing their companies. However, there comes a point when you’ve squeezed every drop of efficiency out of your day, and the next step isn’t to do more. Instead, you must learn how to better prioritize.

While none of my tech clients have learned how to bend time like Hermione in Harry Potter, you can conjure an extra hour or two by mastering the art of prioritization. Traditional time management strategies often fall short for leaders because their days are rarely predictable, meetings dominate their schedules, and everything feels “urgent.” Let’s explore three strategies for focusing your time and energy so you can make the biggest impact possible.

Related: 15 Time Management Tips for Achieving Your Goals

Get crystal clear on your priorities

Prioritization starts with knowing your priorities. What are you working toward, and how will you measure success? If your goals are fuzzy, even the best time management tactics will fail.

Clarity doesn’t need to be complex. One of my clients, a CEO, defined three business goals for the next year: increase the number of app users, reduce operating costs and drive bottom-line growth. These three priorities guided every decision he made.

After he gained buy-in on his vision from the board, he aligned his time and effort with these goals, pausing all initiatives that didn’t fit. For example, he was incredibly social and frequently invited to participate in podcasts, conferences and networking events, yet these clear priorities allowed him to confidently say no to anything that didn’t move the needle.

Importantly, he shared these priorities during a town hall and empowered his leaders and employees to challenge anything that wasn’t aligned with these three goals. If managers pushed projects outside the priorities, employees were encouraged to escalate directly to him. He not only prioritized his own time but also created a culture of alignment and focus.

Eliminate what doesn’t matter

One of the fastest ways to reclaim your time is to ruthlessly eliminate distractions. You can think of this like creating an anti-to-do list. Apply this to both your business initiatives and appointments, since executives spend the majority of their days in meetings.

I regularly encourage leaders to conduct weekly calendar audits. Review your calendars for the upcoming week and decline meetings that don’t align with your parameters or send someone else in your place. In a recent session, a client freed up eight hours in their upcoming week in just 15 minutes of calendar pruning. Imagine what you could do with an entire day reclaimed for strategic work. Just be intentional and ensure you block off this recovered time for high-value work, not more meetings.

Related: I Audited My Time for One Week. Here’s What I Changed Forever.

Delegate strategically

You can’t eliminate everything, but you can delegate more. Fortunately, as you climb the ladder, there are more people available to support you. Critically, you must ask for their support rather than assuming they can read your mind.

Before you tackle a task, ask:

• Is this truly in my zone of genius?
• Can someone else do this even 50% as well as I can?
• What am I not doing by focusing on this instead?

Unless something is truly in your zone of genius, delegate it to someone. This frees you to focus on those areas where you offer unique value.

For example, one of my clients used her executive assistant to handle finding a specialist for her daughter and managing her move, both of which were consuming her mental bandwidth but weren’t a high-value use of her time. Delegation extends beyond work too. Can you ask your partner to help with household tasks? Can you automate your prescriptions, food delivery or errands? All of this frees up space in which to focus on what truly matters.

At the end of the day, you can’t create more time. You can be mindful of how you use time, though, including by focusing on your business objectives, eliminating distractions and delegating tasks that aren’t in your zone of genius. These strategies will provide you with more mental space, time and energy for the things that truly support your business and life. You’ve got this!

If you’re like many leaders, you probably wish there was a 25th hour in the day, or even an eighth day in the week, to complete everything on your plate. As an executive, it can often feel like there’s never enough time and you’re constantly trying to catch up.

Leaders frequently ask me how they can be more efficient. This makes sense, as many of my tech executive clients are obsessed with optimizing their companies. However, there comes a point when you’ve squeezed every drop of efficiency out of your day, and the next step isn’t to do more. Instead, you must learn how to better prioritize.