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The Leadership Coach, Paul Andrew, Executive Coaching, Leadership Training, Keynote Speaker

The Spare Time Test

I write this edition from the Middle East where I’ve been training leaders in Qatar. Last week I was working with Catholic school principals to assist them in becoming coaches to their staff. Both of these diverse groups expressed the same challenge to acting on their priorities (one that I believe is common to leaders in most industries and cultures)… that there always seems to be more to do than time to get it done.

I don’t mind being busy up to a point if all that activity is in line with my priorities. The problem with our busyness though is that too often we use it as a smokescreen, a distraction from the real issue. The problem is not that we’re busy, it’s that we’re not focusing on what’s really important.

It’s very tempting to point to the aspects of my workload that I can’t control in order to let myself of the hook. People say things like, “Everything around here is urgent, it’s only a question of how urgent” or “My job involves lots of surprises and problems that I have to respond to straight away”. And that’s legitimate for many people. But it can also become an alibi for ineffectiveness – I blame those areas where I have little choice so I can draw attention away from what I do with the rest of my week. Are you ready to get honest with yourself?

Show me what you do with your discretionary time at work and I’ll show you what your real focus is. For all of our well-meaning explanations about how busyness is keeping us from being effective the truth is that nothing gives a clearer picture of your true priorities than what you do with those windows of time where you have a choice. How do you invest those opportunities? Is it something mindless or menial? Or do you pounce on those moments and invest them in what really matters?

For the next week why don’t you put yourself to the “Spare Time Test”?

Where does your time go when it’s up to you?
How much of your week is lost to the mindless and the menial?
Has being busy become an alibi for being ineffective?
What could you do to keep your priorities in sight when opportunity knocks?

Have a great week!