Making the Most of Your Time

Imagine you only have 4,000 weeks to achieve everything in life you’ve ever dreamed of. Well, if you live to be 77, you’ll have experienced just over 4,000 weeks of life. Oliver Burkeman argues in Four Thousand Weeks that this realization should be an eye-opener for our approach to productivity. Unfortunately, many of us view this as pressure, and we respond by frantically working to cram everything into the current week, month, or year for fear of missing out. Oliver wants us to take a different approach, realizing we cannot accomplish everything in a measly 4,000 weeks. Instead, we should focus our time on the things that matter to us. As leaders, you need to understand your application of time is in your control—you need to focus your efforts to yield the best returns. 

Four Thousand Weeks

Burkeman challenges the belief that we can achieve everything. He argues that pursuing total control over our time is futile and counterproductive. Instead, he invites readers to embrace the limits of time and focus on what truly matters. Simply put, we will never complete every task, satisfy every demand, or achieve every goal we set. Yet this acceptance, far from discouraging, can be liberating. It frees us to prioritize the things that align most closely with our values.

In addition to discussing the problem with modern time management, the book provides practical wisdom for navigating your time to focus on what matters. Burkeman offers tools to help readers rethink their approach to time, such as understanding and prioritizing what matters, learning to say no, and fully engaging with the present moment. These insights clarify that we should stop trying to dominate time and start living within its constraints.

Ultimately, Four Thousand Weeks is a guide to living more intentionally in the face of our finite existence. Burkeman’s insights are particularly relevant for leaders, who often feel the dual pressures of managing their time while guiding their teams. Let’s explore how his ideas can help us embrace the reality of time and lead with greater focus, purpose, and presence.

Lessons in Leadership

Prioritize Ruthlessly

Leadership is often a prioritization exercise. You have to determine how to use your time best in the moment. But, prioritizing a list of dozens of items at the moment is ineffective and creates more stress than it’s intended to solve. You need to create a system for prioritization. You need to understand your role, the objectives assigned to your team, the relationships associated with your objectives, and the necessary level of business acumen to know how to prioritize.

Oliver Burkeman encourages us to start by understanding what matters to us. In leadership or life, you should focus your efforts on your most pressing priority. You only have so much time at work, and you need to make the most of it, i.e., deliver value for your team and organization.

Leaders who spread themselves too thin can’t adequately support their teams. Once you have a clear understanding of what matters, you need to embrace the constraints set by these priorities. You can’t say no if you don’t know what truly matters for you and your team.

Embrace Constraints

Embracing constraints is similar to learning when to say no, not yet, or yes. You have those three options for every request. Your constraints will allow you to make better and faster decisions by following your priorities and removing the tasks that fall out of alignment with your priorities. You may also need to say no to requests as a leader. You may say no because you don’t have the time, resources, or knowledge to adequately support.

You may also say no because your priorities or the expected outcomes do not justify the effort required. Making these tradeoff decisions is a central aspect of leadership, but it’s only possible when you realize you can’t do everything you want. As a leader, you will have to say no to a lot of fun, innovative ideas with real potential.

You need to know you’re making the best possible decision; understanding, embracing, and adhering to your team’s constraints is the best way to enhance your decision-making ability. 

Focus on the Present

Focusing on the present is an easy tip to implement. Leaders must balance the demands of the present with the demands of the future. They must give their full, undivided attention to their employees. As a leader, spending time in the present connecting, coaching, and developing your team is never a waste of time.

However, you must balance it with deliberate thoughts about the future. As a leader, you must choose to separate your time between today and tomorrow. When you’re in today mode, make sure you’re present with your peers and team. You don’t want to miss out on building relationships and developing skills that you and your team will need in the future.

It’s like an annoying leadership paradox; you can’t build for the future without focusing on the present. Balancing your time as a leader is tough, but you can make the most of your interactions by being present when it counts!

Reflection

Now that we’ve seen how Oliver Burkeman’s wisdom can enhance our relationship with time, I encourage you to reflect on the questions below.

• Ruthlessly Prioritize: What is one activity or responsibility I could let go of to focus on higher-impact leadership tasks? What is my number one priority? How does my priority support my organization? Are we focused on a few key priorities or scattered across multiple fronts?

• Embrace Constraints: How do I currently handle constraints in my leadership role? Do I see them as barriers or opportunities? How do I manage my team’s workload? Is there an opportunity to clarify my team’s constraints to help with decision-making? How often do I think about my team’s current and future capabilities?

• Focus on the Present: When was the last time I truly focused on being present with my team? How did it feel? Does my team always get my undivided attention in 1:2:1 meetings? How can I be more engaged in the present with my team? What does my full, undivided attention look like?

How can you alter your relationship with time to support your team better?

Summary

Time is a finite resource. The best leaders understand this reality and work to make every moment count by prioritizing and focusing on the work that truly matters. Leaders have the unique and often troublesome accountability of managing their own time. Applying time effectively is challenging, but it becomes much easier when you realize you’ll never have enough. Instead, you have to decide how you and your team spend their time to support the larger organization. 

Your goal is not perfect time management. Your goal is to use time effectively to accomplish realistic goals. Instead of trying to do it all, think about where you can make the most significant impact and focus there. You’ll lead with greater intention and deliver tangible results that make a difference. 

See you next week, 

Rick