Why your strategic thinking time keeps disappearing (and how to get it back)

Well, first you need to understand that your overload issue is not a time management problem. It's a system design problem.

Thus, when researchers examined what distinguishes leaders who successfully protect strategic time from those who don't, they found that the high performers are not harder working or more disciplined.

Those people are just more intentional about how work flows through their calendar and their teams.

Here is how you too can intentionally create a system that works in the same way.

Delegation isn’t handing off tasks you don't want to do. It is a strategy that pays off over time.

Good delegation builds your team's capability to solve problems independently, which increasingly creates sustainable time for you to think strategically. Here is how you can delegate effectively:

·      Match tasks to skills and interests: Get to know what your team members are good at and what kind of work energises them. Then delegate accordingly.

·      Think about developmental tasks: look for opportunities that will stretch people in directions they want to grow, because assigning tasks that require new skills increases employee commitment and engagement.

·      Ask, don't order: Leaders get better results from delegation when they're polite and supportive. Explain why the task matters and why the person is the right choice.

·      Create trust through clear communication: provide clear expectations upfront, make yourself available for questions, and offer support and feedback as the work progresses. Your team members need to feel empowered and trusted, not set up to fail.

·      Don’t micromanage: Don't hover over your team. Delegate real ownership with meaningful decision-making rights. Be available but let people get on with it.

There is more on delegation here.

Delegation moves work off your plate. Coaching transforms how your team approaches problems, which reduces the volume of issues requiring your involvement in the first place.

When a team member comes to you with a problem, your instinct may be to solve it quickly and move on. But every time you do this, you're training them to bring you the next problem too.

Instead, use coaching questions to help them develop their own solutions:

Research on managerial coaching shows this approach improves performance, builds skills, and strengthens commitment to the organisation. More importantly for your calendar, it develops your team's problem-solving capability, so they handle issues independently.

Yes, coaching can take longer initially. But within weeks, you'll notice fewer problems landing on your desk.

There is much more on manager coaching here.

In a complex fast-moving environment, it is sometimes hard to know what your top three strategic priorities are at any given time. If you can't articulate them, then you definitely aren't protecting time for them.

Each month or quarter identify 3-4 "must do" priorities that will genuinely move your team or organisation forward over coming period. These are not the urgent requests that feel important, but the things that will matter in six months.

Write them down. Stick them somewhere you'll see them daily. But be ready to flex to reflect any major changes that are happening outside your control.

Time-blocking isn't revolutionary advice, but almost nobody does it properly.

Identify your most productive thinking time (for most people, me included, it's morning) and block 90-minute sessions for strategic work at least twice per week. Mark them as "busy" in your calendar.

Then – and this is the critical point – you must treat these times as unmovable. Don’t be tempted to eat into them with every ‘urgent’ meeting that can’t wait. Stick to your commitment in all but the most critical circumstances.

During these blocks, don’t answer emails, don’t take calls and don’t solve quick problems for your team. You should be thinking, planning, analysing, or developing. In other words, do the work you say you never have time to do and give it your sustained attention.

Think about what you did last week. How much time did you spend in meetings where you contributed nothing meaningful?  How much of the time were you handling work that someone else could do?

Ruthlessly eliminate or delegate these things. If a meeting doesn't require your expertise or decision-making authority, decline it. If a report doesn't matter to your strategic priorities, stop reading it. If you are worried that it contains information you might need to know some time, file it and come back to it when you do need to know.

This might be the hardest part. If your organisation expects instant responses and constant availability, you'll need to actively reset expectations.

Start by being explicit with your team: "I'm blocking time on Tuesdays and Thursdays for strategic work. Unless something is genuinely urgent, I won't be responding to messages during those windows."

Model this behaviour consistently, and your team will follow suit.

For more impact and team buy-in, talk to your team about what you have been thinking about, working on or planning. Ask for their input in advance. You might be surprised how valuable those contributions might be.

If this is all new to you, you might feel uncomfortable at first if you are not constantly available and in the thick of things.

But if you really activate these system changes and stick to them over time, you will soon find that your team is acting with more autonomy, independence and motivation. Meanwhile you can think more clearly and feel less like you are on the road to burn-out.

The research is clear: leaders who protect time for strategic work don't just feel less overwhelmed—they deliver better results, build stronger teams, and create sustainable ways of working.

But you need to treat this as a system problem, not a personal failing.

Is there one or more of these changes you can make this week to reclaim time for what actually matters?

References

Callula, B., Sana, E., Jacqueline, G., Nathalie, J., & Maria, L. (2024). A Structural Framework for Effective Time Management in Dynamic Work Environments. APTISI Transactions on Management (ATM). https://doi.org/10.33050/atm.v8i2.2256.

Westover, J. (2024). Focusing on the Mission, Not the Noise: Leading with Intentionality in an Era of Constant Distraction. Human Capital Leadership Review. https://doi.org/10.70175/hclreview.2020.16.2.9.

Westover, J. (2025). Making Strategy a Priority: Overcoming Barriers to Dedicated Strategic Thinking Time. Human Capital Leadership Review. https://doi.org/10.70175/hclreview.2020.20.3.5.

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