Today, the daily life of leaders has frankly not become any simpler. Between remote management, the surge of AI, unpredictable markets and constantly vibrating phones, the days are filling up at breakneck speed. And in this constant noise, reflection often goes by the wayside.
The real danger is spending your time suffering.
We respond tit for tat, we manage everyday problems, we arbitrate two divergent opinions, we validate a document. By 7 p.m., we’re exhausted, we have the impression of having worked all day… but without having moved the major subjects one millimeter.
This is the tragedy of the manager: the more he gets bogged down in detail, the less time he has to manage what comes next.
So, how do we get off this crazy pace? Certainly not by downloading a tenth productivity app. Change begins with a lucid observation: where does your energy really go on a daily basis?
The illusion of what “burns”
Our brain loves things that shine and things that make noise. An email with an “urgent” notice, a Teams alert, a phone call: everything pushes us to react right away.
In business, it’s even worse. We have created a culture where responding within two minutes is seen as a sign of efficiency. Result ? We don’t dare cut anymore. We’re afraid of letting something slip or coming across as someone who’s only half reachable.
Except that not everything that knocks loudly on the door is of capital value.
By dwelling on the emergencies of the day, we abandon what requires calm and time: working on our three-year strategy, preparing for a key recruitment, reviewing our price list or making a complicated decision. Emergency should not become your natural state. A boss who spends his life in firefighter gear no longer has time to build much.
Relearning to do “nothing”
This is undoubtedly the hardest thing to impose today: to leave something empty in your calendar.
No meetings, no phone calls, no phone on the desk flashing. Just time to think. Simply “brain time”.
Two hours a week can already change everything. Two hours to look at the numbers from above, think about what’s wrong with the team, or wonder where we want to take the company next quarter.
On a calendar, a blank slot looks useless. However, this is where the decisive decisions are made. The problem is that a hole in a diary attracts requests like a magnet. If you don’t mark it with a black marker, someone will come and fill it in for you.
Meeting is not an automatic response
Another reflex that must be gotten rid of: calling out a meeting as soon as a problem rears its head.
Honestly, do we really need to block six people for an hour over a secondary topic? Does a question that can be addressed in three written paragraphs merit a video call?
With hybrid work, we have learned to communicate differently. A clear message, two attachments and a deadline often do the job better than a big mass around a table. Live meetings remain essential for debating or rebuilding connections, but they should no longer be the automatic default choice.
Before you click “Schedule an Appointment,” just ask yourself: “Can’t we make this simpler?” »
AI should ease your mind, not think for you
Artificial intelligence is helping a lot of managers to breathe today.
Summarizing a heavy file, preparing a framework, grouping data… So many micro-tasks that took up a lot of time and which can now be completed much more quickly.
But be careful not to mix everything up. The tool sorts, collects and saves time. But it is you who retains the judgment, the finesse and the power to decide. The question is not to know what we can feed back to the tool, but what recurring tasks we can accelerate thanks to it to regain valuable time.
And it’s the same for your teams. If everything comes back to your office for arbitration, it is not necessarily that your colleagues lack ideas… It may simply be that we have never given them the freedom to follow through on their decisions.
Sort through honestly
Do a simple little exercise: look back at your diary for the last three weeks. Not the one you imagined, but the one that actually happened.
Look what took time. Which meetings were of no use? How many times have you intervened when your team could have managed without you? What are these habits that you carry around just because “you’ve always done it that way”?
The company evolves, the teams grow, and yet, some managers continue to keep control of details that should have been communicated for a long time. It’s not about letting go of everything overnight, but about agreeing to only keep where your presence brings real value.
Say no without breaking the relationship
Taking back control of your day also means being able to say no. Not a dry or brittle no, but an argumentative no.
For example : “I can’t watch this today if I want to finish this strategic file. Shall we take stock Thursday morning? »
Or again: “It’s a real subject. I’ll let you decide, I trust you. You will keep me informed. »
This kind of reaction changes everything. Your teams understand your priorities, gain the confidence to decide on their own, and you are no longer the cork in the middle of the bottle.
Without energy, strategy is worthless
We forget it too often: we don’t make good decisions when we become exhausted.
Having a tight schedule is no use if you end your days flushed. Fatigue destroys the ability to step back and pushes you to choose the easiest or quickest solution, just to get rid of the problem.
Sleeping properly, cutting off screens in the evening, doing sports or just getting some fresh air… These are not wastes of time or luxuries. It’s part of the job. You can’t ask for clarity of mind and anticipation from someone who pulls on the rope and never stops.
Start small, one hour at a time
Escaping the emergency does not mean that the problems will magically disappear. There will always be a problem to resolve or an unhappy customer to call back.
The idea is to prevent your whole day from revolving around that.
Today, information is overflowing everywhere, tools manage a large part of the repetitive work, but our ability to concentrate remains limited. This is perhaps the real treasure of the leader: his ability to stay focused on the essential.
So don’t try to revolutionize everything at once. Tomorrow, just block out an hour. Cut off your mailboxes, put your phone in a drawer, and ask yourself this question:
“What is this fundamental subject that I have been putting off for months? »
This hour won’t change everything overnight, but it can mark the start of a different way of working. Your role is not to be in the oven and the mill. It’s being where you really make the difference.
