You're drowning in mundane tasks. How can you reclaim your time for strategic thinking?

To reclaim time for strategic thinking, I automate or delegate mundane tasks, block “focus time” on my calendar, and remind myself that small steps add up. It’s a gradual process, but each effort counts.

When overwhelmed by menial tasks, it’s essential to reclaim time for strategic thinking by being intentional about your approach. Automating routine processes is a game changer, whether through software tools or streamlining workflows. Setting boundaries for deep work, like scheduling uninterrupted time for strategic planning, helps you stay focused on big-picture goals. Delegation is key—trusting your team to handle tasks they excel at frees your mind for higher-level thinking. You can carve out space for long-term strategy despite a full workload by balancing automation, focused time, and delegation.

If you don't set time aside on your calendar specifically for strategic thinking, it will never be done. If you keep moving this time all over your calendar due to other meetings, you'll never get to it. For strategic thinking, you need time to focus without interruptions. It's critical, especially for business owners, which is why it's important to make sure the time block stays in its place and doesn't get preempted by anything else. Once you're ready to tackle it, close your office door (if possible), put your phone in a drawer and turn off all notifications for anything. You can catch up on texts, emails, phone calls, etc. after this block of time.