Unlocking Leadership Potential: How to Reclaim Your Time for Greater Impact (Part 1)
November 5, 2025
Today’s post is for teachers – but the principles listed below apply to anyone!
Time is the most valuable asset leaders have, yet it often slips away amidst endless meetings, emails, and competing priorities. Unlocking your leadership potential starts with mastering your time — intentionally aligning your daily actions to what truly matters to your team and organization.
It’s possible to find yourself in a situation where you’ve dedicated significant time to mentoring and guiding students in their pursuit of goals, yet unintentionally put your own aspirations on hold. If you are getting started on your leadership journey, you need more than just coursework — you need time. Here are three methods that can help educators make space for their own development.
1. Get Your Administrative Tasks Done (Really) Early
This one might seem obvious, but it’s worth saying: finish lesson plans and create materials well in advance.
If you have years of experience under your belt, you know how to work smarter, not harder. Use your expertise to your advantage and streamline the process – get faster at the things you have to do most often! After my second year, I figured out a way to get everything done by Thursday afternoons – four days earlier than required. How? I trained myself to immediately draft a plan of action while the issue was right in front of me — even if the ideas were underdeveloped. I did not wait until later when I would be too fried or forgetful. The emotional payoff of this practice has been huge for me. Find what works for you. Free up mental bandwidth and create time for more strategic endeavors.
2. Set Boundaries Around Your Weekends
It’s easy for our work to bleed into the weekends. While occasional weekend work is inevitable (and, sometimes, necessary after a stressful stretch), I believe it’s possible to establish clear boundaries within your own mind. After the mind believes, your habits will most likely follow. Actively protect your downtime to recharge and start to build the foundation of a healthy work-life balance. I am sure many educators have experienced (repeated) burnout like I have, and it seems impossible to believe that boundaries will make a difference — but they can.
Start small. Say to yourself: “This can wait an hour.”
The discipline of protecting your weekends not only benefits your well-being but also helps you think more clearly and strategically when you return to work.
3. Say “Yes” Strategically
Consider seeking out projects and initiatives that broaden your perspective beyond the classroom. At the beginning of my career, I did not know much about “the system” of education and was curious about how various stakeholders interact and make decisions. So I decided to say “yes” to a few experiences that strengthened my skills and exposed me to new things:
- A mentorship program
- An executive board role
- Two committees
I did all of this so I could stay true to my interests and learn about a world outside of my immediate job responsibilities.
One caveat: I added things to my plate only when I felt confident in my ability to execute the job with some ease and received positive feedback in performance evaluations. Don’t take on too much if you’re struggling with the basic elements of the job.