3 tips for leaders to create more time for their teams

Recently, my colleague Melissa Shahbazian and I led a leadership development workshop for more than 100 communications executives from across the country. We talked about current tensions in the workplace and shared best practices to help resolve them.

One theme that emerged loud and clear is that many of us would like to create more time in our lives for the things that matter and that we enjoy—personally and professionally.

But, when there are so many things to tackle on our everyday to-do lists, how do we carve out the time to reflect on, and immerse ourselves in, the things that really are important? What if we could make a few simple adjustments that would free up, say, 20% of our time and energy to focus on key priorities?

What if, instead of trying to “do it all” out of FOMO (fear of missing out), we instead embraced JOMO: the joy of missing out.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Practicing JOMO doesn’t mean dropping out of the workforce or becoming a hermit. It means being mindful of the way that you do your work and the way that you approach your priorities and commitments. Creating space in your day to think about where you want and need to focus your attention is crucial, particularly when it comes to long-term planning, strategy development, thought leadership and building relationships.