Are You Multiplying Your Time or Just Managing It?
Sep 13, 2026
If your calendar is full, does that mean you're making progress?
I've been thinking about that question lately. Because like YOU, I've been incredibly busy. I enjoyed a great week at the International Maxwell Conference. Learning, spending time with old friends and making amazing new ones. My keynote went well but when I watched the video, I felt like I was a caged animal pacing back and forth trying to acknowledge everyone in the VERY large ballroom. Oh, well…live and learn I always say.
These days everyone’s calendars are packed. Their inboxes are overflowing. They're in back-to-back meetings. They're solving problems all day long. And at the end of the day, they're exhausted. But here's the uncomfortable question:
Did all that activity actually move you—or your organization—forward?
I recently watched Rory Vaden's TEDx talk, How to Multiply Your Time, and it made me look at time a little differently. Most of us decide what deserves our attention by asking two questions:
How urgent is it?
How important is it?
But Vaden adds a third question:
How significant is it?
That question changes everything.
The Urgent Will Always Win…Unless You Decide Otherwise
Leadership comes with an endless supply of urgent things. The email that needs an answer. The problem that needs solving. The customer who needs attention. The employee situation that can't wait.
Let's be honest: checking those things feel productive. But here's the trap.
You can spend your entire day being productive and still not make meaningful progress.
Why?
Because urgent work demands our attention, while significant work often requires us to choose to give it attention. Developing your people isn't usually urgent. Building capacity isn't usually urgent. Fixing a process that everyone has learned to work around isn't usually urgent. Challenging an assumption that has been around for years isn't usually urgent. Preparing your organization for what might happen next definitely doesn't come with a deadline stamped on it. But those are the things that can change the future.
The Best Leaders Don't Just Solve Problems. They Reduce the Need for Future Problem-Solving.
Think about that. If you solve the same problem every Monday, you've become very efficient at solving that problem. But what if instead you spent some of your time figuring out why the problem keeps happening?
That's multiplication.
If you develop one person who can solve a problem without you, you've multiplied your leadership. If you create a process that prevents ten future problems, you've multiplied your impact. If you teach your team how to make better decisions instead of making every decision for them, you've multiplied your capacity. If you spend time thinking about what's coming instead of only reacting to what's happening, you've multiplied your organization's ability to adapt. That's the difference between managing your time and multiplying it.
The Work That Changes Tomorrow Doesn't Always Look Productive Today
This may be one of the hardest things for leaders to accept. The work that creates tomorrow's results often doesn't look productive today.
It looks like thinking.
It looks like coaching.
It looks like planning.
It looks like questioning.
It looks like building.
It looks like investing in people.
It looks like creating capacity before you desperately need it.
And sometimes it looks like sitting quietly and asking:
What am I doing today that will make tomorrow better?
That may be one of the most important questions a leader can ask.
Because getting to the next level isn't about squeezing more tasks into an already-full calendar. It's about making better choices about where your time creates the greatest return.
Try This: The Time-Multiplication Exercise
Don't just read this and nod your head.
Try it.
Take 15 minutes this week and look at your calendar from the past seven days. Then ask yourself these three questions:
1. What did I do that only I could do?
These are the activities where your leadership, judgment, relationships, or expertise were truly necessary. Those are probably good uses of your time.
2. What did I do that someone else could eventually do?
This is where you may find your biggest opportunity. Maybe you're answering questions your team could answer. Making decisions someone else could make. Reviewing work that doesn't really require your involvement. Solving problems because it's faster than teaching someone else how to solve them. Don't automatically delegate everything on this list. Instead, ask:
What could I teach, delegate, automate, or systematize?
Every time you move something from “only I can do this” to “my team can do this,” you've created capacity.
3. What could I do today that would make tomorrow easier, better, or bigger?
This is the multiplication question. Maybe it's developing someone. Maybe it's fixing a recurring problem. Maybe it's creating a process. Maybe it's having the conversation you've been putting off. Maybe it's researching an opportunity. Maybe it's finally making a decision you've been circling for weeks.
Choose one. Then put it on your calendar. Not your someday list. Your calendar.
Because if something is significant but never gets scheduled, the urgent will eventually take its place.
One More Question
Here’s a question you should ask yourself at the end of each week:
Did I spend my time maintaining what already exists or building what comes next?
We need both. Leaders have responsibilities that can't be ignored. The organization still needs today's problems solved. But if all of your time goes toward maintaining today, who is building tomorrow?
That's the leadership trap and it can keep incredibly capable leaders stuck at the same level for years. Getting to the next level isn't about doing more. It's about doing more of the things that multiply your impact. So, this week, don't just manage your time.
Multiply it.
Invest an hour in something that saves ten later. Develop someone who can eventually carry what you're carrying. Fix the problem instead of becoming better at living with it. Build the capacity you will need before you desperately need it. And make time for the work that may not feel urgent today but could matter for years to come.
Because next-level leaders don't just manage what is. They build what comes next.