Getting Ahead of the Curve This Fall: Better Decisions & Healthier Choices

“September is such a busy time.”

I’ve been hearing that frequently as the pace picks up for senior leaders. Calendars become fuller, time pressures increase, and work can gradually crowd out everything else.

As one leader described it to me, “Everything falls away except the work.”

The problem is that when work consistently gets the first claim on your time, other things that support your ability to sustain that pace: your health, relationships, recovery, and life beyond work that can gradually get squeezed out.

But what if five minutes today could help you make better choices tomorrow?

Getting Ahead of Tomorrow’s Demands

Mike, an executive who came to me for support, knew that time was his biggest constraint.

He was spending so much time working that he was missing out on other parts of his life. He didn’t want that to become his standard.

We started by looking at how he was using his time and what his schedule was making possible or impossible.

Together, we developed a simple end-of-workday routine.

Mike takes about five minutes to look at the next day’s calendar and ask himself:

Given what’s on my schedule tomorrow, where will I fit in a workout? When will I eat? Is there anything I need to adjust?

On weekends, he asks another important question:

Where will I make time for friends and the people who matter to me?

Sometimes the answer is simply to move something on his calendar. He also became more intentional about delegating rather than automatically taking everything on himself.

These weren’t dramatic changes.

But they helped Mike make room for what mattered to him: having more energy, feeling good about his health, and enjoying time with family and friends.

Five Minutes to Shift From Reactive to Proactive

This is another example of the Power of a Five-Minute Reset.

The purpose isn’t to squeeze more productivity from every minute of your day. It’s to pause long enough to anticipate what’s coming and make an intentional choice before a demanding day begins making those choices for you.

Without that pause, it can be easy to reach the end of tomorrow and realize you never stopped for lunch. The workout disappeared. You stayed at work later than expected. And the time you intended to spend with someone important was crowded out.

Not because you decided those things didn’t matter.

The urgent simply took over.

A five-minute calendar review can help you see those conflicts before they happen.

Try This Five-Minute Reset

Before ending your workday, look at tomorrow’s calendar.

Don’t try to redesign your entire day. Instead, ask yourself:

What does tomorrow’s schedule require of me and what do I need to protect so I can meet those demands and still take care of my health and life beyond work?

You might notice that you need to move a meeting, delegate something, decide when you’ll eat, protect time for a workout, or preserve an evening commitment rather than allowing work to automatically expand into it.

The goal isn’t perfection.

It’s creating a practice small enough to survive the realities of a demanding life—and useful enough to help you protect the health, energy, and relationships that make both leadership and life beyond work sustainable.

Five minutes today can help you make tomorrow less reactive.

And over time, those small decisions can help you Be Well, Lead Well, and Live Well—even when the pace picks up.

For another example of using a Five-Minute Reset, read my previous article, Tame Stress Eating When Fall Demands Heat Up and Days Cool Down.

Continue the Conversation

If you’re a senior leader or business owner whose health and well-being have gradually taken a back seat to the demands of work and life, you don’t necessarily need another complicated wellness plan.

Sustainable leadership means protecting your health and quality of life while continuing to meet the demands of leadership.

I’m currently accepting a limited number of private clients who want to:

• Restore sustainable energy and resilience.
• Build health practices that hold up during demanding weeks—not just the easy ones.
• Reduce stress without adding more to an already full schedule.
• Protect their health while continuing to lead at a high level.
• Have the stamina to enjoy the life they’ve worked so hard to build.

If this resonates with you, I invite you to schedule a confidential consultation.

With appreciation,