Have you ever noticed how much you achieve the week before you go on holiday?

For many years I thought it was purely because I came in earlier and went home later, having given this further consideration I realised that yes I did add some extra hours to my working week however what I was actually doing was becoming a more effective leader and in doing so preparing for a holiday was no longer such a shock to the system!

Each month for at least one day I started to imagine I was going on holiday the next day (nice thought sun, sea and palm trees) I started to think more creatively about how to get things done in less time and by doing so grow time for myself.

These are some of the questions I started to ask myself:

• Does this task actually need to be done at all?
• If it needs doing am I the best person to do it, do I have the most experience and skills required, if not who is the best person?
• If I don’t know who is the best person who in my Network could help me?
• Would this actually develop others if they were involved?
• What information will others need to complete the task and who can support them if I am not here?
• Are there any better ways that we can make this happen – if we always do it the way we have done it, the result will always be the same and it will take the same amount of time?

It’s not about delegating more it is thinking about how you can do things differently, by doing different things.

Try it for yourself – treat one day a month as if you are going on holiday the next day, you will be amazed about how much you achieve and how much it will empower and develop others what’s more you will most definitely grow time for yourself!