Most leaders need more rest and rejuvenation techniques. Too many leaders who we coach tell us that they don’t get enough sleep, that their diet needs an overall, and that they can’t seem to catch up in one or more aspects of their life. Some of that is simply normal. But, a great deal of our stress and worry can be mitigated if we use strategies for making changes in life and at work.

The problem with making changes, big and small, is that we don’t often have the tools to do so. Otherwise, we would have already made the shift. Sometimes, we know what we shouldn’t do, but we have no idea what we should do as an alternative. Other times, we know what we should do, but we don’t have a system for putting it into action. If breaking and making habits were so easy, we wouldn’t see best-selling books like Atomic Habit by James Clear or Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg, PhD flying off the shelf like they do. Both are fantastic books with tons of great tools.

That’s the point. We need tools. We also need time to use the tools, and it becomes a vicious cycle if we’re not careful–no time to use the tools, no tools when we have the time, no time to find the tools to use when we have the time. The truth is that when we have the time to slow down and rest and when we have a tool to use in that space, we can make changes that will ultimately provide us with even more time. If that sounds too “meta” for you, just take a moment to realize that you need time and space to use a tool, like R.E.S.T., to make a change that will free you up to do other necessary things, like get more sleep. Let’s dive in.

Reflect

Reflection can be tricky, but we often think that we’re reflecting when we aren’t. This is another aspect of making a change where we fail because just the act of reflecting on our life and work also requires a tool of some sort. The neuroscientists are clear about this. Our brains aren’t actually wired to remember things accurately or reflect on them for improvements. That’s why athletes have coaches. The good news is that there are a number of tools that you can use that you’re probably already employing.

For example, when we’re thinking about our work week and we need to find more time to complete important tasks, a great tool to use is your calendar. If you use time-blocking as a strategy, including reverse-time blocking, then you can easily review your calendar at the end of the week to reflect on the people and problems that took too much of your time and that were unanticipated. In other words, identify who and what is bogging you down and stealing un-budgeted time.

Evaluate

Now that you’ve identified where all of your unanticipated time is spilling away from you, you can evaluate why that continues to be the case. What is it that these people tend to need? What problems continue to surface? Of course, as a leader, you’re probably responding quite well. But, that’s not helping to alleviate your stress in not attending to important tasks or creating systems that don’t allow these problems to emerge in the first place.

In Upstream, Dan Heath argues that when we continue to put out fires downstream, we never get the chance to see what’s causing those problems upstream. Before we can think about a system for preventing problems, we have to evaluate why they’re occurring. The people and problems that you’re attending to as time-suckers have root causes. What needs are you meeting that they seemingly can’t meet for themselves?

Systematize

Now that you know who and what is causing your time to slip away and you know why it keeps happening, it’s time to develop a system to prevent it. Let’s unpack an example. Let’s say that you’re arriving early to work each day so that you can catch up on email. In that block of time, schedule for email, the same few people ask you if you have a minute and then proceed to take 30 minutes to vent about unimportant work-related items. The venting might even be productive for these few people, but it isn’t for you. Nor is it necessary for you to take time to spend in this way. It doesn’t happen every day, but more than once or twice a week, using up one to two hours of your precious time.

Remember, you’re coming to work early to get some emails written and sent. That doesn’t have to happen in your office, where these folks are finding you and wasting your time. Instead, you develop a new system. You get up and get ready at the same time, but you spend your time on email at home before getting to work on time. Not only are you getting the work done that you set out to do, you’re earning hours back in the day. The “upstream” problem was that you kept showing up at the same time and space that was getting hijacked without adjusting your habit.

Test

Even though you have a system, that doesn’t mean that it’s going to work well. You have to test it and tweak it accordingly. Using the same example, you may find that it’s noisier and more distracting at home than you thought because your spouse is making meals and getting kids off to school each day. Instead of the same venters busting in on your email strategy, you now have your young children sneaking into your home office to “see what you’re doing.” If you weren’t going to say no to the work-venters, you’re definitely not going to say no to your loved ones.

All that means is that an adjustment needs to be made. In this case, take a quick detour to a local coffee shop, find a corner table, put your earbuds in to avoid small talk, and get your important emails sent. This new routine might end up being your favorite part of the day. But it might not work either; just remember to keep adjusting until your new system is optimal for what you want to accomplish.

Using R.E.S.T. to Make a Change

R.E.S.T. is a technique that you can use to make a change, which will help you to get more time back in life and work to get more rest to make more changes. Instead of a negative cycle and downward spiral, use a tool like R.E.S.T. to reverse the circumstances. Leadership might be complex, but it doesn’t have to be complicated.

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Joe & T.J.