What January took, February can restore.
If January felt like a marathon inside a meeting invite. I know, it’s not just you.
The calendar turned, the pressure kicked in, and suddenly your “fresh start” felt more like a sprint through quicksand. For many individuals in new or expanded leadership roles, this first month sets a tone of urgency that’s hard to shake.
But hey, you don’t need a complete overhaul to feel like you’re back in control. Sometimes the shift you need is subtle.
Let’s talk about seven simple leadership strategies to help you reclaim your week without adding more to your already full plate.
1. Audit Before You Add
Pause before saying yes to that next meeting. Ask: What’s already on my plate that no longer belongs there? Start February with a 10-minute calendar sweep. Remove or delegate at least one recurring obligation that isn’t aligned with your role or goals.
2. Choose Your Top Three (Not 30)
Not all priorities are created equal. Each Sunday evening or Monday morning, identify your three leadership priorities for the week. These are areas where you can have impact: strengthening a team member, moving a project, clearing a decision path. Anchor to these before everything else tries to take the lead.
3. Simplify Your Communication Loop
Check how many platforms you’re using to communicate. Slack, Teams, email, text… it’s a lot. Choose one primary channel for the bulk of your team communication and set boundaries around how and when you respond. Clear systems protect your time and your team’s clarity.
4. Start the Week With a ‘Reset Hour’
Carve out the first hour of your Monday or the final hour of your Friday as sacred strategy time. Review goals. Re-center your focus. Reflect on what’s working. When you lead from intention, everything shifts.
5. Schedule Space for Thought Work
You weren’t promoted to think faster. You were promoted to think deeper. Block one 90-minute window this week for strategic, creative, or reflective thinking. Guard it like any high-stakes meeting. This is where influence and vision get sharpened.
6. Designate a Decision Day
If small decisions are clogging your week, set a single day (or half-day) to batch them. Create a rhythm for approvals, follow-ups, and final calls. Decision fatigue is real, contain it where you can.
7. Close Your Week With a Leadership Win
Fridays can feel foggy. End each week by naming one thing you did this week that made you a stronger leader. This habit reinforces progress. You’re doing more than you think; you just haven’t been pausing long enough to see it.
A Thought to Take Into the Weekend
January stretched many of us thin. But February holds a different kind of invitation.
So before you charge into a new month, think about what would a more easeful kind of excellence look like in your leadership right now?
You don’t have to do more to feel more in control. You just need to reclaim what’s already yours: your time, your clarity, your power to choose.
Start now. And let February be the month that feels more aligned.