Are you spending time, or investing it?

With more time on my hands lately than I've been used to in living memory, I've found myself thinking about how we talk about time.

One thing I've heard from almost every leader or manager I've worked with is that there simply aren't enough hours in the day.

Too many meetings, competing priorities, things needing attention, and somehow the day disappears before you've made it halfway through your to-do list.

And yet time is the one thing we all get the same amount of.

I've always believed the language we use matters, even the conversations we have in our own heads. Sometimes a small change in wording can make a big difference to how we think about something.

Take the way we talk about spending time with our teams.

I've always preferred to think of it as investing time.

“It’s quicker if I just do it myself”

I've lost count of how often I've heard a leader or manager say, “I don't have time to teach someone that” or “It's just quicker and easier if I do it myself.”

And sometimes, in that moment, it probably is.

You can finish the task in 20 minutes, or spend an hour explaining it, answering questions, reviewing the result and possibly doing some of it again.

When you're already stretched thin, the choice seems obvious.

But I'd challenge that thinking.

Can you really afford NOT to invest that time?

Because while doing the task yourself might save you 40 minutes today, what happens next week? Or next month? Or when you're on leave and someone needs to make a decision without you?

You're still the person everyone relies on to get it done.

That's the problem with always choosing the quickest solution in the moment. It might save time today, but it does very little to create capacity tomorrow.

The first time you teach someone, it might take twice as long. The second time, they might only need a little guidance. Before long, they're doing it independently, making decisions and perhaps even finding a better way to do it than you did.

Suddenly that hour you thought you couldn't afford to give has paid you back many times over.

Not just in time saved, but in the confidence and capability you've helped someone build.

Sometimes the best investment is simply listening

Investing time in your team isn't just about teaching them. It's also about learning from them.

Some of the most valuable improvements I've seen in my time building and leading teams have come from understanding what frustrates people about their work.

What's taking longer than it should? What's being duplicated? What are they doing every day that makes absolutely no sense, but they've always done it that way?

And my personal favourite: “If you could change one thing about how we do this, what would it be?”

The answers can be surprisingly revealing.

When a frustration turns into an improvement

One example that comes to mind is a team who were frustrated by having to manually enter the same information into multiple systems and spreadsheets.

It was repetitive, time-consuming and added very little value. It also created plenty of opportunities for human error, which meant additional checking and reviewing downstream.

More work to make sure the original work was right!

Rather than accepting that this was just how things were done, we reviewed the processes, workpapers and systems involved.

What we discovered was that an existing system already had functionality we weren't using. With some changes to how we worked, we could bring the information together in one central place rather than having people maintain it across multiple locations.

No shiny new system required. Just a better understanding of what we already had.

The result was less manual handling, fewer opportunities for error and the removal of an additional QA checkpoint that the old process had created.

We saved time at multiple stages, removed a repetitive and frustrating task, and freed people up to focus on work that actually added value.

And the opportunity came from listening to the people doing the work.

I've found that improvements driven by the people actually doing the work are generally easier to introduce and embed. They understand the problem, have helped shape the solution and already have a sense of ownership over the change.

Not every suggestion will be practical, and not every frustration needs a new system or process. But you won't know unless you make the time to listen.

Sometimes the biggest improvements aren't about doing something new. They're about questioning why we're doing something the way we are in the first place.

Building teams that can work without you, not because of you

For me, one of the most rewarding parts of leadership has always been watching people grow into responsibilities they might not have imagined taking on when they started.

Someone who initially needed guidance on every decision becomes someone you trust to make those decisions independently.

Someone who was nervous about challenging an existing process becomes the person identifying opportunities for improvement.

And someone who was once learning from you starts teaching and mentoring others.

That's when the investment really starts to compound.

Over time, you build teams who understand their responsibilities, know what decisions they can make and have the confidence to put their hand up when they need help.

They're not waiting for you to solve every problem or approve every small decision.

They're teams that can operate without you, not because of you.

The aim isn't to make yourself unnecessary. It's to create the capability within your team that allows everyone, including you, to focus on the things where they can add the most value.

For leaders, that creates more capacity to think ahead, solve bigger problems and improve the business, rather than constantly being pulled back into the day-to-day.

And as people grow and take on more responsibility, they pass that knowledge and confidence on to others.

Before you know it, the time you thought you couldn't afford to give has paid you back tenfold, and probably more.

So, what about time outside work?

Now, finding myself with more spare time than I've had in years, I'm realising that the same thinking applies beyond the workplace.

Am I spending time catching up with people, or investing in relationships?

Spending time walking the dog, or investing in my physical and mental wellbeing?

And what about binge-watching The Diplomat on Plex while the kids are at school?

Well, I'm sure I could find a way to call that an investment too, although perhaps it's just a really good way to switch off!

I'm certainly not suggesting every minute needs to be productive or deliver some kind of return.

Time isn't transactional.

Sometimes doing absolutely nothing, or doing something purely because you enjoy it, is exactly what you need. You shouldn't have to justify relaxing by turning it into another form of productivity.

But I do think the way we talk about time, even just to ourselves, can influence how we value it and what we choose to prioritise.

Making time for what matters

For the first time in... well, ever, I find myself with time on my hands that I can't save, bottle or freeze for future use.

After years of juggling teams, deadlines, competing priorities and family life, it's an unusual feeling.

My natural instinct is to fill it. Find something to do. Make myself useful. Tick something off a list.

But I'm also enjoying the opportunity to slow down and spend more time on things that don't always get the attention they deserve when life is busy.

Particularly relationships and connections.

Whether it's taking an extra hour to teach someone, making time to genuinely understand what frustrates your team, or sitting down for a coffee with someone you haven't seen in ages, sometimes the most valuable use of your time isn't the thing that produces an immediate result.

It's the thing that creates value long after the time itself has passed.

And on that note, if you're in Brisbane and fancy a coffee and a catch-up, I'd love to connect.

After all, for once I actually have the time! ☕

About the author

Gayle Williams | Clear Consulting Partners

Gayle is an experienced finance and operations leader who has spent her career helping businesses build stronger teams, improve processes and make better decisions.

With a background spanning senior finance, operational leadership and business improvement, she brings a practical, hands-on approach to solving problems, developing people and making better use of the systems and resources businesses already have.

Through Clear Consulting Partners, Gayle works with growing businesses to bring greater clarity to their financial information, strengthen internal processes and build the capability of their teams.

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