Written by: Coach Miki

You are a human being, not a human doing. And so is everyone you lead.

Check in with almost any team, organization, or workplace, and you'll see it. Wearing busy like it’s a badge of honor. Mistaking stress for success. Leaders who genuinely care about their people but who have never once stopped to ask how someone is actually doing. Not the project. Not the numbers. The person.

Teamwork makes the dream work. And teams also need permission to pause. 

This is a gentle reminder to stop glorifying being busy and to find ways to preserve our energy. How? Here are 6 ideas to consider:

1. Create a “Power List.” Both individually and as a team, identify and prioritize 2-3 key items. Focus on what’s important rather than what’s seemingly urgent or easiest to check off your list. 

2. Strive to eliminate decisions. There are hundreds of things, if not more, that have to be decided on daily. By eliminating decisions and establishing individual or organizational routines, you can reduce decision fatigue and have more mental energy for important decisions later in the day.

3. It’s all about meetings. Try skipping or cancelling a meeting this week (even if it’s part of your regular routine) and see what happens. Or try scheduling 45-minute meetings instead of an hour so no one is rushing to or from the next meeting.

4. Use the Pomodoro technique. Use a timer to break work into 25-minute intervals, followed by a 5-minute break that you repeat, with a longer break after 3-4 Pomodoros (“Pomodoro”  is the Italian word for tomato, and this technique is named after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer used by Francesco Cirillo to create this technique). Oh, and that longer break? Find a change of scenery, whether it’s a stroll around the block, lunch with colleagues, or a little bit of exercise!

5. Block time on your calendar to protect yourself from being overscheduled. 

6. Delete or move distracting apps off the main page of your phone. You might also switch off notifications or set an app timer so you're more aware of just how much time you spend on your phone. 

Mission First. People Always.

This is a phrase I learned in the military, and while it might sound like a contradiction, it isn't. It's a promise.

In teams, groups, and organizations, the mission matters. But the people carrying it out aren't robots or interchangeable parts. They're humans who happen to be doing the work.

You can't sustain a mission by burning through the people attached to it. And the best leaders know this. 

The most productive thing you do this week might not be a strategy session. It might be a ten-minute conversation – phone down, no agenda – where you ask someone how they're really doing. And then actually listen.

Start there. Everything else follows.