Brain Circuits

Wasting time? Diagnose yourself

Published October 21, 2026 in Brain Circuits • 3 min read

Timothy Quigley and Nele Dael offer a checklist for leaders to assess their priorities.

All leaders are subject to competing demands on their time, and the time poverty that makes sound decision-making elusive. Use this diagnostic to assess who runs your timetable – you or other people.

How often do you:RarelyFrequentlyAll the time
Spend time on admin (rather than doing the actual work)?□□□
Put off something you want to do for yourself, such as brushing up on a foreign language?□□□
Defer taking a vacation?□□□
Miss activities with friends or family?□□□
Think ruefully about your ever-growing bucket list?□□□
Pick up the slack when someone else drops the ball?□□□
Say yes to tasks you could delegate?□□□
Work more than 40 hours a week?□□□
Reply to emails or take calls outside “normal” business hours?□□□
Work over the weekend?□□□
Skip your lunch break?□□□
Skip exercise you’d intended to do?□□□

 

Look at the pattern of your answers. Do they fall mainly in the amber and red zones? If so, your calendar is set by the demands of others, rather than your own priorities. Look back over the last few months and ask yourself: what’s the worst that might have happened if I had said no to a work demand and instead devoted the time to doing something for myself?

Next time someone makes a demand on your time, stop and think about the impact on your life, and check out this feature article on leading decisively when time feels scarce.

Authors

Tim Quigley

Professor of Strategic Leadership and Governance

Timothy J. Quigley is Professor of Strategic Leadership and Governance at IMD. His research focuses on corporate governance, CEO succession, executive decision-making, and the factors that shape leadership effectiveness. Quigley helps leaders navigate uncertainty by improving decision processes and addressing the cognitive biases that influence judgment. His work has been published in leading journals, including Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Journal, and Organization Science, and featured in major media outlets such as the Financial Times and The Washington Post. Before entering academia, he built a career in consulting and technology, helping organizations leverage emerging digital technologies.

Nele Dael

Nele Dael

Nele Dael is a Senior Behavioral Scientist at IMD Business School, where she co-leads the Workplace Well-being Initiative. An emotion psychologist by training, Nele’s research examines the psychological foundations for sustainable performance – spanning employee mental health, leadership, personal resilience, stress and recovery, and emotion regulation – shaping how people work and lead.

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