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Shameless Leadership

990: 6 Rules to Ruthlessly Manage Your Time As A Woman Leader | Leadership Tips

Shameless Leadership

Sara Dean

Self-improvement, How To, Business, Management, Education

4.7800 Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, I'm sharing strategic time-management tips for women ready to stop letting their calendars control them. We're talking ruthless prioritization, time-blocking, unscheduling, and the specific strategies that women in leadership use to reclaim their focus without burning out. This conversation goes beyond surface-level productivity tips to explore the mindset shifts that actually change how you manage your time. Because the truth is, time management isn’t just about your calendar, it’s about your beliefs, your boundaries, and your willingness to take ownership of how you lead your life and work. I walk you through the questions I believe every woman leader needs to ask herself about her relationship with time. What are you actually accountable for? What stories are you telling yourself about how you manage your time? And where did those patterns come from? So much of our time management is inherited or unconscious, and until we bring awareness to it, we stay stuck in cycles that don’t serve us.  From there, I break down core time management strategies - the rules that executive coaching clients and I personally use and teach when it comes to managing your time with intention. We talk about identifying what truly moves the needle, getting honest about what is not a “yes right now”, and setting clear boundaries around your schedule (and when others have access to it!) I also share how to use time blocking to protect my energy and focus, and why knowing how your brain works is one of the most underrated productivity tips for sustainable success. This is about making time management decisions that align with your values, not just reacting to demands. Finally, we get real about what it takes to be accountable for your time in seasons that require more of you. There are times to sprint and times to rest & recover. Knowing when each is necessary is everything. Whether you’re in a current sprint or want to be more prepared for your next sprint season, this episode will help you reframe your mindset around time management and reclaim your time, your energy, and your authority as a leader. Links Mentioned: Hire Sara to speak: saradean.com/speaking Coach with Sara: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services Connect with Sara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradeanspeaks Watch Shameless Leadership episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saradeanspeaks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome

0:01.0

The Noise.

0:02.0

Bloomberg follows the money, whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion

0:07.0

dollar swings.

0:09.0

There's a money side to every story.

0:11.0

Get the money side of the story.

0:13.0

Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com.

0:20.0

Welcome to Shameless Leadership. I'm your host, Sarah Dean. This show is for women, transgender people, non-binary folks, as well as allies, who are committed to advancing their leadership while also advancing the leadership of those around them. In each episode, we will offer practical

0:37.9

tips, leadership strategies, and inspiring stories to help you become a more confident,

0:42.8

compassionate, and inclusive leader. The truth is, you were born to lead. What might happen for you

0:48.6

if you were to wholeheartedly embrace that part of yourself? So let's start now, together.

0:55.9

Hello, shameless leaders.

1:01.2

Today we're going to be talking about time management. And we're not talking about this because I'm an expert in it, because I'm definitely not. But I have found myself at multiple points in

1:06.8

my life having to be a really ruthless time manager because of various commitments,

1:14.7

sometimes various competing commitments, sometimes just the various roles and layers of

1:20.4

identity that I've held. And so I'll dig in to some of those examples in a minute.

1:24.8

But I want to say what has come up for me over and over in the last

1:29.6

10 years for as long as I've been podcasting and podcasting for women. And my first eight years

1:36.1

in podcasting, I was podcasting specifically for moms is that we always are craving better time

1:43.0

management skills and that we feel there seems to be this common

1:47.9

sentiment that we think that we are not great time managers but everyone else around us

1:52.6

like knows some secret about time management and we just haven't figured it out yet and I

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