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Key Takeaways
Most high-performing women spend 60% of their time on the work organizations publicly reward — committees, ERGs, mentoring, external visibility — while only 10% of it actually drives promotion.
The fix isn’t better time management; it’s a weekly discipline built on one question: did anything I did this week move me closer to the people who decide my next opportunity?
I was finishing my doctorate. I had two teenagers, one across the country at boarding school. I was working full-time, flying cross-country for school visits, writing and analyzing data in every available hour. Everyone said I was impressive. I was barely managing.One morning, I arrived to back-to-back meetings on less than four hours of sleep. I had not eaten. My daughter had called in tears the night before. I walked into my office, closed the door and cried. Then I made a spreadsheet. I listed everything I was doing and calculated the cost. 60% of my time was going toward activities contributing to 10% of my actual goals.The question shifted. Not “how do I fit more in?” but “what can I cut?” Within six months, I had eliminated 30 hours of weekly commitments. I finished my dissertation. My performance improved. And I got clear on my next move. The problem was never capacity. It was strategy.
