How CEOs Can Focus on What Actually Matters (Instead of Drowning in Busywork)
- Belle Sionzon
- Sep 30
- 4 min read
Let’s be real for a second.
You didn’t become a CEO to spend your days knee-deep in inboxes, invoice approvals, and Slack pings. Yet here you are—running a company but still buried in admin, approvals, and “quick questions.”
If it feels like your calendar owns you (instead of the other way around), you’re not alone.
But here’s the kicker: the more your business grows, the less you should be doing. Scaling isn’t about adding more to your plate—it’s about choosing better plates entirely.
So how do you shift gears and actually lead your business like a CEO, not its busiest employee?
Let’s get into it.
The CEO Trap: Why You're Doing Too Much
Most CEOs fall into the same trap: thinking that being “across everything” makes them indispensable.
Newsflash: it actually makes you the bottleneck.
When you’re involved in every decision, review, and reply, you:
Slow down the team
Burn through your energy
Miss the big strategic plays
Worse? You start resenting the very business you built.
So the goal isn’t just to get more efficient. It’s to get out of the weeds altogether.
Step 1: Know What Only You Should Be Doing
Start by defining your Genius Zone. That’s the sweet spot where:
Your skills are unmatched
Your time creates real ROI
You feel energised (not drained)
For most CEOs, this includes:
Vision and strategy
High-level partnerships
Culture and leadership
Key client or investor relationships
Everything else is negotiable—or delegatable.
Ask yourself: “If I only had 10 hours a week to work, what would I only spend it on?”
That’s your Genius Zone. Now protect it like your business depends on it—because it does.
Step 2: Use the ‘CEO Time Filter’ for Every Task
Here’s a simple mental model: the CEO Time Filter.
For every task that crosses your desk, ask:
Delete it: Does this need to happen at all?
Delegate it: Who else could do this 80% as well as me?
Delay it: Is now the right time—or is this a distraction?
Do it: Is this in my Genius Zone and high impact?
Most CEOs spend their time doing 2s and 3s—when they should be doing 4s only.
Step 3: Design a Week That Reflects Your Role
If your calendar doesn’t match your priorities, your results won’t either.
Designing an Ideal CEO Week means blocking time for:
Strategy thinking and planning
Leadership meetings (not micro-managing)
Deep work or “white space” to think
Recovery—because tired brains don’t make million-dollar decisions
Pro tip: colour-code your calendar into categories (Strategy, Admin, People, Vision). You’ll quickly see if your week is aligned—or wildly off-course.
Step 4: Build a Team That Doesn’t Need You (All the Time)
The best CEOs are not the busiest ones—they’re the ones who’ve built the strongest teams.
Start with this simple rule:
Don’t just hire for help. Hire for headspace.
That means creating clear roles, responsibilities, and rhythms—so your team knows what to do without waiting for your green light.
Build:
SOPs and systems for consistency
Decision-making guidelines (“If X, do Y”)
Weekly check-ins, not daily hand-holding
Your job is to coach your team, not control them.
Step 5: Run Your Business Like a Grown-Up Company
This might sting a little—but most service businesses run like glorified hobbies until they hit a wall.
If you want to truly scale, you need:
A weekly leadership rhythm
A living strategic plan
Real KPIs to track progress
Systematic delegation
The shift is subtle but powerful: from doing the work to designing the machine that does the work.
Bonus: Stop Being the Firefighter
When every issue comes to you, you’re not the CEO—you’re the chief firefighter.
Try this instead:
Redirect: “Who else can solve this?”
Delay: “Is this urgent or just loud?”
Document: “Can we systemise this for next time?”
Your team will learn. Your business will grow. And you’ll finally have space to focus on the big moves.
Real Talk: This Won’t Be Easy (At First)
Letting go feels weird. You’ll worry about quality, speed, and whether anyone else “gets it.”
But here’s the truth: nothing scales if you don’t.
Your business can’t grow past your capacity.
Your team can’t step up if you never step back.
Your vision can’t expand if you’re stuck in email.
So start small. Delegate one thing. Block one Genius Zone. Create one weekly CEO ritual. You’ll build momentum from there.
Practical Takeaways
Block 2 hours this week to map your Genius Zone
Use the CEO Time Filter for every new task
Design your Ideal CEO Week and protect it
Delegate 1 admin or delivery task this week
Run your first “CEO hour” on Friday to review and reset
Want to Create a Week That Actually Works?
If you’re ready to step out of the weeds and into true CEO mode, grab the Coachbirds Strategic Planner Pack.
It includes our Ideal Week template, strategic planning prompts, and a simple system to design a business (and calendar) you actually want to own.
Download it here: https://go.coachbirds.com/lm6