Getting Better While Getting It Done: How Busy Leaders Carve Out Time for Continuous Learning

If I guessed you feel buried under overflowing inboxes, would I win the bet? Today’s relentless pace leaves leaders starved for time to regularly expand perspectives, but the insights from new ideas and interactions are increasingly crucial for those of us leading teams through times of unprecedented change and uncertainty. How can we, as leaders, remain dedicated learn-it-alls when simply keeping up has us running as fast as we can?

Tune Up Your Mindset

First, recalibrate assumptions that learning demands long seminars or reading piles of books. While formal and self-directed learning both help us level up, integrating small, intentional learning habits into existing routines compounds benefits over time. Like committed athletes, leaders seeking growth must employ steady, incremental progress.

The key lies in blending learning into existing routines without forcing unnatural additions to overpacked schedules. Work learning into the pace and flow of each busy week. Reframe every conversation, article, and experience as a growth invitation rather than a task demand or distraction. With the right mindset shift, we transform previously mundane moments into learning opportunities.

3 Ways to Bring Learning to Life

If expanding perspectives equips us to lead amid complexity, how can we invite more learning moments as we juggle pressing priorities amid our everyday responsibilities?

1.    Consume Content Strategically 

Carve out small spaces for reading broadly - while commuting, before meetings start, or during quick lunch breaks. Mix up sources and topics rather than defaulting only to industry perspectives. Flag meaningful passages worth revisiting and take notes. Developing consistent curiosity counts more than randomly digesting long articles sporadically when frustration peaks.

2.    Engage People Generously  

Schedule video chats focused fully on deepening connections through curiosity about others’ experiences. You can learn something from anyone. Ask peers about the podcasts they’re listening to and the books they’re reading. Attend conferences not just to present but to listen, pose questions, and learn.

3.    Mine Life’s Challenges  

When faced with setbacks or disappointments, rather than getting frustrated or discouraged, lean in and look for the lessons. How can this difficulty prepare you to better serve people facing hardship? Difficult emotions often signal important growth happening just below the surface, if we’re willing to look deeper.

Wrap Up

Although it can seem like the less time we have for learning the more important it becomes, learning new ways of learning resolves the paradox. The key is finding tiny traction points and integrating skill-building into existing routines.

Much like athletes interspersing brief, focused drills between games and practices, intentionally mining insights from content, connections and challenges in spare minutes compounds returns. Tiny gains add up, leading to bigger capabilities over time. Consistent curiosity, humility and simply prioritizing growth serve pragmatic leaders well and equip us to better lead our teams out of busyness and overwhelm into better business and success.