Peak Performers by Tiffany Uman

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3 ways to stop wasting time (and get ahead faster!)

July 21, 2025

Thank you for joining my Peak Performers newsletter! Every Monday, we share practical tips and scripts to help you land the roles you want, thrive with confidence at work and grow faster.

We’re halfway through the year. And yet, this is where most people make a critical mistake.

They pause. They assume summer’s quiet and that fall will be the time to “pick things back up.”

Wrong! While others pull back, this is your moment to move ahead.

Promotions don’t wait for your timing.
Hiring cycles don’t stall until you feel ready.
And better opportunities? They go to those who are already taking action.

And most importantly, companies are making hiring and promotion decisions right now.

In the last 2 weeks alone, our clients are winning big:

✅ Lisa landed her dream role and a $330K comp package in less than 8 weeks
✅ Tracey secured a new VP role and $400K comp package
✅ Paula earned a Senior Director promotion internally with multi 5-figure raise
✅ Silvia received a $550K job offer
✅ Katie was promoted to her next-level promotion in a couple of short months

They didn’t wait until they felt “ready.” They got strategic now.
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​You get to decide how the rest of this year plays out.

To help you with that, here's 3 ways to stop wasting time on things that keep you stuck and start landing the career moves you want faster.

3 ways to stop wasting time on the wrong things

1. Prioritize with mid-year urgency

At this point in the year, your time and focus need to be aligned with your biggest goals, not just your busiest tasks.

That means ruthless prioritization: focusing your energy on what actually moves the needle for your career. Not what feels urgent. Not what fills your calendar. But what gets you closer to the role, recognition, or promotion you’ve been working so hard towards.

You can’t afford to waste another day, week or month on reactive work that doesn’t serve your growth.

Here’s how to shift into high-impact mode fast:

→ Use the Eisenhower Box weekly: Sort all your tasks into 4 key categories. Spend the majority of your time in the first 2 categories below, as that's where real progress happens.

• Important and urgent
• Important but not urgent
• Not important but urgent
• Not important and not urgent

→ Set your daily top 3: Each morning, identify the 3 tasks that will have the most significant impact on your career goals or performance outcomes. These become your non-negotiables for the day.

→ Audit your week, every week: Every Friday, review where your time went. What moved you forward? What distracted you? Adjust your focus for the week ahead so it’s tied directly to your goals.

Pro tip: Create a simple Google Sheet with 3 columns: Task, Time, and % of Total Time.

• Track how you’re spending your week
• Color-code your tasks using the Eisenhower Matrix
• See where your time is misaligned and shift accordingly

You can even use this as a tool with your boss when discussing workload adjustments and propose your ideal breakdown to push back where necessary. This is exactly what my client Michelle did and she continues to leverage these strategies to prioritize her time towards the right things.

2. Time block like your goals depend on it (because they do)

Your calendar isn’t just a schedule. How you manage it is a critical strategy.

If you’re serious about making moves by the fall, you can’t afford to let your time get hijacked by meetings, Slack messages, or everyone else’s “quick asks.”

That’s where intentional time blocking becomes your secret weapon.
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It transforms your calendar into a focused, high-performance tool. One that helps you protect time for what matters most and actually builds momentum on your biggest goals.

→ Carve out deep work blocks: Reserve uninterrupted time for your highest-priority work. These can be projects that require strategy, creativity, or visibility. Communicate these to your team and manager so they understand not to schedule over them. Protect your most productive hours so you perform at a higher level.

→ Build in buffer time: Avoid the trap of over-scheduling. Instead, plan around the worst-case duration of a task, not the ideal. For example, if you think a project will take 2 hours, block the full time. Finish early? Great, you’ve earned time back. Overestimate and you build trust. Underestimate and you build stress.

→ Designate time for emails and meetings: Don’t let these creep into your deep work zones. Instead, allocate windows to handle them and be proactive about setting expectations. For example:

→ Review + reset daily: At the end of each day, take 10 minutes to check what worked, what didn’t, and what’s next. Adjust your time blocks for the next day, and pre-plan your week with intention, not reaction.

Pro tip: Use Friday afternoons to map your top 3 priorities for the following week and already block time for them before others fill your calendar. This way, even if new things come up the next week, you remain in control and can adapt more easily.

[Check out my free LinkedIn Learning nano-course Nano Tips to Fast-Track Your Career]

3. Delegate like someone who's levelling up

If you’re still doing everything yourself, you’re not just busy, you’ll remain stuck.

Yes, it might feel “easier” to handle things on your own because you can do them faster or better. But that mindset? It keeps you in the weeds and prevents you from showing up at the level you’re meant to lead at.

With half the year done, your time is too valuable to be spent on things others can (and should) be doing.
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Delegation isn’t offloading, it’s optimizing. It’s about shifting your energy toward higher-level, more strategic work that positions you for promotions and new roles, visibility, and growth.

Here’s how to do it effectively:

→ Identify what only you can do: Look at your current workload and ask, “What truly requires my expertise?” Anything outside that list becomes your delegation starting point. Bonus: Delegating also creates development opportunities for others on your team so it's a win-win when framed correctly.

→ Match the task to the right person: Delegate to people whose skills or goals align with the task. Not only will this increase the chance of success, it builds goodwill and motivation across your team. If needed, partner with your boss to align on the delegation plan so it’s supported at the top.

→ Set clear expectations and coach others where needed: Great delegation doesn’t mean disappearing from the map. Be clear about goals, deadlines, and desired outcomes but give enough space for ownership. You can also offer guidance, feedback, and check-ins to support progress without hovering.

→ Let go and empower: Micromanagement kills trust and momentum more than anything. Instead, show confidence in your team’s ability to deliver. That vote of trust often becomes the very reason they succeed.

Pro tip: When delegating, be explicit about why you’re giving someone the task, especially how it ties to their strengths or future growth path. You’ll get stronger buy-in, better results, and more freedom to operate at your next level. For example:

[Check out my free LinkedIn Learning nano-course Nano Tips for Handling Difficult Work Situations]

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This week’s mission: Use these 3 strategies to stop wasting time on things that keep you stuck.

• Audit your time with honesty. Pick 1 typical workday this week and track every task you complete: meetings, emails, deep work, admin, etc. At the end of the day, label each task using the Eisenhower Matrix: Important/Urgent, Important/Not Urgent, etc. Then ask yourself: Where did most of my time go and what needs to shift?​
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• Time block your top 3 priorities. Choose your 3 highest-impact goals for the week and block dedicated time for each in your calendar. These blocks should be non-negotiable and free from distractions, meetings, or multitasking. Add buffer time to avoid overcommitment, and clearly communicate your availability to your team or manager.
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• Delegate 1 task by Friday. Pick 1 task that doesn’t need your direct involvement and identify the right person to take it on. When you delegate, explain why it’s a good fit for them and how it connects to their strengths or development.

You've got this!

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