Y
Upper Midwest Alliance of YMCAs
Leadership Without Longer Hours
Three tools you can use this week — and share with the people you lead.
The Mission Filter
The Big Three
The Anchor and Return
1
Tool 1
The Mission Filter
Do it. Delegate it. Defer it. Drop it.
When any request, task, or meeting invite arrives, run it through four questions in 10 seconds. Every item gets one answer — no maybes.
Do it
Advances my mission AND only I can do it right now.
Delegate it
Needs to happen, but not necessarily by me. Who specifically?
Defer it
Matters, but not today. Put a real date on it — or it's a lie.
Drop it
Doesn't advance my mission. Drop it without guilt.
Use it weekly for inbox triage, calendar review, and to-do list audit. A deferred drop it is just guilt you carry for six months.
2
Tool 2
The Big Three
Three written priorities every Monday that make everything else easier to say no to.
Every Monday, complete this sentence three times
"This week is a success if I accomplish: ___."
Exactly three. Not two, not five.
Written down — not in your head. Phone notes, sticky note, journal.
Specific enough that on Friday you can answer yes or no to each one.
At least one should involve your people — not just your tasks.
For Peer Community Leaders: one of your Big Three can be a peer community action — one call improvement, one personal outreach, or one thing you hand off to a member.
3
Tool 3
The Anchor and Return
Interruptions don't steal your time. They steal your re-entry. This fixes that.
Re-entry after an interruption takes an average of 23 minutes with no anchor — and under 5 seconds with one. Works standing up, in a hallway, mid-conversation.
1
Anchor — before you turn away
Say one sentence to yourself — your specific next action, not your general task. "I'm writing the third agenda question." Out loud or under your breath. Five seconds. That's your bookmark.
2
Filter — before you fully engage
One silent question: does this actually need me right now, or does it just feel that way? If yes — full attention. If no — on the list, return immediately. Most interruptions feel urgent. Most aren't.
3
Return — say the anchor again
When the interruption is done, speak the anchor phrase once more. "Third agenda question." Full speed re-entry. No hunting, no warm-up, no lost momentum.
Before you turn away, say where you are. When you come back, say it again.
The only rule that matters
The best tool is the one you actually use.
Pick one. Try it this week. Then share it with someone you lead.
On habits
Tools don't work. Habits do. Pick one and use it every day for two weeks before you decide if it works.