As leaders we are expected to get a lot done -- and we do. We are prolific both from the nature of the work we do and from the nature of life itself.

Mostly, our work is composed of three elements. The immediate challenges -- the work that must be done -- consumes about 40% of our time if we are to believe the time management gurus. This is our "firefighting" work, or "today's emergency," but each day has its own challenges and we are obliged to take them on.

Then there is routine, or "maintenance activities" as we often call them. The good news is that with automation and delegation, the routine stuff can take up less time than ever before. Still, most of us spend 40% of our time with routine.

That leaves about 20% of our time for being creative, getting to those important things that seem to get pushed off forever and spending time with ourselves, or about 12 minutes an hour.

Twelve minutes an hour doesn't sound like much until you consider that in any hour we manage to accumulate 3 extra minutes for the important things we give ourselves a productivity surge of 25%. And any productivity gains through technology and delegation give us the potential to generate even more sustained creative time.

As 24/7/365 (or 366 in a leap year) becomes more the norm, our challenge is to compress the routine and continuously improve so as to minimize the firefighting (but without increasing the overall number of hours actually committed to working), while increasing and savoring those creative moments.

Understanding these typical benchmarks (40-40-20) gives us a way to measure our progress -- at work and in the rest of our lives. It also shows us that focusing on improving the quality, and quantity, of 12 minutes is where we will find our greatest return.

How many of us are more successful at work than at home, or in our communities, or in maintaining our bodies at strong performance levels, or in keeping faith with ourselves? Are we leading responsibly in all areas of our lives or are we on a losing streak that just hasn't caught up with us yet?

THOUGHT TO ACTION:: Take stock of your world and your leadership roles. If you are not providing the leadership in each area that you are capable of, FIX IT. Only you can! Your quality of life and any legacy you may wish to leave (financial, inspirational, familial, or other) depend solely on YOU. What will you do?