The Hidden Cost of DIY Life Management: Why Executives Lose 720 Hours a Year
- Geenay Laubscher
- Oct 20
- 2 min read
Executives are experts at valuing time. They know the cost of a delayed project, the drag of an unproductive meeting, the compounding effect of distraction. Yet many overlook one of the greatest drains on their capacity - the hours they spend quietly managing life logistics.
It looks harmless on the surface: a flight booking here, a school application there, a diary reshuffle after an unexpected clash. But when added together, these fragments form a pattern that erodes focus and energy. For most high performers, the total loss is staggering: ten to fifteen hours each week, more than seven hundred hours a year. That is the equivalent of almost three working weeks spent on tasks that should be invisible.
The Unseen Drain
Time lost to “life admin” rarely announces itself. It slips in through constant notifications, late-night emails, or calendar gaps filled with errands that cannot be delegated to a PA. Visas, household management, last-minute reservations, family logistics; none of these wait politely for space in the schedule. They intrude, and they accumulate.
The cost is not only numerical. Decision fatigue builds silently. Executives already tasked with strategic thinking find themselves depleting the same reserves on personal logistics. By the end of the week, the energy that should be spent on leadership is consumed by the minutiae of daily life.
Why Delegation Isn’t Enough
Many attempt to solve this drain by leaning on assistants or household staff. Valuable though they are, these roles remain task-focused. They react, they execute, but they do not anticipate. The result is firefighting - helpful in the moment, but insufficient as a structure.
What is required is foresight. Not a service that ticks items off a list, but an office that builds the infrastructure of life so that problems never arise in the first place.
The ROI of Foresight
Consider the value of reclaiming fifteen hours each week. For one of our clients, it meant finally launching an investment vehicle that had been sitting in planning for months. For another, it created the space to recover from years of burnout. For a family relocating internationally, it meant arriving in a new country to find their school places secured, their home ready, and their calendars already in rhythm.
The outcomes vary, but the pattern is the same: clarity replaces chaos, and time is invested in what truly matters - not in chasing details that can and should be invisible.
The Time Audit
The first step towards reclaiming time is awareness. A personal time audit often surprises even the most disciplined leaders. The realisation that three weeks of the year vanish to life management reframes the cost. Suddenly, the investment in foresight is not a luxury, but a necessity.
A Private Office for Life
At Ten Ahead, our role is not to manage life. It is to anticipate it. To create the structures that mean flights are confirmed, schools are secured, events are orchestrated, and health is prioritised long before stress arrives.
The hidden cost of DIY life management is measured in hours. The return of foresight is measured in clarity, calm, and the confidence of being ten steps ahead.
