Our aim at Athena is to give you your time back so you can spend it in the ways that matter most.

In each issue of our newsletter you’ll get unique delegation tips and leadership inspiration.

The Tokyo Bullet Train's 7-Minute Cleaning Miracle

At Tokyo Station, a 1,000-passenger bullet train pulls in at 11:53 AM.

Passengers flood out carrying luggage, leaving behind newspapers, coffee cups, and crumbs scattered across 16 cars.

By 12:00 PM sharp, the same train departs spotless.

What happens in those seven minutes?

Enter "the angels in pink" — teams of cleaning women who transform chaos into perfection with surgical precision.

Each cleaner owns a specific zone.

The woman assigned to seats flips each cushion in a three-second sequence: lift, wipe, check, rotate.

Her partner works the windows with a specialized squeegee that eliminates streaks in two smooth strokes.

Meanwhile, the restroom specialist restocks supplies while simultaneously scrubbing surfaces with tools designed specifically for train bathrooms.

Every tool has its place.

Every motion eliminates waste.

Every second counts.

These women average 68 years old. They take immense pride in their work, bowing to departing passengers and arriving early to review their zones. Many have worked the same car assignments for decades, perfecting their individual methods.

When cleaners suggest changes like swapping out heavy vacuum attachments for lighter ones, it’s resolved within weeks.

The magic happens when frontline expertise meets organizational support. The cleaners know exactly where passengers spill drinks most often, which seats collect the most debris, and how to clean efficiently without damaging delicate train interiors.

Seven minutes for one thousand passengers worth of mess.

Spotless.

Every single time.

The drag of tiny tasks

Big projects rarely derail your week. It’s the five-minute ones that do.

Here are 3 ways to spot them before they bury you:

1. Cognitive load check

Notice which small things leave you mentally drained.

Back-to-school season can feel like a second job: parking permits, emergency kits, PE schedules, ten school emails that all read like legal contracts. By the end, your brain is spent before work even begins.

2. Decision fatigue scan

Watch for repetitive choices that don’t need your judgment.

Should we renew Canva Pro again? Which three of the twenty “must-attend” conferences should I show up to next year?

None of these require your expertise, yet they burn the same energy as a real strategic decision.

3. Friction map

Track the moments you sigh and stall.

Booking flights, hotels, cars, dinners, and meeting locations for one business trip. Filing expense reports with an $87 dinner receipt, a $22 printer charge, and a last-minute $343 flight change. Each one feels like sand in the gears.

Once you’ve seen where the drag lives, you know what to hand off. That’s the essence of micro-delegation: trading dozens of interruptions for a single, well-trained assistant who can clear them before they hit your desk.