5 CEOs
share their best productivity tips
Find
out how these heads of growing companies get things done.
When you’re running a growing company, many
issues compete for your attention. From human resources priorities to
operational issues to growth plans, you’ve got to fit all the needs of your
company into your day. So it’s not surprising that CEOs have developed some
effective productivity practices and tips. Here, some successful company heads
share their go-to methods for getting it all done.
KEEP YOUR HIGH-ENERGY TIMES OPEN
Sallie Krawcheck, founder and CEO of Ellevest, a goal-based
investing platform for women:
I have spent a lot of time figuring out how I
work best and when I’m most productive. I organize my day around that.
I am most creative first thing in the morning and, somehow bizarrely, after I
turn out the light at night. I really try to leave time open in the morning
because, many days, I wake up with a rush of ideas and I don’t want to lose
them. The team here knows they’re going to get the 4 a.m. Slack from me. The
rule is they don’t have to answer until they get in later.
Also, I can sit all night trying to think,
but as I’m going to sleep, then the ideas come. I keep the iPhone next to the
bed, and will often have five or six things come to mind. That way, I can just
jot them down and not lose them.
FOCUS ON THE 5%
Bedros Keuilian, founder and CEO of Fit Body Boot Camp, a fast-growing group fitness training brand:
A few years ago, I was trying to do almost
everything myself, like thinking up marketing campaigns, managing our team,
handling customer support, doing bookkeeping, writing payroll checks, creating
social media content, and more. I was running out of time, feeling stressed and
quickly burning out.
Then it hit me: Only 5% of the things I do
are tasks that actually move the money needle, and those were the critical
things that I needed to focus on 100% of the time. Everything else can be delegated to team members or
subcontractors who have the skill sets and abilities
to perform the job. This has been a game-changer for my business as we continue
to have massive growth year after year.
BE RUTHLESS ABOUT ELIMINATING INTERRUPTIONS
Dustin Moskovitz, CEO of Asana, a productivity and project management platform:
My biggest hurdle to productivity is interruptions.
To accomplish something that requires deep thinking, I need to have at least an
hour–ideally two to three–of contiguous free time on my calendar. This requires
careful planning of group meetings that I do need to attend, and diligence to
avoid unnecessary engagements.
We practice “No Meeting Wednesdays” to ensure
that everyone at the company gets a large block of time to focus on heads-down
work without having to fit it in between meetings. This may be our most
valuable cultural practice, and I encourage every company to consider adopting
it.
Additionally, we reflect frequently on
whether our group activities are getting enough ROI to justify the interrupt
and time expenditure. Recently, we decided to cut the number of all-hands
meetings almost by half to give more time back to the team for focused work.
DEFINE THE GOAL
Andrew Lansing, president and CEO of Levy Restaurants, an innovative food service and hospitality brand:
I have found that these three steps can
overcome any productivity hurdle:
First, the entire team should identify what
the true goal is for a project, and make sure everyone involved is focused on
that goal.
Second, we determine if there is a true finite ending, even if we
can’t yet see what it is.
Finally, we identify the various challenges standing
in the way of achieving that ending and force ourselves to ignore anything that
doesn’t help us overcome those challenges.
It’s easy to avoid the obvious distractions
like unnecessary meetings,
but it’s the innocuous distractions that can do real damage to productivity.
They often seem small, and there can be an immediate satisfaction in dealing
with them, but they inevitably turn into major time drains and take your focus
away from where it needs to be.
GET IDEAS OUT OF YOUR HEAD
Carl Dorvil, founder and CEO of GEX Management, a
publicly traded professional employer organization:
I can sometimes get caught in my head.
The challenge for me is that my head gets so crammed with stuff that I feel
overwhelmed. I need to communicate and delegate. So I’ve identified someone
whom I’ve worked with for a long time who knows me well. I regularly have brain
drain sessions with her. Sometimes we use a dry erase board. Other times we
just write on the office window. Not pretty, but effective. Writing out what
we’re discussing creates a linear map we can follow. Once the thoughts inside
me get to the outside, she then helps me identify who on our team can pull
weight and in what direction. It’s helped me see that I’m not alone and that we
have resources other than myself to execute tasks.
I also manage my business conversations. I’ve
learned that not only do I have a short attention span, but some people just
like to hear themselves talk. And others drag on with necessary detail. With
only a few exceptions, I now limit meetings to one hour. I also set parameters
before we launch and then remind those in the meeting periodically how much
time we have remaining. It helps keep us on point and makes us more efficient.
BY GWEN MORAN
https://www.fastcompany.com/40588089/5-ceos-share-their-best-productivity-tips?utm_source=postup&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Fast%20Company%20Daily&position=5&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=07022018
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