How To Be a More Productive CEO
One of the biggest complaints we hear from our clients is that there isn’t enough time to do all of the tasks they want to get done in a day.
Time management—the practice of optimizing your workday to be more productive—isn’t an easy task. This is especially true for CEOs, who manage high-stakes and high-pressure tasks across multiple departments in a company.
But if you fail to manage your time effectively, you’re headed straight for burnout. Your team deserves a leader who can keep things calm and balanced—and that starts with how you manage your time. Here are five of our coaches’ top tips to become more productive (and get some time back for yourself, too):
1. Take Care of Your Health First
We often think of our health as last on the priority list, but you won’t be productive if you aren’t taking care of your needs first.
“It may sound strange to put your health in terms of time hacks, but it really is important. You’ll find with a clear head and better feeling that you’re not going to be sluggish,” says CEO Coach Greg Coticchia. “It’s going to make you a better leader and a better thinker. You’ll be in a better position to get things done.”
Maintaining a strong work-life balance requires creating boundaries between your personal life and your work life, and honoring the boundaries your team creates, too. Whether you’re managing a well-established multi-million dollar business or are getting something off the ground, you need to be able to step away.
2. Hack Your Week
The more disciplined you can get with organizing your week, the more productive you’ll be. You likely already have a cadence of weekly meetings but create more structure for your week by setting meetings with yourself. Frame your week with two planning sessions at the beginning and end of your week, to set goals and then to reflect on what went well and needs improvement.
“Where people trip up is that everything can’t be a priority,” says Coticchia. “Everything to everyone is nothing to no one. So make sure you can prioritize your tasks however makes sense to you.”
Greg suggests using the Eisenhower method, which ranks to-dos based on their level of urgency and importance. But a simple priority ranking will do.
Time your week based on your own rhythms. If you know you come into work tired on Thursdays because of a late-night yoga class or kid’s soccer game on Wednesday nights, then don’t schedule your deep thinking or strategic work for that morning. And get it on the calendar—the only person who will hold the time for you is you.
3. Time Block for Important Projects
But time blocking isn’t limited to your week. You can also evaluate your to-do’s on a daily basis based on your rhythms.
“You need to understand what you’re good at, when and what part of the day, and blocking that time off so you can be the most productive person you can be,” says Coticchia. “It comes down to your work habits.”
Greg recommends the Pomodoro Technique if you’ve been struggling with focus. This well-known time management hack gives you 25 minutes of work and a 5-minute break using a timer. With only 25 minutes to finish a task, you have to focus.
Either way, you want your time blocking to best follow your natural rhythms so you can better sustain your focus. Trying to do your detail-oriented, tricky work during the mid-afternoon slump may not be the way to go (instead, schedule meetings that energize you or take a break during that time!) The more you understand how you best get your work done, the more you can make the most of each day.
4. Standardize Your Weekly 1:1s
If you’re like most CEOs, you’re probably drowning in meetings. You can make your 1:1s with your direct reports more efficient by standardizing them to follow the same format: Results-Progress-Issues (RPI).
“It may seem like adding meetings to your list doesn’t save you time, but trust me, this way people don’t have to chase you down,” says CEO Coach John Giegerich. “Consolidating quality discussion into 1:1 meetings allows you to focus on results, review your weekly scorecard with top metrics, and figure out what needs your attention.”
The important thing about your 1:1 meetings? The employee owns the meeting. They should bring the agenda and drive the conversation on how their team is doing, what you need to know, and what they need your help with.
Your job? Keep saying, “What else?” or “What’s getting in the way?” Listening to your team gets you all on the same page and empowers them to do their work more effectively. This opens you up to focus on the big-picture, high-priority activities.
5. Eat That Frog!
Sometimes, we have tasks we just really, really don’t want to do.
The idea of “eating the frog” comes from a productivity book of the same name by Brian Tracy. In it, he recommends doing the task that’s the most important, difficult task for your day first thing in the morning.
John recommends choosing your most productive time period for when you tackle your “frog,” but the point is to suck it up and get it done. “I have a client who is a night owl. For Wednesday’s most important thing, for example, he doesn’t wait until Wednesday night. He does it the night before so it’s done and he doesn’t have to worry about it,” says Giegerich.
If you have lots of “frogs” to work with (and who doesn’t, as a busy CEO), then tackle the meanest, ugliest one first. Whatever it is you’re dreading—go do it.
Become a more productive leader with CEO Coaching International
Sometimes, the gap between wanting to get more done and actually doing it feels too big to bridge on your own. Hiring an executive coach can help you better identify which activities are worth delegating to your team — and which to leave behind. Whether it’s helping access your team’s time management or holding you accountable for your strategic vision, our coaches are here to help you make BIG happen. Connect with a CEO Coach for a complimentary coaching session >
About CEO Coaching International
CEO Coaching International works with CEOs and their leadership teams to achieve extraordinary results quarter after quarter, year after year. Known globally for its success in coaching growth-focused entrepreneurs to meaningful exits, CEO Coaching International has coached more than 1,000 CEOs and entrepreneurs in more than 60 countries and 45 industries. The coaches at CEO Coaching International are former CEOs, presidents, or executives who have made BIG happen. The firm’s coaches have led double-digit sales and profit growth in businesses ranging in size from startups to over $10 billion, and many are founders that have led their companies through successful eight, nine, and ten-figure exits. Companies working with CEO Coaching International for two years or more have experienced an average EBITDA CAGR of 53.5% during their time as a client, more than three times the U.S. average, and a revenue CAGR of 26.2%, nearly twice the U.S. average.
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