Be it office meetings or signing approval sheets or negotiating contracts or recruiting the right candidate a CEO needs to be always at the top of his task. There is so much to do but there are only twenty four (24) hours in a day. One of the most known facts about a CEO is that they read a lot. But how do you think they get all the time to read books when they are already tied up in so many tasks and yet deliver their best.
After thorough research and interviews taken by Ukiyoto Publishing of few top most CEOs, here are some parameters to look at for effective time management,
1. Planning - The foremost important task of a CEO is to have the ability to multitask extremely fast and with perfection. It is worth keeping an hour’s time in the day to first plan out the tasks on priority and then start executing them.
Without planning, most of the tasks seem to get missed out and require them to be taken up the next day again. No matter how much technology oriented time has become, the top management skills still yield best planning productivity when the tasks for the day are written down.
For example, Marissa Meyer, CEO of Yahoo, opts for old-fashioned things to do list and says she would prefer writing her daily tasks down at times than taking the digital line.
2. Simplification - Having a clear mind to be focussed and know what is to be done when is one of the most important requirements to multitask effectively. Successful executives streamline their work and seek Zen-like focus. Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan says he has spent a lot of time in streamlining the way meetings are administered allocating specific time to them according to priority.
3. Using technology - With tons of emails coming in everyday, several messages pouring in and daily trackers to work on, it has become essential to make use of the technology and most of it on mobile while on the move to save time and at the same time stay connected. Certain tools include Any Meetings for webinars, Trello for tracking projects and deadlines and Parallel Space for maintaining two Watsapp, Facebook or any other accounts on the same phone.
I use e-mail and desktop folders and my online calendar, says Bill Gates. "So when I walk up to my desk, I can focus on the e-mails I've flagged and check the folders that are monitoring particular projects.” Quote Courtesy: business.com
4. Disciplined daily habits - Waking up early! This is really tough but an analysis of our CEOs show almost 80% of them wake up at around 5am. The energy received in the morning after a good night’s sleep is supposed to be more powerful and refreshing to start the day than stretch late at night.
A typical schedule of a top management executive goes as,
5:30am - Wake Up
6:00am to 7:30am - Exercise and go for walking
8:00am to 9:00am - Reach Office
9:00am to 7:00pm - Work at Office
7:30pm to 10:00pm - Family time with dinner
10:00pm to 10:30pm - Finish personal tasks (if any)
10:30pm Latest - Goto sleep
Controlling the diet and daily food habits is another factor in making these top honchos work with constant energy and vibe. They have almost negligible fat and oil and a meal full of fruits, nuts, carbs and proteins. The breakfast starts with a sumptuous meal followed by a moderate sized lunch and very less dinner with minimal in between meals.
5. Reading - Read a lot! The best way to invest in your self is learning. There is no end to learning and gathering the gamut of knowledge in any space. Warren Buffet was supposed to have read between 600 to 1000 pages per day when he started his investing career and he still devotes about 80% of his time in the day reading. The CEOs we have interview take their time out either during lunch or post dinner to at least read around 50 to 100 pages in day tolerant more about the changing technologies, changes in the government policies, new ideas and different scaling techniques.
6. Strategising - Finally all that comes back to in the day is the strategising the given time. Plan, prioritise and execute are the three most simple yet powerful strategies to be followed to make an impacting career, rise up the ladder and gain the ability to multitask with perfection.
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