Do you know what is the secret for being a successful high-powered executive? Do you know what makes some of the high-profile CEOs in business today so successful? The answer isn’t their education or sense for business. It is that they work from home for 90-minutes each morning so that they can concentrate on their important tasks for the day without interruption. Professor Sune Carlson’s groundbreaking 1951 study, Executive Behavior, systematically observed Swedish CEOs, revealing their work as a chaotic mix of interruptions, conversations, and short, and fragmented tasks.
This means that most CEOs are interrupted every 20-minutes throughout the workday. I am sure that many of you can relate to this phenomenon, especially those in management or high-level executive positions.
The other reason that many CEOs and executives spend the first 2-3 hours a day working in solitary is that the first 1-3 hours of each day are the best times for our brains to focus on tasks and goals. This is the best time to accomplish the most important tasks for the entire day.
For the first 30-minutes of my day, before I check my phone, emails or anything work or other related, I take time for myself. Whether it is to stretch, meditate or just think about the day, I use those minutes to gain clarity of some sort before the chaos begins.
From there, I spend 60-90 minutes in the home office checking emails, reviewing my calendar for the day and preparing for the events that are on my calendar. This time allows me to focus without interruption.
I am usually more productive and get more done in those 90 minutes that in the rest of the day (outside of seeing clients). As Carlson’s researched shows, the 90 minutes at home or in solitude are game changers. I know some of clients take the first 90 minutes of their day in the office to do similar tasks without disruption. Many of my clients get to the office before everyone else to have the peace and quite without interruption.
During this period, it is important that you focus on personal and professional goals. It is important to write down your goals. According to psychology professor Dr. Gail Matthews, you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals just by writing them down. Dr. Matthew’s study, The Impact of Commitment, Accountability, and Written Goals on Goal Achievement
Other tasks that can be accomplished during this 90-minute period can be reviewing and planning your day. Prioritizing meetings and conversations that need to take place. Understanding where and how your time will be spent and utilized to its best ability allows you to prioritize tasks that are most important down to the tasks that you should not focus much of your time on. This is also a great time to make decisions, especially important ones that need to be made thoughtfully and not in a rush and without understanding the data to make the needed verdict.
How many of you can honestly say that they spend 60-90 minutes each day uninterrupted. If you currently utilize this philosophy, what other tasks do you like to perform and deem Important during this time?
Don’t think that you can accomplish this or think it is a waste of time, reach out to me and let’s debate or discuss. Let’s work together to allow you to continue to be a high-level thinker and high achieving individual.
