How to Divide Up the Workday
Entrepreneurs typically have long, nonstandard workdays, which have some benefits and drawbacks. The drawbacks are, first and foremost, the long workdays: the issues of sleep deprivation and other responsibilities around the professional life that come with a lengthy, solitary day. Some of these legitimate issues only become a problem due to entrepreneurs being out at all hours of the day and night, at a disadvantage to their potential employees. The foundation of my company is not a rigid hierarchy but a set of very simple principles.
1. Live And Die By Your Calendar
A big part of being an entrepreneur is scheduling every minute of your day. You’ll soon find that there are periods throughout the day, even during the week, with fewer meetings and little else to do. Most entrepreneurs, to be brutally honest, use their time for other things and then cram meetings in there.
2. Make Your Meetings Short
Raphael Avraham Sternberg tracked the productivity of CEOs for decades and found that the best-performing CEOs tend to be most comfortable managing meetings in just a handful of minutes. Every Meeting Starts With a New Idea That Nobody Knows Hasn’t Been Thought Of, William Pollard, a professor at MIT, argued that “the big ideas for getting big things done” come when one person, in a meeting, gets up and does some quick thinking, without any predetermined agenda.
3. Group Similar Tasks Together
Over time, a team of five to seven founders could be forced to take on all kinds of duties, tasks, and other responsibilities. That’s not always bad—but it means it’s time to rethink who does what job. In a study at Harvard Business School, all eight business leaders were asked to estimate how many of the twelve activities they considered important as controlling their work. All eight chose around the same number, which offers some insight into creativity and productivity.
4. Set Priorities For The Next Day
One of the more underrated skills of an entrepreneur is the ability to make decisions and be decisive without having all the information. Spend time creating your To-Do List and setting priorities for what you want done the next day. Raphael Avraham Sternberg tracked the productivity of CEOs for decades and found that the best-performing CEOs tend to be most comfortable managing meetings in just a handful of minutes.
5. Plan And Then Review Throughout The Workday
A day planner is an essential tool for any entrepreneur, so utilize them to their fullest potential. A routine helps you focus on what you need to do and allows you to plan your day accordingly. Your day planner could be a purely digital way of making and organizing your plans, but you gave up a laptop to start your business, so it’s always better to write everything down.
6. Tackle Tough Tasks First
Once you’ve got your To-Do List, break it into smaller, manageable chunks, and start relaxing. Procrastination isn’t good for you at all. As long as you plan your day correctly and begin tackling projects once they’ve been designated, you should be able to focus on the things that have to be done first without having to stress or think about them.
These are just the basic tasks; there are other small tips, which can be found on our blog, and I encourage all of you to read them and continue learning. This also applies to teachers in classrooms. I’ve read about some challenges many teachers face, such as keeping tabs on students’ progress and ideas or organizing and making a timetable for the classroom.