70% of Time Could Be Used Better – How the Best CEOs Maximize Every Day

Begin with self-reflection to identify accurate priorities and map between cycle blocks that drive products and customers’ value. Use a rule to write a concise plan, assign assistants for routine tasks, and block time for meetings that advance metrics. Always document a simple article summarizing decisions and next steps.

In practice, structured blocks reduce unproductive sessions and accelerate decisions. An example from a software group shows 30-minute pre-meeting prep lowering back-to-back sessions by 40% and raising decision quality for product launches with assistants pulling data for customers. Always mark progress milestones to track impact and adjust.

Tech-enabled rituals create a predictable cycle of review, feedback, and adjustment. tech insights and data drive this rhythm. A block for cross-functional meetings ensures alignment on products roadmap and customers priorities. Each asks from frontline teams becomes a concrete example of performance metrics. A quick update requires assistants to pull data and keep dashboards accurate.

Avoid treating routines as religious doctrine. Between urgent asks and long-range aims, maintain a cycle that alternates between deep work blocks and quick meetings with customers. A clear rule to close loops, log decisions in an article or product log, and write accurate notes helps teams stay aligned. This approach helped teams shift from isolated effort into cohesive companys operations, rejecting religious rigidity around fixed schedules, with almost measurable gains.

CEO Time Mastery Series

Begin by auditing projects: identify three parts worth funding against noisy tasks.

Set a mark at 21 days for each major endeavor; when results appear, adjust plans with minimal friction.

Executive owns accountability; theyre decisions set direction, and movement circulates across teams from planning through execution to review.

Spent dozens of minutes on meetings; drop them, replace with concise standups and focused sessions.

Cuts in governance reduce redundant approvals; projects progress faster with a single owner per initiative.

Teams tend to drift; counter with fixed daily rituals and clear handoffs between parts of workflow.

Knowledge is reinforced by routine exercises which connect learning with action.

Thanks to disciplined processes, generation becomes aligned; knowledge circulates faster.

With these moves, focus shifts from busywork to high-leverage work, almost every person gains clarity.

When momentum builds, results spread; three or four leaders protect priorities against distractions.

These actions spread across dozens of initiatives, spending energy on what matters most.

Introductions to rapid experiments help teams test ideas; changing routines become normal, not magically.

This thing scales across organizations, from small teams to large networks; your capacity grows with practical steps and consistent reviews.

1 SAY NO: Decline low-impact tasks to protect your core priorities

Decline low-impact requests immediately. Use a 60-second filter: if an action will barely boost your priority, say no. youre response should stay crisp and you prevent breaks that drain focus. A tiny task can erase progress on a major project; however, the risk compounds over days and weeks.

Implement a triage routine: assess impact, required effort, and alignment with your top objective. Whenever a task fails all three tests, drop it. If it passes, delegate or schedule it for later blocks so you keep your radar on high-value work and avoid the death of momentum.

Practical setup: filter communications with sanebox, so cold requests don’t land in your main queue. Create a standard letters reply for low-priority asks and offer a concrete alternative (e.g., connect with an assistant or schedule a quick review). Example templates cut back your back-and-forth and keep your pristine calendar intact.

Leverage your team remotely and virtually: hire assistants focused on busywork, not strategy, so you stay with your core mission. Look for tasks that free up years of your time, not tasks that drain minutes. For an entrepreneur, this is a scalable boost: you reclaim blocks to work on product, strategy, or customer value while others handle routine logistics.

Track and refine: log every declined item and its impact on your priority achievement. Use a simple scorecard, review weekly, and adjust thresholds. Your schedule should reflect a great balance between uninterrupted deep work and coordinated collaboration, keeping your efforts pristine and your momentum steady, with a clear radar for when to push back on distractions and when to launch new focus blocks.

2 BE AN EMAIL NINJA: Triage inbox, craft rapid responses, and batch processing

Begin with a 10-minute inbox triage: flag urgent messages, assign color labels, and draft one-line replies for rapid wins. In addition, your goal is to reduce clutter, protect yourself from distractions, and keep attention on high-value actions with least friction.

Three buckets drive action: urgent items go to attention stack; items needing input join next-in-line; information-only messages move to archive. A third bucket covers messages that require slow decision-making or input from others.

Craft rapid responses: templates save cognitive load; adapt prompts into concise messages: acknowledge, state next step, and ask an open-ended question if input remains; youre able to deliver answers faster.

Batch processing: reserve two blocks daily for replies: 25–30 minutes each, followed by 5-minute reviews. During blocks, avoid new threads; convert remaining items into tasks in your system. Average completion within blocks sits around two-thirds of queue.

Decision-making discipline: use a three-step rule: flag, respond, archive. Build pace by limiting to three action threads per block; never chase each ping. Whenever possible, keep replies tight and focused to reduce distraction for you, all involved.

Introductions matter: when correspondence starts, keep core ask visible; add gifts such as options or suggested next steps. theyre useful to maintain momentum. For postal mail, treat it as one batch: scan, convert to digital task, then address inside batch. suster approach: tag subject lines, separate introductions from actions, and run a final check before sending. Offices and investors expect clear channels; religious discipline about response windows reinforces trust. In addition, look ahead to minimize back-and-forth and keep momentum moving.

Looking at metrics, article notes: track average response for urgent messages; aim for half answered within 30 minutes; monitor running backlog, and adjust rule set. This discipline supports decision-making across teams and reduces plate clutter.

Next steps: pilot this framework in all offices; building trust with investors; gather feedback from team and investors; adjust to look forward, ensuring all involved can look tidy inbox.

3 MANAGE YOUR ENERGY: Schedule deep work when you feel most energized

Reserve a single uninterrupted block when energy peaks; 90 minutes often yields double productivity on demanding tasks. If momentum wanes before 60 minutes, shorten, switch to lighter work, then return later with fresh plan. Track progress by count of completed items (ones) and note impacts on product launch milestones.

Apply a simple system: assign energy slots to top priorities. Prioritize high-impact work such as product design, strategy, or partner outreach. Use one-on-one or solo sessions for alignment, while internal syncs fit into lower-energy windows. Let teammates know route; postal updates keep everyone aligned. Send a concise message after each block and let youve blocked times signal focus; theyre likely to respect boundaries. Shape roadmaps for key products to keep momentum.

Record energy peaks and measure impact: completed tasks, revenue actions, bugs fixed, or decisions made. If a launch is planned, place prep in that peak window; everything else shifts to lower-energy blocks. Keep tiny buffers between deep work and meetings to listen and adjust; if you fail to protect slot, recover by rescheduling and sending invites again. Routinely track impact on productivity; optimize actions to run optimally.

Minimize distractions by tech controls; block alerts during deep work. Post a suster note that youve blocked times; sends postal signals so others know when focus going on. If entrepreneur routine, accommodate energy patterns around product cycles; head matters for clarity and confidence. theyre listening and adjust as needed to keep outputs useful and great; lets stay nimble.

lets build a rhythm across days: spending blocks on high leverage activities; listening to feedback; adjust route for new products; one-on-one reviews on a third day keep momentum. When you align energy, you boost productivity; done tasks stack, entrepreneur mindset grows, and everything launches smoother again.

4 BUILD PLAYBOOKS: Document repeatable decisions and standard operating steps

Document a decision registry that captures repeatable choices and standard steps, kept pristine in a shared drive and gmail minutes for easy review.

1. Decision registry and review rhythm

   • Source of truth stores context, options, owners, and signoffs in one central place so conversations translate into action.
   • Cadence includes 15-minute quick review followed by 60-minute deeper review cycle; minutes archived for audit; whats behind decisions is clear.
   • Right priority tags guide actions; ownership logs show who takes things, so going forward results stay aligned.
   • Execute decisions with priority and ownership, to close loop within minutes and avoid drift.

2. SOP catalog and execution steps

   • SOP catalog standard operating steps per function; inputs, outputs, owners, and metrics mapped to a single source of record.
   • Templates rely on one-on-one check-ins, plug-ins, and automation to reduce error; even slight edge cases handled with clear rules; thumb rules guide behavior.
   • Postal messages surface offline updates; when network flaky, teams stay in sync.

3. Meeting playbook and decision rights

   • Conversations around crisp minutes; decisions linked to priority and owners; taskrabbit handles micro-tasks.
   • Roles include members from founders teams and harvard-grade governance, with leader alignment and generation-wide participation to avoid silos.
   • Overall alignment achieved through rapid review cycles and cross-functional signoffs.

4. Execution discipline: automation, tools, and scaled governance

   • Automate task creation via plug-ins; push assignments to gmail inboxes and one-on-one updates.
   • Track cycle length, takes ownership, and update sources as changes occur; aim for full transparency across leader and junior staff.
   • Outsourcing micro-work to taskrabbit where suitable; keep everything somewhere accessible to members going forward.
   • Use virtual stand-ups to surface blockers, plus whats visible around priorities; scaled governance grows over years for stability.

5 GET GREAT AT EXTERNAL MEETINGS: Prepare agendas, drive outcomes, and capture decisions

1. First, craft a compact 3-part agenda: context, objectives, decisions. Assign owner names, limit duration, and record next contact. Share in advance to align attention and set slight expectations. Include two quick exercises to refresh energy, preventing cancer-like momentum loss.
2. Second, appoint a chair to lead talk, a note taker to log detail, and a contact for follow-ups. Use taskrabbit for bulk, routine tasks, so teams focus on seven high-value topics. Record risks and next steps in a lightweight folder.
3. Third, capture decisions in a concise log: decision, owner, deadline, and a section for particular risks. Use a flag to mark items to prioritize; if deadline slips, send a cold reminder to next contact.
4. Fourth, tighten rhythms for virtual meetings: keep calls tight, agenda-driven, and action-forward. Limit teams on call, invite seven key players, and set next contact date. After call, circulate a brief recap with attention to actions and assigns, reducing death of momentum.
5. Fifth, evaluate impact with data points: count of decisions, tasks logged, and time saved. Archive material in a bulk folder; maintain slight context, and enforce a simple means of follow-ups. Address world realities by entrepreneurs and teams, discuss smoking habits or distractions if needed, and reinforce progress on seven or more things.

6 GET GREAT AT INTERNAL MEETINGS: Create concise agendas, assign roles, and timebox discussions

Begin with a crisp six-item agenda: goal, blockers, decisions, owners, timebox, follow-up. Send a quick message before kickoff to set context and success criteria. Keep scope scaled to team size; maintain momentum from first minute to last.

Assign roles with precision: facilitator, note-taker, timekeeper, decider, and owners for each item. Document responsibilities in a short roster so everyone knows who owns which step.

Limit each topic to a fixed window; reserve 2–3 minutes for quick updates, 5–8 minutes for decisions, 1–2 minutes for action items. End with a clear decision and next steps before moving on, minimizing side conversations and avoiding scope drift.

Use a shared decision table to track progress and learning. See table below for a practical template:

Rhythms matter: adopt a recurring cadence, 25–30 minute blocks, zero waste, and a running ticker for actions. Use assistants to capture notes and draft letters that summarize decisions. Store on a single source accessible to scaled teams; this boosts overall response speed across world, services, and partner networks.

Aim to cut duration by half compared with prior cycles to boost throughput.

Quick risk scan: list issue, potential risks, and contingency steps. If risk grows, halt motion and escalate. If resolved, mark as done. This discipline keeps founders and managers aligned through changing conditions, reducing chances of friction in growing business.

Share compact summaries to facebook groups for transparency. Involve partners, founders, and managers. This practice boosts knowledge sharing across world markets and services.