9 leading entrepreneurs share their productivity hacks
Being a business leader is as exhausting as it is rewarding. Working irregular hours, having your Sundays plagued by work-calls and with little to no spared minutes for a social life isn’t always the bargain a younger and more excited you may have signed up for. But there’s a way to beat the professional blues.
The common misconception of workaholics making the best business managers is almost always a complete farce. Some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs have devised various routines to help them strike an everyday work-life balance. Their dedication to this particular schedule trumps even the one that fills up their weekday calendars and is also the reason they can pledge to maintain a regulated lifestyle.
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To back up our resolute argument, we have put together a list of nine productivity hacks, shared by some of the most powerful names in the business world, to help you form one of your own for the keeps.
Brandon Hoe, CEO of Helium
The trick to winning at your job and at life is to collaborate with the right people, according to Brandon Hoe, the CEO of Helium, a company which develops professional-grade photography and filmmaking tools for smartphones. To Brandon, trusting that the people you work with can take care of the problem is more important than attempting to micro-manage everything and falling short by a wide margin.
“My most outstanding life hack is a very simple one: Find the best people you can to collaborate with when working to overcome challenges. On top of that, trust your people to do what you hired them to do!” he says, as stated by Forbes.
Dave Rusenko, Founder and CEO of Weebly
Rusenko’s trick to managing the cross-platform web-hosting service was to pen down everything! According to him, the most successful people he has ever met have been the ones who carry a pen and paper into every meeting and carry the notes in their back-pockets, to be used in the most unforeseen circumstances.
About exercising the practice himself, he says, “I don’t find many people otherwise doing that, and it’s something I’ve taken to. In every meeting I go to, I carry a notebook around and take notes. It helps me remember to follow up and I don’t forget what was discussed when I refer back later,” as stated by Entrepreneur.
Sophia Hyder, CEO of Papilia
To Papilia’s Sophia Hyder, running a boutique travel concierge service doesn’t come without its share of crises. Although she rues that spending waking hours at the office is necessary when the time calls for it, it is as important to take a short break from work and indulge in relaxing activities to hit that refresh button.
“Even though I love what I do, I need to make sure I have symmetry between work and my personal life. Yoga and meditation help me stay grounded, focused, and aware throughout my day,” she says.
Tom Harari, Founder and CEO of Cleanly
Harari runs the company that connects its users with on-demand laundry services. Considering our general disdain for the process at home, we can only imagine how much the company rakes up in a single quarter. To ensure that he enters office with a fresh head before drowning in a sea of meetings, appointments, and e-mails, he fixes an easy to keep morning schedule that includes plenty of exercise for both the mind and body.
“Exercising every day, preferably in the morning, is a counterintuitive tip in that it entails blocking time for something that seemingly isn't work-related. But it has a strong impact on how you structure the rest of your day and leads to discipline which leads to freedom,” he says.
Kyle Racki, Co-founder of Proposify
Proposify’s Kyle Racki believes that the trick to being at your best at work is to remind yourself on a daily basis that this is what you set out to do from the beginning and that it’s just the first part to the big dream. His motto in life for his team, and himself, is perseverance and dedication – through all the highs and lows.
“It was a very tempting thing to change the direction of the product, or change markets or do what others told us to do, which was to hire a sales team. Sometimes I think startup founders want to change things too quickly when things aren’t working. But change for the sake of change isn’t progress,” he told Groove.
Lauren Koenig, CEO and Co-founder of TWIP
Running a travel website that has users from across the globe calling in for bookings on a daily basis can definitely be exhausting. Not to mention managing several appointments and meetings at the same time, which can definitely be a handful. To this end, TWIP’s Lauren Koenig shares her secret to managing time and balance- multitasking!
“Multitask where it makes sense. I walk on the treadmill while taking conference calls for example, or I use flying as an opportunity to get some of my most important work done!” she says.
Chris Doerfler, Co-founder of 3DFS
To Chris Doerfler, the way to become the most productive version of yourself is to work in a team that challenges you to do so. Working with the industry’s best will naturally propel you to join in on the ranks, he says. To this end, you should always be open to taking on others’ points of view along with your own.
“The biggest life hack that I've found for this environment is writing down somebody else's point of view in search of common ground. I find that by taking this approach, I am better able to empathize with a different point of view and generally, it brings me to a conclusion in a quicker timeframe,” he says.
Grant Glas, Founder and CEO of App Press
Grant Glas of App Press refers to the more practical everyday problems of life in terms of ensuring that more work is done at the office. To him, the trick lies in making sure that no extra time is wasted while outside the office, by looking at factors like work-home distances, commute, active office hours and more along these lines.
“The best hack I can offer is making sure your office is less than 15 minutes away from your home. If you can save one hour to-and-from work everyday, you'll gain almost a full workday back every week. Remember: Time is your most valuable equity,” he says.
Dustin Moscowitz, CEO of Asana and Co-founder of Facebook
The famous Dustin Moscowitz probably has one of the most packed schedules for someone his age. In 2011, Forbes reported him as history’s youngest self-made billionaire. And how did he rise to the status? By knowing when to balance out his work and take a one-day breather.
“One of my favorite hacks is No Meeting Wednesdays, which we borrowed from Facebook. With very few exceptions, everyone’s calendar is completely clear at least one day out of the week. Whether you are a Maker or a Manager, this is an invaluable tool for ensuring you have some contiguous space to do project work. For me personally, it is often the one day each week I get to code,” he says.
Do you have productivity hacks of your own you wish to share? Let us know in the comments below!
