Five Key Scheduling Tips for CEOs

As a CEO, you may find that your day is pulled in numerous different directions by the needs of your staff, the daily administrative needs of your business and the prospect of growth – not to mention your executive accountability for performance. As such, your schedule is a precious thing. Managing your schedule may be challenging at the best of times, but the following tips could help you retain control of your day-to-day and create more time for growing your business.

Condense Your Meetings

One of the first places you should look for additional time in your schedule is the book-ends of every meeting you take. Whether in person or over Zoom, company meetings can be filled with empty space and waffle, eating into your day as a result. By ensuring meetings are held concisely – limiting introductions and cutting end-of-meeting indecision or small talk – or even restricting your presence in meetings, you can return a significant amount of time to your schedule.

Travel Smart

As the face of your business, you may expect to see a fair amount of travel on your business’s behalf, whether meeting new partners, vetting new suppliers or opening up new avenues for operation. With so much time on the move, you and your schedule may struggle for time to get through any necessary tasks, making intelligent travel choices key to your productivity. Hiring private jets to travel internationally can enable you to work in safety and comfort and minimize the amount of dead time you spend waiting in airports between flights. Similarly, being driven by a chauffeur for domestic engagements may seem like a luxury but can free you up to concentrate on your business while on the move.

Create a Daily Routine

There will be several tasks that you are required to undertake daily, from emails to administrative work and executive sign-offs. These can quite quickly take up most of your day, affecting productivity with larger projects or planning. Creating a routine to contain these tasks can help you keep control of your day and schedule, limiting your time on tedious tasks to short periods between your more important work.

Delegate!

As a CEO, you are in a position of absolute leadership for the direction and administration of your company. Use this fact to the fullest of its ability – in its truest sense. Your seniority over your staff does not necessarily make you more knowledgeable than them, especially regarding the minutiae of specific departments and processes. You are also one person and should have a workload that reflects that fact. With this in mind, trust your staff and delegate tasks to relevant managers and departments. It will make your schedule much easier to manage, as well as your business.

Make Time for a Break

As the CEO, you may feel that downtime is a luxury reserved for quiet days – but neglecting to plan breaks into your schedule can harm your decision-making and output. Regular intervals from work result in measurable improvements to productivity and mental health, allowing you to mitigate your stress levels and continue to grow your company healthfully and effectively.