Although becoming CEO of your very own company is a dream come true for many, it’s not all fun and games. Sure, it’s a gratifying and successful career. But with the success and financial freedom comes busy schedules and a load of work.
As a CEO, you are the lifeblood of your company. Nothing will move if you don’t. You’ve got countless vital meetings to attend, with numerous items on the agenda. Not only that, but you’ve got a pile of paperwork waiting for you in your office. And because you’re the leader of the entire company, you have to have your eyes on everything. You need to know what’s going on, even in the smallest departments.
With all the work that has to be done, it’s admittedly hard for CEOs to stay organized. Some meetings can last for hours without you noticing how much you’ve lagged behind all your daily tasks. Although it’s a challenge, staying organized will help you keep track of tasks and accomplish them on time. Here are some tips on staying organized despite having a busy career.
Have a daily theme
Many successful CEOs have found a life hack — setting a theme per day. For example, Mondays are solely for meetings, Tuesdays are for marketing, etc. This will organize the work that you have to do in a day. You can focus on one task at a time, instead of flooding and confusing yourself with multiple paperwork from different departments.
Create a schedule
The common problem faced by CEOs is having to deal with things all at the same time. And the result is unintentionally forgetting to do more important matters. Because you’ve been so engaged in a certain task, it’s easy to forget to attend a very urgent meeting. It’s also common for busy CEOs to lose track of time and neglect other matters like attending that conference in Utah or your appointment with the commercial garage door service.
Things like this can be prevented by creating a schedule. Line up all your tasks for the day and set a time limit for each of them. Make sure you adhere to your schedule strictly. And whenever an important event comes up, make sure you jot that down in your schedule immediately.
Check emails in the morning
CEOs often get flooded with tons of emails daily. A message can come every 10 or 20 minutes. And if you check your email now and then, you’ll end up spending the whole day reading and answering them.
What organized CEOs do is to check their emails once a day. They allocate a few hours reading and answering yesterday’s emails first thing in the morning. That way, they don’t have to worry about it for the rest of the day and can carry on with their work. If someone needs to reach you urgently, let them know that they should contact you through call or message.
Set limits for meetings
Meetings can get pretty lengthy. Ask any CEO, and they’ll tell you that meetings take up most of their time. It’s easy to get so indulged in a topic that you don’t notice you’ve spent hours talking.
To help manage your time, you have to set limits for meetings. Keep agendas direct and straight to the point. Discuss important matters and avoid dwelling on topics that are not of priority. That way, you’ll spend less time stuck in a room discussing irrelevant matters.
A CEO’s job is not the easiest one. It demands dedication, hard work, and, most importantly, organization. But if you know how to manage your time and set your priorities, then you’re on the right path.
