Master Your Time Like a CEO

You have a project, idea, or product that will change your life forever.

You have watched all the how-to videos, paid for the courses, and downloaded the templates. But one thing is always slipping through your hands.

Time.

This is a problem.

Now the project or idea that will get you to your dream life has to compete with your current one.

Taking control of your time now is as important as ever. If not, it means staying at a job you hate much longer than you have to. You wake up Monday and wish it was Friday. You spend little time with your family and neglect the relationships that you enjoy.

You don't want that, so there needs to be a change.

Now, as much as you think we are different, many of our daily activities are the same. I have a Wife and 3 daughters who need my attention and support every day. I also have a 9-5 job, bills to pay, family to call, and gym time that needs to fit in there somewhere.

What I'm saying is that we are not so different and yet many of us go on to live the life of our dreams. Working less but making more, and all while having the same time and obligations as everyone else.

So, if we have the same time and obligations, why do the successful amongst us seem to do more in that time?

The answer is time management.

Stepping out of the life others have chosen for you and starting to take control is a big responsibility. You are your boss now and whatever happens or doesn't happen is now on you. You are the CEO of your life and need to act like one.

Now that you are the newly appointed CEO of your life, why not learn time management from the most successful CEOs out there?

They have mastered their time over years of consistency and routine to get and do exactly what they want.

I'm going to share their time management tricks with you. By the end of your day, you will feel fulfilled knowing that you moved the most important levers for your project. You will have spent time with your family and hit the gym before laying your head down at night.

1. Be intentional and plan a week ahead

Your time is your most valuable resource and every successful CEO knows this.

You are either using it to build your project, product, or dream, or someone else is using your time to build theirs.

Being intentional is the first step to taking back control of your time.

You need a plan.

Now there are 2 common ways to create and track a plan.

The first is good old-fashioned pen and paper.

This comes in the form of a journal or paper planner.

The journal can be customized to whatever your goals are and what exactly you want to track. The paper planner has everything you need to get started and you don't have to create it from scratch.

I don't think either is better, it depends on if you want something ready to go or create a custom layout yourself.

The second way to create and track your progress is digitally (aka on your phone).

You can do this with:

Everyone carries their phones in their pocket, so wherever you are, so is your plan.

Like the 1st option, none of these are better than the other. The main point is to pick one you can stick with and check regularly.

Now that you have somewhere to track your goals, projects, and schedule, it's time to start planning out your time.

Start by answering some questions about your goals and project:

• What project am I working on?

• What do I want my life to look like?

• What project do I need to work on?

• What don't I want my life to look like?

• What goals do I have right now, and what tasks need to be done to do them?
  

These questions will get your mind thinking about tasks and levers that you must plan first.

Now with an idea of what your goals and projects are, start breaking them into smaller tasks.

These smaller tasks are now your weekly goals.

At the start of each week, write down your weekly goal.

I do my planning and weekly goal-setting the Saturday prior. This helps guide my time and effort much better than doing everything all at once.

With your weekly goal set, start breaking it down to fill your days. Remember to take into account the other obligations you have and don't want to neglect. Also, stay away from trying to do everything in one day, it's not sustainable and will discourage you from starting.

A little tip here:

Set up each day so that the first task you do will be the one that would move you closest to your weekly goal

Now that you have a plan, all you need to do is start taking action and doing it.

Like a CEO, practice this every day, because it will be tough to do at first. But now you are starting your day off with purpose and in complete control of your time because you chose to be intentional.

2. The First 90 Minutes

CEOs, including you now, understand that not all time is equal.

As you get further along into your day, other obligations and tasks will start to pop up and compete for your time.

This includes when the rest of the world wakes up, your 9-5, and family obligations.

That is why you must protect the first 90 minutes of your day. The longer it takes you to start, the lower the chance of you doing it.

I know you are thinking about it, so yes, you need to be waking up earlier.

I know this is a breaking point for most people, but these are your dreams and life goals we are talking about. Waking up an hour or two earlier (and going to bed earlier) is a price that must be paid. Especially if you are still relying on a 9-5 job for income.

Now in these 90 minutes, you need to be attacking your number 1 priority task. This is the one that we scheduled first when we created our plan.

This task is the one that if you couldn't do anything else on your task list, then this week's goal would still have the best chance of getting done.

CEOs understand this, and now, so do you. You were intentional and it's up to you to take action on that plan.

Get it done.

3. Minimize Distractions

CEOs do everything in their power to minimize distractions throughout their day. This helps them use all available time for their projects and keeps them focused.

I'm not talking about your 9-5, responsibilities as a parent, or any other obligation you have.

Most people label these as distractions and blame them before looking at other time wasters.

They will do everything to point the finger at others as the reason they don't have time. Blaming others while doom-scrolling on TikTok, binge-watching shows on Netflix, and sleeping in.

• Unsubscribe from streaming services

• Put your phone in a different room

• Create a dedicated workspace

• Uninstall certain apps

• Wake up early

Take responsibility and watch how much time you have to complete your project and stay on task.

4. CEOs do Batch Work

This CEO time management trick is what separates the good from the great.

CEOs put similar tasks together in batches.

Putting similar tasks together keeps you in a flow so you can better use your energy.

For example, creators batch productivity and creativity tasks separately.

You can batch similar tasks for:

• Shooting videos

• Meetings

• Research

• Writing

Keep this in mind when you are reliably executing your plan and want to move to the next level.

You're the CEO of your life. You have goals, dreams, and projects that you want to do. If you don't take control of your time now then you may never see them through.

Remember to take responsibility and leave excuses outside. Be intentional and plan your time. Complete your number 1 priority task in the first 90 minutes of your day. Cut distractions and batch similar tasks.

Thank you for reading.

-Juan