Want to stay on top of your game in 2018? Then these 4 habits of top CEOs will help

In a few hours, we’ll be singing a happy New Year. Isn’t that wonderful? 

 

But beyond the euphoria of making it to another year (hopefully), most of us are probably wondering what the year will bring and how we might smash personal and organisational goals we set for ourselves.

So we’re happy to share this article written by Guadalupe Gonzalez for Inc that might help. We believe the suggestions are super simple and something we might try to incorporate into our schedules. She titled it: “Four habits that help Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates stay insanely productive.”

They are easy and if they are good enough for these top business leaders, then they are certainly worth giving a go.

Enjoy!

 

#1. They prioritise email.

Bill Gates would use three monitors to stay on top of his inbox during his Microsoft days. One screen to display his incoming emails, another for the specific one he was reading, and the third one with either his desktop or browser displayed in case he needed to bring up a link or file.

SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk prides himself on his deft use of email to get things done. “Wherever possible, I try to communicate asynchronously,” he reportedly said in an on-screen interview with Mashable. “I’m really good at email.”

Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos is notorious for forwarding single question mark emails to his team, in most cases about user complaints received on his public account, jeff@amazon.com. This practice allows the Amazon CEO to delegate issues to the appropriate manager without spending too much time on it.

Moral: Emails are important tools in business which if properly utilised get things done in a timely manner. Remember communication is a cycle.

 

#2. They run no-nonsense meetings.

In his 1999 book Business @ the Speed of Thought, Bill Gates writes: “Good meetings are the result of good preparation.” He says you should email documents and other data to people beforehand, so they can analyse ahead of the meeting. That way you will spend the meeting discussing the issue - not presenting it.

Jeff Bezos uses a two-pizza rule to run effective meetings. He reportedly never organises one where two pizzas couldn’t feed the entire room.

As for Elon Musk, a former employee revealed in Quora that he would ask employees point-blank why they’re in a meeting if they haven’t said anything. The rationale is that meetings are more productive when the attendees are limited to those who have a purpose for it - either because they can provide information or implement a solution.

Moral: Have a purpose for a meeting and not just for the sake of it.

 

#3. They sleep as many hours as needed.

The U.S. loses up to $411 billion in GDP a year due to insufficient sleep, according to a 2016 study conducted by the Rand Corporation, a nonprofit organization. Sleep deprivation affects your brain’s ability to process information and in turn, affects your productivity.

It is recommended that you sleep between seven and nine hours each day to be rested, but some sleep specialists, like Dr Michael Breus, say that everybody’s needs are a little different.

For example, Bill Gates says he needs seven hours per night, Jeff Bezos sleeps eight, and Elon Musk gets by with six or six and a half. They all agree, however, that they need sufficient sleep to be efficient during the workday.

Moral: Figure out how many hours of rest your body needs and make sure you stick to it.

 

#4. They exercise.

You can count increased productivity among the many benefits of exercise. Studies have found that aerobic exercise, specifically, helps improve memory and learning skills. All three entrepreneurs - Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates - incorporate exercise into their routines. Bezos and Musk opt for weightlifting and cardio, and Gates spends time on the treadmill, sometimes watching some sort of educational content.

Moral: I’m too busy is not an excuse. The rewards far outweigh the ‘inconvenience’.

 

A version of this article first appeared on Inc website.