How to Manage Time Like a Top 1% CEO

Key wellness, self-care, and productivity strategies from the video

Plan before the day starts (night-before planning)

• Don’t wait to plan in the morning—if you plan that day, you risk becoming reactive to urgent messages.
• Spend 15 minutes the night before to decide:
  • The one most important objective for tomorrow (“moves the needle”).
• Use a priority list, not a generic to-do list:
  • To-do list = wishes
  • Priority list = a plan (forces you to choose what matters most when you can’t do everything)

Prioritize sleep like a performance tool (evenings matter)

• Treat sleep as essential for cognitive control (prefrontal cortex: judgment, decision-making, impulse control).
• The evening “wind down” is critical:
  • Use a transition runway into sleep (don’t go from high-speed activity straight to sleep).
• Highest leverage action: “go to sleep” to make tomorrow better.

Morning ritual to reset your body clock + protect early focus

• Get up early (commonly 5:30–6:00).
• Get light on your face early if possible (circadian reset / brain supercharge).
• Use “easy win” consistency:
  • Make the bed to start momentum.
• Journal for clarity (not to process feelings).
• Avoid email/Slack early:
  • Opening them hands away your sharpest hours to other people’s priorities.
• Protect the first part of the day as expensive real estate (most valuable focus window).

Deep work scheduling (reduce decision fatigue)

• Put the most important work in your sharpest hours.
• Use a filter to decide what goes into the deep work block:
  • Leverage work (strategy, content, sales, writing, big thinking)
  • Support work (busy maintenance/keeping things running)
  • Noise (low-value distractions)
• Goal: ensure deep work time is mostly compounding leverage, not busywork.

Exercise as a non-negotiable performance “drug”

• Exercise every day (no exceptions).
• Emphasis: heavy lifting early
  • Building bodily capability signals safety/capability to the nervous system.
  • Helps problems feel less overwhelming.
• The gym isn’t scheduled because there’s time—it’s scheduled because you can’t afford to skip it.

Work in person to improve momentum and outcomes

• Prefer face-to-face for requests and collaboration:
  • Cited claim: face-to-face requests are far more likely to get a “yes” than email.
• Encourage shared physical space to increase references/collaboration frequency.
• Keeps team momentum high—especially during fast growth.

Efficiency in appearance + “combine tasks” mindset

• Camera-ready habits, but with a focus on efficiency:
  • Do makeup/hair simply or combine with meetings/reviews to reduce disruption.
• Physical presentation is described as a signal your team reads.
• Comfortable shoes for long days (reduce discomfort that can distract your mind).

Reduce time leaks via workflow design

• “Make consistent work come to you” (reduce repeated commutes—studio setup in-house).
• If something is repetitive, centralize it to stop losing time.

Protect focus time during office days

• Block at least one hour midday for a full company check-in:
  • approvals + quick asks
  • but avoid constant interruptions
• Address unscheduled interruptions (“got a minute?”):
  • Train the team that it’s disruptive and costly in time.
  • Provide alternative routes (brief Loom/Slack; then schedule if needed).

Meeting strategies that improve creativity and reduce cost

• Use walking meetings when possible:
  • Move the meeting outside/onto a treadmill for better conversation and creativity (cited research claim).
• Keep meetings small:
  • Everyone added increases the “cost” of time and attention.
• Use a TLDR for non-essential participants.

Stress reduction through relationships and biology

• Stress makes decision-making worse; it also shrinks the part of the brain needed for good choices.
• Practical approach:
  • Walk more
  • Have an animal nearby (cited claim: reduces cortisol).

Build relationships intentionally (offsite/coffee time)

• Schedule in-person relationship time (e.g., coffee) multiple times per week.
• Use relationship-building to find “who already knows,” speeding execution.

Defend evenings + protect home life as “work sustainability”

• Don’t trade off relationships for output.
• Home life isn’t competing with work—it makes work sustainable.
• Aim for:
  • time together
  • shared meals (including protein, even if takeout)

Work with a spouse/partner (when aligned)

• Working together can be a competitive advantage if alignment exists:
  • shared vision
  • shared contacts
  • less “backstory explaining” when something breaks
• Key principle: protect the boundary where work ends and relationship begins.

Weekly “GPS check” audit (calendar-based time leverage analysis)

• At the end of each week:
  • Print the last 7 days of calendar events
  • Mark each item with a letter:
    • R = revenue
    • G = growth
    • L = leverage
    • N = noise
  • Compare how time was actually spent vs goals.
  • Don’t spiral—acknowledge drift and correct.
  • The audit takes about 1 hour and may reveal the highest-leverage change you can make.

Core meta-message

• Same amount of time for everyone (86,400 seconds).
• The real question isn’t how to get more time—it’s what you let in (other people’s priorities vs your own).

Presenters or sources

• Presenter (implied): The speaker/CEO in the video (name not stated in the provided subtitles).
• Mentioned references (not as direct presenters):
  • Elon Musk (example reference)
  • Steve Jobs (walking meetings reference)
  • Stanford (walking boosts creativity claim)
  • Researchers / studies (multiple general research citations, no specific study titles provided)
  • Main Street Millionaire Live (event mentioned)
  • Contrarian Academy (program mentioned)
  • Babar (dog; stress-reduction anecdote)
  • Chris (speaker’s spouse/partner; co-worker mentioned)