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A Day in the Life of a Senior Executive

A Day in the Life of a Senior Executive

It has been noticed that senior professionals, whether senior executives, managers, leaders, whatever senior position they may hold, tend to have very similar daily schedules. They wake up early and pack-in a lot in one day. They usually do have daily schedules and tend to stick to it for the most part. They also tend to share similar habits, as Stephen Covey says in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Habit 1: being proactive
Habit 2: beginning with the end in mind
Habit 3: putting first things first
Habit 4: thinking win/win
Habit 5: seeking first to understand, then to be understood
Habit 6: synergizing
Habit 7: sharpening the saw

While some might set aside a specific day a week entirely for one big upcoming project, or have a different day plan when they travel, the fact is that all senior professionals have a structured day with time allotted for everything, even for breaks.

Early to rise

All senior executives and leaders know to start the day early. Many begin as early at 4 am. But that might sound like the graveyard shift to most so usually senior professionals start at 6 am. Many studies mention the benefits of starting early. This gives you time to clear your head, think about your day, work out, have a healthy breakfast, and so much more. Owing to the many benefits of starting early, senior executives start early, with a big glass of water to get the body started. This should ideally be done just as you wake.

Workout

It’s true when they say – ‘healthy body, healthy mind’. It’s no secret that a daily, or at the least, regular workout can do wonders for your health. But keeping fit and healthy is a big part of being a good senior professional too. This not only gives you the energy for the day and time to clear your head, but also keeps you healthy and energetic to be able to lead a team, make executive decisions, and stay alert through the day, no matter how hectic. It also allows you some personal time to focus on just yourself. So whether it’s a brisk walk, a jog, hitting the gym, functional training, yoga, or any other form of exercise, it is something most seniors try to fit into their busy days.

Breakfast

While many do miss breakfast – the most important meal of the day – many senior executives try to include a nutritious breakfast along with their workout. Starting the day with something healthy sets the tone for the rest of the day. This means you’re more likely to make healthier food choices for the rest of the day. This is also the time some senior executives will either combine with spending some family time, or setting and evaluating daily, monthly, or yearly goals.

Emails

During the commute to work or for the first few hours of the day is time allotted for returning business calls and replying to emails. This can take anywhere from 2-3 hours in the morning. Leaders are quite strict about this practice since it not only keeps you informed about the important happenings and possible meetings for the day, but limiting this activity to a few hours helps to not get carried away and leave less time for other activities.

Meetings

Following all the emails and brief phone calls comes the meetings. Meetings could manifest into conference calls, video calls, or other similar engagements. It could be meetings with the team, clients, potential clients, partners, or investors. Senior executives know to keep the meetings brief and to the point. While meetings can be distributed through the day, most will have a pre-meeting agenda shared so the meeting is on track. With much of their time spent with people, it’s imperative for senior professionals to have great people and communication skills.

‘Work’ work

In this context work refers to the tasks that a senior might have to do by themselves. This might be interwoven between the meetings. This time could also include some amount of personal work. Whether it’s strategizing, going over existing plans, catching up to all the required networking, reading up on fresh material, setting and evaluating daily, monthly or yearly goals, or brainstorming, this is the time they take to stay on top of things.

Personal and family time

Keeping personal relationships high on the priority list is important too. Which is why, senior executives always have family time worked into their busy schedules. Whether it’s immediate family or friends, there are always family dinners, a drink with friends, or phone calls to family members who might not be close by. While work might not stop when the usual work day is done, the focus changes.

Breaks and buffer time

Make time for the unexpected and make time for breaks. There’s almost never going to be a day when everything goes to plan. There will always be something that throws a perfect plan off course. And senior professionals know this all too well. That’s why there’s always time allotted to fix things, re-prioritize, or douse a fire. And if nothing comes up, then there’s a little bit of extra time that can be used as the day sees fit.

Break time is not to be taken lightly. Setting aside a specific time for breaks allows for much needed time to replenish energies and allows not to be carried away but a hectic day. Whether it means pursuing a hobby, listening to music, meditating, or doing something relaxing, senior executives will always factor in breaks and unforeseen problems in their schedules.

Conclusion

And finally, senior professionals always keep time to wind down and prep and prioritise for the next day, when they have to go through all of it again. The higher up you go, the more responsibilities you have, with the same number of hours in the day. So scheduling what needs to get done and sticking to a schedule as much as possible is the best way to have a productive day and get things done.

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