Before we get started… |
This week’s newsletter is all about engineering more “ideal weeks” that create momentum and eliminating the “dumpster fire weeks” that burn us out. But if you want to see the systems that make these weeks happen, you need to check out this video I just posted… |
…because that’s the part that’s NOT covered in today’s issue |
And if you like this newsletter and you want my help implementing these systems in your business (so you can have more “ideal weeks”), you can get the details and apply here to work with me. |
Ok, back to this week’s issue… |
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"What’s your average week like?" |
I get this question a lot (most recently from a client just a few days ago)… |
So this week, I’m sharing what my average, “ideal” week looks like… day-by-day, hour-by-hour. Here's how it works... |
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My Ideal Week…Hour-By-Hour |
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Sunday: The Weekly Review/Preview |
My week doesn't start Monday morning. It starts Sunday around 8pm when I do my Weekly Review. I look back at the week that just ended (the highlights, the lowlights, what got done, what didn't), and then I look at my quarterly goals, personal and business. |
Then I pick my “Big 3” for the week...the three things that absolutely must get done by Friday to keep me on track. |
Not thirty things… THREE. |
Everything else that happens this week is in service of my Big 3… |
Monday (a.k.a “Meeting Monday”) |
I don't try to get anything "forward-moving" done on Mondays. |
As a CEO, a big chunk of your week gets dictated by whatever the business needs that week. So instead of fighting Monday chaos, I built a day to absorb it. |
Here’s how it happens… |
9:00 – 9:30: Executive Assistant Meeting - I offload every small, non-Big-3 to-do from my plate to hers, and she reminds me of the stuff that failed to make my list for the week. 9:30 – 11:00: Buffer Time - This block is intentionally unproductive. I check in with the team. I check email. I check social. I read the stuff I bookmarked last week. My only job here is to gather context, not to produce. 11:00 – Noon: Leadership Pulse Meeting - Team leaders report on scorecard metrics and quarterly initiatives, and we share our Big 3s out loud. I go last, so I can adjust mine based on where the company actually needs me. Noon – 1:00: Working Lunch - I eat at my desk while watching a course or some kind of professional development training. 1:00 – 2:00: Weekly Client Call - This is an "ask me anything" Zoom call for our highest-level clients. They get answers. I get a front-row seat to the problems founders are wrestling with right now (which is where half my content ideas come from). 2:00 – 3:00: Buffer/Catch-Up Block - I use this time for strategic planning, professional development, or just intentional "thinking time.” 3:00 – 4:00: Editorial Meeting - I meet my Head of Marketing and Senior Content Strategist. This is where we plan our content ideas, client training ideas, and event programming based on what's coming up in the weeks and months ahead. 4:00 – 5:00: Open a Loop - Start a Big 3...but don't finish it.
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That last one is my favorite trick on the calendar. |
I leave the task deliberately unfinished, mid-thought, so Tuesday morning I know exactly where to pick up. No blank page. No "where was I." (I stole this idea from Hemingway, who stopped writing each day mid-sentence so he'd never face a cold start.) |
Tuesday: Focus Day #1 |
This is the first of two “heads-down” work days… |
9:00 – Noon: Focus Block - Three uninterrupted hours on my most important Big 3. No Zoom calls or any other meetings if I can help it. Noon – 1:30: People Time - Lunch with my business partner, a strategic partner, or a friend passing through town. 1:30 - 5:00: Open/Buffer Time - This time is intentionally left open. If possible, I'll use this time for more research, writing, and other critical tasks. I prefer to not take any meetings or be on Zoom on Tuesdays, but if I need to I will during this time.
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Wednesday: Focus Day #2 |
Wednesdays are largely a repeat of Tuesdays with one exception… |
9:00 – Noon: Focus Block - Just like Tuesday, Wednesday mornings are about knocking out my most important tasks for the week. In an ideal week, I can accomplish all of my "Big 3s" by the end of this block. Noon – 1:00: Working Lunch - Another "working lunch" at my desk where I'm doing strategic or professional development work. I'll also use this time for productive lunch meetings. 1:00 - 3:00: Buffer Time - I use this time to catch up on incomplete critical tasks, but it is also available for meetings and interviews as a secondary option. 3:00 - 4:30: Open for podcasts, interviews, etc. - I get a lot of interview and podcast requests, so once the source is approved, my assistant knows she can schedule it in this block. 4:30 - 5:30: Business Lunch Podcast Recording - My business partner, Roland Frasier, record an episode of our podcast every week at this time. He's in the Pacific time zone and I'm in central, so while I don't love working past 5 pm, I make an exception because I'm a good friend. :)
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Thursday: On stage |
This my creative, “on-camera” day when I knock out all my recording, filming, and other content creation for the week. |
9:00 - Noon: Filming and Creative Block - This is when I block out Thursday mornings for just this task because I've found I work best in mornings. I've also found that 3 hours is generally enough time if I use my focus and other creative blocks earlier in the week to prepare. |
Noon - 1:00: Working Lunch - This time is blocked out for lunch, but it's common for recording sessions to run long so I don't schedule lunch meetings on these days if they can be avoided. |
1:00 - 3:00: Click Trainings/Webinars - While I don't host a client training every week, they come up often enough that I just leave this time blocked off weekly. If I don't have a client webinar, I use this time for other types of content creation since that's the mode I'm in on this day. |
3:00 - 5:00: Podcast/Interview Block #2 - This is another podcast/interview block, but I prefer to avoid scheduling anything on this day, because after a day of filming I'm usually pretty wiped out and not at my best. |
Friday: Free Day |
Friday is my free day. |
Barring an emergency of super-special occasion, I don't schedule any meetings on this day. |
If I still haven't completed my "Big 3" objectives for the week, then Friday is a catch-up day. If I have, then Friday is a free day. |
Either way, I like to be done by noon so I can play a round of golf or just spend time with family and friends. |
Saturday + Sunday: The canary in the coal mine |
The weekends are for family and rest. |
If I do any work, it’s because it's work I want to do... not work I have to do. |
If I'm forced to work a weekend, a system broke down somewhere, and fixing that system goes straight onto next week's Big 3. |
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So that's my ideal week. Now here's what's actually going on underneath it... |
1. I work 40 hours. Not 60. Not 80. And if I finish my Big 3 by Thursday, it's a 32-hour week. The 80-hour grind isn't a badge of honor (nor is it required to be successful). It's usually just a sign you haven't decided what actually matters this week. |
2. Most of my calendar is empty by design. On average I only plan 12 to 15 hours of any given week. The rest is open. A good CEO calendar has to leave room for chaos and for serendipity. Thinking you can plan every minute and bend the world to your will isn't discipline...it's delusion. |
3. My days are themed to avoid context-switching. Mondays are for “managing.” Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are for “making.” As a CEO you have to do both "maker" work and "manager" work, but trying to flip between the two hour to hour is how you end up doing neither well. (Paul Graham wrote a great essay on this called "Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule." Worth a read.) |
4. Mondays and Fridays are designed to be skippable. Fridays are flex days by design, and Mondays are skippable because I'm not required for any meeting (and I can get one of my business partners to fill in for me on the weekly client call). This means I don't get "behind" if I choose to take a 3 or even 4-day weekend, which comes up a lot because I have kids in school and holidays tend to fall on Mondays. |
5. I'm not dogmatic about any of it. If the only time for an important meeting is 10am on Wednesday, I don't panic. I slide my focus block to the afternoon and move on. The best CEOs are resilient and adaptable, so your calendar must be resilient and adaptable too. |
Notice the thread running through all five: this calendar is built so the business doesn't need me on any given day. I did that on purpose. |
A calendar you can walk away from is just a smaller version of a business you can walk away from. |
Which brings me to the most important point of all... |
I did not build this “ideal week” after my business got successful, once I had the team and the systems to support it… |
…I built it first. |
Back when I was grinding 60-hour weeks, my business was smaller, I was burned out, and (this is the part nobody believes) I was personally taking home less money. |
The ideal week calendar isn’t the reward… the ideal week calendar is the forcing function. |
When you cap yourself at 40 hours and protect your focus, you're forced to build the team, document the systems, and make the decisions that let the business run without you in every seat. |
The constraint is the point! |
So a calendar like this isn't the trophy you get for building a scalable business… |
…it's the tool you use to build one. |
⚡️ Action Step: This Sunday night, before the week starts, do two things. First, pick your Big 3...only three. Second, open your calendar and choose your Focus Blocks: two or three protected hours where your most important work actually gets done. Then guard it like it's the only thing on your calendar that matters… because it is. |
Give it a shot and let me know how it works… |
-Ryan |
Ryan Deiss
Co-Founder and CEO, The Scalable Company |
P.S. I'm looking for 5 business owners who want to work 1-on-1 with my team and me to install a custom "operating system"…so your business can scale and so you can finally exit the day-to-day. |
We don't just teach you to build assets. We build the operating system with you. |
Click here for the details. |
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