7 Time Management Lessons from 3 Busiest $B Business Leaders

use Time Management to manage crises, improve productivity, grow revenue & other factors you chose.

Set Priorities, Personal Time, keep Control, don’t Waste, Exercise, Plan, manage Emails, Improve.

Time Management is managing crises, getting the best output from employees & beating stock market expectations – which are all everyday things for some of the most successful business leaders in the world. However, just like you & me, they have the same 24 hours that we get. How is it that they manage to have such startlingly different achievements in life as compared to the average person? Some serious time management skills and a single minded focus on productivity. Let’s take a quick look at three of the best $Billionaires in the business and find out what makes them tick.

ELON MUSK: Tesla, SpaceX & Solar City.

Musk splits his time managing these three different multi-million dollar companies.

Tesla Motors has made electric cars a real, viable option on the road.
SpaceX is one the first private companies to put spaceships into orbit.
Solar City is the second largest solar energy installer in the United States.

Managing such high technology companies in such varied industries – to make them a success – definitely deserves some great Time Management skills. So how does he maximize his 24 hours every day? – through sheer discipline.

Musk’s Schedule. He leads a highly planned life, with a strictly regimented schedule. He spends Mondays, Thursdays and part of Fridays at Space X, Tuesdays & Wednesdays at Tesla Motors and the last half of Friday at the Tesla Design Studio. He is the Chairman of Board & principal Shareholder of SolarCity. [Management is by the Co-Founder] Musk prides himself on this Email prowess and uses Email as his principle means for getting things done. Musk has five children from his first marriage, whose custody he shares with his ex-wife. With a large family, Musk makes it a point to keep his weekends free and devotes them to enjoying his family. Even though he normally works 14 hours a day, it does not mean giving up family time. He has a clear separation between work & life. He is proof that you can make everyone happy.

Takeaways:

Don’t let your work life overtake your personal priorities.
Defend personal time zealously – while you put in the best you can at work in the five working days of the week.
Discipline and a good tool that suits your work style are two essential aspects that help your work flow smoothly and on time.

JEFF BEZOS: Amazon

The brains behind the largest (& first) E-commerce site in the world, Jeff Bezos is not just another Tech-preneur. This is a guy who is – like his company – is obsessed with the customer. A large part of his day is spent in observing people shopping and adapting insights from his observations onto Amazon. While Bezos does read & reply to his emails, he makes sure he has what he calls “pro-active” days. Every Tuesday & Thursday, he takes a break from Emails & meetings + his programmed life. He spends these days at malls or shopping centers gaining new customer behavior insights (field research) or checking out every inch of Amazon.com with an objective of making continuous improvements to it.

Speaking & Listening. As a founder & CEO, Bezos is often invited to speaking events & industry conferences to share his wisdom. At events where he is not the speaker, there still a ton of things he does – such as speaking with interesting people for enticing them to work for Amazon, getting a gist of what E-commerce trends are catching the fascination of people, hot future product, etc.

Travel is an inevitable part of Bezos’ life. He manages to optimize his travel time in his own style. Instead of watching movies or simply chilling on his flights, he brainstorms new ideas, reads up on world affairs or maybe catches some well-deserved sleep.

Saving Time is highly Valued by Bezos and it’s a Core Value at Amazon. This means every new idea for Amazon, is tested live on the site and results can be had in about an hour after it passes Amazon’s stringent requirements. “You get to accelerate time incredibly with that kind of testing,” Bezos likes to say.

Takeaways:

Dictate your own time, if not every day, then at least for two days in the week. Not only will your brain be renewed by the change, it will actively work more efficiently and you’ll save time.
Don’t waste precious time – your daily commute, business travel , TV, etc. Use this time to apply to urgent tasks that need some deep thought.

RICHARD BRANSON: Virgin Co’s.

Richard Branson is nearly a universal favorite as the flamboyant serial Entrepreneur who began life with a jointly owned record company called Virgin Records. Branson is surprisingly fit for a 60+ year old body. He actually wakes up early at 6:00 a.m. to go running & work out. He claims that his morning workout leaves him feeling re-charged & raring to go.

Planning. After that energizing workout, Branson creates a To Do list of things that need doing for the day and gets going on them. This list does not just include official things to do, but also new business ideas, people to speak to, potential new companies waiting to be set up, etc. While making those lists of things to do, Branson makes sure that he includes as many things as can humanly possible to be achieved. In his words, “My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, seemingly un-achievable challenges, then trying to rise above them.” He does not let Email overwhelm him. After checkimg his daily list of 300-400 Emails every day, he personally replies to critical few ones immediately. Being a CEO of several companies gives him the option of dictating answers to Emails to his assistants and assign the rest of his emails to the right members on his team.

Takeaway:

Branson’s lists can translate into tasks on a collaboration tool like Wrike and be shared easily with team members to whom you want to delegate tasks.
Spend some time working out those muscles to get your brain going each morning [blood flow]. A healthy body harbors a healthy mind. Invest in a fitness band like Fitbit or even one of those watches to keep track of your overall health – as well as the calories you burn each day.

Conclusion. As Henry Ford once said, “Nothing is particularly hard, if you divide it into small jobs.” Managing time is a matter of taking charge of your time instead of being at the mercy of the clock and endless time-wasters like Email & meetings. Take your pick among the business wisdom from each of these leaders and . . .

Comments: tell us which one will work best for you or if you find something else that works.

from Social Media Week 14 July 15 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz