Thread by @m_franceschetti

I try to get the most out of my time

I have always been obsessed with time optimization and over the years I have tested 100s tactics to ensure I spend my time effectively & efficiently.

Here are the best 9👇

1. Color-coding your calendar

- I color code every type of meeting I have. (ex: blue = Operations, grey = Growth, green = Product + more)
- I categorize each meeting based on 4 tiers (urgent, high, medium, low) to determine when to schedule & if they overtake my “power time”

- On Sunday, I receive a report of how I’ve spent my time across these different areas and see if it matches my priorities

2. Schedule meetings in blocks

- All of my recurring meetings are in blocks. I schedule additional meetings around them to ensure that I’m not in and out of meetings all day long, which wastes mental energy

- I have time blocked each day in my cal to think or take random calls/meetings (I call it Power Time)
- My team knows they can overtake Power Time for urgent stuff. Every day, something new happens and I need the flexibility to handle it

- I love the days when I have very few meetings. On those days, I reach out to the team to check how certain things are progressing, or write memos or longer messages

3. No meetings before 2pm on Wednesdays

- I keep Wednesdays before 2PM free of any meetings & use it as my Power Time
- This is my mid-week reset for revisiting priorities & leveraging my network & knowledge to solve outstanding issues. It is one of my most productive times

- I like doing this in the middle of the week so that I can tap into the team or adjust priorities in the second part of that same week

4. Have high IQ meetings

- At @eightsleep, we send pre-reads to review the night before each meeting. People are expected to leave their comments in advance in the doc
- During the meeting, we do not review all the slides but only the open comments left in the slides

- My team and I then use meeting times to focus only on high IQ topics and decisions
- 90% of our meetings are no longer than 30 minutes

5. Ideas should come in the form of a memo

- If you have an idea you want to pitch, write it in a concise, clear memo, share it on @slackHQ & start getting asynchronous comments
- I want time to think about new ideas, not just listen to them for the first time in a meeting.

- In this way of communication, I can offer meaningful feedback and evaluate data ahead of any meetings
- This prevents “uncooked” ideas shared too early without the “owner” putting enough effort into his or her thinking

6. Program your week in advance and do frequent post mortems

- On Sunday afternoons, I like to work and prepare the week ahead. It makes me feel in control and ready for the week. I also use Sundays for investor updates and other recurring docs

- On Monday at 830am, I kick off the week with my closest team, reviewing and adjusting the calendar for the week. On Friday afternoons, we meet again to do a quick post-mortem of the past week

- On Monday at 9am, we have an executive meeting where we review all the dashboards of the company, discuss my three main concerns and anything top of mind for the group. We also report on progress from the previous week

7. Automatic dashboards are @eightsleep’s super power

- We have set multiple automatic dashboards on @LookerData
- Every day at 6am, I receive the summary of the previous day (revenue, product mix, CVR, attachment rates, AOV, etc). It includes >20 metrics

- On Mondays at 6am, I receive the weekly summary (same stats as the daily), plus a product dashboard
- The 1st day of each month, I receive a monthly recap

8. Allot time to prep

- I like to start working 30-60m before my first meeting each morning to review all the docs for the day, leave comments + review dashboards
- At the end of the day, I write down the key things I need to tackle from my notes & slack/calls

- I have a note for each of my executives that I maintain throughout the week with the bullets I want to discuss with them in their 1:1. This way, I do not interrupt them each day

9. Do video calls during the week and save physical meetings for weekends

- Video calls are more efficient
- If I’m meeting up with friends or colleagues, I try to schedule those meetings as tennis or outdoor sports during the weekend. They are social, healthy and fun

- If people do not like these types of meetings, I will do early breakfasts on Saturday or Sunday
- I am not a big night person, so I try to avoid work dinners. I am not at my best the following day if I go to sleep late

If you enjoyed this thread:

1. Check out @zebulgar's article here: delian.io/lessons-3
2. Follow me for more tips on entrepreneurship, sleep, health, and more.
3. Check out the @eightsleep blog for more wellness tips: blog.eightsleep.com/?utm_source=tw…