March 17, 2019: Question Series #12
Written By: Marc Moskowitz
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Do you ever wonder why most Senior Executives seem to be in good shape? How about all the articles you read about those same people, getting up at 5AM each morning, and doing the same things to start their days over and over again? What about your boss who always seems to have time to take vacations, go to lunch with peers, or volunteer on a regular basis? The reason all of these people can do what they do and still be highly successful is because they have highly-developed, disciplined routines.
All of us have some routines in our lives, whether it’s taking our kids to school, grabbing a coffee each morning (this one is not so financially good for you, but I digress), or packing a lunch. Those are all well and good, but the routines you need to develop to increase your chances of career success are a bit different. These “success” routines need to be less mundane, more complex, and require more dedication to keep. Further, the more value-added they are the higher the return.
I know your next question is going to be, “How do you define value?” Simply stated, increasing the direct benefit you get out of the routine, and the longer it lasts, the better. Making it repeatable is an add-on bonus too. There are no judgments here.
Let’s take a look at a few examples of value. Does getting a cup of coffee each morning generate a lot of value? The sad answer is very little (I’m a huge coffee fan myself). It costs more money than it should and gives you a perk for less than an hour in most cases. Also, it doesn’t help you learn anything, stay in shape, or relieve long-term stress.
What about waking up at 5AM and heading to the gym on a regular basis? This is a much higher value routine for several reasons. First, it’s great for your long-term health and beauty (Note: Don’t underestimate the career value of beauty for both men and women. In our shallow and visual society, it drives a lot of decision making both in personal relationships and business). Second, it gives you more energy throughout the day and reduces your stress levels before the business day even starts! Violà , a high-value routine! Finally, it also gets you up and at ’em early in the day, and you know what they say about the early bird, right? They get all the worms! In our case, let’s say they get all the promotions!
Let’s do one more comparison before we move onto some really great routine suggestions for career-minded individuals like yourself. Let’s look at taking your kids to school every day versus taking a week-long family vacation at least once a year (and several, regularly scheduled mini-ones to boot). At first glance, you might say that taking your kids to school everyday might be the better one, but how much value does it directly add to you and your ability to perform at work? Virtually none. We all love our kids and it’s a must-do routine for sure, but it’s not one that will help us in the fashion that we’re talking about here.
How about the vacation? How does a once-a-year, one week vacation add more value than an everyday routine with our kids? It’s pretty simple. First, the vacation will let you unwind and forget about work for a definitive period of time (assuming you don’t read your emails or bring your laptop). Second, you’ll be fully recharged when you get back (if you vacationed the right way) and ready to produce at a high level. Finally, the exercise and discipline of planning a long vacation and making detailed arrangements is a great critical thinking exercise —- even if it’s fun! A high-value routine for sure!
People who routinely take long vacations and several smaller ones throughout the year are more successful (Related Articles: Psychology Today, Thrive Global, Harvard Business Review).
Now that we’ve seen a few examples, let’s talk about the Top 5 routines that career-minded individuals can develop to help their careers in the long run. There are a lot to choose from and it was difficult to narrow down the list to just five. My criteria in selecting the ones that I did was based on:
- How realistic it was for the average full-time employee to develop
- How much long-term benefit was derived from the routine in both a career and personal health perspective (if it had zero or close to zero career benefit I eliminated it, as this is a career-focused article not a personal health one)
- How much research and writing was available to prove the routine’s worth
The list below is what I came up with in rank order:
- Workout or get some kind of physical exercise at least three times (five times is even better) a week for at least a half hour; preferably one hour: This routine has an extremely high value for both your career and your personal well-being. This is why it’s the overall winner. It’s also adopted by the vast majority of CEOs and other executives around the world. How many obese or extremely overweight executives do you see? Very few. From stress/blood pressure relief, to weight control, to developing a physical skill, this one has it all. It can also be a social routine, if you do group workouts or play a team sport.
- Wake up early (6AM at the latest): This is just about on everyone’s success list. What these successful people do with their early time seems to vary, but the outcome for everyone is they get more done throughout the day, while also being more focused. It’s really that simple. Popular themes for early time seem to be: working out, meditating, catching up with their families, reading something of interest, eating a healthy sit-down breakfast, and spending time outdoors.
- Taking vacations and/or time-off: This was on a lot of people’s list and I’m a big believer in this one, as well. Simply put, scheduling time off is not only good personally, but really good for your career. It helps you recharge your batteries, it empowers your team to function without you (a really good test of a leader), and it broadens your cultural horizons. If you can manage an international vacation, you will earn a double bonus. Well-traveled people make better employees and leaders. There are too many data points to list them here.
- Getting out of the office for lunch and taking time to walk-around the office throughout the day: Though this routine adds value to your career in small increments, it works well. If you do it on a regular basis, your career will thank you for it. Not only does it help break up the day, it helps you to establish relationships with all types of people. Switch up who you ask to lunch and you’ll do even better. Don’t always go with your direct team or your peers. Work the ladders and you’ll be amazed. As for walking around the office, not only will you get some exercise, you’ll bump into people randomly and learn a lot about your company, your fellow employees, and the environment around you. This is a personal favorite of mine for all of these reasons. Sometimes I think people look at me funny for walking around too much, but I’m OK with that. It’s helped me a lot and I’m sticking to it!
- Block out time to think to yourself throughout the day, read something not related to your day’s work and/or plan: This was a big one on a lot of lists for top executives. It’s also critically important to any knowledge worker whose main work products require creativity, logic, or strategy. I will typically spend at least one hour a day looking like I’m doing nothing, but in reality, that is far from the truth. My “desk” time as I call it, is all about thinking through critical tasks, planning next steps for meetings, working on processes, or strategically thinking how best to use all of my resources (people, budgets, or technology). Start blocking out time on your work calendars to do these kinds of things and watch your productivity jump through the roof! As a side note, some of the best “thinking to myself” time often happens while doing our number one item. I love to swim and for me there is no better place to think of new ideas and strategies. I’ll often jump out of the pool and write down my thoughts. Where do you do your best thinking?
There you have it. The Top 5 routines that can help your long-term career. Do you agree? What are your routines? Even just having a Top 5 will help you be more successful. Start making them today!
Thanks for reading!
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