Ryan Deiss argues that CEOs should stop chasing perfect routines and instead plan for chaos. He proposes a 12-hour work week split across deep focus, strategy, people time, rest, and learning, with 28 hours left for fires and interruptions.
Productivity systems fall apart. Routines break. So how do you plan anything as a CEO when every day is chaos? I once created the perfect morning routine. Up at 6:00 AM, meditate, smoothie, exercise. And then every day for a month, my daughter would come bursting into our room at 4:30 in the morning because she just had a nightmare that she was being chased by the Cookie Monster. And it really made me think, is it just impossible to be disciplined and regimented when life is so busy? Luckily, no. The truth is, is that chaos, especially when you're running a business, is the norm. And so any system that needs a perfect week or a perfect morning to work is more of a wish than a viable system. So here's what you actually need each week. You need 4 hours of focus time, 2 hours of strategic thinking time, 2 hours of people time, 2 hours of rest, and 2 hours of learning and professional development. The other 28 hours are where all the fires and Cookie Monsters can go.
