Tick, tick, tick

Father Time. It’s undefeated.

Second by second, our weeks, months and 2020 as a whole (thank goodness, right?) is coming closer to an end.

But that’s why time management is so important. Whether you run your own company or are an entry-level employee, how you use your time can give you a big advantage in being successful against the competition.

We hope you take a few of those minutes to check out a new back page feature we’re introducing called “On an Average Day.” Each month, we’ll feature a company owner or executive taking us through, you guessed it, what their average day looks like.

“As we talk to these leaders about their average day, I’m hoping you can pull out a lesson or two about better managing your time.”

Kicking off the new feature is Mike Bogan, CEO of Landcare – a $186-million company with more than 3,000 employees. I wanted Mike to launch the feature because the idea stemmed from a conversation I had with him during a bus ride at our Top 100 event last year.

Somehow, we got to talking about his morning routine and he said he wakes up at 5 a.m. but doesn’t check his phone until 7 a.m. I was amazed by that. Not to mention he’s on the West Coast, so most of the country is working by then. But the two hours to get his mind right daily makes him more effective.

I use my phone as my alarm clock, and check my mail within 10 minutes of waking up. It’s a habit I’m trying to break, and it could be as simple as buying an alarm clock and leaving my phone on the other side of the room.

As we talk to these leaders about their average day, I’m hoping you can pull out a lesson or two about better managing your time or learning a process to make your company more efficient.

Everyone has different life circumstances – even Mike admits his day looked a lot different while he and his wife raised their family. But what we all have in common are those 24 hours in each day. I know you will be able to learn a better way to organize your day with every new profile we write. – Brian Horn