WANT to know the secret behind the success of the billionaire CEOs of Silicon Valley?
It’s routine.
Aside from the obvious talent they possess in their field, research suggests what keeps these tech pioneers ahead of the game is having a rigid routine and quirky rituals.
According to Renegade Collective magazine, the daily routines of tech’s biggest CEOs such as Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and even the late Steve Jobs reveal they were all creatures of habit.
Seemingly insignificant rituals like Zuckerberg wearing the same tie for a year or Dorsey’s regular saunas are key to top performance, according to research by Harvard business school, which claims repetitive actions can help people cope with stressful situations and adopting rituals in the office makes good business sense.
The article describes how Zuckerberg has 20 identical grey T-shirts. For five days of the week, he wears them on rotation, paired with blue jeans and thongs or trainers, depending on the season.
This resonates with Jobs who famously always sported a black turtleneck sweater and jeans.
He owned over 100 of the Issey Miyake designed garments so he didn’t have to waste time (mentally and physically) each day deciding on what to wear.
It kept his mind clear to focus on the most important things, instead.
If you struggle with deadlines, take a leaf out of Dorsey’s book.
He themes his work week to help him stay on top: Monday is management meetings, Tuesday is product development, Wednesday is marketing and communications, Thursday is developers and partnerships and Friday is spent discussing the company’s culture.
He says the technique helps him focus and sets a good cadence for the company. His free time is so precious that he categorises that too; Saturdays are for hiking, Sundays for reflection.
Any unfaltering Vegemite-on-toast eaters out there, you may be onto something, as dietary structure also plays an important role.
The co-founder of Tumblr, David Karp, has the exact same breakfast every morning (called the Uber breakfast), which consists of pancakes, eggs Florentine, avocado and bacon.
If you’re looking for tips on how to emulate and employ similar techniques into your own lives, the article quotes Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder, as list-making being a key component to success.
Get your three biggest tasks of the day written down each morning, Alexis says. Do them, feel good.
Repeat the next day.
