What do leaders do to protect focus time?

Common tactics include blocking mornings, writing memos before meetings, and fewer, shorter meetings. Browse them in the Terminal.

72 of every 100 working hours of the CEOs studied went to meetings.

Only 28% of their work time was spent alone.

The same Harvard study that tracked CEOs around the clock found that meetings dominate the job: 72% of work time, against 28% alone.

That leaves little room for thinking. Many habits in First Flight, from silent memos to meeting-free mornings, are attempts to win some of those hours back.

Time logs from 27 CEOs over 13 weeks each, Harvard Business Review, 2018.