Being a CEO is a tough job. 

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Responsible for a vast amount of data, people, and administration, the CEO role demands a keen understanding of operational efficiency and a healthy measure of self-discipline.

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While it may be easy to assume that CEOs simply bury themselves in their email inbox each day, filtering through important correspondence, there are many challenges they face throughout the work day - especially now with the recent emergence of remote work and productivity issues.

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From spearheading new strategic initiatives to navigating turbulent times (recent history has shown how imperative this is), the CEO has to be both bold in their convictions and adaptable in their decision-making.

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To get a better idea of exactly what the role entails, and give you an insight into the position, we asked CEOs from around the world what their daily routines look like. 

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What do your jobs share in common and what do you do differently? 

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Find out as we explore a single work day through the perspective of 3 former and current CEOs: Andreas Kitzing, Brett Fox, and Stuart Lansdale.

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Andreas Kitzing, Founder and CEO of Sponsoo – the Sport Sponsorship Marketplace (Germany)

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Andreas started Sponsoo 9 years ago in Hamburg, Germany. As CEO, he has overseen its growth to become Europe's largest digital marketplace for sport sponsorship. 

Enter Andreas:

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‍07:45: Alarm rings, I check my emails and read the headlines of the 5 most important German newspapers on my cell phone or iPad.

08:10: I get up, take a shower, and go to work by bike (30 min).

09:00: My team starts arriving at our office. We briefly go through daily tasks on an individual level and start working. I answer emails that delegate work to my team or to anyone external.

Team & Office. I’m the guy on the right, with the blue hoodie.

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11:00: We have meetings to discuss strategy, sales, product development, or other stuff.

12:00: Lunch, either with my team or with someone I want to network with.

13:00: Back to work – I try to work on some tasks where I don’t just delegate, but actually need to do the work myself. E.g.: Writing sales concepts, calling up customers or investors, doing marketing stuff, defining new product features, etc.

16:00: Short break to refresh my mind and get some energy.

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Time for a round of foosball. A typical thing to do in Germany, is it the same elsewhere in the world?

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16:20 Back to work. Check up on what the others did, give feedback, help them if they have questions, etc.

18:00 Networking event in the evening (maybe once a week) – or just staying in the office, working. Too many networking events are a waste of time, but from time to time it’s a good way to make new contacts. Usually, people will try to sell me all sorts of stuff, so my main task is to say “no” (Note: That’s actually the same story all-day, just that in our office I have to say “no” by email or phone).

20:00 I go home by bike and have dinner with my girlfriend. We talk about our days. If my girlfriend is not at home in the evening, I just stay in the office.

22:00 I work some more from home. Since I’m too tired to do any creative work, I do boring stuff like accounting, finance, or administration.

between 0:30 and 2:00: Time to go to bed.

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Hope that provides some insight. Generally, as the company grows, the CEO doesn’t have to do that much work himself and spends more time managing his team and making strategic decisions (which is a good thing).

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Brett Fox, Advisor to the CEO at NextSilicon - formerly CEO @ Touchstone Semiconductor (USA)

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Brett has transitioned into an advisory role in recent years, and currently acts as a consultant to the CEO at NextSilicon. We caught up with him in his former days as the CEO of Touchstone Semiconductor, which was a manufacturer of industrial circuit components.

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Over to Brett:

My heart is beating too fast, and it won’t slow down.

It’s 3 AM, and I can’t sleep. Again.

I get out of bed, and I walk to my office. I am shivering even though the temperature in the house is 72 degrees – nerves. I turn on the computer, and I check my email.

Dammit!

No email from the new investor like he promised. Why can’t these guys do what they say they are going to do? Why?!?

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3:30 AM: I head back to bed. At least I didn’t wake up my wife. Maybe, now I can get a little sleep before the alarm wakes me.

5 AM: The alarm goes off. I had just fallen asleep, and now it goes off!

OK, get up and go work out downstairs. The exercise will do me good. I am shivering as I walk downstairs.

6 AM: Finish the workout. Shower, shave, have my protein shake, read the paper, and answer some emails.

7 AM: I kiss my wife and daughter goodbye, get in the car, and head to work. Even the bad days are good, but I don’t know how good this one is going to be…yet.

7:45 AM: In the office. I respond to emails and make some phone calls.

9 AM: Meeting with a potential investor, a legend in the VC industry. He says to us, “I hate high-margin businesses!” That might be the stupidest thing we’ve ever heard raising money.

I just smile and continue with our presentation. There’s no hope in hell we’re getting his money.

10:30 AM: Phone call with another investor. “Brett, we should have a term sheet for you by the end of the day.” How many times have I heard that?

“Great,” I respond.

11 AM: Operations meeting. Dave and Shoba are just killing it. Demand keeps increasing, and we are meeting it.

12 PM: I really want to talk to someone inside the company about my fears and concerns. It’s oh so tempting when you are down, but you can’t go there. I’ve got to take a walk, leave the building, or do something. I can’t share my worries with the employees.

I decide to go for a walk around our “campus.” It’s 75 degrees outside and I am still shivering. I wish the shivering would go away. It won’t.

1 PM: Traffic meeting. Review with Mary, our PR person, the status of our various advertising and marketing campaigns, and our collateral development. The beautiful thing about today’s world, unlike the bingo-card world I started my career in, is that you can measure everything – and we do!

3 PM: Company meeting. Remember, Brett, you need to say what don’t mean as well as what you do mean. The team will fill in the blanks if you don’t.

The meeting goes well. I update everyone on the status of the fundraising, sales, and new product introductions. The team, as usual, had great questions.

5 PM: I’m in my office. Someone on the executive staff let me know that a member of his team was worried because I frowned when he asked a question about how sales were going.

5:45 PM: I check my email. There it is.

Subject: Term Sheet

You are responsible, as CEO, for the lives and wellbeing of your employees and their families. It’s not about you. It’s about them. I have to find a way.

7 PM: I pack up my briefcase and head home. Traffic usually thins out when I leave the office after 7 PM, but I check Waze just in case. Good. I can take 880 to 280 to get home tonight.

7:30 PM: Home. My wife, daughter, and I have dinner. My wife and I help our daughter with her homework after dinner.

9:15 PM: My daughter just went to bed, so I catch up on email and work that needs to get done.

11 PM: Bed. I know I will fall asleep quickly. The question is will I stay asleep?

3 AM: I wake up from my nightmare: we couldn’t close funding. My wife is sound asleep next to me.

I am shivering even though it is 72 degrees. I hate the shivering. God, do I hate it.

I get up and go to my office, and turn on the computer to check my email.

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Stuart Lansdale, Co-founder of Riku.AI - formerly CEO at RoomFilla (Singapore)

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Stuart is currently co-founder of the powerful AI tool Riku.AI, but when we interviewed him, he was CEO of the property owner marketing platform, RoomFilla, in Singapore.

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Here’s what he had to say about his daily routine as CEO:

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My experience goes something like this;

6:30 AM: Wake up and check emails from overnight while eating cereal

8 AM: Greet different staff and ensure everyone knows what they are doing for the day

9 AM: Look at notepad from the night before, work on assigned tasks

11:30 AM: Have something to eat, a brief walk, and clear head

12:30 PM: Back to working on tasks

3 PM: Exercise time

5 PM: Eat

5:30 PM: DotA 2 game (hope to win, if I lose then I’m pissed for another day :))

6:30 PM: Back to tasks

8 PM: Check on the team and what has been done, and start making plans for the next day

9 PM: Continue to work on tasks

11 PM: Talk with the overnight team, drop anything on them that I would like done by the time I wake up, and fill in spreadsheets with key numbers and revenue that came in, bookings, etc.

12-1 AM: Bed. Try to get at least 7 hours of sleep but don’t always manage it.

That’s a pretty typical day.‍

There, you’ve heard it. We hope that you’ve got some useful tips. More on this topic coming soon.

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The CEO Breakdown

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One thing that won’t come as a surprise is that all 3 CEOs start their mornings early. The window of opportunity between 6-8 am is the time many CEOs use to get their heads right and organize the day of work ahead.

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Perhaps more of a surprise is the fact that these CEOs understand and appreciate the need for downtime. Whether it’s hitting the foosball table with coworkers, getting in an early workout, or playing a game or two of DOTA 2, all 3 CEOs have time to decompress during the day.

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Lastly, it’s clear that the work day extends long into the night for many CEOs. With an average cut-off time of 9-10 pm, it’s no wonder our 3 CEOs have enjoyed plenty of success in their respective companies, and have all gone on to new ventures.

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Updated on June 12th 2023

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