How CEOs Get Shit Done: The Unfair Advantage You Can Copy Today
READING TIME - 4 MINUTES
Most people think CEOs get more done because they have assistants, bigger teams, or better tools.
Wrong.
The truth is CEOs follow a different set of rules.
Rules that no one teaches you in school or at work.
I learned this the hard way.
For years, I chased productivity hacks. More apps, more lists, more calendars.
I worked longer, answered every email, joined every meeting, and stayed busy every single hour.
But busy is not the same as progress.
Busy is just proof that someone else owns your time.
If you want to rise, you cannot play the same productivity game as everyone else.
CEOs do not win because they work harder. They win because they know how to bend time.
Here are the 5 rules that make the difference.
Rule 1: Kill tasks, do not just manage them
Productivity is not about fitting more into your day. It is about removing what does not matter.
Before you ask “How do I do this faster?” ask “Why am I doing this at all?”
Most people fill their calendars with tasks that could be ignored, delegated, or deleted. CEOs do the opposite. They cut first.
Rule 2: Treat your calendar like a fortress
Every meeting is a request. It is not an obligation.
Every distraction is a choice.
If you do not protect your time, someone else will use it for their priorities.
CEOs guard their deep work time like gold. They do not apologize for blocking out space to think, plan, or create. Neither should you.
Rule 3: Use decision shortcuts
CEOs make hundreds of decisions every week. They cannot afford to overthink.
So they create shortcuts. One of the most powerful is the one-way versus two-way door.
If a decision is reversible, they act fast. If it is permanent, they pause and go deeper.
Stop wasting your energy treating every choice like life or death. Save that energy for the ones that truly matter.
Rule 4: Force leverage into everything
Tasks that only impact today are distractions. Tasks that create compounding value are gold.
A CEO will spend hours on a system that saves thousands of hours later. They will spend a day hiring the right person instead of months micromanaging the wrong one.
Always ask: “How can this action create results beyond today?”
Rule 5: Say no without guilt
Every yes is a debt. A debt on your time, your energy, your focus.
CEOs know their job is not to please everyone. Their job is to protect the mission.
They say no quickly, clearly, and without guilt. That is how they stay aligned with what actually moves the needle.
You do not need a fancy title to use these rules.
You can start applying them right now.
Stop measuring your day by how busy you felt.
Start measuring it by what actually moved forward.
That is how you stop working like an employee and start working like a CEO.
Because in the end, careers are not built on activity. They are built on impact.