Not long ago, the answer to that question, at least in certain quarters of the business world, would have included secrets to surviving (no, thriving!) on four hours of sleep, replacing solid foods with Soylent (so much faster, even more nutritious!), and an assortment of ridiculous life hacks in the manic pursuit of “crushing it” at work.
Then came the pandemic and all the other chaos of the early 2020s. None of that was good, but it did have a silver lining: It made a lot of people realize they were burning themselves down to nothing at the office . . . and neglecting the rest of their lives. Over the past couple of years, the movement to decenter work and re-center everything else has become so prevalent that we briefly debated whether we should produce our annual Most Productive People issue at all this year.
To be clear, we have never approached this issue from the point of view of a tech bro obsessed with optimizing every moment, and we actually began wrestling with this shift a couple of years ago. But the cry for balance has only gotten louder, and more and more we’ve been wondering: Do people still want this kind of content? We concluded that we do—which probably means that you do, too. With this year’s edition, we have adjusted our definition of productivity even further to reflect these healthier priorities.
The result is a truly diverse collection of advice from an eclectic group of professionals. Marvin Ellison, the CEO of Lowe’s, still rises at 5:30 a.m., but he always does “a morning spiritual devotion” and works out before checking his email. Drag queen and entrepreneur Trixie Mattel, on the other hand, gets up at around 9 a.m., brushes her teeth, and sometimes goes back to bed. Both accomplish a hell of a lot by the time the day is done—as do the other eight leaders we highlight in our 10th annual Most Productive People issue—but not at the expense of a balanced life. The 24-page section is packed with tips, tricks, and wisdom to help you achieve the same.
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
