On setting goals : “ I set professional goals annually , reviewing them monthly and recalibrating when necessary .” |
4.5 hours |
Meetings Other Work Duties Commute Sleep Chores / Errands Exercise Eat Downtime Family / Friends |
Favorite to-do list system : |
|
|
|
|
Handwritten list on a sheet of paper . “ Sometimes I highlight the items I must hit that day ; the next day I might choose another color to differentiate that day ’ s priorities . … It ’ s dynamic and real , and I love the reset I get from rewriting the list when about half the items are completed , or it ’ s become too messy to be useful .” |
2 hours
1.5 hours
|
1.5 hours |
1 hour 0.5 hours |
0.5 hours
6.5 hours
|
6:30AM - Gets ready for work , heads to the XL offices on 13th Street .
7:30AM - Weekly breakfast meeting with her two project executives at Fox & Goose or Café Bernardo , two blocks from the XL offices . “ I check in with them weekly , asking , what ’ s keeping them up at night ?”
8:30AM - Meets with regional leadership . To keep the meetings hyperefficient , Cowan uses a structure called The Ninety ( a productivity platform ). People take turns leading or taking notes , the meeting starts with sharing headlines of good news , then they share the “ rocks ” — the one or two critical things that must be accomplished . “ Not the 10 things , but the one or two things you need to get to your annual goal .” They quickly assign to-do ' s and discuss any pressing issues .
10AM - Visits a construction site . It ’ s important for Cowan to pop up from time to time , to both support project managers and to “ trust and verify .”
NOON - Eats a quick lunch at her desk ( often a salad with a side of sweet potato fries from Burgers & Brew on R Street ) while working and emailing . She stays current on news with daily emails from The New York Times , The Skimm and The Wall Street Journal ; for local and industry news she reads Sacramento Business Journal , Comstock ’ s and Engineering News-Record .
2PM - Meeting or internal work , like prepping the business plan for 2022 . She tries not to obsessively check email , as “ The time to stop an activity , check an email and then return to the activity adds up to a significant waste .”
4PM - Either more internal work ( like reviewing an organizational chart ) or a networking function , such as a recent event hosted by the Sacramento Region Builders Exchange , where she meets with architects , engineers , trade contractors or clients .
6:30PM - Dinner and downtime . “ I ’ m either living large or I ’ m in my jammies on the couch ,” says Cowan , meaning she ’ s either out to dinner with friends or eating the same leftovers for several nights in a row . As for Netflix binging ? “ The theme for my weeknight wind down is ‘ light ,’” which usually means something like “ The Great British Baking Show .” ( Heavier fare is reserved for the weekend , “ when I have more time and brain-bandwidth .”)
9:30PM - Chores and cleaning .
10PM - Heads to bed .
Jeff Wilser is the author of seven books , most recently “ Becoming a Firefighter ,” from Simon & Schuster ’ s Masters at Work series . On Twitter @ jeffwilser .
Each issue , we dig into the working habits of a top executive in the Capital Region , providing insight into how they get things done .
December 2021 | comstocksmag . com 27