Trivago/Ekaterina Falikova
Johannes Thomas, CEO of the hotel-search company Trivago, tries to keep his mornings free so he has time to chew on big ideas.
Thomas wakes early and tries not to take meetings before 11 a.m. so that he can structure the start of his workdays around blocks of time lasting 90 minutes to two hours.
The idea, he said, is to create time for “undivided attention” that can lead to high levels of productivity. It’s what Thomas and others often refer to as “flow.”
“I just focus on a problem, think it through, and really go into deep thinking,” he told Business Insider.
That way, Thomas said, by lunch he’s already accomplished a good deal of work. After that, he makes time for meetings. Thomas said the afternoon is generally more structured because that’s the part of the day when “cognitive function goes down for most people.”
Finding ways to squeeze more productivity out of workdays overrun by calendar reminders, email pings, and DMs can be a challenge for many workers. Yet, corralling meetings to certain days or times can boost productivity.
‘Shared flow time’
Thomas said the 30-minute meetings that often punctuate corporate calendars can make things worse, “taking you out of these deep thinking modes that are extremely important for productivity.”
That’s why Trivago recommends that employees at the company, based in Düsseldorf, Germany, rely on the morning-afternoon split by trying to keep their calendars free from meetings before 11 a.m.
“We call it shared flow time,” Thomas said, who returned in 2023 to the company where he’d started as an intern in 2011.
Thomas, 38, said having the routine also helps prime his brain for how he’ll use those blocks of time when he starts his day. He tends to reserve one block for learning, which might involve getting his head around some aspect of artificial intelligence. Other times, it’s going in-depth on some aspect of the company.
“Everything that demands cognitive function — it comes into these sessions,” Thomas said.
In the afternoon, he’ll make time to respond to emails “because that’s usually not hard cognitive function,” he said. If an email requires more dedicated attention, Thomas said, he’ll slot it into his focus time.
Learning from the boss
Employees often take cues from leadership, so when those in charge model ways of working that might limit distractions, that can benefit organizations broadly, Kate Walker, a human resources consultant and executive coach in California, told BI.
The reverse can also be true, she said, if workers observe constant fire drills.
“If you see a leader at the top who’s scattered and running around and reactive, then maybe you’re more inclined to be operating in that way,” Walker said.
She often recommends to her clients that they block time on their calendars for focusing and taking breaks. Walker also said workers can ask their bosses which meetings they might not need to attend.
Having too many meetings on the books can be a sign of cultural dysfunction within an organization, Nir Eyal, author of the book “Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life,” previously told BI. In essence, he said, it can indicate that leaders and others don’t value workers’ time properly.
Ultimately, Trivago’s Thomas said, having a good time management strategy gives him peace of mind. While he has a plan and strong intentions, Thomas estimates that his morning setup works about 70% of the time. So, he tries to be flexible when necessary.
“I have three kids,” he said. “The world is a bit chaotic. Things happen.”
The post The CEO of Trivago uses this morning productivity hack to get more done appeared first on Business Insider.
