High performance and effective leadership both rely on structure.
How leaders allocate time, especially at the start and end of the day, shapes the quality of everything in between. Midday demands can be unpredictable, but mornings and evenings are where intention lives because you have control on how your day begins and ends.
What happens right after waking matters. These early moments the mind a place to land before the noise and urgency begins. Simple actions like walking, meditating, or gently stretching help the nervous system shift into focus. Morning light plays a role as well. Research shows that early sunlight helps align circadian rhythms and improves daytime alertness. Use this time for creative thinking and reflecting on challenges.
Evenings matter just as much. When work spills into the night, the brain stays lit long after the screen goes dark. Leaders who respect the evening by closing the laptop, dimming lights, or reading (a physical book!) give their minds space to reset. Athletes will tell you that rest and recovery is as important as the workout. The result is steadiness that carries into the next day. Without a clear end to the day, mental residue builds and the mind takes over.
Clarity about how the day begins and ends makes room for better living, steadier focus and improved decision-making. Protecting those boundaries gives leaders the capacity to respond, not react.
Until next time, Sherif
Excellent advice. A simple change that I advise everyone I work with is to use an alarm that isn’t your phone alarm. It can truly make the difference between starting the day intentionally vs starting the day pulled around by notifications and algorithms.