20 Tiny Rules I Follow That Quietly Make Life 10x Easier
Simple systems. Massive returns. No burnout.
You Need Better Rules
As an exec, you’ve likely been told to work harder, wake earlier, or grind until things stick. Have better discipline, train your willpower.
But here’s something I’ve seen over and over:
Willpower will likely break. Systems don’t.
When your system is strong, your best decisions happen by default. That’s peace and performance.
Below are 20 tiny rules that bring clarity, energy, and control without requiring heroic effort.
They will decide whether you operate from momentum or stress.
Let’s get into it.
1. No Work Before 8:00 AM
The early morning is sacred. Before 8, emails and Slack messages shouldn’t exist.
Why it matters:Starting your day in reaction mode is like letting the world hijack your mental clarity before you’ve even finished your first cup of coffee. Most high-performers don’t realize this, but how you start your morning determines the altitude of your entire day. When your first inputs are other people’s priorities like Slack, email, or social scrolls, you enter a cortisol loop you never fully recover from.
How to implement it:
Block off 6:00–8:00 AM on your calendar as sacred. No meetings. No email. No phone.
Use that window for what I call Personal Grounding Time: walk, hydrate, journal, read, or review your goals for the week.
If you’re pressed for time, even 20 minutes of stillness, movement, and intentional planning creates a buffer between your internal compass and external demands.
Remember, start the day from the inside out, not the outside in. Start making decisions based on clarity, not pressure. And you’ll reinforce a powerful identity: I lead my day — I don’t chase it.
2. I Finish My First 32 oz of Water Before My Second Coffee
Hydrate before stimulation. It’s my biological “baseline calibration.”
Why it matters:Caffeine before hydration is like revving an engine with no oil. It might work… but you’re going to break down faster. Most people don’t realize that dehydration is one of the most common (and preventable) causes of fatigue, brain fog, and decision fatigue. The secret isn’t quitting coffee — it’s sequencing it after you prime your body.
How to implement it:
Keep a 32 oz water bottle on your nightstand or desk. It’s a visual cue and a silent accountability partner.
Make it a ritual: Wake → bathroom → water. Before coffee touches your lips, take at least 10 big gulps of water from that bottle. Then finish it before making the second cup.
Add lemon and a pinch of pink salt to improve hydration.
While traveling a few years ago, I was living on hotel coffee and airport snacks. My energy kept crashing mid-afternoon. Once I committed to water before anything, the fatigue disappeared. I was more alert and stable. I showed up sharper for every situation.
This is how you stop borrowing energy and start building it.
3. 3×3 Weekly Planning
Every Sunday, plot 3 work goals and 3 personal priorities.
Why it matters:Most people start Monday already behind — scrolling through email, wondering what matters most, and saying yes to everything. But when you know your top 3 priorities in both work and life, you lead your week like a strategist, not a firefighter.
Planning doesn’t just reduce stress — it multiplies ROI. Because when you aim at fewer things, you finish more of them.
How to implement it:
Schedule a standing 60-minute Sunday planning session.
Use a simple framework:
Work Goals (3): Strategic priorities that move the business or your role forward.
Personal Priorities (3): Habits, experiences, or self-care that restore you.
Bonus: Score your previous week’s “Big 3” (in % complete). This creates feedback and focus.
Real-world example:
One week, I skipped this ritual. I felt scattered the entire week, constantly reacting to other people’s requests. The following Sunday, I doubled down: blocked time for deep work, clarified my top priorities, and synced with my accountability partner. By Tuesday, I was calm, clear, and ahead of schedule.
Do this and you’ll stop running on default. You operate with clarity and constraint. You walk into your week like a high-level operator — not a burnout case.
4. Time-Block Like a CFO
Every time block should serve revenue, renewal, or relationships.
Why it matters:Think of your calendar like a budget sheet. Every hour you spend is an investment — either compounding your capacity or depleting your focus. CFOs don’t blindly approve random expenses. And top performers shouldn’t blindly accept random meetings, pings, or “quick chats.”
When you treat time like money, everything changes. You stop burning hours and start allocating attention toward high-return categories.
How to implement it:
Build a weekly calendar audit: Does each block of time serve either Revenue (your zone of genius, strategic projects, sales), Renewal (rest, workouts, stillness), or Relationships (team connection, family, 1:1s)?
Use color-coded calendars:
Blue = Revenue
Green = Renewal
Yellow = Relationships
Meetings must earn their way into your schedule. Ask: Does this drive outcomes or just motion?
DO this and you’ll no longer wonder where your time went. You see the ROI of your calendar, in focus, energy, and strategic wins.
5. Daily 3 Wins
Plan your day around three clear outcomes — not 15 frantic tasks.
To-do lists don’t work. They feel productive but often lead to shallow dopamine and deep disappointment. The most effective leaders don’t start with “what needs doing” — they start with what would make today feel successful.
The Daily 3 Wins system forces clarity. It builds momentum. And it creates a clear definition of success you can actually meet.
How to implement it:
Each morning (or the night before), write your top three wins for the day — ideally one that moves a strategic goal, one that prevents a fire, and one that protects your personal energy.
Write them in a physical notebook or visible workspace — not buried in a notes app.
Celebrate by crossing them off. No reward is too small.
Pro tip: Stack this habit with your morning coffee ritual to make it automatic.
One founder I worked with had a 15-item to-do list every day — and always felt behind. We scrapped it. He started journaling his “Top 3” wins instead. After 30 days, not only did he feel more productive — his team said he seemed calmer, clearer, and more confident in meetings.
Do this and you’ll end each day with a sense of closure. Not because you did everything, but because you did the right things.
6. The 10-Minute Desk Reset
End your day by clearing your workspace, resetting your mind, and prepping tomorrow.
Why it matters:How you end your workday shapes how you begin the next. A cluttered desk is more than visual mess — it’s cognitive drag. It carries yesterday’s chaos into tomorrow’s potential.
Most high performers don’t lack strategy — they lack clean starting lines. The 10-minute desk reset is a ritual that protects the start of your next sprint.
How to implement it:
Set a daily alarm 10 minutes before your shutdown time.
Clear your physical workspace: stack papers, close browser tabs, wipe your desk.
Write tomorrow’s “opener” task on a sticky note or top of your planner.
Mentally close open loops. No lingering “I’ll just finish one more thing.” This is a hard stop.
Pro tip: Keep a “Shut Down Ritual” checklist in a visible place — like a sticky note or small whiteboard on your desk.
If you constantly dread Mondays. Maybe it isn’t the work — it’s the disorganized start? Add this 10-minute desk reset to Friday afternoon.
Do this and you’ll won’t start your day fighting yesterday’s clutter. You’ll begin calm, organized, and clear.
7. No Phone in the Bedroom
Make your bedroom a sanctuary, not a server room.
Why it matters:High performers often talk about optimizing the day — but forget the night is what fuels the day. When your phone is the last thing you see before sleep and the first thing you check upon waking, you’re training your nervous system for chaos, not calm.
Screens before bed suppress melatonin, increase cognitive stimulation, and spike cortisol. That means you’re not just losing sleep — you’re losing recovery, emotional regulation, and creativity.
How to implement it:
Charge your phone outside the bedroom — or place it across the room if that’s your only option.
Use a basic analog alarm clock to wake up — preferably one without blue light.
Keep a book or journal by the bed. Replace the scroll with reflection or learning.
Try this for just one week. Track your sleep and mood — it’ll likely improve fast.
A senior leader I coached kept waking up exhausted. We traced it to late-night Slack scrolling. She thought she was “catching up.” In reality, it was wrecking her REM cycles. Once she started parking her phone in the kitchen at 9 PM, she reported the best sleep in years. Bonus: her marriage improved because she was more present at night.
Start doing this and you’ll fall asleep faster. You wake up clearer. You enter your day responsive, not reactive.
8. 5 Wins in 5 Minutes
Start your morning by remembering what’s already working.
Why it matters:
We live in a world obsessed with what’s missing. This breeds anxiety, perfectionism, and the endless feeling that you’re behind. High performers often forget to leverage momentum — and instead focus only on gaps.
But momentum isn’t something you wait for. It’s something you create — and nothing creates it faster than a 5-minute ritual of micro wins.
How to implement it:
Keep a sticky note or notepad near your coffee setup or laptop.
Write down 5 wins from the past 24–48 hours. Small is good. Think:
“I completed a tough email.”
“I set a boundary.”
“I went for a walk instead of scrolling.”
Don’t aim for ego — aim for awareness.
Optional: Text one of those wins to your accountability partner or coach.
During a brutal week recently, exhausted emotionally and behind on sleep. I felt behind and overwhelmed. But I grabbed a napkin at a coffee shop and wrote 5 small wins from the previous 48 hours. Suddenly, I remembered I was making progress — I just hadn’t named it yet. It flipped my energy from defeated to determined.
Try this and you’ll shift your identity in 5 minutes: from someone struggling to someone winning. That change in lens often changes your day.
9. Zero-Notification Mode
Protect your focus like it’s a million-dollar asset.
Why it matters:
Every ding, badge, buzz, or red dot is a stealth assault on your nervous system. It fractures attention, spikes anxiety, and keeps your brain in a loop of anticipation. Most of your best work — deep strategy, clear communication, creative thinking — requires undistracted space.
Every time you switch tasks due to a ping, it takes your brain 11–23 minutes to return to full focus. That means “just checking one thing” can cost you a full hour of performance.
How to implement it:
Go Zero Notification Mode — disable all non-essential app alerts.
Only allow: calendar reminders, VIP calls, and emergency contacts.
Batch check email and Slack at 2–3 pre-set times during the day.
Enable Do Not Disturb or Focus Mode system-wide.
Tell your team: “To do my best work, I’ll be offline except (insert times). Text only for true emergencies.”
Do this and your mind will feel like it did before the internet. Clear. Present. Powerful.
10. Win Review + Bottlenecks + Next Goals
The most powerful 30 minutes of your week.
Why it matters:
Accountability isn’t about pressure. It’s about clarity and course correction. Left unchecked, our brains overestimate what went well, ignore what didn’t, and invent excuses for stalled progress. But when you regularly review wins and bottlenecks with another human? You turn vague effort into concrete insight.
This is the rhythm of real growth:
Reflect → Refine → Recommit
Without it, we loop. With it, we leap.
How to implement it:
Schedule a recurring weekly meeting — 30 to 60 minutes, Sunday is ideal.
Choose someone you trust (friend, coach, business partner).
Use this format:
“What worked this week?” (Wins)
“Where did friction show up?” (Bottlenecks)
“What 3 work + 3 life priorities matter most this week?”
Track it simply — Notion, Google Docs, or whiteboard. It’s not the tool, it’s the ritual.
Optional: Use a 1–10 rating scale for your week’s performance.
Do this and you’ll never drift too far off course. You operate from clarity, not chaos. You grow.
11. No Decisions Before Quiet
You don’t owe the world your brain before it’s fully online.
Why it matters:
Your first 30–60 minutes determine your mental trajectory for the day. If your morning starts with Slack, email, and reactive decision-making… your brain enters “response mode.” That’s not strategy. That’s survival.
Instead, treat your brain like a high-performance engine: warm it up first. No inputs, no asks. Just space to center, move, hydrate, and ease into intentional control.
How to implement it:
For the first 30–60 minutes of your day:
No phone, email, or browser.
Hydrate (32 oz water) — we talked about this above.
Light movement: walk, stretch, or breath-work.
Journaling or silent planning — no input yet.
Let coffee be your “green light” or reward.
I used to wake up and immediately check email and instagram— convincing myself I was being proactive.
What I didn’t realize: I was letting others set my agenda.
Now, I hydrate, sit in silence, journal, write and then touch slack. The difference? My calendar reflects my priorities — not just everyone else’s emergencies.
Do this and you’ll enter your day grounded. You make better decisions. You lead from clarity, not caffeine-fueled chaos.
12. One-Touch Email
Inbox zero isn’t the goal. Email mastery is.
Why it matters:
Email is designed to hijack your focus. Left unmanaged, it becomes a digital to-do list created by everyone except you. And every time you open the same email twice, you pay a hidden tax in decision fatigue and attention drain.
Most leaders lose 6–10 hours a week due to poor email hygiene.
How to implement it:
Adopt a One-Touch Rule: Every time you open an email, do one of the following — right away:
Reply (if under 2 minutes)
File into a system (e.g., “Action / Awaiting / Archive”)
Delete if it doesn’t need your time
Delegate by forwarding and labeling
Batch your email:
2–3 times daily: mid-morning, early afternoon, late afternoon
No email before your morning clarity block (Rule 11!)
Use tools:
Use Gmail labels like “To Reply” or “To Delegate”
Superhuman or Spark help streamline inbox flow if you get high volume
A startup VP I worked with said email was “like wading through a swamp.” Once she committed to the one-touch rule and created a triage system, she freed up 8 hours per week. That time now goes to strategy, team coaching, and more deep work. Her words: “My brain finally feels clean.”
Do this and email will become a tool again — not a trap. You’ll make decisions once, not five times. Your brain gets lighter, sharper, and more free for what matters.
13. Meeting Goals Only
If there’s no goal, there’s no reason to meet.
Why it matters:
Most meetings are scheduled out of habit, not necessity. When the objective is unclear, people wander, posture, and perform — but don’t produce. This erodes time, energy, and morale across your organization.
Instead, treat meetings like projects: they need a clearly defined outcome, or they shouldn’t happen at all.
How to implement it:
Require a typed outcome statement in every meeting invite.
Example: “Meeting goal → Align on Q3 hiring priorities.”Use the meeting title to preview the purpose: “Decision Needed: New CRM Tool.”
Decline or reschedule meetings that lack a clear goal.
Pro tip: In leadership teams, this rule improves velocity and reduces calendar fatigue — fast.
Do this and your calendar will be filled with high-leverage moments — not just noise. You lead with intentionality, and your team follows suit.
14. Pre-Meeting Reset
Lead the room before you enter it.
Why it matters:Your state walks in the room before you do. If you arrive mentally scattered from the last meeting, you bring leftover stress into your next conversation. But if you take two minutes to reset — your presence shifts.
You go from reactive participant to clear, confident leader.
How to implement it:
Block 2 minutes before every meeting to:
Stand up (change your posture = change your state)
Breathe deeply (2–4 calming breaths)
Review the agenda or restate the goal in your mind
No apps needed — just use your phone timer or watch.
Bonus: Repeat a personal mantra or leadership intention like, “I bring clarity and calm.”
Do this and you’ll walk in grounded, focused, and five steps ahead. You don’t just attend meetings — you drive them.
15. End Meetings 5 Minutes Early
Because your brain isn’t built for zero-margin calendars.
Why it matters:
Most burnout isn’t caused by what you’re doing — it’s by how nonstop it all feels. When every meeting ends on the hour and the next starts immediately, you never get the pause needed to decompress, process, or prep.
Buffer time isn’t a luxury. It’s a performance edge.
How to implement it:
Change your default meeting slots to 25 or 55 minutes
In Outlook or Google Calendar, adjust default durations
Make it a policy: “Every meeting ends 5 minutes early. Always.”
Use the final minute to confirm next steps and allow people to reset.
Do this and you’ll regain time and transition space — giving your brain time to operate with thoughtfulness, not whiplash.
16. 45-Minute Walking Meetings
Move your body, unlock your brain.
Sitting in boardrooms (or on Zoom) drains creativity. But when you walk, your physiology changes. Your posture opens up, cortisol decreases, and ideas start flowing again. Best of all? Movement builds deeper connection — especially during 1:1s.
Steve Jobs did this. So do modern CEOs.
How to implement it:
Convert any low-stakes or 1:1 meeting into a walking meeting.
Use a wireless headset, or just carry your phone.
Book a 45-minute block with 10-minute buffers on either end.
Choose a nearby park, quiet neighborhood, or rooftop loop.
Pro tip: If remote, encourage walking Zoom calls with video off.
Some of my best client breakthroughs have happened during walking calls. One founder I coach used walking meetings for his leadership check-ins. His team said he was “more human, more present, and more creative.” It also became a built-in movement habit during busy weeks.
Do this and you’ll get movement, connection, and clarity — in one 45-minute window. It’s not a meeting anymore. It’s a ritual of renewal.
17. Active Recovery Sandbox
Replace rest with regeneration.
Why it matters:
Most high-performers suck at recovery. We either collapse into Netflix exhaustion or schedule workouts like we’re pro athletes. But there’s a middle path: active recovery — a practice that restores energy without demanding performance.
True energy isn’t just physical. It’s emotional, mental, and neurological. When you treat recovery as a strategic input instead of a break, you stop crashing — and start compounding.
How to implement it:
Create a weekly “sandbox” of gentle movement options:
30-minute walk
Yin or restorative yoga
Breath-work (Wim Hof or box breathing)
Light stretching with music
Schedule one block per week and treat it like a meeting.
Optional: Track how you feel after, not just during.
Do this and you won’t just rest — you’ll restore. yourself. Your nervous system thanks you. And you show up the next day with energy, not exhaustion.
18. Same Breakfast Daily
Simplify your fuel. Free your brain.
Why it matters:
Every decision you make drains cognitive energy. And one of the most common sources of hidden friction? Food. Starting your day with “what should I eat?” is like putting a speed bump in front of your momentum.
Top performers create nutritional defaults that eliminate decision fatigue while optimizing energy, focus, and digestion.
How to implement it:
Choose one high-protein, slow-carb breakfast and lock it in.
Example: 3 scrambled eggs + sweet potato + spinach
Or: Greek yogurt + berries + chia seeds
Batch prep ingredients weekly if needed.
Eat it at the same time each day.
Do this and you’ll start your day on autopilot — with stable blood sugar, no stress, and no wasted mental energy.
19. One Hour Social-Free Evening
Protect the final hour of your day like sacred space.
Why it matters:
Your brain doesn’t shut off when the laptop closes. And if your final hour is filled with TikTok, scrolling, or Slack pings — you’re hijacking your ability to recover. Your night hygiene directly affects your morning performance.
This habit isn’t about discipline. It’s about designing space for clarity, connection, and recalibration.
How to implement it:
Set a digital curfew: one hour before bed, all social apps go dark.
Use “Do Not Disturb” or Focus Mode on your phone.
Replace it with something analog:
Reading a physical book
Playing music
Conversation with a loved one
Journaling or stretching
Keep your phone out of arm’s reach — or out of the room.
Do this and you’ll reclaim your evenings. You sleep deeper. And your morning starts with momentum — not digital hangover.
20. Whiteboard of Wins
Keep score — not to impress, but to progress.
Why it matters:
Your brain is biased toward what’s missing. Unless you manually highlight what’s working, you’ll forget your progress — and assume you’re falling short. That erodes confidence, motivation, and joy.
A visible “Board of Wins” becomes your daily evidence of growth.
How to implement it:
Place a small whiteboard near your desk or mirror.
At the end of each week, write down 3–5 wins — big or small.
Use a different color for each week to track momentum.
Optional: Snap a photo each week to review your 90-day arc.
Examples of what to log:
Closed a new client
Finished 4 deep work blocks
Kept your morning ritual for 5 days
Had a vulnerable conversation that mattered
One client struggled with imposter syndrome. She started this habit as a quiet personal ritual. After 6 weeks, she said, “I realized I am doing the work. I just wasn’t giving myself credit.” That shift sparked a massive change in how she led her team — with more presence and pride.
You remember who you are. You lead from evidence — not insecurity. And you track progress without relying on anyone else’s applause.
Why These Rules Work — Together
These rules aren’t random — they function as a coherent operating system:
Energy + Clarity rules ensure cognitive bandwidth.
Time + Focus rules protect your peak performance windows.
Recovery + Rest rules keep your fire sustainable.
Accountability rules connect you to real, personal leverage.
Think of it like a high-functioning engine: each rule is a gear — and together, they shift your life from chaos to velocity.
How to Start, Without Feeling Overwhelmed
Choose your top 3 frustrations — pick one from each category (energy, focus, recovery).
Implement them for the week — habits take about 8–14 days to feel like second nature.
Check your system every Sunday with a 15-minute loop.
Add 1–2 rules monthly — that’s sustainable long-term growth.
You don’t climb a mountain in one step. You climb by consistent, purposeful steps — with systems beneath you.
Next Step: Get the Full Executive Edge System
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Discipline isn’t built on effort. It’s built on a foundation of simple rules.
When your defaults are strong, you stop reacting and start directing.
Pick three rules. Apply them. Watch your life become ten times easier without burning out.
As always, thanks for reading.
- Olly
