How I Win the Day as a CEO and Father

As a CEO in a fast-paced industry (real estate), a leader to a growing team, a father to two young daughters and a husband, I don’t have a lot of free time.

Most of us don’t.

Yet, sustaining success in business requires radical ownership of your time. Think of your time and energy like money – you have to carefully monitor cashflow. Money in, money out. Energy in, energy out.

To protect the finite amount of energy you have each day, block out your non-negotiables first. When you can master your schedule, you master your day.

My weekdays look something like this:

• Get up at the same time each morning (5.15am)
• Sit in my study with a coffee, organising my most important tasks for the day, respond to external partners, and review Nitschke’s company issues list.
• Workout at the gym for 30 minutes
• Get the kids ready for school + school drop-off
• Coffee with my sister, Maddy Nitschke, our Head of Property Management, so we can align sales and PM departments.

From here, I use time-blocking to complete different activities throughout the day. I’ve learned not to pack my schedule too full because my key role is to coach and lead.

A team member needing my help isn’t an interruption. The most important clients I have are my employees.

I finish most days at 5.30pm, so I’m home to make dinner each night for my family. I love an evening walk to decompress and get my steps in, and in bed by 8.30-9.00pm.

It’s not perfect and I’m always refining it. I do some spend time on Saturdays on leadership and business operations, given the growth phase we’re in, but that’s work I enjoy.

I’ve found if I’m conscious with when I choose to work, that’s half the battle. If I’m catching up because I need to, then something is broken in my weekday schedule. If I’m working because I want to, that’s a different story. I bring a different energy to it.

If, when reviewing my week, I feel like my performance is not where I want it to be, it’s usually a sign to look outside of my work. Performance issues are most often connected to something in my personal life (family, mental or physical health or nutrition).

The same goes for team members, too. Low performance is an invitation for self-reflection.

It’s important to look at your schedule and the perceived problems with curiosity.

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