- Matt McCambridge was a new startup CEO when he realized how his mood affected his employees.
- He reorganized his schedule based on his biorhythms to enhance his performance as a leader.
- He shared how entrepreneurs can structure their days around their moods and energy levels.
In 2019, Matt McCambridge was three years into running his 30-person startup Eden Health, when he realized how his mood affected his employees.
“As the CEO, I signed up for a chaotic lifestyle where there’s a duty to be at your best,” said McCambridge, who co-founded the direct-to-employer medical provider in 2016. “Your mood dramatically impacts the tenor of conversation and the way people interact with you.”
McCambridge recognized that he couldn’t control the unpredictability of running a startup, but he could reorganize his schedule based on when he felt physically and emotionally at his best – known as personal biorhythms – to enhance his performance as a founder and leader.
Today, McCambridge’s daily schedule is arranged in a way that allows dedicated time for creative projects, exercise, and back-to-back meetings. Adopting this practice improved his mood and ability to lead the now 120-person company, he said.
“I was learning how my personal way of operating and living impacted my job,” McCambridge said. “Through trial and error, I came up with a system that puts me in a pretty good position to be successful.”
McCambridge, who was named a Forbes 30 Under 30 in December, shared with Insider how he structures his day around personal biorhythms and how other business owners can implement a similar strategy.
1. Identify when you feel creative, productive, or able to slog through a packed inbox
Business owners who also want to schedule their day around personal biorhythms have to start with trial and error, McCambridge said. First, identify the times of day when you're feeling creative, productive, or able to slog through a packed inbox.
Then create space in your daily agenda for those moods and pair them with corresponding duties, McCambridge said. For example, if you often feel energetic in the morning, consider which tasks you could successfully accomplish during that window of time. If you know you need a cup of coffee around 3 p.m., schedule recurring or necessary coffee meetings around then.
This type of structure can get as granular as the foods you eat: While McCambridge occasionally craves a sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich, he's observed that a lighter meal of eggs and toast is a better option for him. McCambridge calls this type of inspection "personal check-ins."
2. Set up protection around your most valuable hours
McCambridge tries to wake up at the same time everyday, aiming for 7 a.m. or earlier. Before a barrage of notifications flood his phone, McCambridge embarks on a 30- or 45-minute walk around his neighborhood in Brooklyn.
McCambridge feels most creative in the mornings and uses his distraction-free walk to brainstorm future ideas for Eden Health, using a dictation app to record any thoughts along the way.
"I make sure there's protected time at the beginning of the day," he said, adding that he'll conceptualize new market opportunities for Eden Health or strategies for working with certain insurance carriers. "I like to start in an active way with some space for creative work."
McCambridge suggests entrepreneurs start by identifying when they feel inventive then shield that time from work obligations. The mornings and evenings, when his phone isn't incessantly pinging, is when he can channel originative thoughts without distractions.
3. Schedule recurring meetings to organize and re-priortize
After his breakfast of eggs and toast, McCambridge begins his workday. Meetings can appear on his calendar early, but 9:30 a.m. is reserved for his recurring gathering with his chief of staff and executive assistant. The group reviews the day's plans or tasks that must be accomplished in the near future, which sets the tone of the day, McCambridge said.
"Everything gets planned out and then things are off to the races," he said, adding that this early meeting helps him stay organized and clear on upcoming objectives. "Try to find the times you can control because the rest of the day, until the evening, is pretty packed."
4. Schedule time to release control and go with the flow
McCambridge is typically in meetings until the early evening and often misses lunch, which he admits isn't healthy.
While this block of his day is jam-packed with meetings, McCambridge accepts its the timeframe that he cannot control. Doing so allows him to go with the flow of the day, whether that's emergency meetings or last-minute phone calls, without disrupting his protected times.
5. Save space for fun
At 5:30 p.m., McCambridge pauses work to exercise. He typically goes for a 5.5-mile run and listens to audio books, preferring history and biographies, which bolster his creative mood. He'll often pause the book to record ideas that spark during his workout.
Running doesn't necessearily enhance McCambridge's peak performance, but it's something he enjoys. He recommends other entrepreneurs incorporate some fun or personal time into their day, if they're able.
6. Protect sleep above all else
McCambridge will have dinner before diving into his inbox to answer any lingering emails. The occasional late-night meeting is unavoidable but he tries to schedule it when he's finishing the day's work, he said.
Around 11 p.m., he tucks his phone away and reads until he falls asleep. In Eden Health's early days, he realized that a lack of sleep negatively affected his motivation and ability to encourage staff.
"When you see that, make sure you take a different approach so you're at your peak performance," he said.
7. "Thinking is also working"
Learning how to take the necessary space can be challenging, but it's a valuable part of being an effective leader, McCambridge said. As he was launching Eden Health, and witnessing other CEOs working from dawn to dusk, an advisor reminded him that "thinking is also working."
"Give yourself enough space to think," McCambridge said. "You actually get much more done if you take that step back and look at the broader picture."
Additionally, don't consider your day unproductive if you took a break here and there. You don't have to "move at the speed of light every second of the day," McCambridge said.