What does a typical day look like for you? 

It’s a question I’ve asked of hundreds of CEOs and top business leaders around the world. They almost always tell me the same thing: they don’t have a typical day. Every day is full of different activities and meetings. If you want to follow in the footsteps of some of the most successful business leaders, avoid having a typical day. These people still have habits and commonalities throughout their days, but they avoid falling into the routine of doing the same mundane things every day. Avoiding a typical day can make you more creative and energized, which is good for your sanity and the success of your business.

 

So how do you avoid having a typical day? Here are five tips:

1. Get out of the office. It’s easy to fall into the same routine when you’re in the same place all day, every day. Get out of the office and take your work on the road. Work from home or a coffee shop or even a communal workspace in your building. Visit customers and distributors. Take your team for an off-site meeting. Changing your scenery can change your mood and outlook.  
2. Find a hobby. Try to find time every day to pursue a hobby. Having something to look forward to after work can motivate you to try something different at work. The hobby can be anything from cooking to exercising to basket weaving. Hobbies break up the monotonous schedule and get your creative juices flowing.  
3. Avoid screens. One of the quickest ways to get sucked into a mundane routine is to spend all day looking at a screen. In our connected world, it may seem impossible to put your phone, tablet, and computer away, but it can be a good exercise in creative thinking that pushes you outside your regular day. Give your mind a break and spend screen-free time talking with people in person and seeing other parts of the business. 
4. Talk to new people. Open your mind to new ideas and people. Invite a new co-worker out for coffee or just swing by the desk of someone you usually only communicate with via email. Face-to-face communication builds relationships and expands your network beyond just the people you see every day. 
5. Change your schedule. Try mixing up your day by changing your schedule. Even small changes, like waking up 15 minutes earlier to run or read before work, can be a nudge to get out of your routine. If you normally do something after work, try doing it before work. Change your weekly meeting time, stay up late, or take a longer lunch break. These small changes can propel your day to something new.

 

Avoiding a typical day can get you out of a rut and help you be more connected and creative. These five simple steps can move your typical day to an unexpected and unique, atypical day.