Welcome to The 6 a.m. CFO, where finance chiefs share how they jump-start their days and engage with the tasks that are in front of them.
Today, InvoiceCloud’s CFO, Chris Sands, shares his morning routine.
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InvoiceCloud
- A provider of modern digital payment, customer engagement and outbound disbursement solutions.
- Year founded: 2009
- Number of employees: 600
MORNING ROUTINE
Walk us through your normal workday morning routine. What is your morning pick-me-up? I absolutely need seven-plus hours of sleep to be at my best, ideally eight. I like to exercise in the morning, which I can typically manage to do 2-3 times during the workweek. The one thing I do seven days a week is have a hearty breakfast – always two scrambled eggs, black beans, spinach and turkey taco meat.
Can you share a recent morning where things didn’t go according to plan, and how you adapted? My wife works, and we have a 3½-year-old son, so these mornings are more the norm than the exception. I have a slow commute into Boston — typically 50 minutes for 15 miles. Rather than stress about the slow commute, I actually find it to be a good time to gather my thoughts and priorities for the day and generally relax. Lemons into lemonade!
How do you structure your first few hours after you log on at work? Ideally, when I can command enough control of my schedule (easier said than done!) I like to block time for deep work, as I tend to have the most energy in the morning. That leaves the late morning and afternoon for meetings and other tasks that don’t require as much focused time (e.g., clearing emails, etc.).
LEADERSHIP AND INSPIRATION
Favorite leadership lesson: K.I.S.S. — Keep it simple, stupid.
Who is the most influential/famous person you’ve ever met? I cleaned Tom Brady’s golf clubs in the summer of 2002. Does that count?
What is something important to know about you that you wouldn’t know from your business bio? I love college football. Fall Saturdays are the best.
What was the last job you did at your company that fell outside your traditional scope of work? Star shooting guard on the company basketball team (this may be disputed…).
How have you learned to manage work-induced stress? I try to manage my days and priorities with a modified Eisenhower matrix that I’ve “perfected” over the years. I manage this on a daily basis, and oftentimes will move things around throughout the day. When things start to feel really overwhelming, I clear it out and build it back up from scratch. Inevitably, I end up deleting some things from the list altogether, which, in addition to the reprioritization, helps calm and focus me.
Favorite number: 11. My birthday…boring.
What are the most noteworthy items in your workspace? My desk drawers look more like CVS than Staples. I catch a lot of grief around the office for being late to meetings because I’m brushing my teeth.
Do you have a pet sitting in your office right now? No pets in the office, but I do have candles, which is equally frowned upon.
Year, make, and model of your first car: 1988 Chevy Celebrity (I should note that I got my license in 2000)
Favorite phone app that is unrelated to work: Not a big app person. I like playing Wordle in the mornings.
Can you share a book you’ve recently read? I’m currently reading The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. The concepts are simple and intuitive and explain some of the biggest challenges we’re facing as a society. Life, like business, is better and easier when people spend time together and form meaningful relationships.
