Peloton's CEO - John Foley reveals his productivity hacks

You can’t control how much time you have on this earth, but you can choose how you use the 24 hours we all are dealt every day...

John Foley is the founder and CEO of Peloton, the cult spinning company with a £3.2 billion valuation that launched late last year in the UK. Here’s how he structures his routine to get things done...

06:00
Hydrate mindfully

“The first thing I do, almost before I open my eyes, is go to the sink and, from my hand, take 30 sips of water. Someone told me that it jump-starts your body.”

06:45
Hit a cardio session

“I used to do 45 minutes; it’s closer to 30 minutes now that I have two children. I go down to our living room and generally do a Peloton ride to start my day.”

07:45
Read newsletters

“As well as a couple of hundred emails a day to deal with, there are probably ten different daily mailing lists that I am on. [I recommend] The Information, a ragout on [Silicon] Valley that is kind of an ‘inside baseball’ for tech.”

09:00
Work outside the office

“On average, I get down to a coffee house once a day. Sometimes I take a pad of paper. Often you think differently with a pen in hand, away from email.”

10:00
Book a meeting with yourself

“If there’s something I need to get done – say I need to write a letter to the shareholders – I will create a two-hour meeting with myself on Google Calendar and that’s the time I dedicate to writing the letter.”

12:30
Walk and talk your way to lunch

“Lunch is generally grabbing a sandwich and coming back to my desk, so often I ask someone if they want to come with me and get seven minutes of conversation in transit.”

16:00
Take ten minutes of exercise

“There’s a former US Marine on the IT help desk – a young guy in pretty good shape. A couple of times a week I’ll grab him and say, ‘Do you have five minutes?’ He and I will go to the gym here at Peloton and we’ll challenge each other to a pull-up competition.”

17:00
Maintain your network

“So many people stop off in New York [where Peloton is based]. A couple of times a week friends, business contacts or investors are in town and want to connect.”

18:00
Don’t clock off

“I never find a need for a moratorium on being in ‘work mode’; my blood pressure doesn’t change. I enjoy my work and the people I work with, so there’s not really any time when I turn it off.”

19:00
Make family time

“My wife and I are trying to do family night once a week. I’m also the coach of my daughter’s softball team and my son’s baseball and basketball teams. It’s my happy place to be out there – I feel like a good father.”