Kathryn Minshew is the founder and CEO of the Muse, a website dedicated to career advice and development. She lives in New York with her husband, who is also an entrepreneur. She receives between 400 and 500 emails a day and typically works until between 12 and 2 a.m. She wants to bring about the end to “zombie meetings.” Here’s how she gets it all done.
On the value of puréed vegetable squeeze packets:
My wake-up time usually depends on how late I was answering emails the night before, but typically let’s say around 8 a.m. I will grab either some granola, a Kind Bar, or one of those puréed fruit, veggie, and chia packs that they sell for adults that’s basically just glorified children’s food. They’re amazing. You feel a little bit idiotic because they come in these little squeeze‑y pouches. They’re different fruit and veggie combinations, and I always feel like I’m getting a little bit of vegetables in the mornings. Usually, I’m either eating on my way to the office or sitting on my couch with my laptop on my lap, starting to dive into a couple of the big to-dos of the day.
On a typical day:
I usually try to schedule the first open hour or two for any big projects or emails. Then, I’m usually in a couple hours of meetings back-to-back. Everything from sitting down with a couple members of our team, interviewing candidates for our open roles, talking with potential future investors or partners, chatting with reporters. I often will try to have a break if I can around 12:30 or 1. Although recently, things have been so busy that sometimes I’ll eat lunch in one of my internal meetings instead. I’ll grab a soup, salad, or sandwich from Chop’t or Hale and Hearty or something. Usually, the afternoon is a mix of getting a little bit of time to pop into my inbox and make sure everything is under control, as well as a lot of external meetings. We’ll get out of meetings somewhere between 6 and 7:30. Then I will either grab dinner with a colleague, a friend, or investor who’s in from out of town. Sometimes I’m going to a friend’s book-launch party one night and then another night it’s drinks and small bites with the panelists for a talk that I’m giving. Usually I’ll have one night when I’m doing something that’s a bit more fun. Other free nights, it’ll be something that’s fun and enjoyable, but is in some way related to my business or my company. Then I’ll get home anywhere from eight to ten, and then I’ll usually be on my computer pretty much consistently until sometime between midnight and 2 a.m.
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