My Switch Off Moment: Harry Dewhirst

Harry Dewhirst
President of Blis
The boy-wonder of mobile

You have a big meeting tomorrow morning at 9am.

It’s midnight and you can’t sleep. What is going through your mind and how do you switch off?

I don’t take sleeping pills ever, rather, I remain determined to fall asleep naturally. I absolutely don’t look at my phone and make sure there is no stimulus like a clock ticking or light flashing to bother me.

How do you plan your day and maximise your time? Describe your planning process.

I live and die by my calendar. I also am fortunate enough to have an amazing assistant which means I can work at 3x the speed.

You wake up to an emergency email and your team is highly stressed, how do you take action?

I would immediately give one of them a call. It is easy to get worked up over email and I find phone interaction is best.

Do you have any set morning routine, if so what is it?

Coffee, coffee, coffee.

What does your commute consist of? How do you spend that time?

I have a three minute walk to the office. I will never ever go back to more than a 10 min commute. On my walk I listen to music or do a call.

A meeting cancels and you have one hour spare, what do you do with your time?

Normally I will clear backlogs of email.

You’re about to start a large high-value project, how do you clear your mind and mentally prepare?

I like to clear the decks so to speak—purging emails or projects that have been sitting around for a while to make sure I am up to date on other things so this can get my attention. Or else I will have 100 balls in the air at any given time.

It’s the afternoon and you are fatigued. You can’t finish a project. How do you boost your energy and focus?

Traveling and jet lag sometimes gets me—but getting some sunlight, exercise and a breath of fresh air gives me an extra release of life.

Describe your favorite productivity hack.

If I am really under the gun, my emails will be incredibly short and I will often be delegating vs doing. This allows me to get through 100 emails in an hour.

Do you take digital breaks during the day? During which moments would you initiate flight mode on your phone?

I have never enabled flight mode on my phone – even on a plane. But on my upcoming holiday my goal is to switch off my phone, lock it in a safe, and never look at it. I have never done that in my entire life.

How do you wind down?

Glass of wine, music, and playing drums.

What is your one piece of advice to successfully manage stress?

This is a hard one. Managing stress is difficult and also very personal. In this industry (adtech), we need to realize our day jobs aren’t saving lives. My solution to managing stress or a stressful situation is to get context to the problem. I like to fully understand a situation and this helps to put the situation into perspective and see any problem is surmountable.

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