Every day, Stephan Muller deletes social media off his phone for four hours. The entrepreneur and GCC Director of wearable Whoop schedules two 90-minute chunks where he really focuses on a task at hand.

“It sounds kind of stupid, but I delete social media for four hours just because otherwise I'll grab my phone and just unconsciously check,” he said.“I just have my laptop in front of me, all the programmes closed, and just that presentation or whatever I need to work on. It just allows you to be very present. Now, our attention is pulled in so many different directions, and there's so much noise that being present is a real superpower.”

Stephan was addressing young achievers at the inaugural KT+150 Summit which kicked off at the Helipad by Frozen Cherry near Dubai Festival City on Thursday on a panel that discussed how entrepreneurs find balance. The event brought together young innovators, changemakers, and boundary-pushers for a day of discussions, networking opportunities and an afterparty headlined by a Rolling Stone MENA music festival.

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Another speaker on the panel, entrepreneur Tatum Greig, said that social media was a silent time stealer. She said that she has now taken crutches like social media away out of her life.“I now read as well as do exercise and breathwork and meditation,” she said.“Reading is a really good way to improve, learn about yourself, and pull back in order to move forward efficiently with your next task.”

She added that switching between tasks was also difficult.“You'll think that you're able to go from one task to another succinctly, but actually it takes 15 minutes on average to be able to go from one to the other,” she said.“So, people are wasting loads of time in switching between tasks. You might as well use that time to be more productive, to pull yourself back and get yourself ready for the next task.”

Restaurateur Tarek Roumie explained that productivity doesn't necessarily apply only to work life. “When you think of productivity, it's also how do I move the needle in the family,” he said.“I measure productivity and success by the ability to have family time. In the same way, I ask as a business, about do I make money, in the family I ask have I given my parents, my partner and my sister enough time. It's really making it a priority. I think people kind of just discredit that aspect.”

He added that it was important to create systems in daily life.“If you ask someone to wake up at 3am and run every day until they can't run any more, they will burn out,” he said.“It is the same with productivity. So, if people don't have systems that allow for creating some sort of recovery, they will suffer extreme burnout.”

Tatum also encouraged young startup owners and those looking to start their own business to be comfortable being on their own.“One piece of advice that I would give anyone who is starting their own company, especially if you're doing it alone, is learn how to be by yourself for at least five months before,” she said.“You will spend much of your time by yourself while you're starting it up. And it's also really important to then find other people around you to surround yourself with who have been through the same thing.”

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