Better life. Better you. Better performance. BETTER LIFE. YOU. PERFORMANCE. LIFE.
Trusted by leaders at some of the world's biggest organisations
"Colin's session was one of the most useful days out of the office for a long time. Some of Colin's 'top tips' are already having an impact, and I am looking forward to working with him again in the future."
Kate Ferry
CFO, Burberry
"Colin has helped provide frameworks for my various leadership teams and me on creating a stronger connection, building stronger trust and helping us to know ourselves and hence one another better. His affable style and energy warm even the most cynical minds and thinkers into warmer, more rounded people."
Mark Fitzpatrick
CEO Prudential
"I have had the benefit of working with Colin for many years - and his most recent communication session with my team was, once again, outstanding, giving the team tools and ideas to adopt going forward. Thank you, Colin, for the impact you continue to have."
Anna Marks
Deloitte Global Board Chair
Being busy isn't the problem.
At this level, a busy calendar comes with the job. There will always be meetings, decisions to make, problems to solve and people who need you.Â
The problem is what all of that can quietly push out.
The time to think properly. Space to prepare for an important decision. A few minutes to reset before the next conversation. The work that actually moves things forward. And eventually, the things outside work that keep you performing well in the first place.
I've seen leaders spend their best hours in meetings, then try to do their most important thinking when everyone else has gone home.
Sometimes an early call will wipe out the workout. Sometimes lunch will disappear. Sometimes an evening gets taken by work. That's part of senior leadership.
But when it becomes the shape of every week, there's a problem.
Your calendar is no longer supporting you to lead at your best. It's making the job harder. And it's taking more from the rest of your life than it should.
That's the problem I wrote Day Architecture to solve.
What if your calendar actually helped you do the job?
Day Architecture isn't about clearing your diary or creating some fairytale four-hour work week.Â
You still have a business to run, a team to lead and targets to hit. You're ambitious. You're succeeding.
You don't want less from your career.
But the way you're working has become unsustainable.
Even with change, you'll still be busy. Things will still go wrong. People will still need you. That's the reality of the role.
But I can help you build a week that works better inside that reality.
One where your best thinking doesn't have to wait until 7pm. Where important work has somewhere to go before your calendar fills up. Where there's enough space between meetings to think, reset and make better decisions. Where exercise, recovery and the people you care about don't automatically get whatever is left.
And where you can finish a good day's work without spending the evening thinking about everything you didn't get done.
You don't need an empty calendar.
You need one that helps you keep succeeding, without work taking over everything else.
That's what Day Architecture will help you build.
Digital edition · Instant access · Workbook included
I wrote the book I wish more
leaders had read ten years ago.
I've spent more than 30 years working with leaders at the top of their game.
Over that time, I've become less interested in how much someone can get done and much more interested in what allows them to keep performing at that level for years.
That's where your calendar comes in.
I've learned that the way you structure your days affects far more than how productive you are. It changes the quality of your thinking, the decisions you make, the energy you bring to people and what you have left when you get home.
Day Architecture is the book that brings all of that thinking together.
It's practical, because that's how I've always worked with people. And it's short, because the last thing a busy leader needs from me is another 300-page book to find time to read.
You can read it in an evening, on a flight or over a couple of quieter mornings and start making changes to your day, now.
And afterwards, you'll never look at your calendar in quite the same way again.
Seven chapters.
One better way to run your day.
Reading it is only the start.
I didn't want Day Architecture to be a book you read, agree with and then put down.Â
So it comes with a practical workbook to help you take what you're learning and apply it to your own working week.
Look at where your time is actually going. Spot what's getting squeezed out. Decide what needs to change. Then start redesigning your calendar while the ideas are still fresh.
The book gives you the thinking. The workbook helps you put it into practice.
Â
I'm Colin Hiles.
For more than 30 years, I've coached CEOs, founders and senior leaders around the world.Â
I've worked with people at Google, Deloitte, Heathrow, Burberry and many other organisations, helping them navigate the pressure, responsibility and constant demands that come with leading at a high level.
That work has taken me into boardrooms, leadership teams and thousands of conversations about performance, ambition, work and life.
I've seen brilliant people build extraordinary careers. I've also seen what those careers can quietly take from them when the way they work doesn't keep pace with the size of the role.
And I've learned that performing at your best for a year is one thing. Doing it for decades, while staying healthy, energised and having a life you actually enjoy, is something else entirely.
That's shaped the way I coach and the work I've spent my career developing.
I believe you can do ambitious, meaningful work, perform at an incredibly high level and still have the time and energy to enjoy the life you've built around it.
That's the thinking behind Day Architecture.
30 years coaching. Hundreds of leaders. Here's what a few say.
“A pivotal two-day interactive learning event led by the ridiculously talented Colin Hiles, riddled with moments of crashing self-realisation combined with simple tools and techniques to accelerate and drive career and personal growth.”
Perrin Haydon-Rowe
Director, The AA
“Colin has the unique ability to remind you who you are and inspire you to be it.”
Javier Echave
CFO, Heathrow Airport
“Colin is an exceptional, results-driven coach. Over the past two years, his support has been invaluable as I transitioned to the next level in my career. His holistic and empirical approach has significantly advanced my professional and personal growth objectives. I can’t recommend him highly enough.”
Suki Gill
CFO, Paramount
“Colin's advice, fresh perspectives and coaching have been invaluable - both in shaping the programme itself for the better, but also in helping me to have the most positive impact. He's a brilliant source of encouragement, support and constructive challenge to solve tricky problems in leading change.”Â
James Power
CIO, Logicor
“After the first session every member of the team said it was the best training course they had been on.”
Chris Bennett
Director, National Grid
“Working with Colin has been absolutely game-changing. His clear, insightful and effective approach means I've been able to understand and implement changes very fast and effectively. It's made a significant and very positive difference to my life, and I can't recommend Colin's coaching highly enough.”
Penny Scott-Bayfield
CFO, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
“Colin's trainings are definitely another level than anything else I experienced so far. He is outstanding as a communicator and trainer.”Â
Eva Naux
CFO, Saubermacher Dienstleistungs AG
“Engaging, effective and most of all - immediately used - coaching is often promised but rarely delivered. Colin delivered for Teenage Cancer Trust in bucketloads.”Â
Kate Collins
CEO, Teenage Cancer TrustÂ
“Colin's coaching sessions were well designed, tailored to my needs and the desired goals we agreed upon at the outset. He succeeded to move me out of my comfort zone by implementing the changes I knew I needed to make but had so far consistently failed to implement.”Â
Doris Honold
COO, Standard Chartered BankÂ
What changes when you
take back control?
The principles in Day Architecture have helped leaders get 12+ hours back every month.
That's significant. But the bigger difference is what starts happening during the hours they already have.
They get to important work earlier, rather than picking it up when everyone else has gone home. They have time to prepare properly for the conversations and decisions that matter. They stop moving from meeting to meeting all day and wondering when they're supposed to do their actual job.
And they get to the end of more days feeling finished.
I've seen the difference with Executive Assistants too. With a clear way to manage and protect their leader's time, we've seen 30–40% improvements in effectiveness. Leaders managing their own calendars see many of the same benefits.
That's what I want Day Architecture to give you.
Not a perfect week.
A better way to work, and more of your life back when the working day is done.
Start with the week
in front of you.Â
You already know what happens if nothing changes.
Next week fills up. Then the week after that.
Day Architecture gives you a practical way to interrupt that pattern and start building your days differently.
Read it. Use the workbook. Make a few changes to your calendar and see what happens.
You've spent ÂŁ9.99 on plenty of things that won't change the way you work.
This one might.
Digital edition · Instant access · Workbook included
-Â Â AÂ NEWÂ BOOKÂ BYÂ COLINÂ HILESÂ Â -
Your role requires your best thinking.
Does your calendar leave any room for it?
The more senior you become, the more people want your time.
Meetings. Decisions. Problems to solve. People who need you.
Before long, the whole day is full, and the work that really needs your attention gets pushed to the edges.
Earlier mornings. Gaps between meetings that should be there for recovery and resetting. Late evenings when the day finally calms down.
I've seen this in hundreds of executive calendars.
Day Architecture is the system I've developed to change it.
It's helped leaders take back control of their calendar, do their best work and still have time and energy for life outside it.
BUY THE BOOK - £9.99Digital edition · Instant access · Workbook included
Trusted by leaders at some of the world's biggest organisations
"Colin's session was one of the most useful days out of the office for a long time. Some of Colin's 'top tips' are already having an impact, and I am looking forward to working with him again in the future."
Kate Ferry
CFO, Burberry
"Colin has helped provide frameworks for my various leadership teams and me on creating a stronger connection, building stronger trust and helping us to know ourselves and hence one another better. His affable style and energy warm even the most cynical minds and thinkers into warmer, more rounded people."
Mark Fitzpatrick
CEO Prudential
"I have had the benefit of working with Colin for many years - and his most recent communication session with my team was, once again, outstanding, giving the team tools and ideas to adopt going forward. Thank you, Colin, for the impact you continue to have."
Anna Marks
Deloitte Global Board Chair
Being busy isn't the problem.
At this level, a busy calendar comes with the job. There will always be meetings, decisions to make, problems to solve and people who need you.Â
The problem is what all of that can quietly push out.
The time to think properly. Space to prepare for an important decision. A few minutes to reset before the next conversation. The work that actually moves things forward. And eventually, the things outside work that keep you performing well in the first place.
I've seen leaders spend their best hours in meetings, then try to do their most important thinking when everyone else has gone home.
Sometimes an early call will wipe out the workout. Sometimes lunch will disappear. Sometimes an evening gets taken by work. That's part of senior leadership.
But when it becomes the shape of every week, there's a problem.
Your calendar is no longer supporting you to lead at your best. It's making the job harder. And it's taking more from the rest of your life than it should.
That's the problem I wrote Day Architecture to solve.
What if your calendar actually helped you do the job?
Day Architecture isn't about clearing your diary or creating some fairytale four-hour work week.Â
You still have a business to run, a team to lead and targets to hit. You're ambitious. You're succeeding.
You don't want less from your career.
But the way you're working has become unsustainable.
Even with change, you'll still be busy. Things will still go wrong. People will still need you. That's the reality of the role.
But I can help you build a week that works better inside that reality.
One where your best thinking doesn't have to wait until 7pm. Where important work has somewhere to go before your calendar fills up. Where there's enough space between meetings to think, reset and make better decisions. Where exercise, recovery and the people you care about don't automatically get whatever is left.
And where you can finish a good day's work without spending the evening thinking about everything you didn't get done.
You don't need an empty calendar.
You need one that helps you keep succeeding, without work taking over everything else.
That's what Day Architecture will help you build.
Digital edition · Instant access · Workbook included
I wrote the book I wish more leaders had read ten years ago.
I've spent more than 30 years working with leaders at the top of their game.
Over that time, I've become less interested in how much someone can get done and much more interested in what allows them to keep performing at that level for years.
That's where your calendar comes in.
I've learned that the way you structure your days affects far more than how productive you are. It changes the quality of your thinking, the decisions you make, the energy you bring to people and what you have left when you get home.
Day Architecture is the book that brings all of that thinking together.
It's practical, because that's how I've always worked with people. And it's short, because the last thing a busy leader needs from me is another 300-page book to find time to read.
You can read it in an evening, on a flight or over a couple of quieter mornings and start making changes to your day, now.
And afterwards, you'll never look at your calendar in quite the same way again.
Seven chapters.
One better way to run your day.
Reading it is only the start.
I didn't want Day Architecture to be a book you read, agree with and then put down.Â
So it comes with a practical workbook to help you take what you're learning and apply it to your own working week.
Look at where your time is actually going. Spot what's getting squeezed out. Decide what needs to change. Then start redesigning your calendar while the ideas are still fresh.
The book gives you the thinking. The workbook helps you put it into practice.
Â
I'm Colin Hiles.
For more than 30 years, I've coached CEOs, founders and senior leaders around the world.Â
I've worked with people at Google, Deloitte, Heathrow, Burberry and many other organisations, helping them navigate the pressure, responsibility and constant demands that come with leading at a high level.
That work has taken me into boardrooms, leadership teams and thousands of conversations about performance, ambition, work and life.
I've seen brilliant people build extraordinary careers. I've also seen what those careers can quietly take from them when the way they work doesn't keep pace with the size of the role.
And I've learned that performing at your best for a year is one thing. Doing it for decades, while staying healthy, energised and having a life you actually enjoy, is something else entirely.
That's shaped the way I coach and the work I've spent my career developing.
I believe you can do ambitious, meaningful work, perform at an incredibly high level and still have the time and energy to enjoy the life you've built around it.
That's the thinking behind Day Architecture.
30 years coaching. Hundreds of leaders. Here's what a few say.
“A pivotal two-day interactive learning event led by the ridiculously talented Colin Hiles, riddled with moments of crashing self-realisation combined with simple tools and techniques to accelerate and drive career and personal growth.”
Perrin Haydon-Rowe
Director, The AA
“Colin has the unique ability to remind you who you are and inspire you to be it.”
Javier Echave
CFO, Heathrow Airport
“Colin is an exceptional, results-driven coach. Over the past two years, his support has been invaluable as I transitioned to the next level in my career. His holistic and empirical approach has significantly advanced my professional and personal growth objectives. I can’t recommend him highly enough.”
Suki Gill
CFO, Paramount
“Colin's advice, fresh perspectives and coaching have been invaluable - both in shaping the programme itself for the better, but also in helping me to have the most positive impact. He's a brilliant source of encouragement, support and constructive challenge to solve tricky problems in leading change.”Â
James Power
CIO, Logicor
“After the first session every member of the team said it was the best training course they had been on.”
Chris Bennett
Director, National Grid
“Working with Colin has been absolutely game-changing. His clear, insightful and effective approach means I've been able to understand and implement changes very fast and effectively. It's made a significant and very positive difference to my life, and I can't recommend Colin's coaching highly enough.”
Penny Scott-Bayfield
CFO, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
“Colin's trainings are definitely another level than anything else I experienced so far. He is outstanding as a communicator and trainer.”Â
Eva Naux
CFO, Saubermacher Dienstleistungs AG
“Engaging, effective and most of all - immediately used - coaching is often promised but rarely delivered. Colin delivered for Teenage Cancer Trust in bucketloads.”Â
Kate Collins
CEO, Teenage Cancer TrustÂ
“Colin's coaching sessions were well designed, tailored to my needs and the desired goals we agreed upon at the outset. He succeeded to move me out of my comfort zone by implementing the changes I knew I needed to make but had so far consistently failed to implement.”Â
Doris Honold
COO, Standard Chartered BankÂ
What changes when you take back control?
The principles in Day Architecture have helped leaders get 12+ hours back every month.
That's significant. But the bigger difference is what starts happening during the hours they already have.
They get to important work earlier, rather than picking it up when everyone else has gone home. They have time to prepare properly for the conversations and decisions that matter. They stop moving from meeting to meeting all day and wondering when they're supposed to do their actual job.
And they get to the end of more days feeling finished.
I've seen the difference with Executive Assistants too. With a clear way to manage and protect their leader's time, we've seen 30–40% improvements in effectiveness. Leaders managing their own calendars see many of the same benefits.
That's what I want Day Architecture to give you.
Not a perfect week.
A better way to work, and more of your life back when the working day is done.
Start with the week
in front of you.Â
You already know what happens if nothing changes.
Next week fills up. Then the week after that.
Day Architecture gives you a practical way to interrupt that pattern and start building your days differently.
Read it. Use the workbook. Make a few changes to your calendar and see what happens.
You've spent ÂŁ9.99 on plenty of things that won't change the way you work.
This one might.
Digital edition · Instant access · Workbook included