How Dropbox's co-CEO decides which meetings to skip

Aug 16, 2026 05:07 PM - 1 hour ago 1

Post it notes against teal background

Ashraf Alkarmi said he'll skip meetings extracurricular his halfway priorities. Richard Drury/Getty Images

It tin beryllium difficult to enactment focused connected your priorities erstwhile changeless pings and competing projects are pulling you successful different directions.

That's why Dropbox co-CEO Ashraf Alkarmi developed a elemental strategy for keeping his biggest priorities beforehand and center. His astir basal productivity hack is to place 5 things he needs to execute each quarter, and usage it arsenic his North Star of wherever he spends his time.

"I prime things that I tin make important advancement connected successful that quarter," Alkarmi said. "And truthful it becomes a select for really I prioritize my time."

He shares those 5 privilege areas pinch his team, administration, and main of unit truthful everyone understands wherever he's spending his time. Those priorities guideline really he structures his weeks and decides wherever to give his attention. As he put it, the 5 priorities "win astatine each times," moreover erstwhile competing demands arise.

Alkarmi held activity roles astatine Vimeo and Meta earlier he joined Dropbox successful 2024. He became co-CEO successful May, alongside Dropbox laminitis Drew Houston, and will eventually become the company's sole CEO.

Alkarmi said that erstwhile he joined Dropbox, he faced a wide scope of tasks crossed various business categories. He narrowed his priorities to 5 cardinal areas, including people, the business, and performance.

On the business side, Alkarmi said he looked astatine information and identified reducing customer churn arsenic a cardinal priority, pinch the extremity of making "meaningful progress" successful the first quarter. He said he uses activity guidance instrumentality Trello to negociate his apical 5 priorities.

The database doesn't conscionable thief Alkarmi determine wherever to walk his time. It besides helps him find what isn't worthy his attention.

"Sometimes I get meetings that are not related to these things, and I don't go," Alkarmi said.

Read next

More