If you’ve ever struggled to juggle work deadlines, laundry, meal prep, and a vague sense of dread about the state of your inbox, spare a thought for Genghis Khan. The man ran an empire the size of a continent without so much as a whiteboard or a productivity app. No colour-coded Google Calendar. No Slack threads. Not even a passive-aggressive post-it note.
And yet, he conquered half the known world before your average millennial figures out what to do with a Sunday. What was his secret? Was it ruthless ambition? Military strategy? A very large horse? Possibly. But we believe it was also something far more elusive: immaculate time management.
Here is a modern reimagining of Genghis Khan’s approach to productivity—terrifyingly efficient, suspiciously relevant, and slightly unhinged.
Conquer the Morning (and Your Enemies)
Genghis didn’t hit snooze. He didn’t scroll through medieval memes. He probably didn’t lie in bed wondering if he should start meditating. No. He woke up and immediately decided who to invade.
Lesson: start your day with intent. If not military conquest, maybe just replying to that email you’ve ignored for 11 days. Create a morning ritual worthy of a warlord. Coffee. Battle plan. Conquer inbox.
Also consider armour. Not literal armour (unless your workplace is particularly spicy), but that mental readiness—the mindset that says, “I shall tame this cursed spreadsheet, even if it takes till nightfall.”
Set Ruthless Priorities
Genghis didn’t try to “do it all.” He focused. Ruthlessly. If a task wasn’t helping expand the empire, it didn’t make the cut. No faffing about wondering whether to alphabetise the scrolls or reorganise his yurt.
Lesson: stop trying to multitask. If it’s not urgent or empire-defining, it can wait. Categorise tasks as “conquer,” “delegate,” or “burn with fire.”
A good general didn’t lose the war because he spent all morning perfecting a new siege font for the kingdom’s signage. You don’t need the perfect planner. You need a list. Possibly written on your hand.
Delegate Like a Mongol General
The man had a knack for delegation. He didn’t personally ride to every village and fill out every requisition form. He had generals for that. Trusted people who could carry out his vision with minimal supervision and a lot of horseback yelling.
Lesson: stop micromanaging. Hand things off. Trust the team. Appoint your own loyal lieutenants (or at least bribe a flatmate with tea to do the recycling).
Also, don’t underestimate the power of saying, “Can you take this on?” with a look that says or else. That’s the Genghis way—gentle persuasion backed by the implied threat of logistical catastrophe.
Stick to a Nomadic Workflow
The Mongol Empire ran off a saddle. No permanent office. No fixed location. And still somehow more efficient than a Zoom call with eleven people who all say “Sorry, you go” at the same time.
Lesson: be adaptable. Change your environment. Work from somewhere new. Take your laptop to the kitchen. Conquer the sofa. Establish dominance over a café table.
Your environment affects your morale. If Genghis could lead a war campaign while living out of a tent in minus twenty, you can probably answer three emails from your kitchen while wearing fluffy socks.
Handle Feedback Like a Conqueror
Not everyone was thrilled with Genghis. There were opinions. But he didn’t dwell. He listened (sort of), adapted (where useful), and kept ploughing forward across steppe and spreadsheet.
Lesson: not all feedback is useful. Take what helps. Leave what doesn’t. And if someone sends you a 47-point email critique at 10 PM on a Friday, you’re allowed to go full siege mode and ignore it.
Also worth remembering: not all critics are tacticians. Some are just people with time and opinions. If they didn’t help you build the yurt, they don’t get to critique the goat hide pattern.
Establish Psychological Dominance (Without Violence)
Genghis didn’t always fight. Sometimes, he won just by showing up. The psychological power of presence—of appearing organised, in control, and mildly terrifying—was key.
Lesson: hold your ground in meetings. Make eye contact. Mute and unmute with purpose. And never underestimate the power of using someone’s full name when asking for that report.
People don’t question a ruler who sounds confident. Nor do they question the woman who enters a Monday morning call with a mug that says “Crush or Be Crushed.”
Leave a Legacy (or at Least Clear the Backlog)
You might not be building an empire (yet), but that doesn’t mean you can’t channel a little Genghis energy into your Monday. Get up. Choose violence (metaphorically). Clear your inbox. Delegate like a general. Establish dominance over your to-do list.
History may not remember your calendar colour-coding, but it will remember that you got things done—with flair, ferocity, and only a mild addiction to caffeine.
Be ruthless with your priorities. Be kind to your brain. And above all, when the day threatens to defeat you, lean back in your chair and whisper, “What would Genghis do?”
Answer: probably storm HR with a trebuchet. But we’ll settle for a decisive email reply.
And if anyone asks what your productivity secret is, just whisper: “Mongol methodology.”
Born and raised in Sheffield, Kerry Freeman is an unrepentant tea addict, cat enthusiast, and lifelong expert in the art of looking busy while doing the bare minimum. By day, she works as a minion in a government department (no, not one of the cute yellow ones with dungarees). By night, she brings her wicked sense of humour to untypicable.co.uk, where she fearlessly tackles life’s nonsense with sharp wit, historical references, and the occasional inappropriate joke.
Kerry has no children (by choice, obviously), but she does have a cat, which is basically the same thing but with more attitude and fewer school runs. When she’s not writing, you’ll probably find her at a historical re-enactment, enthusiastically pretending she’s living in another century—preferably one with fewer emails and better hats.
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