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Planning in Real Life is a new interview series where I ask people from all walks of life the same set of questions about how they plan, stay organized, and keep their days moving. Everyone approaches planning differently, and that’s what makes these conversations so interesting.
Today, I’m talking with…
Meet Michael Diaz-Griffith
I’m grateful that this first conversation is with someone who means so much to our family. Michael is my sons’ half brother, and while his accomplishments in the arts and design world stand on their own, he’s also simply family—someone we love deeply, cheer for wholeheartedly, and take real joy in celebrating.
We’ve watched his path with pride and admiration, not only because of what he does but because of who he is. Sharing his voice here feels like the perfect way to begin this series.
Let’s get started.
I asked Michael six questions about how he works, what keeps him grounded, and the practices that hold his days together.
Tell us about your job — what you do and what a typical day looks like for you.
I run a national membership organization for design principals — architects, interior designers, allied creatives, and the executives who lead design companies. It’s a fascinating and deeply rewarding role because it brings together community-building, strategy, creativity, and leadership.
My days are wonderfully varied. In addition to lots of strategic planning, governance, and day-to-day management duties, I organize and host (and attend) events and conversations, guide our editorial program across print and digital media, and lead social impact initiatives. I touch each part of the organization every day. That lets me combine all of my passions — especially design, communications, and people — which sit at the heart of the Design Leadership Network.
Beyond the DLN, I write books about collecting and spend a great deal of time championing material culture. My first book is called The New Antiquarians: At Home with Young Collectors (2023). I really care about antiques, historic art, and vintage design — not necessarily as things to own, but because of their history, craftsmanship, and stories. They’re vessels for memory and culture, and some of humanity’s greatest achievements exist in the form of objects. Encouraging young people to appreciate and steward material culture is very important to me. I’ve also been involved in the leadership of America’s longest-running art fair, The Winter Show, for ten years.
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How do you keep track of your schedule and stay on top of all your commitments?
At the moment, I don’t use a paper planner — though I suspect you may convert me! My system is simple: I rely almost entirely on my digital calendar, supported by the Notes app on my phone and computer.
My calendar is sacred. If something’s not on it, it almost certainly won’t happen. One gift of having a team is that colleagues place meetings directly onto my calendar, which helps enormously.
For everything that’s not calendar-friendly — ideas, reminders, small tasks — I use the Notes app. It’s low-tech, low-friction, and perfectly suited to my very full, extremely variable days. I admire more robust systems, but I don’t really have time to maintain them for myself. The simplest tools are the ones I can sustain.
When you have travel, events, and multiple projects happening at once, how do you decide what gets priority?
Some part of prioritization is instinctual — I have a strong natural sense of what needs to move first, what matters most today, and what can wait until tomorrow. But in any organization, everyone’s priorities are slightly different. Mine may differ from my team’s; theirs may differ from our clients’ or collaborators’. So I build alignment into the rhythm of every week.
We hold an all-team meeting every Monday — ideally in person — to set direction and priorities for the week. On Fridays, everyone reports into Slack with updates: what progressed, what stalled, what results we saw. The Monday and Friday touchpoints form a loop that keeps us calibrated at the office.
Tuesday through Thursday are reserved for deeper work, meetings, and project execution. A lot of it.
And, like everyone today, I wrestle with the constant distraction of digital life. My secret weapon for staying on track is silencing notifications. They pull us out of focus far more than we realize. I can’t go without a smartphone — I need it for work — but I can control its access to my attention.
Are there routines or habits that help you stay focused and grounded when your days get really busy?
For me, the habits that matter most are physical rather than digital. Moving my body — in any form — makes everything else easier. Getting outside, stretching my back or neck, dropping for a quick set of push-ups or squats, even brushing my teeth while doing legwork… it all helps. If I can use a standing desk instead of sitting, I do. These small, constant motions keep me centered, healthy, and resilient.
I also believe in what I call “deep weekends.” There’s a broad cultural debate right now about work hours and boundaries, but my philosophy is: hard work matters, yes, but so does meaningful downtime. My team and I try to go fully offline on weekends when we’re not doing event work. We schedule emails to send later and allow ourselves real rest.
I often write on weekends — but that’s voluntary, and it feels more like creative recreation than work. Even when it’s hard, it’s still better than the alternative: weekend chores!
What tools or methods — whether digital or paper — do you rely on most for organizing your work and ideas?
My digital calendar is my foundation, and the Notes app is my catch-all. Between the two, I stay organized without adding unnecessary layers.
That said, I think I may need one of your planners soon. I trust that you’ll show me that a planner can be simple, clear, and not overwhelming. And if I adopt one, I’ll have to improve my penmanship — I’ve fallen out of the habit of writing by hand, which is a little sad and embarrassing but seems to be the nature of modern life for many of us.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give someone who wants to stay organized while managing a creative or demanding career?
You may not be surprised that I have a few pieces of advice.
The first is the “five-second rule,” which has become popular recently. Most of us procrastinate — especially in a digital world that fuels anxiety and constant distraction. When I feel myself hesitating, I count down from five and act at zero. Send the email, step into the cold plunge, start the long reading — whatever it may be. Thinking about doing something is never the same as doing it. Starting is what reduces anxiety.
The second is staying close to inbox zero — not as a rigid doctrine, but as a practice of clarity. Reading everything, filing what can be filed, and knowing what remains prevents a snowball of unread messages that becomes its own psychological burden. The mental calm that comes from a clear queue is really important.
And sometimes the most efficient, clarifying thing is simply to pick up the phone. It’s old-fashioned, but a direct question often resolves what would otherwise become a long chain of emails or an overlong meeting. As I get older — and perhaps a bit more protective of everybody’s time, and especially my own — I find myself doing this more and more. Cutting through the noise to what truly matters is one of the keys to staying organized in a demanding career. The tools that help us do that are the best. They give us the gift of time to do other things, or nothing at all.
Talking with Michael is always a gift. His work is impressive, but it’s who he is that really stays with you. I’m grateful he agreed to help me launch this series, and even more grateful for the place he holds in our family. Thank you, Michael, for sharing your time, your perspective, and a glimpse into your world.
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