The Thrive Questionnaire

A TV Broadcaster’s Trick to Staying Ruthlessly Efficient

Here's how Emma Forbes stays on top of it all.
charlotte.cabot@thriveglobal.com

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4 Min Read

When you have the opportunity to ask some of the most interesting people in the world about their lives, sometimes the most fascinating answers come from the simplest questions. The Thrive Questionnaire is an ongoing series that gives an intimate look inside the lives of some of the world’s most successful people.

Thrive Global: What’s the first thing you do when you get out of bed?
Emma Forbes: First thing I do when I get out of bed is stretch… and then head for the kitchen to plan my breakfast. It’s literally my favourite meal of the day!
TG: What gives you energy?
EF: What gives me energy is all being well with my family — if all is well in my kids’ and husband’s lives it gives me an energy too. I find harmony and energy in having a purpose and project, so if I do something I do it 100 percent, and their happiness helps to fuel my own energy to do things.
TG: What’s your secret life hack?
EF: The daily habit that helps me thrive is meditation. I am new to it, but I find it an amazing daily tool to help with whatever the day presents — even if only for a few minutes.

TG: Name a book that changed your life. 
EF: A book that changed my life: You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay. It just resonated so true in so many ways.

TG: Tell us about your relationship with your phone. Does it sleep with you?
EF: My relationship with my phone is a tricky one! I sometimes hate it, sometimes love it, but most of the time am grateful to have it, as if you have children you need it — you survive with it and it’s a form of contact that in this day and age you feel lucky to have. Does it sleep with me, yes. I told my kids, “If you need me call me — any time, 24/7,” and… they do! Hence I sleep with my phone.

TG: How do you deal with email?
EF: I deal with them in bursts because I don’t want them to distract me… And I press delete a lot on trash mail, but I am never a two-word reply to any email!


TG: You unexpectedly find 15 minutes in your day, what do you do with it?
EF: An unexpected 15 minutes, a sneaky stalk of Instagram followed by a trip to a coffee shop…

I am a huge list maker. I have endless notebooks in various colours and sizes and am told I’m ruthlessly efficient — as I actually love a “to do” list!
TG: When was the last time you felt you failed and how did you overcome it?
EF: I felt burned out at the beginning of the year, because we moved from London to America with a child on each coast!

I have a fear of turbulence, and I freaked out on a flight with my husband — and overcame it by being lucky enough to sit next to a divine pilot on his own journey home who talked to me and explained it for the entire duration.
TG: What advice would you give your younger self?
EF: Two words. Stress less.

TG: Share a quote that you love and that gives you strength or peace.
EF:  “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.”