I'm the CEO of stock-photo company Shutterstock. I like starting my day on Slack — here's how I organize my mornings.

• Stan Pavlovsky is CEO of Shutterstock and based in Westchester, New York.
• He follows a hybrid work schedule and starts his day catching up on news and direct messages.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Stan Pavlovsky, CEO of Shutterstock, about his morning work routine. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I typically start my workday around 7:30 a.m. after a routine breakfast of two eggs and coffee.

I always start work with a cup of coffee in hand — it's a sacred ritual

I lived in Seattle for over 20 years, and one of the things I learned from my time there is that the coffee beans you use matter more than the coffeemaker. The best tasting coffee starts with organic, full-bodied beans that you grind yourself — our family favorite is a Colombian roast.

I'd been working from home in Westchester, New York since the start of the pandemic, but after Shutterstock reopened its office I transitioned to a hybrid model and now go into the office a few days a week.

I also occasionally travel for events like Art Basel in Miami and to our recently acquired TurboSquid office to discuss 3D content strategy.

I commute to our Manhattan office for company-wide town halls or board meetings

I feel refreshed when I go into the Shutterstock office — it's really hard to beat the 360-degree views of Manhattan from the Empire State Building, and I'm grateful to spend time with colleagues during breaks in between meetings.

I dedicate my first 30 minutes to catching up on the news, emails, and Slack messages

Every morning, I start by pouring over The Wall Street Journal and then migrate to TechCrunch and Yahoo! Finance.

The slower start that I get from catching up on world news acts as a smooth transition to the rest of the day, which tends to be action-packed with back-to-back meetings and a full inbox.

I don't keep an elaborate to-do list, but I do use Monday.com for tasks and I use Microsoft OneNote for meeting notes.

Lately, I've noticed that I spend about half my time on Slack. One of my favorite things about our company is that everyone works with so much passion and at lightning speed, especially with the new direction we're taking with our expansion into the 3D space and our strategy for our product lines in the metaverse future. The quick, back-and-forth instant messages on Slack work well for us and our company culture.

My Slack messages in the morning typically go to the executive committee and my wonderful executive assistant who keeps me punctual

We have several exciting product launches coming up this year, so our chief product officer will brief me on any updates from the day before. I have similar touch-bases with the rest of the committee each morning so I can stay on top of the many work streams in play and ensure that we're aligned on progress.