Tarek Taha, director, CBE Fintech and Innovation Hub: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Tarek Taha (LinkedIn), director of the CBE’s Fintech and Innovation Hub.

My name is Tarek Taha, and I'm the director of the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) Fintech Hub, which is an innovation hub in downtown Cairo. Generally, I've always been working at the intersection of real estate, technology, and entrepreneurship, but I’m super excited about this role.

My current role is building the hub. It’s in the foundation phase, and we want to make sure we become the flag bearer for fintech in Egypt by bringing all stakeholders together, from startups to corporates, banks, regulators, investors, and mentors. Once they're all together in one physical space, we believe there are a lot of synergies and partnerships that can be created to drive the growth of Egypt’s fintech sector. So, my role is to make sure that we can bring all of those components together to work and function from the hub, which is a very unique undertaking.

Since we’re in the building phase, my normal workday consists of a lot of meetings. Meetings with possible partners, which comprise fintech startups, banks, organizations like the UNDP that can help us design programs and so on. I’m also following up on the physical progress on the hub itself because it’s undergoing renovation and refitting to the new purpose of having the CBE as an innovation hub. We’re also talking to international companies to set up fintech innovation labs in Cairo with state-of-the-art technology, which is super exciting.

There are also a lot of internal conversations about how we plan to have access to the Sandbox. The Sandbox, in technical development terms, is a place where you can develop code in a closed, monitored environment. Globally, regulators turn to building sandboxes to be able to regulate apps and technology before it gets introduced to the market. This is not new to Egypt and it’s becoming a common practice in a lot of other countries as well. It’s an environment where regulators can monitor and evaluate apps, understand how they work, and decide if their features are compliant with central bank regulations.

I'm an avid reader — I spend 1-3 hours each morning listening to audiobooks. I have a big reading target this year, which is 220 books, like my target last year. It is not the target itself that drives me, but I enjoy the ability to listen to books. It also helps me switch off after work because it mentally transforms me to different worlds. I also built a daily habit of adding reviews on Goodreads on the books I read.

I’m also currently taking my MBA, via the Quantic model, which I’m super happy with. I usually take a couple of classes for half an hour in the morning at least twice a week. The Quantic model is very interactive and takes place online in small doses, with monitors keeping an eye on whether or not you’re on track.

I’m failing miserably at building the habit of writing daily, but I’ve actually started writing my own book. Last December, I earned the iRead award for best short story called Ninety-One Minutes, which revolves around the end of the world. Ironically, I landed the award around the same time the movie Don’t Look Up came out on Netflix, which focuses on the same theme. The award got me excited about writing my own book, so I’m trying to make it a weekly habit. I’m trying to move from inspiration to actual dedication.

Keeping my inbox at zero unread emails is how I stay focused and organized. This helps me avoid a pileup of tasks. I reply to the ones I can answer immediately, and the rest I either categorize or turn into tasks. These email features are a life-saver. I also try to consistently and instantly note the outcomes of each of my meetings.

By nature, it has become very difficult to maintain a life-work balance. If you consciously try to achieve it, culture may not allow you. Of course, you have to allow a balance, but it doesn’t necessarily work in a clean-cut way like people imagine. It usually happens in a non-structured way.

The latest book I enjoyed reading was Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins. It’s a crazy, fictional book that takes place inside a pack of Camel cigarettes. I also truly enjoyed Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

I'm still a big fan of the Game of Thrones TV series. I think the amount of creativity and the ability to create a world in such a way makes it a great show to watch. Sometimes creating a world you believe can be the hardest part, so creating something so believable and unbelievable at the same time makes it a beautiful piece of fiction.

I truly enjoy The USD 100 MBA podcast. It's short and to the point. The host Omar Zenhom has good energy and I've learned a couple of things from it.

The best piece of advice I’ve been given was from my mother, who always told me to pay attention to detail. She always focused on the details and I picked it up from her.