What’s the best way to start your day so that you really get things done?
Laura Vanderkam studied the schedules of high-achievers. What did she find? Almost all have a morning routine.
I’ve interviewed a ton of top experts about their productivity secrets: Tim Ferriss, Cal Newport, Dan Ariely, Charles Duhigg, and others.
But you’re busy. You don’t have time to read all that stuff. You need a plan.
So many readers have written to me saying what my friend Jason always does: “I don’t have time. Eric, now that you’ve talked to all these people, what do youdo?”
Okay, time to round up what the experts have said and build a roadmap.
1) Stop Reacting
Get up before the insanity starts. Don’t check your email or anything else that is going to dictate your behavior.
When I spoke to productivity guru Tim Ferriss, bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, what did he say?
Here’s Tim:
Most of us get up and it seems like things are already in motion. Gotta race to something. Emails coming in. We’re already behind.
So of course you aren’t achieving your goals. You immediately started with what the world threw at you and then just reacted, reacted, reacted as new things came in until the day ended or you were too exhausted to do what was important.
You need to wake up before the insanity starts. Before demands are made on you. Before your goals for the day have competition.
(For more from Tim Ferriss on what the most productive people do every day, click here.)
Okay, you’re ahead of the maelstrom. What do you need to do before things get thrown at you?
2) Decide The 3 Things That Matter Today
Cal Newport is so productive it makes me cry. He’s a professor at Georgetown, cranks out academic papers, has written 4 books, and is a dad and a husband. And he’s done by 5:30PM every day. What did Cal have to say?
All tasks are not created equal. Most of us deal with two fundamentally different types of work, Shallow and Deep:
Shallow work stops you from getting fired — but deep work is what gets you promoted. Deep work must get priority.
In his book The ONE Thing, Gary Keller applies the “Pareto principle” to the workday:
Most of us get 80% of results from 20% of the work we do. So focus on that 20%.
What really creates progress vs treading water? What gives disproportionate results? Do those things.
And don’t be vague. Specify what you need to get done. Research shows having concrete goals is correlated with huge increases in confidence and feelings of control.
Via The 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People:
(For more from Cal on how to stop being lazy and get more done, click here.)
Okay, you know what is important. Now you need to think about when.
3) Use Your “Magic Hours” For Your 3 Goals
Just like all tasks aren’t created equal, all hours aren’t created equal either.
Dan Ariely is a behavioral economist at Duke University and the New York Times bestselling author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions.
Dan says you have 2-2.5 hours of peak productivity every day. You may actually be 30% more effective at that time. Here’s Dan:
And Dan’s findings line up with other research. I’ve posted before that 2.5 to 4 hours after waking is when your brain is sharpest. You want to waste that on a conference call or a staff meeting?
But does this really work? In studies of geniuses, most did their best work early in the day.
Those are the hours when you should be working on your 3 goals. Designate that part of your day as “protected time.”
Maybe you know that you’re a night owl. Fine, then protect those hours. The important thing is to do your key tasks during your key hours.
(For more on the schedule the most successful people use every day, click here.)
You know what’s important today and you know when your best hours are. But maybe you’re not motivated or you feel like procrastinating. How can you get going?
4) Have A Starting Ritual
Charles Duhigg is a reporter for the New York Times and author of the bestseller The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. What did he say about fighting procrastination and getting things done?
Finishing things isn’t as much of a problem as just getting started in the first place. Here’s Charles:
Maybe getting that cup of coffee is the signal that you’re getting down to business. Or do you have a spot where you’re usually productive? Go there.
Wendy Wood, a professor at USC explains how your environment activates habits — without your conscious mind even noticing.
Via Habit: The 95% of Behavior Marketers Ignore:
(For more on the fun way to be more successful, click here.)
Some days it just isn’t going to happen. You can’t get going on that #1 task. What should you do when all else fails?
5) Use “Positive Procrastination”
Yes, procrastination can be a good thing — but it has to be the right kind of procrastination.
When do you usually get 1000 things done? When you’re avoiding that one thing that absolutely terrifies you.
If you know you can’t do that scary thing right now, do not turn to Facebook or video games. Tell yourself it’s okay to avoid it — as long as you’re doing the #2 thing on your to-do list.
Dr. John Perry, author of The Art of Procrastination, explains a good method for using this to trick yourself into massive productivity:
A similar tip is described by Piers Steel, author of The Procrastination Equation:
Dr. Steel says it’s based on sound principles of behavioral psychology:
(To learn a Navy SEAL’s secrets to grit and resilience when things get hard, click here.)
I know what some of you are saying: Where are the bullet points? I need bullet points to follow!
No problem. Here you go:
Sum Up
Here’s what we can put together from listening to all the experts:
We’re all trying to achieve work-life balance. You’re not going to get everything done. But start the day right and you can definitely accomplish what matters. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree.
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