I evaluate my work days in three-hourly blocks: 09:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18:00 and 21:00 if I'm working that late permitting changes to the rest of the day should the three hour block not have been used effectively. That evaluation done, a one or two minute process* and I'm away into the next three hour block and a better day. It maximises productivity.
I work through breakfast whether at home or in cafés, hotel rooms and restaurants when away using the time to focus on my day, identifying the big rocks and working scenarios to remove them from my path.
Big rocks, means difficult, onerous or complicated tasks and dealing with them, removing or delegating them, means the rest of the day becomes easier - great for one's attitude and productivity; I feel better when those things are out the way...a difficult phone call to a client for instance.
I prioritise, determine what to delegate, do personally and what can be shifted sideways as unimportant. Why? So I have more control over my day, a strategy and so it doesn't seem uphill all the way to the end. From there I start to work through those things I need to do personally, organising my mind for upcoming meetings and calls and generally switching on, so to speak.
It doesn't take long, I don't sit for an hour or more, fifteen to twenty minutes and I'm done including notes, shooting emails, adding or subtracting items on my daily to-do list and generally getting my head straight...and eating breakfast too.
To me, that's a working breakfast and what it does for my daily productivity is amazing.
It has taken time to hone the process and there's always distractions: Pretty girls, the need for a second coffee, pretty girls...You get the idea. Seriously though, any good businessman must be flexible enough to understand that laser focus may not always be quite laser-ish; this process works well though and starts the day off with the right attitude and with three-hourly check-measure evaluations makes for a great day overall usually.
I'm out of bed before the sun rises (mostly) just to fit everything in. Before breakfast I've done my gratitude-moment, affirmations, exercises and so on meaning at breakfast I'm pretty much in my working day and starting in this way helps make it efficient and productive.
I'm always interested to see how people start their working day. Do you have a process as I do or play it by ear floating along hoping things work out? Do you delay or avoid the big rocks in your working day or tackle them head-on like me? How do you structure your day and create, improve or nurture your overall attitude within it? If you've got something to say down below in the comments is the place.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
[Original and AI free]
Image(s) in this post are my own - omelette topped with various grasses and coffee
I make it a habit to review my to-do list the night before, noting down tasks if the list is extensive. I prioritize items based on urgency, identify challenging tasks (big rocks), and determine those that can be completed quickly.
As I kick off my day, often accompanied by a classic cup of kopi, I transition into work mode, focusing on addressing the challenging and time-consuming tasks first. This approach helps ease my mental load early on, making the rest of the day much smoother to navigate! 😁
That's great, a good way to go; it's amazing how many people don't do it.
I find the three-hourly evaluation is a great way to build on the to-do-list review throughout the day and it gives me the opportunity to address things if requiredwithin the day rather than realising when the day is done that they needed addressing. Even if they get addressed for the next day, it means some of the present day has not been as efficient or effective as it could have been.
Easing that mental load is important though, it leaves a person in a better situation and more likely to kill it throughout the day.
The 3-hour blocks you mentioned in your post caught my attention earlier. It's not something I've considered before, perhaps because my busy workdays rarely allow me the time to reflect on deviations from my initial plan I had. Typically, I just add new tasks to my to-do list whenever something comes up but yeah I could definitely incorporate this somehow! 👍
It may not work for everyone but I don't see the point on playing out a full day of moving in the wrong direction (unproductive direction) when a simple one or two minute evaluation and re-plan could turn the remaining pat of the day into a better and more efficient day. It's how I do it and is not the only way, juust a way that has worked for me.
I completely agree with this! Taking a breather to consolidate and reevaluate would definitely help! 💪
That's it. It may not be for everyone though and my post doesn't speak for everyone, just me.
Gotcha, we're all just learning from each other here in Hive.
There's a mix of positive and negative experiences — nobody's perfect, and there's no one-size-fits-all solution or method. We just have to use our own judgment, choose what we find suitable, and apply it as we see fit! ✌️
Damn why are there even downvotes for this comment? 😖
You are a very organized man and have very well distributed your time. I am retired and I don't plan almost anything anymore.
Only from 1:00pm to 3:00pm I sleep after lunch, and from 5:30pm to 6:30pm I exercise. As you can see there is little to plan.
Not much to the plan itself, but great value I'm sure. well done.
It's no different to my own plan I guess, it's designed to get more value from my day (and life) and I think your schedule does the same for you.
Thank you very much.
I tackle the big rocks first thing. My aim being to make the day glide into more easy manageable tasks.
I too struggle however with the distraction of coffee... pretty girls... coffee :OD
That big rock thing, when I started doing it I was like, how long has this been a thing! Game changer.
And...one must be distracted by a pretty girl and coffee...let's a bloke know he's alive!
Good technique to start the day, in my case I try to do the most complicated and heavy tasks in the morning, which is when the mind is fresher and ideas are better. The tasks with more mechanical processes that involve realization and less creation I execute them in the afternoon. It has worked well for me, and even better when I get up sometimes in the early morning, I tend to be more creative then. You are a very organized person and that is worth a lot, I am not so much.
You have a good system that works for you and clearly get great results through it. Has this been something you've implemented later in life or has it been something you developed from a younger age?
It wasn't until several years after I started working that I implemented this routine, which I sometimes have to vary because Freelancer work is never stable or the same, and depends a lot on external factors.
Flexibility is important I think, the ability to shift away from established processes and schedules when required.
Yes, the ability to adapt is very important especially when the jobs are dissimilar, and in various disciplines.
I hope I will come to a state of "morning person". OMG, how beautiful is to sleep in the morning. And funny, as a photographer I know how important is morning sunrise but still... However, I have also some rituals and try to structure my day but flexibility is my middle name.
Structure doesn't mean one can't be flexible. In fact, the most structured people will usually also be flexible enough to pivot where required; in business flexibility and adaptability are vital components of success.
Pretty girls... Concentration, prioritizing, evaluating, pretty girls.... Hahahaha I can't stop laughing.
Well, I added that bit in for fun...in truth a decent piece of cake distracts me...or a bad one I guess. Cake in general.
It's a very good idea to divide the day into time slots, I hadn't thought of that. I think I'm going to implement it somehow.
My working day starts before breakfast, I usually need silence to work, so I organise everything before breakfast.
The tasks that take more concentration on my part I do them first and those that require priority as well.
I reserve the tasks that require more concentration for the times when I have more time to be quiet and that way I am more productive.
The difficult tasks first, I feel more relieved later if I do it that way.
Hugs Galen.
Give it a try and see how it goes. The worst that could happen is it doesn't work for you, and the best is that it does.
I figured you'd be one to tackle the big rocks first, I'm not surprised to hear that. Good work.
I will do it, I found the idea very interesting to make my day more productive.
I'm working on it... writing! Good night to you.
Wow, you are such a punctual guy. I am a student so I have to be punctual throughout the day but weekends make me lazy.
I wake up late and my whole routine is disturbed but it's ok because I am so punctual throughout the week. Weekends are for rest for a student 😉
Everyone needs to determine what is right for them, what works, and then go ahead and do that. Sometimes there may be better ways, sometimes not, but each will find out for themselves over time.
I like how you organize your day, I like to organize mine too, what my distractions are the cats 😅, they claim a lot of my attention and I like to answer them, also the idea of coffee distracts me ☕🤤, but I must work even more on my planning and goal setting, by the way that omelet with cheese looks delicious 😊.
I've found organising my day makes me far more productive and I cover more ground which means I don't generally work weekends or after hours which gives back some of my life.. I have to work unfortunately and figure that if that's the case I'll be as effective as possible in the shortest possible time. These elements in this post, and many others help me do that.
Don't worry though...my cat distracts me too hen I work from home; I'd rather be cuddling and playing with her than working. (Also, the omelette was amazingly good.) 😊
My wife and I get up around 4 am so we can workout before we head to work. She works out upstairs and I workout down in the basement. Breakfast and showers happen, and then we are off to work. We leave about 6:00 am and get there at 6:30. We usually ride together since we work in the same school district. Teachers start showing up around 7 giving us a nice half hour with no interruptions. Then kids show up at 8:00 am and it's a mad rush through the day after that point!
That sounds like a nice start to the day, a good process to switch you on early and build energy (the work out) that should last all day...I say should not would. Lol. Questsh: Do you do the early wake up on weekends?
Do you eat a particular breakfast? There's nothing wrong with Pop Tarts of course, but there's better options I guess. (Not saying you eat Pop Tarts for breakfast here.) 😊
You know, after a couple years I thought getting up at 4 would get easier, but it really doesn't. You can tell on the days when we decide to sleep in and skip our workouts. We definitely don't have the same energy. We don't wake up early on the weekends, but we are usually up by 7:30, so it isn't like we sleep in really late. My wife does egg whites for breakfast. I just have cereal, which really doesn't fill me up, but it's my habit.
I'm with you on the early starts, I say that as someone who enjoys sleeping because I don't always sleep well. But it opens up the day I guess and allows one to fit more in. You sound much like me, I'm rarely still asleep by 7:30 even on the weekends.
Never mind all of that - what is THAT breakfast?? Looks AMAAAAZING.
Beaten up eggs with feta cheese and some other cheese as well, all topped with grass. Scrummy! 😊
Oh like a omelette (what me and Jim call a mini omelette). So good!
Yep, exactly like an omelette, as I actually mentioned in the post text.
Lol, missed that 😂😂😂
Figured...it's small text and right at the end...Did you have your reading glasses on though?
I can't hear you....
You shouldn't call them distractions, call them inspirations instead. The time taken to look at pretty girls is necessary in recharging your energy haha.
For me, I like to have a routine to make things quicker and easier. I think the way you are segmenting things is interesting, so I might try that out as well. As for the big rocks, I try to chip away at it if possible, and if the time allows. But if it is urgent, then I like to do it first.
#prettygirlinspirations A great idea!
Having some routine in one's required tasks helps make them more efficient I think, certainly more than approaching them randomly with no plan. I guess it depends on the tasks, but from a work perspective routine, systems and schedules tend to be more productive.
Hi, Galen. I have well-learned habits to start my working day to day, I always visualize what I want to achieve, I plan its execution and then I acted.
The weekly progression to meet the execution times of my commitments and responsibilities has worked for me and I still do it.
Visualisation is a great way to see what you want to occur, your actions and the results, before they happen and to adjust the bring to think that way. Good one!
Thank you so much, Galen
My process isn't quite ideal, but anyways, the first time I do is to check my phone and see if there are any major happenings in the world or within my friends' chats. Thereafter I kickstart the day, freshen up, get changed, grab my muesli bar and munch along the way to the train station.
I've saved a lot of time by eating on the move, mostly while driving as I don't use public transport. I often make phone calls in the car too, maybe listen to podcasts. I am sometimes in the car driving about for half the day from meeting to meeting and if I don't do something with the time it's wasted.
Ah that makes sense! I do enjoy the "luxury" of being able to go through my phone notifications and catch up on social media etc on the train as well.
Yeah, ai see a lot of people doing that, not on the train as I'm never on one, but you know what I mean. I save so much time in my day through not having social media.
Hehe that's a good thing! Sometimes I just get sucked into the endless scrolling/swiping and before I know it, 1 hour has passed. Probably not the best use of time lol.
Yeah, that's one of the reasons I don't get involved - it's too easy to blank-out like that. I have better things to do and would prefer to live my life in the real world anyway.
I was very struck by the three-hour blocks. The idea that I am picking up on is that there may be ways to be more efficient in my work. It is possible that in the promotion part of my business, which is the part I like the least and at the same time the most useful to earn more money, a supervision by blocks, not necessarily of three hours, could help me.
Best regards and thank you
Knowing one is less effective, efficient and productive during the day helps a person make the required changes to improve. There's no point knowing after the day is done as that day has passed by. It makes sense to me and has been one of the reasons I've achieved what I have done in business and other aspects of life. Others do it in their own way.
I'm still awake, hahahaha. I got to know your channel through a friend who admires you. And the truth is that I am very grateful to her. I'm reading your posts at a time of change in my life. I really appreciate a post like this. One day I asked myself the following question: are you where you want to be? and the answer was NO. Could I have gone on without changing? The answer is yes. The point is that if I want to progress in my job it is not enough to be good. It also takes ambition and not wasting time. Your voice is not the only one I hear telling me to do the right thing, there are others, voices I have not heard so far. In any case I thank you for your good treatment and your example. I am not a child, I am 55 years old and I sure don't have time to waste my life. All this is just to thank you.
This is a nice message to receive, thank you.
There's a wealth of knowledge and experience out there to draw upon, I've done so myself and I think it's good to understand other people's perspectives and processes as quite often there's something to learn.
Change is inevitable and I believe we need to make it and adapt to it where possible, all with respect to our own desired outcomes. It's those who don't or won't change who are inhibited. That's not to say all change is positive, but even if it is. It initially that way, it often leads to advancements in thought and attitude and actions often follows. If one walks that path positive things will happen along the way.
I'm not sure who it was that prompted you to look at my account but I'm glad you did, I often gain a lot in return when people comment to me and no matter one's age, learning should never cease. One of this platform's most positive features is the people right? It's a collective and we can all learn from one another.
The platform is wonderful; I have met wonderful and very generous people. About my friend, I don't know if you want to know who she is... And now I'm going to bed, I guess I'll come back to read you during breakfast. Regards
I see you are prioritizing things while determining the greatest difficulties every day with a solution. And I know for sure that you are very good at time management. Waking in bed before sunrise with all the necessary tasks and planning truly makes you productive. This is truly inspiring. Have a nice time!
!PIZZA
I like to think my life is balanced between all elements but it's not really, and sometimes I have to work harder at one aspect than another; being disciplined and having established processes and procedures in place helps, this is an example. It works for me and aim know it works for others who do the same or similar.
Thanks for your comment.
$PIZZA slices delivered:
(1/5) @pinkchic tipped @galenkp
He can be downvoted as well and rightfully so! And your comment is quite correct. A relative newcomer like this can drive away longtime users, absolutely unimaginable before... All the best!