Thanks to a friends tweet I found a handy post on “The Week” which highlighted schedules of successful people and productivity tips around optimized daily appointments. Much of it rang true with me, so to prevent me from losing sight of it I decided to reiterate it here.
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Early morning
- Wake early, to get things going prior to insanity starting. Before goals have competition.
- Many stick to a morning ritual.
- Set concrete goals for the day.
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First things
- Tackle important things early/first. The first couple hours of the day are our most productive, don’t waste them on email and/or meetings.
- Escape to a quiet place, distractions make us stupid. Avoid “drive-by” meetings, they will leech your most productive time.
- We’re more disciplined in the morning, so take advantage of it.
- Energy is high – do creative and challenging work.
- Having troubles working on what is needed? Get in earlier.
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Slowdown blahs = regroup time
- Take a break, get a snack, take a power nap. Often a power nap is like a reset button.
- Re-enact the morning ritual to get going again.
- Review goals of the day.
- Focus on successes from earlier in the day.
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Afternoon lull
- Energy is low – do busy work.
- Best time for meetings.
- Good time for a run. (personal note about me)
- Distractions can be a benefit when we can’t focus.
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Evening
- Before dinner write down goals for following day.
- Do some relaxing activities.
- TV, video games, eating are not relaxing. #mindtricks
- Instead meet with friends, talk, play with hobbies. #truth
- Get to bed at a good time, lack of sleep makes us stupid.