In today’s lesson, you learn how to establish hard edges to your day (and adhere to them, ruthlessly), why you must do your most rewarding and challenging work first, and the importance of planning for tomorrow, today.
Video Lesson
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Time: 4:20
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Click full screen (lower right corner) to increase the size
Lesson Summary
Routines are the building blocks to success.
So now that you’ve identified your long-term goals to the Board Game of Life—and added your short-term goals to your kanban—you need routines to make your dreams happen.
Module overview
In this module, you’ll learn:
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How productive people leverage routines to produce incredible results—often working just a few hours a day
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Simple ways to create daily routines
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How to implement your routines to achieve maximum results, in the minimum amount of time
Establish hard edges to your day—and adhere to them, ruthlessly
Start and stop work at the same time, every day. You’ll find you are more efficient, effective, and less stressed when you refuse to work outside your regular work hours.
For some, establishing hard edges is easy. For others—especially freelancers and people who work remotely—it’s difficult. Use an alarm clock, or reminder app on your phone or computer that tells you it’s time to stop working.
Setting hard edges also helps you leverage Parkinson’s Law, which states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
In other words, if you need to finish a task by the end of today, and your “end of today” (i.e. your “hard edge”) is 5 p.m., you’ll do it by 5 p.m. If your “end of today” is midnight, you’ll get it done by midnight.
Do your most rewarding and challenging work first
Remember those items you moved from your Board Game of Life to your kanban? Those are your most important goals. Do those first.
I cannot stress how much of a positive change this will create in your life.
Adam’s story…
When I worked at Google, I would bike to work at 7:30 a.m., about an hour and a half earlier than anyone else. (I also left the office earlier at 4 p.m.; my Momma raised a gentleman, not a workaholic.)
I’d get way more done during the first 90 minutes than the rest of the day because there weren’t any distractions. Once I realized this, I always worked on the most important task first because it helped me think deeply and work towards my goals.
When I quit working for other people, I ruthlessly focused on the one “big goal” each morning. That way, when life got in the way—and it most certainly did—I could rest easy, knowing I’d accomplished what mattered most.
Here’s my usual morning routine now:
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Wake up at 5:30 a.m.
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Meditate for 10-20 minutes.
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Write for 25 minutes; take a 5-minute break.
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Write for another 25 minutes; take a 5-minute break.
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Exercise for 30-60 minutes (either running or high-intensity interval training).
By 9 a.m. I’ve accomplished a lot. In fact, I could spend the rest of the day on the couch in my underpants—devouring pizza, Cap’n Crunch, and Girl Scout cookies while watching reruns of Full House—and feel pretty damn good about myself.
That’s the image of success, baby—so long as you do your most important task first.
Plan tomorrow, today
Remember your kanban? At the end of each day, think about what you want to accomplish tomorrow, and add it to the “To-Do” column of your kanban.
This accomplishes two things:
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First, it allows you to empty your mind at the end of the day so you can enjoy your evening.
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Second, it ensures you start tomorrow with a clear head. The amount of headspace this provides is staggering.
Try it today and see how well it works for you tomorrow.
10x Community
Leave a comment, share a personal story, or ask a question. We read each and every comment. – Adam and Darcie
