The Best Minute: Making decisions, clarity, and interruption
1 PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTION FROM ME
Our willpower and decision-making ability decreases as the day goes on. So making easy decisions about your day the night before helps you spend your finite awesomeness on things that really matter.
I pick my clothes out for the next day (and pack my workout clothes if it’s a gym day)
I make my lunch for the next day
I put out any breakfast supplies I need if I’m making breakfast the next day
I make sure my day is scheduled out on my calendar (to double-check what I planned at the end of my workday)
All four of those tasks are easy to prep for and helps make my morning routine easier. I don’t have to spend any time and decision-making ability on small things and can instead start my workday with more focus.
This may not seem like much, but those four things alone save me about 10 minutes each morning because I spend no time staring at my closet or the fridge.
What things take you time and effort in the morning that could be easily planned and prepped for the night before? Perhaps some of these would be relevant to you:
Packing your work bag/supplies you’ll need the next day
If you’re a parent, making your kid’s school lunch for the next day and/or prepping the things you do with them in the morning. For example, setting out the book you want to read to them over breakfast that next morning.
Prepping your coffee to be brewed for the next day
Setting out your Bible supplies for your time with the Lord in the morning
Don’t give the most effective part of your day to small things you can do at other times.
Want more? Click here for my latest productivity resources.
2 QUOTES FROM OTHERS
I. Shawn Blanc on the importance of clarity:
“Meaningful productivity is a byproduct of clarity. You can’t spend your time doing work that matters if you don’t know what matters in the first place. Or, in the words of Peter Drucker: ‘There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.’”
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II. Jason Fried on how interruption is the enemy of productivity
“If your constantly staying late and working weekends, it’s not because there’s too much work to be done. It’s because you’re not getting enough done at work. And the reason is interruptions.
Think about it: when do you get most of your work done? If you’re like most people, it’s at night or early in the morning. It’s no coincidence that these are the times when nobody else is around.”
1 INTERESTING FACT
Money doesn’t live very long.
Bill death happens more often than you’d think. With a lifespan of about 4.5 years, the $10 bill is our shortest-living note. Our longest-living note, the $100 bill, lasts only 15 years on average.
Source: RD
1 QUESTION TO LEAVE YOU WITH
If you had one less working hour every day, how would that change how you approach your day? Why not implement some of those ideas now?
P.S. Follow your dreams.
