How to Get More Time in Your Day Without Waking Up Earlier

This post is a transcription from the video at the bottom.

I'm the CEO of a company, I do Ironman triathlons, I climb mountains, and I travel a lot. Productivity is extremely important to me. I'm constantly striving to become more productive. I’ve learned these three techniques over my lifespan, and that’s what I’m sharing with you today. Number one is monotasking. We live in this world where everyone thinks it’s normal to multitask. Multitasking is inefficient. Many studies show it’s inefficient.

I focus on one thing, 100% focused on one thing at a time. This way I can get one thing done before I move on to another, or make significant headway on one task before I move on to another. My brain can’t really focus on two things at once. Hence, monotasking. The second thing is time blocks. Some people call it block time. I set my day up so I have blocks of activities scheduled. Each of these blocks is set up where I monotask on a specific project or activity. Then between each block of time, which is the third thing, I have active breaks. It’s too easy to just sit at my computer or at a job for hours at a time.

But what happens after roughly 50 minutes is your focus starts to wander and you’re less effective. Even if you’re monotasking, you still need a break every 50-60 minutes or so.

Time Block Example

Here’s an example of some time blocks:

• Time Block 1: Between 7:00 am and 8:00 am, you do email. This is a time block with monotasking. You only do email between 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning. That’s it. What most people do is they’ll start a project, and while they’re working on the project, they’ll answer emails, answer text messages, answer the phone, and they make zero progress on the project. So only do email on this time block, and this is just a suggestion. You can do it however you want to
• Active Break: Then between 8:00 am and  8:10 am, you notice I have a 10-minute break between these two, that 10 minutes is where you take the active break. You do something like get up, walk around, maybe do some pushups, whatever you want to do to get the blood flowing because we sit for too long in front of the computer most of the time.
• Time Block 2: Then the next period of time block or block of time, I have project one. So I only work on project one during this time block. I don’t do email. I don’t answer the phone. Only project one.
• Active Break: Next time block I have a break between them. I do something active, walk around, go for a walk, go outside.

Then I do personal development, as the example, then another break, then project two. Some people say, “Well, I’ve got a lot of work to do on a specific project.” That’s okay. You set up two blocks of time for that project, but make sure you take that 10-minute break between the two so you don’t start zoning out or getting distracted or losing your focus. That’s where the active break comes into play. Even if it’s as simple as going outside for a short walk, that will help get the blood flowing and often clear your head, and then you come back with a fresh perspective and can often make more progress on that particular project. So the three things to get a quick review, monotasking, time blocks, and active breaks.

I hope you found these three tips useful. Good luck with your productivity. Take care.