Understand your Mental Cycles to get more done
The mornings are my most focused time, when I get the most done. However, I have this horrible habit I do most morning… I open my email, check twitter, and respond to all open requests. This lowers my total out put in any given day by at least 50%!
Our minds work in cycles. They have times of productivity and times of a more relaxed nature. The more you pay attention, the more you will understand these times. For me, I need to be active from 5:00 am to 7:00, and from 7:00 to 10:00 I am more focused mentally. I experience another burst of a focused mind from 3:00 pm until around 7:00. Understanding when these times hit, and more importantly, utilizing them, is key to making the most of your day.
Now, the point is not to be busy every second of the day, but instead to be smarter about when you do certain activities. This will lead to more time for building relationships, learning new skills, and enjoying simple pleasures such as walks or coffee.
Activities have certain effects on our minds as well, and mixing these effects with mental cycles can either destroy your effectiveness during the day, or release you to finally accomplish the things which are important to you. Activities that lead to “internet wandering” should not precede or be in the middle of your productive times of the day! Period! These activities include:
- Product Hunt
- Linked In
- Googling
- Anything where you are searching….
Once you engage in these activities, you put your mind in a wandering mood, therefore destroying your productive part of the day. By holding these activities until 11:00 am, you will notice that you are able to tackle the most important things in your day, every day. And these consistent attacks add up to massive accomplishments over weeks and months.
I have been leaving my phone on airplane mode from going to bed the night before, until around 10 or 11 am every day. In doing so, I find I get the important tasks done, without distraction. You will find that you don’t need to keep scheduling the same tasks for the next day, and you won’t get annoyed with distractions that are keeping you from working on your projects. The world will adapt, it is just email.. it can wait.
