Expert Advice on Creating an Ideal Work Routine
Flexible schedule, no commute, work from anywhere: there are so many potential perks provided by our relatively new way of working. But with loads of digital distractions, it’s more important than ever to strategize how we spend our workdays.
A few years ago I came across this lovely little book by Jocelyn K. Glei, Manage Your Day-To-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus & Sharpen Your Creative Mind, and it’s been a great resource ever since. The bite size chapters are filled with practical advice on creating routine, avoiding distraction, and accomplishing the work that’s most important to you. The advice is delivered straight from leading researchers and creative professionals like Georgetown professor Cal Newport and British psychologist Dr. Christian Jarrett.
Here are some key takeaways to get started on your way to creating your ideal work routine.
Create a Routine
“The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon.”
Stephen King
London-based creative professionals coach Mark McGuinness emphasizes don’t spend the most productive part of your day on “other people’s priorities.” Mark suggests:
- Focus on your creative work first and reactive work second.
- Plan the times of day when your energy is highest for your most important creative work.
- Stick to a start and finish time for your workday.
Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project, recommends focusing on what your mind and body need to function at their best.
- Don’t let your sleep slip. As Schwartz notes, “Sleep is more important than food…Give up sleep for even a couple of days and you’ll become completely dysfunctional.”
- Schedule your day around your bodies natural ultradian rhythms, “ninety-minute periods at the end of which we reach the limits of our capacity to work at the highest level.”
Stay Focused
“What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention”
Social Scientist, Herbert Simon
Georgetown University writer and professor Cal Newport encourages taking control of your schedule, so you don’t risk losing every opportunity to focus on your most important creative work. Respect the time you schedule for your creative work equally as much as time blocked off for other meetings and appointments. Newport recommends:
- Block off “a substantial chunk of time” each week to focus solely on your most important creative tasks.
- Treat this blocked off time as you would any other appointment or meeting.
- Keep this time free from distraction. No email, no internet, no phone.
Dr. Christian Jarrett, PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience, reminds us that multitasking is not an effective work strategy. “Studies show the human mind can only truly multitask when it comes to highly automatic behaviors like walking.” When we do 2 tasks at once we’re not multitasking, but “task switching” and spending more time and less focus on each task.
- Close email & social media when doing focused work to avoid background distractions.
- Find a good stopping point on one project before moving to the next to give yourself “mental closure.”
- When problem solving, take your mind off the task at hand to help your subconscious generate new ideas.
It’s easy to get caught up in bad habits and distractions. But building a daily routine can help you avoid “reactionary workflow,” become more productive, and complete those creative projects that keep taking a back seat.
Make Changes
Interested in more wellness posts? Scroll down for Posture Tips.
First, here’s a quick recap of tips to improve your routine:
- Focus on your creative work first and reactive work second.
- Plan the times of day when your energy is highest for your most important creative work.
- Stick to a start and finish time for your workday.
- Don’t let your sleep slip.
- Schedule your day around your bodies natural 90-minute ultradian rhythms.
- Block off “a substantial chunk of time” each week to focus solely on your most important creative tasks.
- Treat this blocked off time as you would any other appointment or meeting.
- Keep this time free from distraction. No email, no internet, no phone.
- Close email & social media when doing focused work to avoid background distractions.
- Find a good stopping point on one project before moving to the next to give yourself “mental closure.”
- When problem solving, take your mind off the task at hand to help your subconscious generate new ideas.
Thanks for reading!
