WEBVTT - 10 Proven Strategies to Boost Productivity & Create a Clear Plan for Achieving Your Goals 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:04.240 Mental health is now talked about more than ever, which 0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:06.640 is awesome. I mean, I don't have to tell you 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:09.080 that it's a primary focus of on Purpose, but on 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:11.600 a day to day basis, many people don't know where 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:14.600 to turn or which tools can help. Over the past 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:17.280 couple of years, I've been working with Calm to make 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:21.000 mental wellness accessible and enjoyable, or as I like to say, 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:24.000 fun and easy. Calm has all sorts of content to 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:28.240 help you reduce anxiety and stress, build mindful habits, improve sleep, 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:31.440 and generally feel better in your daily life. So many 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:35.000 bite size options from the most knowledgeable experts in the world, 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:39.160 along with renowned meditation teachers. You can also check out 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:42.080 my seven minute daily series to help you live more 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:45.080 mindfully each and every day. Right now, listeners of On 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:49.000 Purpose get forty percent off a subscription to Calmpremium at 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:53.400 Calm dot com Forward slash j that's Calm dot com 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:57.280 forward slash jay for forty percent off. Calm your Mind, 0:00:57.640 --> 0:01:03.360 Change your Life. Sometimes you're productivity is humpered because you're 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:05.640 not solving a people issue and you're trying to solve 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:08.480 a task issue. And sometimes your problem is you're focusing 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:12.400 on people when Actually it's a system issue. So ask yourself, 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:14.959 should I solve the system or do I need to 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:19.319 solve a relationship? The number one health and wellness podcast 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:28.280 send Jay shed Y. Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose. 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.800 I'm so excited to welcome you to a new episode. 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:36.559 It is great to have you here. If you're focused 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:41.759 on developing yourself, building your mindset, strengthening your habits, you're 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:45.040 in exactly the right place. I just want to thank 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:48.200 so many of you that I've bumped into recently as 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:50.880 I've been out and about. It means the world to 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:52.880 me when you come up to me and tell me 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:56.760 your stories and share your experiences of listening to the podcast, 0:01:57.240 --> 0:01:59.560 it really makes my day. And I love giving you 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:02.560 a big hurt ug saying hello, fist bumping wherever we are. 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:05.360 And I want to thank you for your reviews. I 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:07.320 want to thank you for your stories. I want to 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:10.359 thank you for the clips you make on TikTok. Keep 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:13.720 the energy spreading. Remember when you share an episode of 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:17.399 On Purpose, you could be helping someone else go through 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:20.560 a breakup. You could be helping someone find their passion. 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:23.120 You could be helping someone build a habit that might 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:26.240 change their life, and I'm so grateful that you're a 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:29.680 part of this mission and a part of this movement. Now, 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:35.320 today's episode is a theme that I think we all 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:38.640 struggle with. If you want to be more productive and 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:42.640 less burnt out, this episode is for you. If you 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.600 want to achieve more, if you want to build more, 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:47.440 if you want to create more, if you want to 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:51.920 use your time more wisely, this episode is for you. 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:55.080 If you've been wasting time, if you've been feeling like 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:58.480 your priorities keep going to the bottom of the list, 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:01.919 if you feel like, even at this point in the year, 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:06.480 you're so far away from your goals, this episode is 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:10.160 for you. Now, I'm going to share with you some 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:13.040 tips and tricks that have helped me along the way 0:03:13.320 --> 0:03:17.600 to have better time management, have better energy management, and 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:21.720 have better stress management in order to be productive but 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:24.880 also be effective. I think for a long time we 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:29.600 went down this toxic productivity route where everyone was stressed, 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:33.400 burnt out, over worked, overwhelmed. And when you end up 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:36.240 in that space, it's really hard to pivot, it's really 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:38.640 hard to figure out how to get out of it, 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:41.760 and you almost feel like what was the point of 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:44.800 being that productive and at the same time, all of 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:47.400 us want to create, we want to build. We're meant 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:51.000 to grow as humans, and if we're not growing, we 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:54.440 feel like things are falling abart. So I want to 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:57.120 share with you some really practical steps that you can 0:03:57.160 --> 0:04:00.760 apply starting today that are going to try transform the 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:04.160 way you work, live and love. Now, I want to 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:08.920 start off with probably my favorite principle of all that 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:14.600 has transformed my stress levels, my mindset, and it is 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:21.480 the art of solo tasking or monotasking, doing one thing 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:25.760 at a time. I found that when we do one 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:29.960 thing at a time, whether it's eating, whether it's brushing 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:34.440 our teeth, whether it's talking to someone, whether it's browsing 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:37.800 the internet, whether it's watching a video, when you do 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:42.520 one thing at a time, your stress level drops. When 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:44.760 you do one thing at a time and you're absorbed 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:50.560 and immersed your quality of effectiveness increases. When you do 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:53.479 one thing at a time, you feel a sense of 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:58.919 accomplishment and completion. This is a really interesting thing in 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:01.880 today's day and age. We live in a world where 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:06.360 our lives are constantly incomplete. We have books that we've 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:08.920 read a page of, a couple of and they're incomplete. 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:11.400 We have a show that we started that we even 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:13.240 forgot about, and then when you go back onto it, 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:15.039 you're like, oh, my gosh, I actually started the show. 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:18.039 I was on episode two halfway through, but I forgot 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:21.799 I started it. We live in a world of incompleteness. 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:24.760 So much of what we start never ends. Now I'm 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:27.159 not saying that we have to finish everything we start, 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:29.880 but if we focus on one thing at a time, 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:34.120 chances are our completion rate is going to go up. 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:37.560 Now what does that do? The completion rate going up 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:41.120 makes you feel more successful and accomplished. It makes you 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:44.560 feel you got to the end of something. It makes 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:46.719 you feel like you've got some where you went on 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:50.120 a journey, otherwise an incomplete journeys. Imagine you're like, you 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:52.600 know what, today, I think I'm gonna fly to New York. 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:55.080 I'm gonna actually, you know, halfway on the fly, I'm 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:57.240 gonna decide I actually want to go to Atlanta. Okay, 0:05:57.279 --> 0:05:59.359 when I'm on the way to Atlanta, right, So that 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:07.120 income completeness is what creates inconsistency instability in our lives, 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:10.840 and we often don't make that connection of just how 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:13.400 incomplete things have become How many of you have a 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:16.360 task that's been incomplete for three days and you completely 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:18.799 forgot about it, Or how many of you had notes 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:21.400 on your phone and you were writing some notes about 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:24.039 something you got distracted from a message. Then someone sent 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:26.839 you a TikTok link, and then after that someone sent 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:29.560 you a YouTube video, and then after that someone sent 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:32.919 you a link on Amazon, and now you've forgot that note. 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:38.000 So our incompleteness and this idea of doing one thing 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:41.520 at a time allows us to feel more accomplished. It 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:44.720 allows us to close the loop in our minds. It 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:49.680 allows us to not have this constant state of distraction. Now, 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:54.560 research shows that when one switches from TASKA to task B, 0:06:55.360 --> 0:07:00.479 their one hundred percent attention does not automatically go to 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:05.640 the new task. Some people remain stuck at the original assignment. 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:08.360 This is from the research now. It says that this 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:13.600 is attention residue, and it's strongest if task A was 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:19.040 unbounded or low intensity in nature before a person made 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:22.760 the switch. Even if you complete task A before switching, 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:27.120 part of your attention will remain temporarily on task A. 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:31.120 So what we're saying is that if you don't complete 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:33.760 task A. If you don't finish task A and you 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:37.080 move to task B, you could find that forty percent 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:40.480 of your energy is still trying to solve task A, 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:43.160 and now sixty percent of your energy is going to 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:45.280 task B. Now, let's say you go to task C. 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:49.480 You've left forty percent behind. Now that sixty gets split 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:52.920 up again. You've got forty percent in task A, you've 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:55.840 got thirty percent in task B, and you've got thirty 0:07:55.880 --> 0:08:00.520 percent in task C. So you're only giving your left overs. 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.920 You're giving the residue to the next task. So your 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:07.240 attention is getting more split and fragmented. Whereas what we 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:09.280 think happens is, oh, I was giving one hundred percent 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:11.000 of my attention to that, Now I'm just going to 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:15.440 move it over. It doesn't work like that. So when 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:18.880 you have lots of tabs open, when you have your email, 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:23.880 your text, your WhatsApp all open on your laptop screen, 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:27.320 and you're able to switch between all of them, it 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:31.720 actually creates this challenge. This research I found from the 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:36.120 great book called Deep Work by cal Newport, and in 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:38.800 the book it says the principle of attention residue works 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:41.240 like this. Every time you switch from task A to 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:44.360 task B. Some of your attention remains in task A. 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:48.360 Concentrating on the new task is harder, so you lose 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:52.520 some productivity. When switching tasks one task at a time, 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:57.280 complete the task, I promise you you will feel like 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:00.400 you have so much more confidence, so much more lawrance, 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:02.960 And when it comes to the end of the day, 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:06.520 you're not looking at your list going that's still incomplete, 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:10.520 that's still incomplete, that's still incomplete. Because the mind always 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:13.439 over amplifies how far you have to go, not how 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:17.080 far you've come, right generally, so we have to switch 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:21.240 our perspective. When you're halfway up a mountain, you could 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:23.560 either look down and think, Wow, I've come a really 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:25.240 long way, or you could look up and go, oh 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:28.600 my gosh, I've got so long to go. And what 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:31.920 we need in this mindset is actually, I may have 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:34.160 a lot more left to do, but I completed a 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:38.000 lot today. I hope that idea of completion really resonates 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:42.160 and sticks with you, because I see the incompleteness in 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:46.199 our minds causing so much stress and anxiety. And that's 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:49.920 what happens, right, if something's left incomplete, if something's left undone. 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:53.600 That's what causes you stress, That's what causes you anxiety. 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:56.000 So the reason why doing one thing at a time 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:59.400 is important is because you can complete it. Now, I'm 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:01.320 not saying this to mean you complete every book if 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:03.360 you're bored by it, or you complete a TV show 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:06.680 if you're bored by it. It's just interesting how much 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:11.720 of our life has become perplexed by incompleteness. Principal number 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:17.920 two cleaning your external space and what does that mean. 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:20.880 I don't mean that everything has to be perfectly tidy. 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:22.880 What I mean is that when you come to your 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:25.600 work desk, you have what you need there. You're not 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:28.120 constantly getting back up and down going Oh I forgot 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:30.240 the posting notes. Oh I forgot the highlighters. Oh I 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:33.480 forgot to download this app. Oh I didn't really have 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.160 the latest version of chat jupt. Whatever it is, right, 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:40.480 whether it's analog or digital, it's there. Where's your water bottle? 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:42.720 Is it there? Where's your little snack? Where's your nuts 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:44.720 that you need to nibble on? Now, of course you 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:46.240 can get up and go and get those things, and 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:49.320 it's good to move around during the day, but overall, 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:52.920 is your space set up for success or is the 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:56.600 first thought when you come to your desk, Oh, oh 0:10:56.720 --> 0:10:59.640 hate working here, hate being here? The first thing when 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:02.200 you get in your bedroom, oh, it's just too hot 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:05.400 in here. Like set it up for success, right, So 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:11.520 cleaning your external space can have massive impact on your productivity. 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:15.120 One of the things I think we underestimate is scent, 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:19.640 site and sound. When you walk into a space, what 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:23.240 scent makes you feel that way? So when I walk 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:26.119 into my workspace, I want a candle or a diffuser 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:29.480 that has an energizing scent because I know I need 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:34.120 to bring focus. We don't use the sense of smell 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:38.640 enough in order to motivate our mind. Use that. Figure out, diffuser, 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:40.960 figure out a scent that when you smell it, you're like, Okay, 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:44.280 it's time to work. It's time to focus. Now a site, 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:47.240 what's something you want to see? I have this. I 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:52.400 have some art pieces in my office that have phrases, reminders. 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:54.640 I have quotes on my table. I have little quote 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.320 books that can just flick through to get motivation. I'm 0:11:57.440 --> 0:12:01.480 surrounded by the energy and it's right there so that 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:03.000 I can get do it. I know that if I'm 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:04.560 feeling a certain way, one day, I can pick up 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:05.840 one of my books, I can pick up one of 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:08.480 my affirmation cards. I can read it out to myself 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:11.760 and then sound are use someone who likes to work 0:12:11.800 --> 0:12:16.400 in silence, chatter, or music. A lot of us don't 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:18.600 even know that. We don't have the self awareness to 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:22.920 recognize it. I'm a silence worker, or I'm an instrumental 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:26.760 music worker. I like lots of instrumental beats. I'm happy 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:28.440 to have them on the background. It gets me to 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:32.000 lock in. Or I like silence. I really don't like 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:36.000 working when there's chatter or background conversation and background noise. 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:41.640 It doesn't work for me. So figure out yours. Number three. 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:46.200 Don't have a to do list, but have a to 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:49.400 start list. And what I mean by that is a 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:52.360 to do list is a list of everything that you 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:55.400 need to do. A start list is like, well, where's 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:59.840 the most important place to start? Right? So when we 0:12:59.880 --> 0:13:02.000 have to do list, Like, for example, I could have 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:04.679 on my to do list write a chapter of my book. 0:13:05.360 --> 0:13:08.360 Now that's quite a big thing on my to do list, 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:10.959 But how what's my to start list? Okay, to start 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:14.040 write out what I think the chapter breakdown is going 0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:16.480 to be, right, let's say on your to do list 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:19.439 it says to complete a presentation. Okay, but to start, 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:21.760 what do you need to read? So your start list 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:24.720 almost makes it so easy for you that you just 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:27.320 lock in rather than you look at the item on 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.920 your to do list. Now, this takes an extra step 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:32.520 when you're planning. When you're planning, you may have to 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:36.080 sit down and think to yourself, Okay, I have this 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:38.720 to do list, Okay, what do I need to start? 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:42.080 So it's an extra step in advance. But then when 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:44.040 you wake up and you look at your to start list, 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:47.520 you know exactly what to get locked into. I think 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:50.000 this has been a game changer for me because so 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:52.400 often you look at your to do list and maybe 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:54.440 a to do list is work on that you know, 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:57.880 got to finish off that project for work, or maybe 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:01.520 the to do list is obviously simple things like laundry 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:05.360 or whatever. That's different. I'm talking about things that you've 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:06.960 kind of been putting off for a while, things that 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:08.920 get stuck on that to do list for too long, 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:12.600 things that are always there. Almost it feels like have 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:18.079 a to start list, not a to do list. This 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:21.200 next one applies to that as well. How many of 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:24.400 you on your to do list cross things off. How 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.600 many of you will put a cross next to it 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:31.360 or put a line through it? Now, this is really simple, 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:33.960 and you may be like, Jay, that's not gonna work. 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.240 I believe it all works, and I'll tell you why. 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:42.720 It's because you're constantly in communication with yourself and our 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:47.960 body and mind picks up on subtile cues very strongly. 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:52.640 There are subtle things in society that have been so hardwired. 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:56.160 For example, if you see a cross next to something, 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:59.680 you generally think it's wrong. From school, if you see 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:02.720 a C to something, it generally means don't enter, do 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:06.640 not go here, caution. Right. That is a symbol, it's 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:09.960 an emblem for something. Now you may not process that logically. 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:12.760 You can differentiate between a cross on your to do 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.680 list and a cross at a you know, at a 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:18.120 at a traffic signal or a sign or you know 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:20.280 when they have those train crossings. You can tell the 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:26.480 difference logically, but subtly, when you're not processing it that intentionally, 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:30.560 you're getting a negative impact. So what I want you 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:33.280 to do is swap your crosses for ticks. Put a 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:35.560 big tick, put a color tick, put a green tick. 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:40.000 Seeing color, seeing a certain symbol, color gives us a 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:44.240 certain emotion, and we devalue how much these things work. 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:48.440 We undervalue how powerful these things can be. Right, we 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:51.320 just think, oh, yeah, it's just you know, this is 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:54.960 just pseudo stuff. It's like, yeah, sure, maybe there isn't 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:59.600 something massively scientific about it. But the idea that you'll 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:04.480 learn to give yourself positive affirmation, a positive validation of completion, 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:08.880 a positive sense of self, I think it will make 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:11.800 a big difference. One of the most well known tools, 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.960 which I only recently realized I was lucky to learn 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:18.680 when I was very young, and just how many people 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:22.280 never actually got exposed to it when they were young, 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:25.000 and I wanted to share it with you. And if 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:26.680 you know it, that's great. If you don't know it, 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:29.440 then I really hope that this changes the way you work. 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:34.040 It's called the Eisenhower matrix or the Eisenhower box, and 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:40.400 Eisenhower's strategy for taking action was organizing the inbound of 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:44.360 a task, so on your to do list or a 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:49.400 task that comes through there are four ways of defining them. 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:55.160 According to Eisenhower, the four ways are either urgent and important. 0:16:55.800 --> 0:17:00.240 These are things that you will do immediately. There's important 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:03.400 but not urgent. This is stuff that you'll have to 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:07.439 schedule to do it at another time. Then there's urgent 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:11.879 but not important. This is ideally something that someone else 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:15.520 can do. It may require you to do it, but 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:19.800 not with the same amount of intentionality and focus. And fourth, 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:23.320 neither urgent nor important. And these are tasks that you 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:25.760 actually want to get rid of. Now. When you start 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:27.639 doing this, you and I want you to do this. 0:17:27.680 --> 0:17:30.439 And again it's it's almost like you'll think, well, why 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:31.720 do I do that? Why don't I just get on 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:35.520 with the task, because you might find when you do 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:38.920 this for the first time, a lot of the tasks 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:43.680 that you're spending time on maybe neither urgent nor important. 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:47.520 I analyze every one of my meetings at work this way. 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:49.840 We often go around the team meeting and my team 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:51.960 will be filling me in on things, and I'm asking 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:54.440 myself how much of this was urgent, and how much 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:57.480 of this was important, and how much of it required me? 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:01.400 And so ask yourself, is what's this urgent and important? 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:03.840 Let me do it immediately, because often what we do 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:08.320 is we trade what is important for what is urgent. 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:12.479 And I think that's one of the biggest misses in 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:16.479 productivity and time management. We get a request that's urgent 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:20.359 for someone else. That's another thing. Not only is it 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.680 not important for you, it's not urgent for you, it's 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:26.320 urgent for someone else, and we drop what we're doing 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:29.359 and being able to say, Hey, I'm going to get 0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:31.800 back to you in five minutes. I've just got to 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:35.400 finish something off. Hey, I've been working on that. What 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:37.919 time do you need it by? Right? When do you 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:41.000 need it by? And in what condition are you looking 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:43.320 for We're looking for it to be like are you 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:46.000 looking for it to be complete? I think these qualifying 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:50.119 questions help you to plan it out, help you to 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:52.280 factor it out. One of the big ones of this 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:55.280 this is the next principle, But this applies to the 0:18:55.280 --> 0:19:00.240 next principle very strongly. No email until ten am. A 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:01.840 lot of us we get to work and the first 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:03.239 thing we do, and I remember I used to do 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:05.280 this as well. Was I used to open my email. 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:07.840 You're starting your day off with a few things. First 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:11.080 of all, it's reactive. You haven't started proactively on what 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:15.760 you need to focus on. You start reactively with what 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:18.879 everyone else wants to focus on. Therefore it's urgent to 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:22.160 someone else even if it's not urgent and important to you. 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:25.840 And thirdly, you get distracted down a rabbit hole and 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:28.440 you focus on things that you don't even know are 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:31.320 of value to what you're trying to do. Set a time, 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:33.480 no email for the first thirty minutes of the day, 0:19:33.760 --> 0:19:36.080 no email for the first hour. When I get into work, 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:38.000 I'm going to focus on my projects. So I'm going 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:40.000 to focus on what I need to deliver. I'm going 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:42.920 to focus on what I need to build. That's how 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:45.760 you want to plan your day out right, That's how 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:48.960 you want to focus. One of the next productivity tips 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:51.320 that's made a big difference in my life is something 0:19:51.320 --> 0:19:54.040 I called goal of the day and goal of the week. 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:56.679 I knew the goal of my day to day was 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:01.760 to script, research and record to credible solo episodes. This 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:04.119 is one of them, right, That was my goal of 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:05.840 the day. Because I'm traveling for the rest of the 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:08.200 day today, I'm flying to London, and so my goal 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:09.760 of the day is to get to London safely and 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:11.480 do that, and that's it. I have a lunch in 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:15.280 between for work, and but that's my goal. My goal 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:17.880 is simple. It's the podcast, it's the solos, it's being 0:20:17.920 --> 0:20:20.560 present with all of you. That's the goal of the day. 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:24.159 No matter what happens, I have won if this goes well. 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:26.920 I think what we often do is we have ten 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:30.040 goals of the day. We have ten goals of each day, 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:34.400 and it's almost impossible. Now, this doesn't mean you don't 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:37.000 do more tasks. I've done more tasks today. I haven't 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:39.680 had the luxury of only doing two episodes. I've got 0:20:39.800 --> 0:20:42.280 a lot of other tasks to do today. But I'm 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:46.600 very clearly in my mind saying to myself, this is 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:49.680 the win, because what happens is that every day will 0:20:49.680 --> 0:20:51.320 feel like a loss when you look at it and 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:54.280 you look, I didn't get six out of ten things done, 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:57.240 but maybe you've got two of the most important things 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:00.760 done in those four things you got done. We don't 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:06.560 properly weigh things for what their value truly is. We 0:21:07.160 --> 0:21:09.920 overvalue something and we undervalue something else, or we give 0:21:09.960 --> 0:21:12.919 everything the same value, and no tasks like to me 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:17.240 recording my solos today and doing a bit of housekeeping, 0:21:17.280 --> 0:21:19.840 they're not of the same value to my work, They're 0:21:19.880 --> 0:21:22.120 not of the same value to my life. They are 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:25.160 of different value, and so the goal of the day 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:29.760 has to be based around what you value. Today. Some days, 0:21:29.800 --> 0:21:31.199 the goal of the day will be to get the 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:33.800 dishes done. Tonight some day the goal of the day 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:36.159 will be to get the laundry done, and that's totally fine. 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:40.240 But know your value. Set a goal of the day, 0:21:40.680 --> 0:21:43.560 and set a goal of the week, and pursue that. 0:21:44.280 --> 0:21:48.000 Don't pursue this endless feeling of I just want to 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:50.160 check everything off my list. I just need to get 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:53.240 everything done, because you could get everything done and ten 0:21:53.320 --> 0:21:56.080 more things are going to appear. But if you've done 0:21:56.080 --> 0:21:58.320 the big things, if you've done the big goals, goal 0:21:58.359 --> 0:22:00.640 of the day, the goal of the week, you're going 0:22:00.680 --> 0:22:05.000 to feel a sense of accomplishment. The next principle is 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:08.639 know your best time to be productive and put the 0:22:08.680 --> 0:22:12.160 most important activity at that time. This is another self 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:17.680 awareness tip. If you know when you're most powerful, lean 0:22:17.720 --> 0:22:20.480 into that. I know that I might my best energy 0:22:20.480 --> 0:22:23.160 in the morning, I'm far better all the way up 0:22:23.200 --> 0:22:27.359