1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:04,360 Speaker 1: When you boil it down. Upping your productivity is about 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:09,280 Speaker 1: two things, working more efficiently and working to a better plan. 3 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: You can work as efficiently as possible, powering through an 4 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: enormous amount of work in one short sprint, but if 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,280 Speaker 1: you're not doing the right work at the right time, 6 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:24,079 Speaker 1: that extra efficiency isn't doing you any good. And when 7 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: you zoom out and look at an entire days or 8 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: week's worth of work, you realize that you simply can't 9 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,840 Speaker 1: bulldoze through meaningful work for eight hours straight, five days 10 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:39,279 Speaker 1: in a row. So intelligent planning is the bedrock of 11 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:43,520 Speaker 1: all productivity, and even better, if you do your planning 12 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:46,480 Speaker 1: at the right time, you can save yourself a lot 13 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: of anxiety too. My name is doctor Amantha Imber. I'm 14 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,640 Speaker 1: an organizational psychologist and the founder of behavioral science consultancy 15 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: invent Him. And this is how I work, a show 16 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: about how to help you do your best work. Welcome 17 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: to your favorite Tips across ten bite size episodes, I'll 18 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: be sharing tips from some of the world's best thinkers 19 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:18,559 Speaker 1: that you, the listeners, have found the most useful. We're 20 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:22,400 Speaker 1: covering everything from creating better to do lists to setting 21 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: more effective boundaries around your time, and you'll be hearing 22 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: from people like best selling author Sally Hepworth, Corona Cast 23 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: host and journalist Norman Swan, and Google's executive productivity advisor 24 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: Laura may Martin. Today's favorite tip comes from Jason, and 25 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: he writes, I have two primary school children, and I'm 26 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: a teacher. I've just began at the high school after 27 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: twenty years in primary school, so this year has been 28 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: a welcome shock of how the upper schools do it 29 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: differently due to different subjects I teach and room changes 30 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: each period. I ensure I put together a to do 31 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: list every night before leaving for home, a small A 32 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: five notepad with today's plan of attack written on it. 33 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: I detail each subject, room number, and the changes if 34 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:10,800 Speaker 1: need be, as well as a side note on content. 35 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: Each morning, when I log on, I check for any 36 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: last minute changes or extra relief classes I may need 37 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: to take. It's been a lot with COVID this year 38 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,799 Speaker 1: in WA and this notepad then travels with me all 39 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: day for referencing. It's been incredibly helpful. While it might 40 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: seem simple, it calms me each night knowing that tomorrow 41 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:33,960 Speaker 1: is prepped and noted as a reminder especially with last 42 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: minute room changes and relief classes. So here is Laura 43 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: may Martin, Google's executive productivity advisor, talking about her daily planning. 44 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:47,959 Speaker 1: Richell called the daily Plan. 45 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 2: So this is something I've used internally, but given all 46 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,520 Speaker 2: of the work from home and changes, I actually posted 47 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 2: it to the Google blog, so I can send you 48 00:02:57,360 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 2: a link to that. But I call it the daily plan, 49 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 2: and I ac actually do it the night before. So 50 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,920 Speaker 2: one thing that I do is I add three actions 51 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 2: that I want to do for the next day, so 52 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,080 Speaker 2: my top three priorities. That's kind of that what does 53 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 2: the successful day look like? And underneath the first one 54 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 2: thing I need to do, it says until this first 55 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 2: task is finished, everything else is a distraction. So that's 56 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 2: basically like my one thing I need to get done. 57 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 2: Then I take a look at hour by hour, which 58 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 2: I think is the most important part. So a lot 59 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 2: of productivity tips mention this, but planning out what you 60 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 2: plan to do hour by hour beforehand makes a huge 61 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 2: difference in whether you actually do it. Even just writing 62 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 2: down I plan to work out seven to eight makes 63 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:41,839 Speaker 2: you way more likely to do that than to wake 64 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 2: up and trust yourself. So I do a rough hour 65 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 2: by hour plan. Obviously I don't always know how long 66 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 2: naps are going to last, but you know, I do 67 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 2: an estimate, and then I also have a little snack 68 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 2: size to do. I call it the bottom corner, and 69 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 2: I say, okay, if I end up having fifteen extra minutes, 70 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 2: those are all tasks that are fifteen minutes or less. 71 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 2: So you know, those aren't necessarily my top three. But 72 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 2: if I end up having fifteen minutes that I didn't 73 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 2: know I had a meeting ends early and nap goes long, 74 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 2: you know, I need to have a list of things 75 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 2: I can quickly do. So make that one phone call, 76 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 2: you know, do that one email that I've been needing 77 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 2: to do. So I have that I have also at 78 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,480 Speaker 2: the very top it says something that I'm grateful for. 79 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:25,919 Speaker 2: And I think I had that in a planner once 80 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 2: that I bought, like I think in high school or something, 81 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 2: and I just thought it was a great way just 82 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 2: to kick off. You know, you're starting all these things 83 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 2: you need to do, maybe feeling stress making this list, 84 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:37,840 Speaker 2: but having that at the very top, just something you're 85 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:41,279 Speaker 2: grateful for, like maybe that you do have the opportunity 86 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:44,040 Speaker 2: to work from home. That's always a good perspective. 87 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: That's cool. I like that process. Do you so that's 88 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: the daily process or the evening process. Do you have 89 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: any kind of weekly, monthly, quarterly sort of rhythms as 90 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: well when it comes to planning, prioritizing. What does that 91 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: look client for you? 92 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 2: Yeah? So weekly I do something similar. I do a 93 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,920 Speaker 2: template that basically says, you know, what are my priorities 94 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 2: for the week, and then not just what do I 95 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 2: need to do, but when do I plan to do it? 96 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 2: So if I have if I say, like, you know, 97 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:19,599 Speaker 2: I really want to complete that project where people get 98 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 2: stuck in productivity I think is just listing everything they 99 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 2: want to do but never assigning the right place for it. 100 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 2: So I've heard you talk about this in some of 101 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 2: your other other episodes, but finding when that natural rhythm 102 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 2: you already know you have. So I know that I, 103 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 2: you know, tend to be really high energy on Mondays 104 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 2: and I can get a lot done because I've been 105 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 2: rested over the weekend. So already knowing that about myself, 106 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,279 Speaker 2: I can slot things into that Monday time slot that 107 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,279 Speaker 2: I know Fridays, you know, that's a better day to 108 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:52,719 Speaker 2: do things like catching up on articles, I wanted to 109 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 2: read or maybe responding to some lower energy emails, creative meetings, catchups. 110 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 2: So I try to structure my week and days in 111 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 2: kind of like that rhythm where I know when I'm 112 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 2: going to be most productive and I slot the things 113 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 2: I need to do there. 114 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: If you're keen to try out Laura's The Daily Plan, 115 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:17,279 Speaker 1: you can download it from the show notes. And if 116 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 1: you've just joined in for your favorite tips, make sure 117 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: you go back and listen to previous episodes in this 118 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: series to hear which tips other listeners have found the 119 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: most valuable, including cal and Newport's method for cutting down 120 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: or needless emails, Oliver Berkman's dune list suggestion, and more. 121 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: As a listener of how I work, you've hopefully picked 122 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:41,279 Speaker 1: up a few tips on this show to help you 123 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: work better? But do you want more? And maybe in 124 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: a book form, because let's face it, books are the 125 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 1: most awesome thing on the planet. Well, now you can. 126 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: In my new book, time Wise, I uncover a wealth 127 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: of proven strategies that anyone can use to improve their productivity, work, 128 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: and lifestyle. Time Wise brings together all of the gems 129 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:07,160 Speaker 1: that I've learned from conversations with the world's greatest thinkers, 130 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: including Adam Grant, Dan Pink, Mia Friedman, and Turia Pitt 131 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: and many many others. Time Wise is launching on July five, 132 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: but you can pre order it now from Amantha dot com. 133 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: And if you pre order time Wise, I have a 134 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: couple of bonuses for you. First, you'll receive an ebook 135 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: that details my top twenty favorite apps and software for 136 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: being time Wise with email, calendar, passwords, reading, cooking ideas, 137 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: and more. You will also get a complimentary spot in 138 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: a webinar that I'm running on June twenty nine, where 139 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: I will be sharing the tactics from time Wise that 140 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: I use most often, and also some bonus ones that 141 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 1: are not in the book that I use and love. 142 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: Hop onto Amantha dot com to pre order now. How 143 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: I Work is produced by Inventium with production support from 144 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:00,720 Speaker 1: Dead Set Studios, and thank you to Martina who does 145 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 1: the audio mix for every episode and makes everything sound 146 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: so much better than it would have otherwise. See you 147 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: next time.