WEBVTT - Your Favourite Tip: Laura Mae Martin - A great day starts the night before

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<v Speaker 1>When you boil it down. Upping your productivity is about

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<v Speaker 1>two things, working more efficiently and working to a better plan.

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<v Speaker 1>You can work as efficiently as possible, powering through an

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<v Speaker 1>enormous amount of work in one short sprint, but if

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<v Speaker 1>you're not doing the right work at the right time,

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<v Speaker 1>that extra efficiency isn't doing you any good. And when

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<v Speaker 1>you zoom out and look at an entire days or

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<v Speaker 1>week's worth of work, you realize that you simply can't

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<v Speaker 1>bulldoze through meaningful work for eight hours straight, five days

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<v Speaker 1>in a row. So intelligent planning is the bedrock of

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<v Speaker 1>all productivity, and even better, if you do your planning

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<v Speaker 1>at the right time, you can save yourself a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of anxiety too. My name is doctor Amantha Imber. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>an organizational psychologist and the founder of behavioral science consultancy

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<v Speaker 1>invent Him. And this is how I work, a show

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<v Speaker 1>about how to help you do your best work. Welcome

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<v Speaker 1>to your favorite Tips across ten bite size episodes, I'll

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<v Speaker 1>be sharing tips from some of the world's best thinkers

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<v Speaker 1>that you, the listeners, have found the most useful. We're

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<v Speaker 1>covering everything from creating better to do lists to setting

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<v Speaker 1>more effective boundaries around your time, and you'll be hearing

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<v Speaker 1>from people like best selling author Sally Hepworth, Corona Cast

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<v Speaker 1>host and journalist Norman Swan, and Google's executive productivity advisor

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<v Speaker 1>Laura may Martin. Today's favorite tip comes from Jason, and

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<v Speaker 1>he writes, I have two primary school children, and I'm

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<v Speaker 1>a teacher. I've just began at the high school after

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<v Speaker 1>twenty years in primary school, so this year has been

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<v Speaker 1>a welcome shock of how the upper schools do it

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<v Speaker 1>differently due to different subjects I teach and room changes

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<v Speaker 1>each period. I ensure I put together a to do

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<v Speaker 1>list every night before leaving for home, a small A

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<v Speaker 1>five notepad with today's plan of attack written on it.

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<v Speaker 1>I detail each subject, room number, and the changes if

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<v Speaker 1>need be, as well as a side note on content.

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<v Speaker 1>Each morning, when I log on, I check for any

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<v Speaker 1>last minute changes or extra relief classes I may need

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<v Speaker 1>to take. It's been a lot with COVID this year

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<v Speaker 1>in WA and this notepad then travels with me all

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<v Speaker 1>day for referencing. It's been incredibly helpful. While it might

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<v Speaker 1>seem simple, it calms me each night knowing that tomorrow

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<v Speaker 1>is prepped and noted as a reminder especially with last

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<v Speaker 1>minute room changes and relief classes. So here is Laura

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<v Speaker 1>may Martin, Google's executive productivity advisor, talking about her daily planning.

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<v Speaker 1>Richell called the daily Plan.

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<v Speaker 2>So this is something I've used internally, but given all

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<v Speaker 2>of the work from home and changes, I actually posted

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<v Speaker 2>it to the Google blog, so I can send you

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<v Speaker 2>a link to that. But I call it the daily plan,

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<v Speaker 2>and I ac actually do it the night before. So

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<v Speaker 2>one thing that I do is I add three actions

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<v Speaker 2>that I want to do for the next day, so

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<v Speaker 2>my top three priorities. That's kind of that what does

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<v Speaker 2>the successful day look like? And underneath the first one

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<v Speaker 2>thing I need to do, it says until this first

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<v Speaker 2>task is finished, everything else is a distraction. So that's

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<v Speaker 2>basically like my one thing I need to get done.

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<v Speaker 2>Then I take a look at hour by hour, which

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<v Speaker 2>I think is the most important part. So a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of productivity tips mention this, but planning out what you

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<v Speaker 2>plan to do hour by hour beforehand makes a huge

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<v Speaker 2>difference in whether you actually do it. Even just writing

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<v Speaker 2>down I plan to work out seven to eight makes

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<v Speaker 2>you way more likely to do that than to wake

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<v Speaker 2>up and trust yourself. So I do a rough hour

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<v Speaker 2>by hour plan. Obviously I don't always know how long

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<v Speaker 2>naps are going to last, but you know, I do

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<v Speaker 2>an estimate, and then I also have a little snack

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<v Speaker 2>size to do. I call it the bottom corner, and

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<v Speaker 2>I say, okay, if I end up having fifteen extra minutes,

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<v Speaker 2>those are all tasks that are fifteen minutes or less.

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<v Speaker 2>So you know, those aren't necessarily my top three. But

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<v Speaker 2>if I end up having fifteen minutes that I didn't

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<v Speaker 2>know I had a meeting ends early and nap goes long,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, I need to have a list of things

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<v Speaker 2>I can quickly do. So make that one phone call,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, do that one email that I've been needing

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<v Speaker 2>to do. So I have that I have also at

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<v Speaker 2>the very top it says something that I'm grateful for.

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<v Speaker 2>And I think I had that in a planner once

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<v Speaker 2>that I bought, like I think in high school or something,

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<v Speaker 2>and I just thought it was a great way just

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<v Speaker 2>to kick off. You know, you're starting all these things

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<v Speaker 2>you need to do, maybe feeling stress making this list,

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<v Speaker 2>but having that at the very top, just something you're

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<v Speaker 2>grateful for, like maybe that you do have the opportunity

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<v Speaker 2>to work from home. That's always a good perspective.

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<v Speaker 1>That's cool. I like that process. Do you so that's

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<v Speaker 1>the daily process or the evening process. Do you have

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<v Speaker 1>any kind of weekly, monthly, quarterly sort of rhythms as

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<v Speaker 1>well when it comes to planning, prioritizing. What does that

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<v Speaker 1>look client for you?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah? So weekly I do something similar. I do a

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<v Speaker 2>template that basically says, you know, what are my priorities

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<v Speaker 2>for the week, and then not just what do I

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<v Speaker 2>need to do, but when do I plan to do it?

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<v Speaker 2>So if I have if I say, like, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>I really want to complete that project where people get

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<v Speaker 2>stuck in productivity I think is just listing everything they

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<v Speaker 2>want to do but never assigning the right place for it.

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<v Speaker 2>So I've heard you talk about this in some of

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<v Speaker 2>your other other episodes, but finding when that natural rhythm

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<v Speaker 2>you already know you have. So I know that I,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, tend to be really high energy on Mondays

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<v Speaker 2>and I can get a lot done because I've been

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<v Speaker 2>rested over the weekend. So already knowing that about myself,

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<v Speaker 2>I can slot things into that Monday time slot that

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<v Speaker 2>I know Fridays, you know, that's a better day to

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<v Speaker 2>do things like catching up on articles, I wanted to

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<v Speaker 2>read or maybe responding to some lower energy emails, creative meetings, catchups.

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<v Speaker 2>So I try to structure my week and days in

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<v Speaker 2>kind of like that rhythm where I know when I'm

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<v Speaker 2>going to be most productive and I slot the things

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<v Speaker 2>I need to do there.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're keen to try out Laura's The Daily Plan,

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<v Speaker 1>you can download it from the show notes. And if

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<v Speaker 1>you've just joined in for your favorite tips, make sure

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<v Speaker 1>you go back and listen to previous episodes in this

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<v Speaker 1>series to hear which tips other listeners have found the

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<v Speaker 1>most valuable, including cal and Newport's method for cutting down

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<v Speaker 1>or needless emails, Oliver Berkman's dune list suggestion, and more.

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<v Speaker 1>As a listener of how I work, you've hopefully picked

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<v Speaker 1>up a few tips on this show to help you

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<v Speaker 1>work better? But do you want more? And maybe in

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<v Speaker 1>a book form, because let's face it, books are the

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<v Speaker 1>most awesome thing on the planet. Well, now you can.

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<v Speaker 1>In my new book, time Wise, I uncover a wealth

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<v Speaker 1>of proven strategies that anyone can use to improve their productivity, work,

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<v Speaker 1>and lifestyle. Time Wise brings together all of the gems

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<v Speaker 1>that I've learned from conversations with the world's greatest thinkers,

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<v Speaker 1>including Adam Grant, Dan Pink, Mia Friedman, and Turia Pitt

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<v Speaker 1>and many many others. Time Wise is launching on July five,

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<v Speaker 1>but you can pre order it now from Amantha dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>And if you pre order time Wise, I have a

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<v Speaker 1>couple of bonuses for you. First, you'll receive an ebook

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<v Speaker 1>that details my top twenty favorite apps and software for

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<v Speaker 1>being time Wise with email, calendar, passwords, reading, cooking ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>and more. You will also get a complimentary spot in

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<v Speaker 1>a webinar that I'm running on June twenty nine, where

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<v Speaker 1>I will be sharing the tactics from time Wise that

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<v Speaker 1>I use most often, and also some bonus ones that

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<v Speaker 1>are not in the book that I use and love.

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<v Speaker 1>Hop onto Amantha dot com to pre order now. How

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<v Speaker 1>I Work is produced by Inventium with production support from

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<v Speaker 1>Dead Set Studios, and thank you to Martina who does

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<v Speaker 1>the audio mix for every episode and makes everything sound

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<v Speaker 1>so much better than it would have otherwise. See you

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<v Speaker 1>next time.