How I Boosted My Productivity

For context, I'm the founder of a 3-year-old startup and co-founder of a 7-month-old startup.

When asked how things are going, have you ever responded with: "Good! Really busy!"

I used to do that a lot. But then I started asking myself, "what does busy actually mean?"

It means shit.

I can be busy all day long and accomplish nothing.

Being busy and being productive are not the same.

I'd like to share with you what I started doing three months ago to be more productive and less busy:

Task List + Calendar

I use the notion to organize my tasks and schedule my day. I literally block out almost all of my day with tasks to help me stay focused and on topic.

Here are some notion templates that you can duplicate and use.

Now, you don’t need to use Notion. If you prefer to just use the Calendar, that’s fine. Whatever works for you.

Personally, I prefer to check boxes as I go as it gives me that nice dopamine hit of getting important work done - and that helps me tackle the rest of my list.

Here’s a breakdown of exactly what I do:

1: Morning Bookend (5:45am - 6:30am)

The tasks I complete immediately upon waking up are set up to help me start my day right. My morning bookend, which spans about 45 minutes, includes:

• 8oz of water (within 5 minutes of waking up)

• 5 minutes of stretching

• Some type of wake-me-up (coffee/tea/energy drink)

• 10 minutes of self-improvement (reading, videos, audiobook, etc)

• 10 minutes of writing (blog or video content)

• Review my plan for the day (that I setup the night before)

2: Personal Health (6:45am - 7:30am)

For those of you who always complain of being tired or not having enough energy know that it is hard to consistently be productive.

Because being productive requires energy and mental clarity.

And one of the best ways to increase your energy and mental clarity is through exercise.

For me, this means hitting the weights at the gym. For you, it should mean whatever gets your body moving: walking, running, biking, yoga, weight training, etc.

Your mind and body are your greatest asset. Take care of it and you’ll be able to take care of a lot more.

3: Most Important Tasks (7:45am - 12pm)

After clearing my mind through exercise, I’m ready to take on the most difficult tasks for the day(yeah, like eat that frog, i also have a template for that). These are the tasks that I identify as the “absolutely-must-get-done-even-if-others-don’t”:

• Most important task one (often involves sales)

• Most important task two

• Most important task three

In most cases, I try to avoid scheduling meetings during morning hours (unless absolutely necessary) as meetings often interrupt the day and reduce productivity

4: All Other Tasks (12:15pm - 5:30pm)

Only after all of the most important tasks are complete do I move on to my “other” tasks for the day.

This list can be a wide range of items from meetings, phone calls, non-critical emails, and social media (for work).

I do make sure that I add in at least an additional 30 minutes of self-improvement. I typically listen to an audiobook or podcast at this time.

5: Family / Friends (5:30pm - 9:00pm)

After all, life isn’t just about work. It’s OK (and recommended) to stop working and spend time with those who matter to you most.

It may seem ridiculous to add this into your task list and calendar, but it’s not. It’s a simple reminder everyday that you should put down what you’re doing and shift your focus to loved ones.

I either have this set up as a block of time or as specific activities that we’ll be doing.

6: Evening Bookend (9:15pm - 9:45pm)

I close out the day by doing the following:

Write in journal (at least one thing that I learned today and 2 – 5 wins for the day, no matter how small)

Plan tomorrow: create tasks in Notion and schedule them in my calendar

Bed by 10 pm

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If you want to build something like this into your daily routine you’ll need to make it a habit.

And although you may have some initial motivation, you'll need to find consistent motivation until the habit is formed.

Try committing to doing this (or something similar) for at least 3 weeks (because, according to research) it takes about 21 days to form a habit.

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If you do things differently, I'd love to hear about it. I'm always trying to improve myself and one of the best ways to do so is to learn through others.