[My Notes] Manage your day to day – by Jocelyn K. Glei
Not a reading person? No problem!
Just click play and i’ll read it to you..
Most of the productivity/personal development books tend to revolve around one topic. This book, on the other hand, contains multiple insights into how you could manage your day effectively. In-fact, it is a collection of ideas by 20 remarkable contributors.
I do prefer listening to audiobooks of this genre over reading. This book packs a ton of information. I couldn’t possibly address all the topics in one blog post. I will be sharing my notes and thoughts on a few ideas.
Long term goals
The important things in life take time to build. We can lose track of our long-term goal easily if we aren’t careful. Our goal doesn’t magically manifest itself. It is something you achieve by performing small activities consistently over a period of time. You might be unable to gauge your progress every day. That is why using progression markers will help track your efforts!
Marking progress is a huge motivator for long-term projects. Here are a few ways to visualize your daily achievements:
- Saving past iterations of your work (Rev numbers in the File name, a REV WIKI to document and track your changes)
- Making a Completed list (similar to a To-Do List) at the end of the day to review your progress
- Posting milestones Keeping a daily journal.
Example: My Blog
I have big plans for this blog! I spend about 20 minutes a day to churn out one article a week. Granted, I have just started this journey and I’m still figuring out many things. But this small consistent effort has resulted in over 900 views in a span of two months! Pretty cool if you’d ask me.
Daily routine & Time blocking
- Starting anything is hard. Having a fixed plan by using a calendar, removing any decision-making process will help.
- You will get more done by organizing your time and energy.
- Reactive work vs Creative work.
- Start your day with creative work.
- Your will power is like an energy reservoir. Spending your energy on the things that matter the most will ensure you are using this reservoir effectively.
- You do this by spending time on your priorities before working on someone else’s priority.
- Going through emails as soon as you wake up or before you start work, tends to draw a lot of your will power towards addressing someone else’s priority. I have turned off all email notifications until 11 AM to ensure I complete my creative work first. This ensures that my important tasks for the day are completed first, giving me a kick start.
- Turn off your phone notifications, e-mail, and any apps unrelated to your task. Even the presence of background activity can drain your focus.
- Circadian patterns:
- Align work habits with your body.
- Not a morning person? It’s okay. Save the creative work for another time.
- Do one task at a time. Multitasking is not going to get you anywhere.
- Your schedule is not your prison. It’s yours to make. So, make it into the day you want.
- To-Do List: If you can’t fit all of it on one post-it, you most likely cannot complete it.
- Capture all your commitments in some system. Google Calendar, Keep, and Docs is free to use and is an amazing productivity system.
- Unlike robots, you cannot operate continuously. (actually, even robots and automated systems need regular maintenance.)
- Alternate challenging creative work with more “mindless” tasks to give the body/mind time to rest and refuel.
- Sleep is very important.
- Define your own area of work and use triggers like the same background music, a clean room, the order of things, time, etc.
- Frequency fosters productivity. It helps you enter this positive loop and achieve more!
Should you read this book?
Absolutely yes!You probably would have come across some of these concepts before. This book is filled with so many ideas and tips that you will find at least one thing that resonates with you.
Now, building your life is like running a marathon. Small and consistent efforts will definitely get you to the finish line. Writing one page a day, or taking that one lesson will quickly add to something magical in no time!
PS: Unlike some of my athletic friends, I have never run a marathon before. I hope this analogy is sound.
