When was the last time you found yourself halfway through the day with nothing accomplished and needing to turn your day around?
The Truth About How Your Day Starts
We have all been there. Morning gridlocks, one of the kids fell sick, a water leak in the basement, and there is a long list of other things that distract us depending on the day. Your morning has been consumed by forces you cannot control. The day does not have to be in a state of total loss. All you must do is reassess, make a plan, and use one or two productivity hacks to turn your day around.
One day last week I found myself combating these forces. I stopped wearing a watch long ago, and on that particular day I was not carrying my smartphone with me to check the time. Time was lost and I had absolutely nothing to show for it. I had to immediately turn the day around. Many of you find yourselves in this position for one reason or another. Sometimes we are responsible and on other occasions life happens. How you react and turn your day around will have a lasting impact.
“Everything you do has some effect, some impact.” – Dalai Lama
We know from Arnold Bennett we cannot save time or compensate for lost time. What you can do is turn your day around. It seems that, in most cases, we just call it a wash and prefer to start again tomorrow. There is one problem with that choice. All that was important but not urgent gains importance and urgency tomorrow. Now you are squeezing double the amount of priorities in the same amount of time.
What you should do is reassess and build a program to turn your day around. Bookmark this page and when you find yourself in a slump read these steps, take some notes, and implement in just 15-30 minutes.
8 Steps to Immediately Turn Your Day Around
- List your top 3 priorities and the time you are going to spend on each.
- Identify which priority is the most difficult.
- Identify your lowest priorities, which is busy work and time wasters.
- Identify distractions you intend to eliminate such as phone calls, emails, and social apps for example.
- Pro Tip: Turn your computer or mobile devices to airplane mode or do not disturb mode.
- Set deadlines to get each priority done.
- Form blocks of time to eliminate the distractions you identified for more productivity.
- For the first hour concentrate on the most difficult priority first.
- Have a timer to keep you on the right track. I have the Pomotodo app in my tool box.
- Pro Tip: During your rest intervals do some short exercises, grab a cup of coffee, use the bathroom, take a lap around the office. Get up and get the blood flowing. This will reset your focus and increase your willpower.
“You don’t give up; you fight to the finish.” – Louis Zamperini
Starting the day right is important to drive momentum throughout the day. How you finish the day drives momentum for tomorrow’s success. Let us be realistic, there are not too many perfect mornings. There will always be challenges and obstacles in our way. It is how you react that drives results. If you finish the day on top you have positive energy flowing into tomorrow. Failing to finish strong can hurt tomorrow’s momentum. The last lap counts the most, so turn your day around.
From reading your posts over an extended period of time, Kirby, I know that you do not believe in scheduling yourself out to be productive from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed. Times for personal connection, rest, silence, meditation, exercise and learning are every bit as vital to productivity as “getting stuff done.” So when our day gets off track with the unexpected, it’s important not to simply cut out all of the positive INPUT time in order to get all the OUTPUT done. If we are going to cut, cut proportionally; but keep those inputs in place, even if they are shortened. Work out 30 minutes instead of an hour. Be intentional about your conversations with loved ones, even if it means asking for their understanding on that day that you will be pressed for time – and then protect that time with them, keeping them in focus and nothing else (all the more on such days!). Meditate 5 minutes instead of 15. But by all means, keep those things in place. Once we begin sacrificing the truly important for the urgent, it becomes all too easy to do it again … and again. In the end, productivity suffers even more (not to mention our state of mind, our relationships, etc.).
Your right Erik. We shouldn’t cut out the positive things in our lives to get all the output done. How we do that really is at the hands of the person who is affected. For me it isn’t about cutting time in half it is more about my priorities and which relationships are more valuable to me. That being said it isn’t that I don’t value all relationships but some are more important than others like spouse and parent which have a high level of input. Others find input in various forms like you mentioned. I also recognize the power of streaks, just getting 15 minutes when you planned to read 30 minutes could be the difference you need. Productivity is a huge life experiment that should be reflected on daily and individually tailored to the person underneath the skin.
Great post, Kirby. You’re right – not every day goes as planned. But with focus we can turn our day around. We have all been there and your tips are very helpful. I especially liked your tip for having a timer. I need to implement that more often.
Can I ask a question, though. You say you stopped wearing a watch a long time ago. I’ve worn and collected watches for sometime now, but have thought of giving up wearing one recently. I get exhausted with always being reminded of what time it is all the time. (Kind of crazy, I know.)
So, now my question… Why did you stop wearing one? Have you noticed a difference in productivity with wearing one versus not wearing one?
I stopped for many reasons but after reading First Things First by Stephen Covey it took on symbolic and a practical application. Not to minimize the fact I lose pins and tear up watch bands pretty easily. In First Things First Stephen tells us that we are constantly racing against the clock and we should be using a compass as our instrument for guiding our lives. Even though I could check my phone for the time I usually don’t. I let technology keep track of time by only having notifications for when I’m suppose to be somewhere at a certain time. Otherwise I program periods during the day to work on roles/relationships. Time isn’t really the main factor except its how we measure the day. Relationships/Roles and prioritization is the key. My core values guide my direction and what needs to get done. As far as being more productive that depends. If you think productivity is getting more done in less time then no. But if you think productivity in a long-term way that focuses on purpose and goals. I would say I’m much more efficient and experience less stress amongst a lot of other things like stronger relationships.