Years ago, I read a book titled “Never Check Email in the Morning” by Julie Morgenstern. I agreed that not checking email was a great idea, and then promptly embarked on a career built on opening my email before my eyelids had fully opened each morning. Before my feet even touched the floor, I was rearranging my to-do list based on the tasks that emails just assign. Every email I opened turned into another to-do that was definitely not on my list. And another and another. By noon, I was hopelessly behind, and the emails just kept coming.
As it turns out, once you let the world know you’re open for business, the email keg is tapped and keeps flowing until you run out of hours in the day. I described my work habits to colleagues as “stepping into the clothes dryer and turning the knob to tumble dry.” It was about the time that I started using that analogy that I started studying the behaviors of leaders, CEOs and the world’s most productive and wealthiest people … I mean, if everyone worked the way I did, then those who were far more successful must have mastered the secret of finding more hours in the day. It turns out that still nobody has unlocked that secret, but lots of smart cookies have mastered how to be more productive than the average person.
The most productive and balanced leaders recognize that they must own their to-do list and that they own what they accomplish in a day. The minute you give your power to the internet, email, text messages or “do-you-have-a-minute” office drop-ins, your day is no longer your own and eight hours turns into 10 hours turns into “I worked so hard all day long and I have no idea what I accomplished.”
So how do we flip the switch and turn it all off when we need to focus and be productive? It starts with developing winning habits. I don’t believe there is just one way to win, but I do believe that there are a handful of things necessary to do every single day. It’s up to you to flavor them, organize them and make them your own.
A lot of great resources are accessible to point you in the right direction (I’ll share some of my favorites in upcoming blog posts), but I believe it comes down to five daily practices:
- Never start the day without a written to-do list. It’s harder than it seems to write a list and stick to it. That’s not to say that things won’t pop up that you aren’t on your list, so add those to the list. In “Master Your Time, Master Your Life” by Brian Tracy, he acknowledges that forcing yourself to add an item to your to-do list makes you take stock of what you actually did at the end of the day. Did you do the right things? For decades, I’ve used a list that is “Must Do,” “Would Like to Do” and “Probably Won’t Get to But Would Be Cool If I Did.” Prioritize like it’s your job. It is.
- Eliminate distractions. Dopamine is real. And the pings and alerts and dings that happen on your computer and phone all day long trigger that “I wonder what that is” response. It’s similar to wondering what’s in a package for Christmas, but most Christmas packages don’t add to your to-do list. For years, I have operated on my laptop with notifications disabled for EVERYTHING. When I am focused on a task, I don’t receive alerts when I have new emails, texts, chat messages, social media updates — nothing. It allows me to be absolutely focused on the task at hand. Our ability to do quality work in high volume is what sets us apart from the others. Being the most productive person in the company is the gold standard so long as you aren’t working 80 hours a week to get there (and I promise you it’s possible).
- Be intentional with what and who get space in your day. Not all conversations, projects or tasks are created equally. How many times have you found yourself checking off items on the to-do list that weren’t the most important, but by golly you got some things done? That night, you’re lying awake in bed thinking about the thing you actually needed to get done that didn’t. But whew … you got your desk cleaned, organized and dusted; read your trade magazine; and finally organized your email folders. Hey man, they were on the list. Tackle the things on your list that “must” get done. Don’t allow anything (other than the building being on fire) to get in the way. Your greatest path to success is not a clean desk, it’s finishing that big proposal – no matter how dirty your desk might be.
- Make every conversation count. There is no substitute for having real conversations that tackle real issues. In Susan Scott’s “Fierce Conversations,” she says, “While no conversation is guaranteed to change the trajectory of a career, a business, a marriage, or a life, any single conversation can.” Sit with this for a minute. What we say and how we connect is everything. I highly recommend that you try hard to only have conversations where you can give your full, undivided attention, and schedule that time rather than fall prey to the day-derailing “Hey, do you have five minutes?” Your conversations will be better, more productive and more authentic. The truth is, that interaction is never five minutes, and if you allow yourself to be interrupted three to four times a day for 20 or 30 minutes, you’ve traded 90 precious minutes (maybe even more) by just meeting. According to Gloria Mark, who studies digital distraction at the University of California, Irvine, “It takes an average of about 25 minutes to return to the original task after an interruption.” So, take the duration of those interruptions and add 25 minutes to each. Do you still wonder how you worked all day and didn’t accomplish anything?
- Practice gratitude. It really doesn’t matter whether your source is your favorite yogi or Harvard, most anyone in the mental health space will tell you that science supports the fact that people who are more grateful are happier. According to an article from Harvard Health Publishing, “Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.” I strongly feel that it’s important to have a tangible gratitude practice. I practice gratitude twice a day. Each morning with my cup of coffee (and before I do anything else), I journal three things that I’m grateful for; I do the same at the end of the day. I have also used gratitude in the workplace in a variety of ways, but here are my two favorites:
- Meeting ice breakers. I used to run a weekly operations meeting where I would ask each participant to share gratitude at the beginning of the meeting. When I first introduced the concept, I had a bell curve of responses from “this is stupid,” to “I’ll participate because you’re asking me to,” to “this is awesome.” I explained why I value gratitude and simply asked that people participate because it’s hard to be stressed or frustrated or worried or any number of negative emotions when you are actively practicing gratitude. Plus, it opens a window into the hearts and minds of your colleagues — and what a precious space to get to occupy with them for a few minutes.
- Work dinners. At a company I once worked for, we held leadership retreats once a quarter. Sometimes we would have dinners out and sometimes we would rent a nice home and cook a meal together. In either case, we started our dinners with a glass of wine and gratitude sharing. What we learned about each other was so personal and it connected us in ways we never knew work colleagues could be connected.
Never stop learning and never stop fine-tuning your habits. Not only is it possible, but it’s also probable that you can and will have a better work/life balance, find more joy in your life, strengthen relationships and find greater career fulfillment when you make productivity a priority.
Samantha Johnston is the founder and lead strategist at Strategy Hound. She is a master procrastinator who continuously seeks ways to develop better habits so she can be more available to her needy senior rescue dogs.