This guest post was written by Jay Frawley.
Many of the best selling productivity books out there come with a one size fits all mentality that is hard for everyone with their varied lifestyles to apply. For instance, experts tell you to take your most important task (MIT’s) and do them first thing in the morning and get them off your plate. I am sure this works well for certain people, but I am willing to bet some of David Allen’s money that it does not suit a large portion of society. This article is for those people who do not want to get up at 4AM anymore, pretending it is the best time to be awake while downing a Red Bull just to keep both eyes open. Read on, I promise sleep and productivity in one plan.
Getting in the zone
If you sleep at least 7 ½ hours a night, that leaves you 16 ½ hours of awake time to do with what you please. That is a lot of time! The problem is your mind is not conditioned to be on its best behavior constantly. It needs slow periods to balance out the high periods. Sometimes you’re at your slowest first thing in the morning! For me, I am at my best at 10PM (it is 11:25PM now), and I am good till about 2AM. That is my personal zone, the time when I am at my peak. You can spend hours working on something and it feels like just a few moments. You have all been there at some point. Ever concentrated on something so strongly that a friend scared the crap out of you just by saying, “Hey”? That is the zone, and when I suggest you do your MIT’s during that period I will not tell the GTD police. Promise!
Take today (or tomorrow if you are reading this in the evening) and keep a little journal of how you feel throughout the day. A scale of 1-to-5 works well here. One will represent being super energized and five will represent being ready for bed. Set an alarm clock, watch or email system to remind you each hour to do this. Every day will mirror the other as long as your sleep is normal, and your caffeine levels are low (if you have a caffeine addiction you will still get results, but you need to decipher if your highs are true highs or just caffeine highs). Everyone has different times that represent their personal zone; it is not a one size kind of thing. If your creative zone is over and you need a boost of energy anyway, I have a little tip.
Tip for extra energy
Here is a little energy booster that will not cost you a dime, and will save your liver from years of digesting energy drink chemicals. Use this when you need a large boost of energy to sustain you for an hour or so. I will not bore you on the details of how this tip tabs into the shadow of your subconscious where energy is born - if interested in the science get in touch. I realize it will sound silly but try it anyway, I promise you it works.
- Take a heavy dish towel and soak it with water.
- Go outside and throw it hard against the ground.
- If possible yell really loud while doing it.
- Go inside and get to work.
Conclusion
Never let anyone tell you how you need to do things. You can learn from them, take their advice of course, but then use your own way of getting things done more efficiently. Let me know how this works for you and tell me if you tried the dish towel method. Thank you for taking the time to read, I hope you found some useful tips to use right away to become a more efficient producer!
January 28, 2009 at 10:24AM
WTF? Throw a wet towel on the ground. Hmm, right…
January 28, 2009 at 03:52PM
I’m not sure about that last tip, but I definitely agree that working during your personal zone is very important. However, I find that if I only work in 20 minute increments, working out for 5 minutes in between, keeps me alert and energized pretty much through the whole day.
January 28, 2009 at 04:17PM
I suspected that tip would get an interesting reaction but it’s Jay post and if it works for him maybe others can take something from it too. I’d certainly be keen to read the science behind it. And Sash, there was more to the article than the towel tip. Care to comment on the rest?
I personally don’t set time limits because I break my work into small next actions. The finish line with each is clear, I don’t need to tie it to a time interval too. However, I always make sure I have a break inbetween. In particular I make sure I never do more than one next action from the same project in a row. That way I keep my workload varied.
January 29, 2009 at 01:50PM
It may sound strange, but it does work. There are actual lab results to prove it. I promise I did not make it up!
January 29, 2009 at 02:21PM
It took me 36 years to realize that it is all about the personal zone (I’m 40 so Ive been figuring for a while now). How I work best is NOT how most people do… and as long as it works for me I finally don’t care. All that said, I’m SO TRYING THE DISHTOWEL THING!!!
January 29, 2009 at 02:30PM
Interesting. So what do I do when I need extra energy while I am sitting in a boring meeting or a conference where I cannot throw a towel around and yell? I found that massaging your hands (inside and upside of your palm with each finger) wakes you up or at least makes you more alert.
Everyone has their own biological clock. When you work from home or have your own schedule to fill in that is not a problem. But working a 9-to-5 job when your peak performance time is at 10PM is not so easy to handle. Guess that’s why you have quit the 9-to-5 job!
January 29, 2009 at 02:32PM
Every time I have tried to read books that are prescriptive it never works for me. There are so many factors influencing our ability to get into flow and to some extent I think it changes over time. 9-to-5 never worked for me, my best time is from 4PM till 7PM so I ended up being at work far longer than I was productive just to play by the rules. Hence I work for myself. I work really hard but my life functions much better not trying to fit into an artificial construct.
What I like about what you are suggesting here is to observe yourself – you provide a perspective rather than the prescription. All they do is make people feel more frustrated, unless they happen to have stumbled on the one that fits for them. Look at weight loss methods if you want a technicolor example.
OK – I actually believe you on the crazy dishtowel method, but I feel compelled to understand the science. Am open though so I will try it and let you know.
January 29, 2009 at 04:50PM
Nice article Jay and I fully agree. Trying to fight your natural bio-rhythms is a recipe for, if not disaster, at least a feeling of constantly trying to swim upstream. The sad fact is that most businesses don’t recognize this. It’s a little bit like the fact that most US companies don’t understand giving more paid leave actually increases productivity in the long term.
January 29, 2009 at 05:15PM
I love your tip at the end because it really isn’t a how-to but a humorous metaphor! I am still laughing! Thank you!
You know, what comes to mind for me about this is what my mom always used to say, “Listen to everybody and what they have to say, but in the end, let your own thoughts and perspective guide you into the actions that YOU choose.”
As always Jay, your insights are not only poignant but peppered with a little humor that makes it even better! Thanks again!
January 29, 2009 at 05:27PM
Mizfit, thankyou for keeping an open mind. Let James and his great readers now how it worked. I understand being a little doubtful at first!
Mimi, I would recommend using the copy machine when at work, very relaxing. This approach is certainly more tailored to the self-employed because 9-to-5 jobs force you to work only hours. There are some cultures that have recognized that 9-to-5 does not work and have more flexible hours to accommodate people’ strengths. I bet their production is through the roof.
Susan, a quick and dirty explanation so I do not take up too much of James’ real estate here is that our subconscious holds a lot more energy than we can imagine. We keep a great deal of our psyche hidden from the real world – this is called our shadow. In this shadow, part of our mind holds a lot of anger, and with that is energy. That is why the violent act of throwing a heavy object and yelling brings out that anger, and the energy with it. I realize it sounds stupid to throw a towel on the ground, but if it works who cares how it sounds right?
Tim, thanks for bringing the knowledge of how the UK works versus the US. I agree, US companies keep shrinking the time off and adding the overtime, and production keeps getting worse. Think people!
February 15, 2009 at 07:44PM
In one of my jobs I was on a part time contract yet I was regularly doing full time hours, meaning I didn’t get extra holiday entitlement. Then of course you’d go several weeks on a full time wage and whenever business was quiet they would cut you back down unexpectedly. How do you plan your time like that? How do you manage your finances like that? How could you be happy at a company that played the system for their benefit with a blatant disregard for you? But anyways, I’m drifting off the topic here. Just thought it was relevant to some of the comments made.