A Short Guide to

Managing Your Time

and Fitting More Into Every Day
By Belle B. Cooper

brought to you by
In our lives and in our work, it feels like some problems are never
fixed. One of those problems is the struggle to fit everything we want
to do into each day. Whether it’s finding time for family and hobbies
outside work, or completing all of your necessary tasks during the
workday, managing your time well and getting the most out of your 24
hours is always tough.

It’s a lucky problem to have: we have so many enjoyable things to do

each day, so many people to spend time with, so much potential in our
work, but not enough time for it all.

This guide covers some big topics, like burnout, meaningful work,
and work/life balance. But it also covers practical approaches to
manage your calendar and your to-do list without letting them take
over your life, and how to protect your time so you can get more of the
important things done each day.

This guide is for you if:

♦ You feel busy all the time, but still struggle to get through
your to-do list

♦ You’re not satisfied with how much meaningful work you

complete each day

♦ You’re struggling to keep up with calendar invites,

meeting requests, and an overflowing inbox

♦ You no longer want to simply get more done, but you

want to get more of the important things done

♦ You want to find a healthier balance between productivity

and rest
 Chapter 1
Page 5

Too much work, too little time

Chapter 2
Page 10

How long does the workday need to be?

Chapter 3
Page 14

Multitasking is a myth

Chapter 4
Page 18
Meaningful work

Chapter 5
Page 23
How to find your purpose

Chapter 6
Page 27
Protecting your time
 Chapter 7
Page 31

3 ways to better manage your day

Chapter 8
Page 35

Productive ways to spend

the last hour of your workday

Chapter 9
Page 38

How to write a better to-do list

Chapter 10
Page 42
How to craft the perfect morning routine

Chapter 11
Page 46
How to take truly restful breaks
(and why you should)
Chapter 1

Too much work, too

little time
I don’t know about you, but I could easily double my working hours and still
have too much todo. It’s inevitable that there’s something else to fill the place
of every task I cross off my to-do list.

And it’s not always a meaningless grind—a lot of those tasks are important
and fulfilling to work on. But there’s still too much, and it’s far too easy to
work longer and harder to try to get through an ever-growing workload. We
try to multitask constantly, squeeze more hours outof every day, and end up
burning ourselves out because these approaches to work are unsustainable.
Burnout: what it is, and how to avoid it
It’s common to feel tired after a long day at But what exactly is burnout? Researchers say
work or to need a holiday after a month-long burnout can be broken down into three parts:
sprint to complete a major project. But sadly, • Exhaustion
it’s also common to feel tired all the time. To • Cynicism
lack enthusiasm about your work. To feel • Inefficacy
cynical and disengaged from what you do.
These are all symptoms of burnout, which is Exhaustion from burnout could lead you to be
becoming more common as our work lives easily upset, have trouble sleeping, get sick
become busier, more demanding, and more more often, and struggle to concentrate.
stressful.
Cynicism is sometimes called depersonalization
What is burnout? The term “burnout” was in this context, because it’s categorized by
coined in the ’70s by Dr. Herbert Freudenberger. feeling alienated from the people you work with
The term was taken from an analogy of a and lacking engagement in your work.
burned-out house:
“If you have ever seen a building that has been Finally, inefficacy refers to a lack of belief in
burned out, you know it’s a devastating sight... your ability to perform your job well and a
some bricks or concrete may be left; some decrease in achievement and productivity.
outline of windows. Indeed, the outer shell may
seem almost intact. Only if you venture inside But how do we get into this sorry state? It’s not
will you be struck by the full force of the as simple as overworking. What causes
desolation.” burnout? It’s a common misconception that
burnout is simply a result of working too
Freudenberger says, like a burned-out house, hard or for too long, according to Alexandra
someone who’s burnt out may not seem that Michel, a science writer at the Association for
way on the outside, but “their inner resources Psychological Science.
are consumed as if by fire, leaving a great “Ultimately,” writes Michel, “burnout results
emptiness inside.” when the balance of deadlines, demands,

6
working hours, and other stressors outstrips We end up with burnout when one or more of
rewards, recognition, and relaxation.” these areas of our work don’t match our needs.
It’s not a rare condition, either. Research by
APS Fellow and professor emerita at the Gallop recently found that 2.7 million workers in
University of California, Berkeley, Christina Germany report feeling symptoms of burnout.
Maslach, has been studying burnout since A different survey in 2013 found nearly 30% of
the 70’s. Maslach and her collaborators came UK-based HR directors surveyed believe there’s
up with six components of the workplace widespread burnout in their companies. And
environment that can contribute to burnout: the effects are serious. Michel says burnout is
• Workload “not just a state of mind, but a condition that
• Control leaves its mark on the brain as well as the
• Reward body.”
• Community
• Fairness
• Values

The risks of burnout

Being tired and lacking engagement in your as part of the natural aging process, but
work is no fun, but the risks of burnout run even the thinning effect was more pronounced in
deeper. Research has shown that the chronic participants who’d experienced burnout.
psychosocial stress that’s common in people It’s not just the brain at risk, either. A study
suffering from burnout can impair personal and of nearly 9,000 workers found burnout
social functioning as well as overwhelming your significantly increases the risk of coronary
cognitive skills and neuroendocrine systems. heart disease.

Over time, the effects of burnout can lead to This is all sounding rather grim, so let’s move on
memory, attention, and emotional problems. to something more positive: how to overcome
One study also found burnout sufferers may burnout.
have accelerated thinning of the brain’s front
cortex — a part that’s essential for cognitive
functioning. This section of the brain thins

7
Overcoming burnout
You’re feeling the effects of burnout or you’re you like doing to relax, and finding more time
worried you’re at risk. What can you do? for those activities.
Psychologists suggest looking for ways to
make your workload easier to manage—
delegating more, saying “no” more often, and Do what you enjoy
writing down what’s making you feel stressed
at work. Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer believes burnout is
But burnout isn’t just about workload stress. To caused by something simple and easy to fix: a
overcome burnout, you also need to find ways feeling of resentment toward your job.Burnout
to relax and enjoy life again. is the result, according to Mayer, of work
getting in the way of workers’ lives. She says
people “will become resentful if work makes
Focus on your daily care them miss things that are really important to
them.” To avoid this resentment turning into
It’s easy to forget about looking after yourself burnout, Mayer says it’s important to know
when you’re burned out. You’re feeling what you care about most and schedule time
stressed, you’ve got too much on your plate, for those activities.
and the last thing you have time for is looking
after yourself. Software developer Kent Nguyen agrees. He
says burnout comes from “not being able to do
But according to Sherrie Bourg Carter, what you love or what is important to you
psychologist and author of High Octane regularly.” In Nguyen’s case, he started feeling
Women: How Superachievers Can Avoid burnt out when he was spending more time on
Burnout, that’s exactly what you should be his management duties than on writing code.
doing. Carter says making sure you eat well, Nguyen thinks of periods of time spent coding
stay hydrated, exercise, and get plenty of sleep like checkpoints, each one staving off burnout
is critical when you’re facing burnout. for a little longer. He has small daily
Carter also recommends remembering what checkpoints and bigger weekly and monthly

8
checkpoints so there’s always a new bout of well, and getting a little exercise every day can
the thing he loves to do coming up. And when help you avoid the worst of burnout while you
he misses a checkpoint, he makes sure to get back on track.
schedule another one as soon as possible so
he never goes too long without doing what he But when you do get back on track, don’t let
enjoys most. yourself slip back into the trap of working too
long and too hard, if the results aren’t worth it.

Add something new

This will probably sound strange, because it’s a

very counterintuitive idea, but James
Sudakow, author of Picking the Low Hanging
Fruit: And Other Stupid Stuff We Say in the
Corporate World, actually added to his hectic
schedule to help him avoid burnout. Sudakow
admits his schedule was hectic. Between his
family duties, work, and the hours hespends
writing every week, there wasn’t much
wiggle room. But Sudakow did what few of
us would—he added piano lessons to his
schedule. 30 minutes per week for the lessons
and an hour to practice every day meant more
than six hours per week of extra commitments.

But here’s the strange thing: it actually worked.

That extra commitment helped Sudakow stave
off burnout. The trick, he says, was choosing
something that helped restore his energy.
Playing piano at night made him feel better
when he went to sleep and when he woke up
the next day. That daily rejuvenation seeped
into his work and made him feel better overall.
While adding to your schedule or finding more
time for something you already enjoy
might seem impossible when you’re facing
burnout, looking after yourself is a great
place to start. Simply focusing on sleep, eating

9
Chapter 2

How long does the

workday need to be?
It wasn’t too long ago that more leisure time was seen as a sign of success.
The more wealthy you were, the more you could afford to spend time
relaxing or engaging in hobbies, rather than working for someone else.
The assumption was that this trend would continue, and people with more
privilege and higher status would end up spending little time working and
lots of time relaxing.

It hasn’t turned out that way, though. While America’s levels of overworking
keep climbing, research points out that overworking is actually linked to
privilege. Those of us with the highest status jobs and highest salaries are
more likely to be overworked. And overworking isn’t just bad for our hobbies
or our efforts to binge watch Netflix. It’s bad for our health, too. And,
perhaps even worse, it doesn’t even help us get ahead.
Why overworking won’t help you get
ahead
Perhaps the most shocking example of the
futility of overworking was from a study ...get more sleep, be less
that found managers couldn’t tell which of their
prone to burnout, and have
employees worked 80 hours each week and
who just pretended to work 80 hours. If you’re
more time to spend with
overworking in the hopes of impressing your friends and family.
boss and landing a raise or a promotion, you
may be wasting your time. On the other hand,
maybe you’re pressed for time and your to-do I mentioned earlier that overworking is

list is never-ending, so you’re putting in long dangerous for our health. In case working

hours to finish your work. Unfortunately, even longer and not getting more work done isn’t

this unselfish reason for overworking is futile. enough to convince you to cut back on late
nights at the computer, perhaps the health

Studies have shown that working more implications will change your mind.

hours doesn’t increase your productivity, and

that most people can only perform highly While causation hasn’t been proven, research

focused work for three to four hours a day. We does show a link between employees who are

eventually hit the point of diminishing returns, overworked and a higher risk of both stroke

which means everything we put in after that and coronary heart disease. Other studies have

point results in a smaller and smaller output. also found working long hours is linked to an

Research shows that working less hours increased risk of fatigue, general poor health,

actually increases productivity. In addition, and cardiovascular disease.

you’ll get more sleep, be less prone to burnout,

and have more time to spend with friends and Overworking can also increase levels of

family. absenteeism and turnover, and make us worse

at interpersonal communication, managing our

11
emotional reactions, and making judgment Solution: flexible work schedules
calls. And since long hours tend to go hand-in-
hand with fewer hours of sleep, overworking Other options for preventing burnout include
also tends to correlate with making more more flexibility in working hours, allowing
mistakes at work. Depending on your job, these employees to choose work hours that suit their
mistakes could be costly to yourself, your lifestyles better, and to work when they’re at
company, and your customers. their mental peaks. The danger is that without
taking care to avoid it, flexible working hours
and working remotely can lead to overwork
Solution: shorter working hours as easily as regular office hours. As freelance
combined with effective time marketer Claire Autruong says, “the same
management technology and mindset that lets us stay
flexible can also compel us to flex right back
into work at any time.”
Researchers are exploring the idea of shorter
working hours, and a study in Sweden showed
promising results in both worker happiness and
health, as well as productivity. Further research Research has shown
in Iceland called the shorter workweek “an employees with options
overwhelming success”. Productivity improved,
for flexible working
and participants reported being less stressed
arrangements show
and having more time to spend with their
families and friends. greater job satisfaction
and commitment to their
Dr. Aram Seddigh from Stockholm University’s companies, as well as being
Stress Research Institute says a six-hour
less likely to turnover.
workday might be best suited to particular
industries:
“ I think the six-hour work day would be most
effective in organisations—such as hospitals— When she started working as a freelancer from
where you work for six hours and then you just home, Autruong found she ended up working
leave and go home.” far more than was healthy. The answer was to
create a schedule for 40 hours of work per
Economic security will also reduce the incidence week, even though she had the flexibility to
of overworking, and thus the downsides that work whenever she wanted:
come with it, as many people work longer “...that’s why you’re looking for flexibility:
hours when they’re worried about their job to create the schedule that works for you.
stability. Research has shown employees with options

12
for flexible working arrangements show get more done beyond that point, you’ll be
greater job satisfaction and commitment to putting your health at risk, as well.
their companies, as well as being less likely to
turnover.” If you have trouble heading out the door or
turning off the computer when your workday
As I’ve said before, “the flexibility that allows is done, keep in mind overall you’ll be less likely
us to be the masters of our own schedules also to take sick days. You’ll also have a lower risk
allows us to never fully turn off, even when it’s of serious health issues and you’ll be more
in our best interest to do so.” productive in less time.
While wishing we had more time off, when it
comes down to it, we tend to spend more of our Whichever way you look at it, working 40 hours
spare time working than we need to. or less per week is the best approach to a
productive and balanced working life. Although
Whether you’re doing it to get ahead in your working a shorter workweek can lend itself to
career, to impress your boss, or just to keep up trying to squeeze more work into fewer hours,
with an ever-increasing workload, working this is something that can be managed with a
more than 40 hours per week will not help bit of forethought.
you achieve those aims. Not only will you not

13
Chapter 3

Multitasking is a myth
Yesterday, I was in a doctor’s waiting room. The room was packed with
patients, and the
reception staff were busy. As they bustled around answering phones, doing
paperwork, and talking to the doctors, I noticed one receptionist was being
pulled in multiple directions. A doctor wanted to speak to her. She was in the
middle of a pile of paperwork. And a nurse was waiting for her to help find a
form that had gone missing.

“I’m multitasking!” said the busy receptionist when the nurse complained
about having to wait so long. “Don’t worry, I’m good at that!”

Sadly, many of us have found ourselves in this situation. Bustling between

many different tasks at once, we convince ourselves we’re good at
multitasking and our work won’t suffer because we’re too busy. But that
nurse’s complaint said a lot: the receptionist may have thought she was
multitasking, but every minute she spent talking to a doctor or completing
her paperwork was another minute the nurse had to wait. The receptionist
wasn’t doing more than one task at a time; she was simply switching
between them all very quickly.
Multitasking is actually just fast task
switching
And it turns out, this is exactly what we all do “... as long as you’re performing complicated
when we think we’re multitasking: we simply tasks that require the same parts of the brain,
switch very quickly between two tasks. While and you need to devote all that capacity for
most of us can do something as simple as these tasks, there just aren’t going to be
walking and chewing gum or holding a resources available to add anything more.”
conversation at the same time, doing two
things that require more brain power, such as Attempting to multitask isn’t uncommon. One
writing, conversing, or reading, really can’t be small study found workers switched activities
done. David Meyer, professor of psychology at every three minutes. But since we really can’t
the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor says multitask, this process of switching context
we simply don’t have any extra brain power to constantly leads to some poor results.
do two complicated things at once:

Multitasking leads to poor results

As Meyer says, switching between tasks that ♦ Take a sheet of paper and draw two lines
require effort and concentration means one or on it.
both of those tasks will suffer:
♦ Time yourself while you write “I am a great
“Once you start to make things more
multitasker” on the first line, and then write
complicated, things get messier, and as a
the numbers 1–20 on the second line.
result, there’s going to be interference with one
or more of the tasks. Either you’re going to have ♦ Now draw two more lines
to slow down on one of the tasks, or you’re
♦ This time, time yourself doing the two
going to start making mistakes.
tasks simultaneously. Write a letter from
the sentence “I am a great multitasker”
Perhaps you’re still unconvinced that we really
on line one, then write the number “1” on
can’t do two complicated tasks at once. This
line two. Then write the next letter of the
exercise designed by the Potential Project in
sentence on line one, and then “2” on line
Denmark provides a good example of what
two.
happens when you try to do two tasks at once
that use the same part of your brain: ♦ Continue until you’ve completed both
tasks.

15
You probably won’t even have to finish both “... there’s nothing magical about the brains of
tasks and check your time to prove how much so-called ‘digital natives’ that keeps them from
our work suffers from multitasking. No doubt suffering the inefficiencies of multitasking.”
you’ll find yourself frustrated during the second
part of this exercise and you’ll notice how much
slower you’re working without even looking
“... as long as you’re
at your timer.
performing complicated tasks
This is a clear example of what happens when that require the same parts
we attempt to multitask. Our brain uses up time of the brain, and you need
andeffort each time we switch between two (or to devote all that capacity
more) tasks, so we end up being much slower
for these tasks, there just
overall. Research has also shown that this
process of constantly switching can lead to
aren’t going to be resources
worseperformance than if we allow the brain to available to add anything
focus on just one task at a time. more.”

A study at Carnegie Mellon University

found that when asked to complete a And these “digital natives” are at least as prone
spacial awareness task and a language to distraction and multitasking as the rest of
comprehension task at the same time, us. A study of 263 students in middle school,
participants showed29% less brain activity high school, and college found that in 15
while working on the spacial awareness task minutes of “studying,” only about 65% of that
and 53% less on the language task, and overall time was actually spent learning. After about
they took longer to complete both tasks than the two-minute mark, “on-task behavior” of
when they did one at a time. Another study students began declining. And this was despite
undertaken by HP found constant technology the fact that students knew researchers were
multitasking caused participants’ IQ to drop watching them discretely to track what they
temporarily by an average of 10 points. worked on during their study period.

As psychologist Glenn Wilson says, “... those Psychology professor Larry Rosen, who ran the
who are constantly breaking away from tasks study, was surprised at how much multitasking
to react to email or text messages suffer similar students engaged in during such a short study
effects on the mind as losing a night’s sleep.” period:
And in case you’re thinking you’re protected “We were amazed at how frequently they
from these downsides because you grew up multitasked, even though they knew someone
with technology and know how to wrangle it, was watching. It really seems that they could
Meyer says you’re wrong: not go for 15 minutes without engaging their

16
devices. It was kind of scary, actually.” But of course, students don’t just multitask
at home when they’re alone. In school,
And there’s a reason to be scared about these multitasking is prevalent, especially for
results: students who multitask while studying students who are able to bring laptops to class
tend to understand and remember less of what for note-taking. Research has found students
they’ve learned, and struggle to transfer what who multitask on their laptops during class also
they’ve learned to new contexts. distract other students who can see what
they’re doing. And using social media and
Multitasking while completing schoolwork also texting in class have both been linked to lower
increases the number of mistakes made and GPAs.
the amount of time required to finish the work.

We can’t help ourselves

Despite all the downsides of multitasking, and Instead of wasting our energy deluding
the fact that it’s not really multitasking at all, ourselves and working at lower speed and
we don’t seem able to stop. Too many of us, accuracy on multiple tasks, we should be
like the receptionist in my doctor’s office, kid focusing on one task at a time. And, most
ourselves about our ability to complete multiple importantly, we should be prioritizing our work
tasks at once without our speed or accuracy so we’re focusing on what’s most meaningful
taking a hit. But as neuroscientist Earl Miller rather than whatever tasks land on our desks.
says, “People can’t multitask very well, and
when people say they can, they’re deluding
themselves.” But then, Miller also points out
that “... the brain is very good at deluding itself.”

17
Chapter 4

Meaningful work
In the ever-present push for higher and higher levels of productivity, many of
us have lost sight of what meaningful work looks like. We’ve been chasing
higher output for so long that we’ve stopped questioning what kind of output
is meaningful, and whether we’re spending our energy effectively, as well as
efficiently.
Meaningful work: what it is and how to
achieve it
Before we can discover how to engage in effort, and struggle than happy lives. But
meaningful work, it’s important to decide what research shows meaningful lives tend to
we mean when we talk about meaningfulness. produce more positive feelings long-term
When psychologists talk about feelings of than happiness alone, so the effort is clearly
meaningfulness, they tend to separate these worthwhile.
feelings from happiness, though the two can go
together. Feelings of meaningfulness and a sense of
purpose can even lead to more wealth. But to
Happiness and meaning aren’t the create a sense of meaningfulness at work we
same first have to understand what makes work
meaningful.
There’s a clear difference between feeling
happiness and feeling meaningfulness in your What does meaningful work look
life. And the difference is important, because like?
they each produce different results long-term.
So what is the difference? A happy life is about Interviews with 135 people in 10 different
seeking pleasure and enjoyment, avoiding fields and reviews of existing research into
discomfort, and doing what’s best for you as meaningful work can give us an idea of what
often as possible, whereas a meaningful life is meaningful work looks like, and how we can
about connecting with and helping others, and achieve this ourselves.
contributing to something beyond yourself— Existing research has shown that
such as family, nature, or your work. meaningfulness in our work can improve our
performance, commitment, and job satisfaction,
Because meaningful lives are characterized by and that employees find meaningful work more
contributing and connection, rather than pure important than salary, working conditions, or
enjoyment, they often include more stress, opportunities for promotion.

19
Finding meaning in our work, however, is particularly challenging situations in which our
“intensely personal and individual.” There’s no skills and experience enable us to help others.
one-size-fits-all approach to meaningful work. And we don’t even feel meaningfulness in the
According to the researchers behind the moment, usually, but rather when we reflect on
interviews mentioned above, meaningful those challenges after the fact. Here are the
work arises when “an individual perceives an interviewers again:
authentic connection between work and a “Meaningfulness was rarely experienced in the
broadertranscendent life purpose beyond the moment, but rather in retrospect and on
self.” reflection when people were able to see their
completed work and make connections
between their achievements and a wider sense
of life meaning.”
“Meaningfulness was rarely
experienced in the moment, What increases feelings of meaning in our
but rather in retrospect and work and what can kill those same feelings are
on reflection when people quite different. Our leaders and managers, for
instance, have very little influence on increasing
were able to see their
our feelings of meaningfulness, but the way
completed work and make
we’re treated by our leaders is the most
connections between their common cause of decreasing meaning at work.
achievements and a wider Through these interviews, the researchers

sense of life meaning.” found seven particular acts that managers

most commonly take which increase feelings of
futility and meaninglessness in their employees:

The interviewees who did find their work 1. Creating a disconnect between personal
meaningful often talked about their work in and company values
relation to significant family members, bridging
2. Failing to recognize and appreciate
the gap between work and their personal lives.
employee contributions
Meaningfulness was also associated often with
a sense of pride and achievement, a feeling of 3. Giving employees work they see as
fulfilling one’s potential, and finding one’s work pointless (e.g. bureaucratic work or filling
creative, absorbing, and interesting. out forms)

4. Treating employees unfairly

Even for those of us lucky enough to find all
5. Overriding employees’ judgement, leading
these aspects in our work, we don’t tend to feel
to feelings of disempowerment
meaningfulness as a consistent feeling. It’s
more likely to be episodic, arising out of 6. Ostracizing employees or creating a

20
 disconnect between colleagues

7. Creating unnecessary risk of harm to Job crafting: the strategy of

employees (e.g. putting them in situations turning the job you already
where they feel unsafe) have into the job you love

While all these actions by management

were associated with lower feelings of
roles you’ll be able to do this more once you’ve
meaningfulness at work, a disconnect between
proven yourself and been granted some leeway
personal and company values was the most
by management. You might offer to pick up a
common cause for feelings of futility and
task not in your job description, for instance,
meaninglessness at work.
in order to learn a new skill and expand your
How to make your work more abilities.

meaningful
The second part is relational crafting. This is

Since your boss isn’t going to be much help, the process of purposely creating or deepening

what can you do to increase your feelings of relationships at work, and changing who you

meaningfulness at work? spend time with. For instance, you might take
some time to teach new team members, or get

You could simply look for a new job that offers to know colleagues in different departments

more meaning for you, but you can also work whom you normally wouldn’t interact with.

on adjusting your current job. This approach is

called “job crafting,” a term coined by Finally, cognitive crafting. This is essentially

psychologists Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane E. changing the way you think about your job.

Dutton in 2001. Job crafting is the strategy of Thinking differently about what you do and

turning the job you already have into the job why it’s important can imbue your existing role

you love. It’s a process of adjusting your job with more meaning, due to a simply cognitive

description to create a role that provides more shift. For instance, changing your title to reflect

meaning in your life, and those who do it tend the most meaningful aspects of your role can

to be more satisfied and engaged in their work. help you think differently about how your work

Job crafting comes in three parts. Each step will has an impact and why it’s important.

help with improving your enjoyment and

sense of meaning at work. Job crafting has been shown to create a greater
sense of autonomy, which in turn tends to

The first part is task crafting, which is the correlate with greater job satisfaction.

process of picking up or dropping particular Since many of us spend the majority of our time

tasks to adjust the day-to-day of your role. at work, it pays to think about how we can

Though this isn’t feasible for everyone, in many improve the way our work makes us feel. With

21
a little effort to craft our current jobs, and a
little luck to find a boss who won’t undermine
those efforts, we can increase how meaningful
our work feels—and in the process, become
more engaged in our work and improve our
output.

Outside the work you’re already doing, you

might be wondering how to find a bigger sense
of purpose in your life. This is quite different to
adding meaning to your existing work, but can
be equally as important and rewarding.

22
Chapter 5

How to find your purpose

If you have plenty of meaning in your work, you may not feel the need for
any bigger sense of purpose. But for some people, the desire to find one big
thread of purpose that runs through everything they do with their lives is a
great pull.

The good news is, finding your purpose is possible with a few practical
strategies—and it’s even good for your health to have a sense of purpose.
Why you need a purpose
I’ve already discussed how important was improved. The sense of purpose that came
meaningful work is. It makes us more engaged from helping students with their literacy had a
at work, happier in the long-term, and even ripple effect in the lives of the tutors.
wealthier. But life purpose can go beyond the
work itself, too. An experiment by the nonprofit Other research has shown similar effects.
organisation Experience Corps paired adults 55 Researchers at Rush University Medical Center
years old or older with students in kindergarten in Chicago found that a greater sense of life
for literacy help. While the students’ test scores purpose correlated to a lower risk of developing
and morale went up, the effects on the adults Alzheimer’s. And previous research has found
were even more interesting. that an increased sense of purpose predicts
fewer subsequent strokes and heart attacks.
The physical health of the adult participants So while finding—or choosing—your purpose
improved in a variety of ways: depression rates might be difficult or confusing, the greater your
dropped, physical mobility and stamina sense of purpose in life, the better your health
increased, flexibility increased, and memory may be.

How to find your purpose

So you’re out in search of your purpose. Where in your existing experiences.
do you start?

Find the reasons you lose track of

Start with what you’ve already done. Start
time
looking at how you spend your time now—
what you enjoy, what you don’t, what you care You’ve probably heard this one before. Think of
about. The clues to your purpose are all hidden the activities you get lost in; the activities that

24
make you forget to eat or lose track of time. applied the same underlying principles that
This is fairly common advice for anyone looking made him lose track of time.
for their passion or purpose in life.

Sometimes work sucks and that’s

But writer Mark Manson offers an interesting
okay
twist on this common approach: rather than
stopping at what activities you enjoy, Manson Another suggestion from Mark Manson starts
suggests looking deeper. Look for the principles with admitting that daily life isn’t easy, and
underlying those activities, says Manson. a lot of it is tedious. All jobs have boring,
The principle that all those activities have in frustrating, or hard parts. And many people
common is what you really enjoy. The activities will have to deal with these difficulties on a
could be anything so long as they provide the daily basis. But once you’ve agreed that you
same underlying principles that make you lose can’t completely avoid difficulty, frustration, or
track of time. boredom, you’ve given yourself advantage in
finding your purpose. You can now decide what
Manson offers a personal example based on his kind of sucking you’re willing to put up with.
love for video games:
“I used to be like that with video games. This As Manson says, there’s no point pursuing a life
probably wasn’t a good thing. In fact, for many purpose that comes with bad parts you’re not
years it was kind of a problem. I would sit and willing to tolerate:
play video games instead of doing more “If you want to be a brilliant tech entrepreneur,
important things like studying for an exam, or but you can’t handle failure, then you’re not
showering regularly, or speaking to other going to make it far. If you want to be a
humans face-to- face. professional artist, but you aren’t willing to see
It wasn’t until I gave up the games that I your work rejected hundreds, if not thousands
realized my passion wasn’t for the games of times, then you’re done before you start.
themselves (although I do love them). My If you want to be a hotshot court lawyer, but
passion is for improvement, being good at can’t stand the 80-hour workweeks, then I’ve
something and then trying to get better. The got bad news for you.”
games themselves — the graphics, the stories
— they were cool, but I can easily live without The trick, says Manson, is to figure out what
them. It’s the competition — with others, but kind of boring, hard, and frustrating work you’re
especially with myself —that I thrive on.” willing to put up with. Because putting up with
the negative parts will make sure you’re there
Manson was able to apply his improvement for the best parts, too.
and self-competition to his writing and
business, and found that his love for video “What unpleasant experiences are you able to
games translated to his work because he’d handle? Are you able to stay up all night

25
coding? Are you able to put off starting a family
for 10 years? Are you able to have people laugh Rather than waiting for
you off the stage over and over again until you
your purpose to show up,
get it right?”
or struggling to choose a
Choose a project, then do it purpose, just start working.

Here’s a refreshing approach to finding your

purpose: stop looking for it. And when you’re done with the project? Rinse
and repeat. Keep completing projects that aim
Writer Alexandra Franzen says she always to fix things that bother you, says Franzen.
thought (as did I) that everything starts with Rather than waiting for your purpose to show
your purpose. Once you’ve found your purpose up, or struggling to choose a purpose, just start
you’ll know what work to do, what projects to working. Purpose will come, as you complete
start, what skills to build. more projects and hone in on what you care
about most.
But Franzen wonders if we’ve got it all wrong.
Finding your purpose is overwhelming, and it Whether you believe there’s one thing you
can be hard to pin down. Many of us are left were born to do, and you just need to find it, or
frustrated and confused when our purpose that it’s up to you to choose your life’s purpose,
doesn’t appear as if by magic. Franzen these approaches can help. Look to your
suggests we start with projects instead, and let existing experiences and find the things you
purpose follow. care about, the things you enjoy most, and the
sucky parts of life you’re willing to put up with.
This is her three-step process to finding Using those clues can help you get closer to
projects to work on that will lead to purpose: your purpose, one project at a time.

1. Think about something that bothers you But having a purpose, or doing meaningful

2. Think of a cool project you can do to fix that work, doesn’t make it easier to get everything

problem done in limited time. We still have to deal with

busywork, other people’s demands, and the
3. Complete that project no matter what
limits of time while managing an ever-growing
workload. Finding ways to protect and
Things that bother you, says Franzen, can be as
carefully manage your time can be what’s
varied as boring dinner parties, online bullying,
necessary to ensure your most meaningful
animal cruelty, or even poorly-designed
work gets done.
websites. It doesn’t matter what it is, so long as
it’s something you care about.

26
Chapter 6

Protecting your time

Whether it’s a calendar stacked high with meetings, an overflowing inbox, or
late nights and frazzled mornings, we all have some part of the workday that
suffers from our struggle with managing and protecting our time.

Many of us have a hard time turning down requests from colleagues and
friends, but lose time for our own meaningful work as a result. Some of us try
to be good at everything, and end up not being very good at anything. Some
of us are stuck all day in meetings we feel the need to attend, but don’t add
anything to our work and simply take up our time.

Finding ways to protect our time and prioritize our attention is essential for
getting the most out of every workday.
How to protect your time and get more
done
We’ve come to revere busyness, and to see it schedule my deep work on my calendar four
as an indicator of high status. But busyness is weeks in advance. That is, at any given point,
harmful to our productivity and our health. It’s I should have deep work scheduled for roughly
not something to aim for or be proud of. the next month.

If you’re struggling with busyness and need to Automate your time to focus
carve out more opportunities to do meaningful
work, here are some tips for protecting your It’s all well and good to say you should be
time from distractions and busywork. setting aside time for your most important
work, but when it comes time to actually do
Schedule Deep Work sessions in that work, how do you avoid interrupting

advance colleagues or busywork vying for your

attention?
Cal Newport knows the importance of setting
aside time for his most important, and One way to make sure your focused work
demanding, work. In fact, he’s written a whole sessions run smoothly is to automate all the
book about it. Newport is known for being hassle around getting started. Here are a few
prolific, and doesn’t shy away from the options to get you thinking:
fact that he deliberately prioritizes his most
important work over email, spontaneous ♦ Use RescueTime’s Focus Session feature to

opportunities, or meetings with colleagues. stop you from visiting distracting websites

♦ Enable do-not-disturb on your phone when

To do so, Newport relies heavily on his beginning your Focus Session
calendar. He schedules blocks of time for his
most demanding projects in advance, and ♦ Change your status on your company’s

protects those time blocks as he would any preferred chat platform to “away”. If

other calendar appointment. When the most possible, leave an away message including

important work is scheduled well in advance, the time you’ll return.

Newport’s colleagues fit their demands on his ♦ Automatically start a RescueTime Focus
time around those appointments and Newport Session using a recurring daily or weekly
never has to de-prioritize his most important calendar event
projects in order to find time for less impactful
tasks. Think about what interrupts you during focused

“The idea is also straightforward. I now work periods and keeps you from getting your

28
most important work done. Find ways to group of people to share with each other, so
automate beginning your session, staying you spend the same amount of time but help
away from distractions, and keeping others many people at once.
informed of your status to ease the transition
away from busywork and into a deep, focused Choose something to be bad at
work period.
We can’t do everything. No matter how much

Turn meetings into gatherings we try, we’re never going to have time for every
single thing.
If your time is often taken up by one-on-one
meetings, or you’re constantly turning these The trick, according to Dorie Clark, is to decide
down due to time constraints, try this trick. consciously what you’re going to be bad at. If
Marketing strategist Dorie Clark suggests you decide to be good at email, replying quickly
turning one-on-one requests into one-to-many and thoroughly to every message that hits
situations, so you can get more out of the time your inbox, you’re subconsciously deciding to
you spend helping others: be bad at something else. And that could be
“I’ll ask the student to email me his question, I’ll your most important work.
respond back electronically, and will later turn
it into a blog post. Similarly, instead of one-on- For Clark, email is the one thing she sacrifices
one coffees, I’ll often organize dinners to bring in order to be better at the rest of her work:
together interesting groups of people who “I’ve chosen to be bad at email response time
could also benefit from knowing one another.” because it’s less important to me than serving
clients or creating new content like this article.
If you spend a lot of time answering questions But I’ll never let it get to the point where
via email or contact forms, try writing a blog there’s no response.”
post you can point people to in future. This way,
you only spend the time needed to answer the Decide upfront which activities you can afford
question once, but many people can benefit to put less time and effort into. Maybe that’s
Tech writer Robert Scoble answers email, maybe it’s networking, maybe it’s
questions on Quora, rather than via email, so filing your paperwork on time. The point is,
many people can benefit from the time he something has to suffer if you’re going to
spends answering a question. prioritize your most important work, so you
should decide ahead of time what you’re going
If it’s face-to-face meetings you’re struggling to be bad at.
with, try setting up a group coffee meeting or
dinner party for people with a lot in common. If you’re not getting enough meaningful work
Rather than only one person benefitting from done, take a look at how you spend your time.
your experience and ideas, you can facilitate a You may need to work harder to protect your

29
time from the busyness and distractions that
areso common for us all. But you may also
need to work on how you manage each day,
to ensure you’re spending your time efficiently
once you’ve protected it.

30
Chapter 7

3 ways to better manage

your day
When it comes to organizing your work and staying productive, there are
different levels to look at. For instance: planning out your goals, reviewing
your work, and organizing your calendar.
Organizing your work and planning how to get things done on a daily basis
can sometimes be overshadowed by big-picture planning or meetings. Let’s
look at three practical ways to improve how you manage your daily work.
1. Constrain your time on your tasks
Entrepreneur Scott H. Young offers two get them done. Obviously this method wouldn’t
approaches to daily organization, depending on work so well for tasks that aren’t well-defined,
the type of tasks you’re working on. On the one as you would have a hard time breaking them
hand, Young suggests constraining your time down into actionable tasks that are achievable
to a specific period. You might plan to work within a work period. But for tasks that are
for two hours first thing in the morning, for well-defined, constraining yourself to working
instance, or move to a café and plan to work for until a set of tasks are completed can be
four hours after lunch. When constraining your a helpful approach. Whereas constraining
time, you can work on any tasks you need to your time can make it easier to trick yourself
get done within that period. Your tasks, in other into thinking you’re being productive without
words, aren’t constrained at all. actually doing meaningful work, Young says
working until a specific list of tasks is complete
Young says this method works best for tasks helps you avoid that trap:
that are not well-defined, or not easily broken “I’ve also found time constraints can encourage
down into sub-tasks. You can make progress a sloppier attitude towards work. You might
on these kind of tasks by setting a time decide to spend all day studying in the library—
constraint to work on them. but without tasks to constrain your
“The biggest advantage of constraining time is productivity—you end up checking your phone
that it’s always unambiguous. If you decide to or skipping hard problems to work on easier
work for three hours and then stop, there’s no stuff.”
confusion there.”
Task constraints can be particularly useful for
Young’s other approach is to constrain your tasks you do often, as the more you repeat
tasks, but not your time. For this approach, something the easier it becomes to predict how
rather than setting a specific period of time much time and effort it will require.
to work for, you’d set a specific set of tasks to
complete, and work for as long as it takes to

32
2. Make a fixed schedule and stick to it
Productivity expert and author Cal Newport Here’s a simple truth: to stick to your ideal
found a technique that helped him stay schedule will require some drastic actions.
productive as a graduate student while keeping Newport also found that to make his fixed
every evening and weekend free. Newport schedule work he had to cut out inefficient
calls this approach “fixed-schedule habits, turn down more projects than he would
productivity.” The idea is simple, but not easy to have previously, and build habits for repetitive
implement. work so those tasks got done without question
at the same time every day or week.
Newport chose a work schedule and stuck
to it. He planned his work to fit into this fixed Newport also had to work on fewer projects at
schedule, and was adamant about not working once to make his fixed schedule stick. He kept
outside these periods. For him, after 5pm on two queues of potential projects: writing
weekdays and all day on weekends fell outside projects and anything related to his work as a
this fixed schedule, so Newport didn’t work grad student.
then. These queues helped Newport keep on top of
upcoming work, but he only ever worked on
Newport says with this approach you may the first project in each queue. Only bouncing
upset some people, as you won’t be available between two projects at once made it easier
to chat or reply to their emails immediately, but for Newport to stop his work bleeding outside
eventually people will get used to it, and in the the boundaries of his fixed schedule.
meantime you’ll be getting more work done.

3. Always be prepared for the next hour

Productivity author Mark Forster gets even the list so it always has roughly an hour’s
more granular in managing his daily work with worth of work on it.It sounds simple, but
anapproach he calls The Next Hour of Your Forster points out how powerful this method
Life. The Next Hour uses a simple to-do list, but can be:
aims to always have enough tasks on the list to “If I’d been presented with a list of 49 items
roughly fill an hour-long period. long at the beginning of the day I wouldn’t have
had a hope of finishing it. But writing a few
If you have an event coming up, your to-do list tasks at a time gradually adds up...”
carries over to the next hour after your event.
And throughout the day you periodically add to By incrementally adding to your to-do list

33
throughout the day, you can get through
a bigger workload without the pressure of
starting your day with a huge list of tasks.
Many of us spend our mornings writing to-do
lists, or planning how we’ll manage our time
throughout the day. While this can be a helpful
way to prepare yourself for the day ahead,
using the last hour of your workday effectively
can make these morning tasks even smoother.

34
Chapter 8

Productive ways to spend

the last hour of your
workday
The way you feel when you get to your desk in the morning can make a big
difference to how you feel for the rest of the day—and how productive you
are. Studies have found employees who start their workday in a bad mood
tend to stay that way, and they take more breaks throughout the day just to
make it through until it’s time to go home.

Putting in place productive habits for the last hour of your workday can help
you start the following day in a good mood, feeling calm and in- control of
your schedule. And a good start will give you a better chance of being happy
and productive all day long.

Try these tips to use your last hour to prepare for a productive day tomorrow.
Plan tomorrow’s to-do list today
As writer Jocelyn K. Glei explains, having your todo list for the next day. Too many of us, says
to-do list pre-written means you know exactly Glei, plan a to-do list that would take a full
what to do when you get to your desk in the workday to complete, ignoring how much time
morning: will be taken up by meetings and other
“The easiest way to avoid distraction is to hit events.
the ground running. Taking an hour at the end “... make sure to write every commitment on
of your day to plan for tomorrow can mean the your calendar down on your daily to-do list.
difference between a productive start to the This has a few effects: a) you get to cross
next day, where you’re in control, and a reactive off more stuff at the end of the day, which is
start, where you’re simply acting on whatever great, b) you quickly realize if your list is over-
(or whoever) happens to draw your attention.” ambitious and can adjust accordingly, and c)
you might be encouraged to retake control over
“I find that if I wake up with a clear picture of your calendar...”
my key priorities for the day already in mind, I
am infinitely more productive—not to mention It may not take you a full hour, but set yourself
more relaxed. By contrast, kicking off the day a reminder an hour before you’re due to finish
without a plan opens you up to the dangers of work and use that time to plan for tomorrow.
reactive work, letting other people’s demands Doing this regularly will help you end the day
dictate what you do with your day via incoming witha clear mind, relaxed in the knowledge that
emails, co-worker interruptions, etc.” tomorrow will start the way you intend.

Glei also points out that it’s important to look

over your calendar when planning out your

Leave something unfinished

Though you might have a to-do list waiting for instance, stop half-way through a sentence or
you at your desk every morning, that doesn’t paragraph in an email or a blog post draft
mean you won’t have to stare into the face of where you know exactly what comes next.
procrastination when it comes to getting stuck According to the psychology principle the
in. To help you get over that hurdle of getting Zeigarnik effect, our brains won’t let something
started on your first task, try leaving something go if we leave it unfinished. Our brains want
half-finished in your last hour of the day. For closure—they want us to complete things that

36
we’ve started. Starting a task and not finishing Which means when you start work the next
it is like a cliffhanger for your brain. This can day, you’ll be rearing to go. You’ll jump in, finish
work in our favor, because leaving something off what you were working on, and build up
unfinished when we know exactly what comes some positive momentum without even trying.
next makes our brains yearn to finish that task.

Create a shutdown ritual to end your

workday
To combine the two suggestions above, try aside until he gets to work the next day.
creating a ritual to go through in the last hour Remembering that he heard himself say the
of your workday. Cal Newport does this nearly magic phrase out loud helps Newport trust
every single day to help him stay organized and himself to have completed the full checklist,
shut down from work mode before going home. which means no task or appointment will fall
For Newport, his ritual includes: through the cracks, and any work-related
worries don’t need to be dealt with
♦ Transferring any notes and tasks collected
immediately. (In case you’re wondering,
throughout the day to his master task list
Newport’s magic phrase is “Schedule
♦ Reading through his entire master task list shutdown, complete.”)
to check if anything is urgent or timely—
those tasks get scheduled so they won’t be Whether you want to use a magic phrase to
overlooked in future help yourself switch off outside work hours or
not, a shutdown ritual can help you make sure
♦ Checking through upcoming events on his
nothing falls through the cracks, and your first
calendar to make sure he’s aware of—and
workday hour is always carefully planned.
prepared for—what’s coming up
Add making tomorrow’s to-do list and leaving
♦ Saying a magic phrase something half-finished to your shutdown ritual
to ensure your last workday hour is spent
The magic phrase is Newport’s way of “signing setting your future self up for success. Of
off” on his shutdown ritual. Saying this phrase course, spending that last hour writing your to-
out loud is a signal to his brain that he’s do list doesn’t guarantee you’ll write an
completed his full shutdown checklist. This is effective to-do list. Writing a to-do list that
important, because anytime a work-related actually helps you get more done, all day long,
worry enters Newport’s mind after his is key to using this age-old productivity tool.
shutdown ritual, he can confidently push it

37
Chapter 9

How to write a better

to-do list
The to-do list is one of the most classic productivity tools we have, and
a lot of us rely on one. That doesn’t necessarily mean we know how to
use them well. If you tend to lose your to-do list, avoid it when it becomes
overwhelmingly long, or you simply forget to use one, these tips are for you.
Share your to-do list
To-do lists are traditionally private, or at least Making his to-do list public made Reddington
personal. We make individual lists to suit our notice what was wrong with it—and fix it. After
individual needs and responsibilities. But what a big clean-up of his list, Reddington found
if our to-do lists were public? he was much more productive. And when he
added new tasks to the list, the knowledge
It turns out, sharing with others the goals and that the list was public and might be viewed by
tasks you want to accomplish can boost your others made sure he was more thoughtful in
productivity. According to software developer how he wrote out tasks for his future self.
Joe Reddington, making his to-do list public “I can honestly say that it’s been the most
helped him see it with fresh eyes. He suddenly effective change in my productivity in at least
noticed all the duplicate tasks he’d listed, all the two, possibly five years.”
badly worded or misspelled tasks, and all the
confusing or badly planned tasks. You don’t have to make your to-do list
“... when you write a to-do item for someone completely public, but try sharing it with
else to read, you tell them what actually has to a colleague or your boss to add a little
happen, but when you write it for yourself, you accountability and help you see your list with
leave yourself a cryptic note.” fresh eyes.

Draw your to-do list

If you struggle to remember what’s on your to- Researchers suggest this may be because more
do list, this tip is for you. Studies have found skills are involved in drawing. We have to use
drawing helps ideas stick in our memories more our physical motor skills to make the drawing,
than writing. as well as visualizing the item itself and
thinking about its characteristics to help us
A series of studies gave participants words draw it accurately. The combination of skills
that are easy to draw, such as “apple”, and used may help to make more connections than
pitteddrawing the words against a variety of simply writing down a word, which in turn
other approaches such as writing the word, helps us remember the item more easily later.
describing its characteristics, or looking at a So try adding a doodle here and there to your
picture of the item. In every case, those who to-do list if you need a memory boost.
drew the items remembered more of them.

39
Write a list of what you think you will do
Mark Forster has a blog chock-full of to-do list But when Forster wrote a list of things he
systems, methods, and ideas. One idea he’s thought he would do that day and left it in a
used with great success is to swap his to-do list drawer, he found the entire list got done:
for a list of things he thinks he will do. “I found myself doing the things that I had
predicted. At the end of the day I had done
Forster initially tried writing a standard to-do every single item on the list without referring to
list and putting it away in a drawer, curious it once.”
about whether he could complete the list
without checking it all day. This experiment Again, this may be memory-related, as
failed miserably, with not a single thing from imagining yourself doing various things
the list completed at the end of the day: throughout the day may make them stick better
“On Friday I managed to spend the whole day in your memory than simply writing a list of
without doing a single item on the list. I did tasks you’d like to do. Or perhaps it’s something
plenty of other things but the “hidden list” more complicated. Perhaps by telling yourself
seemed to repel me rather than attract me to you think you will do something, you’re actually
its contents.” increasing the chances that you will.

Keep an anti-to-do list

If you never seem to get through your to-do list tug-of-war between his planned to-do list and
but you know you’re still being productive, the the inevitable tasks that popped up throughout
anti-to-do list might be for you. This idea flips his work day:
the to-do list on its head. Instead of writing “I’ve realised that without the anti-to-do list,
down things to do before you start work, you whenever I was doing a task not on my to-do
write down what you got done after you’ve list, no matter how important and useful the
done it. So you spend your day working as you task (and many unexpected tasks lead to
normally would, and as you finish each task massive returns!), I generally always had on my
or project, take a phone call or come out of a mind that it was detracting from the time I had
meeting, you note down on your anti-to-do list for the items on my to-do list, and that it didn’t
what you spent your time doing. ‘count.’”
Gascoigne also says the anti-to-do list helped
Buffer’s CEO, Joel Gascoigne, uses this him see more clearly how he was spending his
approach. He found it helped him overcome the time:

40
“It’s made a real difference for my feeling Many of us spend some time each morning
of productivity, since a lot of the time I used writing our to-do lists. Or, for the more
to have that ‘where did the day go?’ feeling organized among us, we spend that last hour
without being able to remember what I did. of our workdays planning the next day, and
Now I look at my anti-to-do list, and feel great spend the morning reviewing our to-do list and
about all the things I got done. planning how it fits into our schedule.

At the end of a day using an anti-to-do list, Either way, mornings are critical for starting
you’ll have a long list of completed tasks, your day well. Using the last hour of your day to
showing everything you spent time on set yourself up for success is key, but so is a
throughout the day. Despite working in the morning routine to help you focus on what’s
same way you normally would, you’ll go most important first thing, before the world
home satisfied with your efforts rather than starts dividing your attention and stealing your
disappointed that your to-do list remains focus.
incomplete.

41
Chapter 10

How to craft the perfect

morning routine
Some of the most successful people in history have relied on morning
routines to help them start their day consistently. From Anna Wintour,
editor-in-chief of Vogue, who famously starts her day with an hour of tennis,
to author Cal Newport, who heads outside for a walk first thing, morning
routines help artists, entrepreneurs, politicians, and CEOs control how they
start their days.

A morning routine gives you a chance to start with positive momentum that
will carry you through the rest of the day. It also gives you a chance to set
your priorities and focus on what’s most important to you.

Rather than letting other people, emails, and notifications interrupt you all
morning and start your day reactively, creating a morning routine gives you
the control to start your day in the way you want to and to prioritise what
you care about most.

So what should your morning routine look like? It depends, of course, but
there are some common aspects of a morning routine that can get you
started and help you figure out what will work best for you.
Overcome sleep inertia
Obviously the first part of your morning routine Refrain from snoozing
will be waking up. But even if you’re well rested
Increase activity for the first hour
when you first wake up, you’ll still face sleep
Shower or wash face
inertia. That’s the groggy feeling you get just
after waking up, which makes your eyes feel Expose yourself to sunlight
heavy and makes you feel like going back to
Upbeat music
sleep is the best thing to do.
Phone a friend

Building elements into your morning routine to

When writer Kevin Roose tried this approach,
help you overcome sleep inertia more quickly
he felt “alert and awake mere minutes after
can make it easier to wake up and get started
waking up and maintained my energy levels
with your day.
throughout the morning.”

According to Dr. Harvey of the Golden Bear

Roose’s implementation involved using an
Sleep Research Center, the best ways to
alarm clock that lit up his bedroom with bright
overcome sleep inertia may be the RISE UP
light, washing his face, running to an upbeat
method:
playlist, and scheduling calls with colleagues
from 6:30am.

Clear your mind through writing

If you find yourself feeling scattered or can take in new information more easily. If
unfocused first thing in the morning, writing you’re not sure about starting a journal, a more
can help you clear your mind, deal with what’s specific process of daily writing called Morning
worrying you, and prepare to focus on the day’s Pages might be for you. Author Julia Cameron
work. Expressive writing has been found to created Morning Pages as a ritual to help her
improve memory and sporting performance, clear her mind every day before starting work.
lower blood pressure, and even improve
immune function. The process is simple: write three pages of
stream-of-consciousness writing longhand.
Journaling about work can also improve your That is, with a real pen on real paper.
performance and motivate you to work harder, Cameron says three pages is important,
as well as helping you clear your mind so you because it’s long enough that you’ll get past

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your initial top-of-mind thoughts and discover alive and well since we are so easily able to go
deeper, more interesting thoughts and ideas back and fix our mistakes.
after the first page-and-a-half. She also says
writing longhand is important, because the Morning Pages aren’t for sharing, or even
idea is to not censor yourself, which is a lot keeping. Cameron suggests throwing them out
easier on a computer where the backspace key or keeping them tucked away in an envelope,
is just a tap away. rather than in a journal or notebook you’ll re-
read. By never looking at your Morning Pages
Entrepreneur Chris Winfield managed a 241- again, you’ll hopefully feel more free to express
day streak of writing Morning Pages. He says it your thoughts without judging yourself.
helped him come up with new business ideas,
become more in-tune with his intuition, and After your three pages are written you should
work through issues that felt overwhelming. For find yourself more clear-headed, and perhaps
Winfield, writing Morning Pages longhand is even motivated and inspired to get to work. As
a must: Cameron says, “Once we get those muddy,
“Writing by computer is more emotionally maddening, confusing thoughts on the page,
detached practice. It helps keep our inner critic we face our day with clearer eyes.

Start your day with postivity

It might sound obvious, but starting your from his friends. Then he makes coffee and
morning routine with something you enjoy adds reads some Calvin and Hobbes comic strips.
some positive momentum to your day. Many For Zook, these activities make him smile and
of us fall into the trap of reacting to negative help him relax for the first short part of his day:
news, emails, or customer support issues first “Instead of looking at my phone or firing up my
thing in the morning, starting our day with laptop (where I could find negativity) while
negativity and setting ourselves in motion with my coffee is brewing, I smile and conjure up
negative momentum. feelings of happiness by reading a handful of
comic strips.”
When entrepreneur Jason Zook realized he was
starting every day negatively by checking his Starting his day after his Insta-Coffee-Hobbes
email and catching up on negative news on routine gives Zook positive momentum and a
Twitter, he decided to swap this routine for a sense of control over his day:
new, intentionally positive morning routine. “By the time my coffee has finished brewing,
These days Zook starts by checking Instagram, I’ve spent 10-15 minutes doing only things that
where he enjoys positive photos and updates make me happy. My day has started with

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positivity— positivity that will be a shield of Hobbes in the morning, but you can create
armor from the rigors of the rest of my day. If your own positive morning routine by finding
I were to start with negative influences first, activities that make you smile to start your day
the rest of the day is an uphill battle to reach with. Maybe it’s a hobby you enjoy, like knitting,
positivity.” or listening to a favorite album, or playing with
your kids, or doing a crossword in your
Of course not all of us want to do Insta-Coffee- newspaper.

Do what’s important to you

While starting your day positively will help you To recap, here are four ways to get you started
control the feeling of your day, a morning on your own positive, productive morning
routine can also help you find time to prioritize routine:
projects you care about that you don’t always
♦ Overcome sleep inertia
have time for.
♦ Write Morning Pages
Entrepreneur and author Taylor Pearson
♦ Start with positivity
suggests using your morning routine to build
momentum in all the areas of your life you care ♦ Take action towards your goals
about:
“This then is the purpose of the morning Once you’re up-and-running, you can adjust

routine: You should get one “small win” to your routine based on your lifestyle, your goals,

create momentum in each life domain that’s and even make it more flexible to account for

important to you.” times when you’re traveling or extra busy. With

a little tweaking you can develop a personal

Try making a list of all the areas of your life you morning routine to set you up with positive

want to work on every day. This might include momentum to carry you throughout the rest of

your own business or side projects, keeping in your day.

touch with friends and family, stretching your

brain, or staying fit and healthy.
For each area on the list, add one action to
move it forward to your morning routine. This
way, you’ll start your day by working on the
areas of your life that you care about most,
setting the tone for your day.

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Chapter 11

How to take truly restful

breaks (and why you
should)
When Staples surveyed over 200 office workers in the U.S. and Canada
about their work breaks, the results weren’t encouraging. Despite 90% of
employers surveyed saying they encourage breaks, and most employees
admitting breaks would improve their performance and their happiness,
more than a quarter of workers surveyed said lunch was the only break they
took all day.

With more than half these employees working more than 8 hours every day,
a single break at lunch isn’t nearly enough. Not taking enough breaks can
hurt our work performance, our mood, and even lead to complete burnout.
Why breaks are important
What exactly is it about breaks that make interrupted by those digits twice during the
them so important? Studies show taking breaks 50-minute task and were told to stop working
can help us refocus and pay better attention to respond to those digits. Others were told to
to our work. According to Dr. Alejandro ignore the digits entirely.
Lleras, psychology professor at the University
of Illinois, most of us suffer from vigilance
decrement: that is, after doing the same thing “You start performing poorly
for a long period we lose focus on it. But Lleras on a task because you’ve
says we’re thinking about vigilance decrement stopped paying attention to
all wrong:
it.”
“For 40 or 50 years, most papers published on
the vigilance decrement treated attention as a
limited resource that would get used up over The researchers found most participants
time, and I believe that to be wrong. You start performed worse over time. One group,
performing poorly on a task because you’ve however, didn’t see a drop in performance
stopped paying attention to it.” at all. That was the group who stopped to
respond to the digits that interrupted their task.
Lleras led a study that explored how breaks
can affect our ability to continue paying Lleras says our brains are built to detect
attention to the same thing for long periods. change. When something stays consistent
84 subjects participated in the study, which over time, our brains stop paying attention to
required 50 minutes of working on a repetitive it. The feeling of your clothes on your skin, for
computerized task. Some participants instance, or the hum of colleagues chatting
completed the 50-minute period with no in your office. Once you acclimatize to those
breaks. Others were asked to memorize four feelings or sounds, your brain stops drawing
digits before beginning the task. Of those who your attention to them.
memorized the four digits, some were

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It works the same, unfortunately, with tasks groups performance was so clearly dropping
that take a long time. If what you’re working on off.”
stays consistent for long enough, your brain will
stop paying attention to it. In the study, This study suggests breaking away from tasks
participants who stopped working to respond that take a long time could be helpful in
to the numbers interrupting them were able to maintaining attention and performing at your
reset their focus and continue paying attention best.
throughout the rest of the 50-minute task: “... our research suggests that, when faced with
“It was amazing that performance seemed to long tasks (such as studying before a final
be unimpaired by time, while for the other exam or doing your taxes), it is best to impose
brief breaks on yourself.”

Take better breaks

Even if you are taking regular breaks, you might new problem.”
not be giving yourself the best chance to
refresh your focus. Finding ways to truly give Diffuse mode is important. If you’ve ever come
your mind a chance to rest is key. up with a great idea in the shower or the
answer to a problem while washing dishes,
Switch off from work you’ll know how well your brain works when
you’re not forcing it to focus. But constantly
It might be tempting to spend your break staying in work mode means we never let our
responding to emails or updating your to-do brains fall into diffuse mode. We need to take
list, but you’d be better off switching off from breaks that let us completely switch off from
work completely. work if our brains are going to work to the best
of their capacity.
According to Barbara Oakley, author of A Mind
for Numbers, our brains have two modes for
thinking: focus mode and diffuse mode. When
we’re focused, we’re stopping our brains from
using diffuse mode, which is the kind of
relaxed, unfocused thinking we fall into when
we’re daydreaming or doing activities that
don’t require lots of attention. Here’s Oakley:
“... the diffuse mode, it turns out, is what you
often need to be able to solve a very difficult,

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Do something social and relaxing breaks, look for ways to spend time in nature.
Research shows walking in forest areas can
So how do you switch off from work during reduce stress, hostility, and symptoms of
breaks? A study of almost 100 Korean office depression, as well as improving mood and
workers explored how they spent their breaks sleep.
and how fatigued they felt at the end of their
workdays. The study broke up break activities A study at Stanford University tested the
into four categories: effects of nature by separating participants
into two groups. One group went for a walk in a
♦ Relaxing (e.g. daydreaming, stretching)
lush, green area of the Stanford campus, while
♦ Nutrition-based (e.g. coffee, snacks) the other group walked alongside heavy traffic
for the same period of time. Afterwards,
♦ Social (e.g. chatting with colleagues)
participants in the group that walked in nature
♦ Cognitive (e.g. reading emails or the were both happier and more attentive.
newspaper)
Other studies have found that walking in
The researchers found relaxing and social
natural environments even in the middle of
break activities protected workers against end-
winter(when it’s not such a pleasant activity)
of-dayfatigue. Cognitive breaks, on the other
can still boost cognitive performance. It’s
hand, actually made end-of-day fatigue worse.
not about doing something enjoyable, but
In another study, workers who spent their
specifically spending time surrounding by
breaks using their phones were more
nature.
emotionally exhausted at the end of the day
than those who’d spent their breaks chatting
Finally, if you can’t get outside to walk through
with friends. The phone users, however, felt
a park or tree-lined street, try storing up some
that they’d switched off from work during their
photos of greenery to look at during breaks.
breaks as much as those who spent breaks
One study tested performance of participants
with friends.
who worked on a menial task requiring their
concentration, with a 40-second break to look
So even if you think you’re switching off, try
at a photo of a rooftop before returning to the
spending your breaks on relaxing and social
task.
activities to truly recover your attention and
energy.
Some participants looked at a plain concrete
rooftop while others saw a rooftop covered in a
Spend time in nature flowering meadow. Those who looked at the
meadow showed improved accuracy and
If you’re looking for more ideas for getting away
concentration when returning to the task.
from work and refreshing your energy during
So just an image of nature could be enough to

49
boost your performance and increase your mode of thinking can refresh our ability to
focus. Various studies on the effects of breaks concentrate and help us perform better
all agree on one thing: humans struggle to when we return to work. While it might seem
focus on the same task over a long period counterintuitive, your work will actually benefit
of time, and breaks help. Taking breaks that if you spend a little less time doing it.
are truly restful, and get us into that diffuse

Conclusion
Almost all of us struggle with having too much meetings, and before you check items off a to-
work to fit into the time we have available. We do list that aren’t actually important.
turn to failed methods like multitasking, or Implement a morning routine to start your day
working longer hours, or skipping breaks, just well, improve how you write your to-do list,
to squeeze a little more work into our days. But and use the last hour of each workday
these approaches not only fail to help us work to prepare for tomorrow. Perhaps most
efficiently, they eventually lead to burnout. importantly, take back control of your calendar.
Your time is one of your most precious assets,
If you care about doing more meaningful work, so use it wisely—and remember that breaks
you need to take charge of your day. Protect are as important as the work that comes
your time, and ensure your most important between them.
work comes first—before busywork, before

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 Further reading
from the RescueTime blog

The keys to staying productive with a full-time job

Why you should be scheduling your free time: How hobbies

improve your productivity and creativity

How RescueTime joined the four-day workweek for fun

and profit

Overcoming Procrastination: Everything you ever wanted

to know about how to stop procrastinating now

Time anxiety: How to deal with the feeling that you ‘never
having enough time’

rescuetime.com | blog.rescuetime.