Recently I’ve read a number of articles on productivity, success and tracking – probably triggered by my new years resolution to pack more into each day. To that end – I’m going to attempt an “experiment in ultraproductivity” – over the next week – starting now I will:
- track every waking moment – using Timesheet, a time tracking app on my Galaxy S4
- spend time at the end of each day assessing the day and tracking wasted time
- develop a plan to refine the next day’s activities
- continue to refine the process over the week
Kind of like applying an Agile process to my life. Instead of a daily standup at the start of the day, its more of a daily lie down at the end of the day…
Some of the things I’m going to try:
- Getting up early – I’m going to shoot for 5am, which is tough for me as I’m a real night owl
- Exercise first thing – I have a FitBit on the Ultivator, so I need to hit my step goals otherwise I’m going to get penalized, so I need to hit that
- Write some fiction for at least one hour – I’ve got Precog in the Kindle store and on its way in paperback, so I need to start on the 2nd book in the series, Telekin.
- Write a blog post – like this one
- Fill up my Buffer every day with new stuff
- Spend time connecting with people via social networks – Facebook, LinkedIn etc…
All before breakfast.
Part of this was inspired by Ramit Sethi, a guy who alternatively annoys me and gets me motivated. He is currently selling a package of “productivity hacks” for some dumb amount of money, supposedly collecting a number of these productivity tips into one package. More power to him, but I’m cheap and I figure I’ve got enough experience to come up with my own set of hacks. I’ve applied all of this in varying ways over time – but this time I’m going to apply them all at once – and with any luck, by the end of the week, have a finely honed and ultraproductive process in place. Then maybe I’ll sell it for big bucks too.
Oh, BTW, I noticed that all of those folks who get up early never tell you when they go to bed. Do you imagine that High Powered Executive Who Gets Up At 4am To Conquer The World is in his jammies and under the covers by 9pm in order to get a good nights sleep? What is he, a kid?
Let me know if you have any “productivity hacks” that you personally use to pack more into each day below – would love to hear from you…